The advances in sport science have benefitted attackers more than defenders yes. It improved athletism above everything else. Things like speed, stamina, acceleration and so on which are basically attacking attributes. As you said, the rules have been slowly altered to favor attackers in the sense that they are now more protected from injuries which is only fair. And it is not just Messi and Ronaldo that benefitted from this. Look at other top players like Suarez, Cavani, Bale, Neymar. They are all machines. A decade ago Nedved was the only machine around now players are faster and fitter than they have ever been before. I m willing to bet that the average goals scored by a first team striker at a top club is higher than the average used to be a decade and certaintly 2 decades ago.
I think you are exaggerating the difference in rules and physicality over the last couple of decades. You don't get a card if you perform a sliding tackle and win the ball. You get a card if you get the man then the ball or the man without the ball. The only difference I can think of is the rule of two-legged sliding tackles and those are banned in the EPL and warrant an automatic red. I am not sure La liga and Serie A apply that rule.
You make it seem that every player back then was a Gentile or a Keane which I dont think is true. Gentile stands out because he was abnormally aggressive and going back a decade ago you had guys like Montero getting a red card every other game for being abnormally agressive. More leeway is given now perhaps but its not as large of a gap as you make it seem. DOnt take refereeing mistakes to be indicative of the rules. Maradona used his hand to win a worldcup.
I think you are exaggerating the difference in rules and physicality over the last couple of decades. You don't get a card if you perform a sliding tackle and win the ball. You get a card if you get the man then the ball or the man without the ball. The only difference I can think of is the rule of two-legged sliding tackles and those are banned in the EPL and warrant an automatic red. I am not sure La liga and Serie A apply that rule.
You make it seem that every player back then was a Gentile or a Keane which I dont think is true. Gentile stands out because he was abnormally aggressive and going back a decade ago you had guys like Montero getting a red card every other game for being abnormally agressive. More leeway is given now perhaps but its not as large of a gap as you make it seem. DOnt take refereeing mistakes to be indicative of the rules. Maradona used his hand to win a worldcup.
I think you underestimate the number of yellows shown for dangerous tackles today, where defenders clearly win the ball, but take out the player in the process, or with the follow through. Refs are taught to favour the player being tackled, they're taught to call anything questionable, or that looks slightly dangerous. The letter of the law with regards to winning the ball first was very well applied back then, and pretty much anything went, as long as you made that play on the ball first. Now, you have to make the play on the ball, but also be very cautious about contact with the player as that happens, or in the follow through. Aside from this, tackles where you missed the ball were far less frequently carded.
We disagree. That's alright. I think, in part, the advances in sport science do benefit attackers, as that is where athleticism, agility, acceleration, etc are most effective, but I disagree on the extent of that benefit, and by no means consider it the reason for the current domination of attacking play. Is it a part of the reason, probably yes, but a small part in my opinion.
As an aside. I mentioned above that 11 of Messi's 40 league goals came in situations of 3+ goal leads. For comparison. Ronaldo's 1997 Barcelona campaign with 34 goals in 37 appearances... 4 of those goals came in 3+ goal lead situations. Stat-padding of that sort happened to a far lesser degree back then. I don't like it. Messi is a brilliant player, one of the best of all-time. C. Ronaldo is up there too. They don't need to be pressing for such meaningless stat-padding goals to cement their places in history. It doesn't add anything. I know that Messi scores goals 3 minutes into stoppage time in 6-0 blowouts. I know C. Ronaldo does the same. The stats look quite a bit closer when you adjust for those type of goals when teams have given up. Then you take into account the extent to which certain super-teams are created today and just how stacked they are, and it certainly helps Messi and C. Ronaldo too. This isn't to say that their weren't super teams in the 80s and 90s, there were, just not quite to the extent of today, football was much more competitive at the top, second-tier teams had a much easier time retaining star players.
I grew up watching Italian football in the 90s, so I favour physical and somewhat defensive-oriented football, with a high priority placed on tactics, and clinical finishing.
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Anyways. I was in a pissy mood last night. I apologize to you, Fred, and Osman. I disagree with your opinions, but that doesn't excuse me being an asshole about it. Sorry.
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