Players have a union and their is a reason players don’t protest, it’s coz they actually don’t mind playing football.

It’s an excuse for managers.

It’s been alluded to already, but the longevity of players is massively improved by the pitches and rules compared to 30 years ago.

Diet has also made a difference, however, it should be noted that a lot of footballers in days gone by, lived exceptionally healthy lifestyles. It’s not new for people to eat well and exercise correctly at individual level, it was just introduced to club culture in the 90s. Stanley Matthews for example was very well known to live an extremely healthy diet and he wasn’t the only one.

One aspect I have not seen mentioned too much on the thread so far is medical improvements. I can’t really tell you enough how far this has advanced, particularly for modern sport. The money generated makes this a multi billion dollar industry nowadays, where as 50 years ago if you got a serious injury, that was possibly it.

To highlight two massive football characters who had serious injuries in yesteryear, an serious knee injury did for Brian Clough in his prime. Ligament damage in a serious knee injury did for him, he’d be back in 9-12 months now for sure. Dave Mackay had a serious leg break, he’d almost certainly be back in 9 months or less nowadays, yet it took 18 months and nobody would trust him again. Famously, Peter Taylor was watching Mackay and thought he was the same player as before the injury and was amazed Tottenham couldn’t see it. He told Clough and he replied that Mackay was a past it crock (because that was the norm for someone who’d had a serious leg break). Taylor convinced Clough to take a punt and Mackay went on to have legendary status at another club.

Medical improvements would have massive differences on numerous players from years gone by, from minor knocks to recover and recuperation, to saving careers entirely.

You will probably see lots of technical answers to your question, but the truth is “it’s not fashionable”.

Ball retention and high action presses to turn the ball over, with what would used to be derided as “they are trying to walk it in” style of pressure play is the current in thing. The numbers back this up, and if everyone buys into it and you have a great manager to implement this (like Pep), it works brilliantly.

Thing is, the data still back up some of the older methods too and we are starting to see some “out of fashion” old style tactics creep back into the game.

Aston Villa for example have started to employ the tactic of playing the ball into ‘areas’ (notably inside forward area), with Watkins and Diaby pressing the area. This is seeing full backs and CDMs conducting a lot of turning and rushing into these areas, to then encounter Watkins it Diaby harassing them. It’s not a pretty tactic, but it wears defenders down and often leads to players voluntarily giving up possession by knocking the ball out for a throw in. This tactic had largely disappeared, but Villa have started it again and it has been creating real pressure for teams and has been effective for sure this season.

At some point in the not too distant future, someone is going to have the bright idea of a big man/little man forward line and it will cause havoc, coz defenders will be ‘trained out’ of how to deal with this scenario. Coz defenders train for the style in from of them and at the minute, this is a lot of speed work and agility for the defenders, tracking strikers as they drop deep etc, so when it changes in a few years, people will naturally be caught short.

Football works in cycles and the long ball and big man little striker set up will have its day again, I’m pretty sure.

The problem is, most people still (unbelievably) think that FFP is good for the game.

When folk finally realise they have been swindled by a handful of clubs in cahoots with the league owners, they will realise they should have protested after all.

FFP needs to be kicked out of football for good and replaced with an independent football community charity/board which genuinely has the best interests at heart. PL and EFL should go rot for their money grabbing, pathetic, cowardly behaviour.

During the 1980s, the Mitre Delta 1000 Football League Ball was used exclusively throughout the Football League.

Every game was played with this ball and it had the Football League Logo on it.

Going back further, every World Cup has had a standard ball for that competition and in 66 the Slazenger Victory ball was used. I believe this was used pretty frequently across the game, but I don’t think it was exclusive.

Level 7 in the Pyramid, can’t tell you how good the best players at this level are! I wasn’t one of them!

Bizarre mix of players with stunning abilities and wasted talent to players who would literally run through a brick wall to get a result.

Once played with a guy who made his debut and scored 4 and he was immense, pace, touch everything, it was daft. We all went to Pub after the game (he didn’t come to the pub) and we just spoke about he was totally different class and was going to win us the league, he turned up the following Tuesday for a mid week game (so we didn’t train Monday) and he played like he’d not gone home since Saturday and he was clearly and massively wasted….

If I only watched my team I’d still harbours thought I might make it is a pro one day…

Watched football of all variations and levels for half a lifetime and have always enjoyed watching football at the highest levels.

As with yourself, I find the supporters who just exclusively love their club a slightly odd breed, but each one to their own.

FFP strikes again…

The saviour of football clubs and all round sporting integrity hits home exactly at the right time…

Everton are currently in the process of selling the club and this will naturally put a spanner in the works.

FFP is a selective corporate monopolising technique which has tarnished football since the owners of the biggest clubs in the UK (and subsequently Europe), clubbed together in a dimly lit room with the sole aim of stopping any ‘piffling little club’ from winning anything significant. The dream is now almost impossible and it comes as no surprise that Everton have been smashed with FFP just when they are on the brink of selling their club and building a new stadium.

FFP has not protected a single club ever and nor it will. The PL and FL ‘pick n choose’ as to who they “FFP” smash next based on either rock, paper, scissors or which club is proving a danger to the status quo and it is disgusting. Hopefully one day this appalling stain on football will be confined to history.

Well it makes perfect sense when you look at it i the way it was designed.

FFP was concocted by by your ‘Super Clubs’ to ensure that the likes of City, PSG and Chelsea didnt ever break the Status Quo again. If the PL didn’t enforce FFP, your ‘Super Clubs’ would have left the PL and made their own league.

So no club can now transition up (watch out Newcastle) and the PL and FL only act when they are told to act or forced to act. At least 3 other clubs in the PL have broken FFP in the last few years and they have not been punished, however, and here is the kicker for Everton fans, your club has broken FFP AND SHOWN SOME AMBITION. This has ruffled feathers as with a potential new 60k stadium and new American money they pose a threat. The PL lapdog has been told to bite and so it has.

So in this sense, FFP is working perfectly by fining and deducting points when it goes against all logic of protecting the football club.

I mean a transfer ban and a cash flow management plan would only make sense if you wanted to protect the club.

It’s your opinion and that’s fine, however, I don’t see your point.

Being a professional sportsman does not exclude you from addiction. If anything, to become a top sportsman or woman, you need some kind of addictive personality to be able to maintain the necessary drive to reach the top.

Having money does not exclude you from having an addictive personality. Particularly with gambling, the constant and easy access to plenty of money would accentuate the situation.

Being a professional male footballer, does conspire to put potential addictive personalities under a lot of pressure. Constant advertising acting as reminders, social media commentary working overtime mentioning whether you won or lost a bet for someone, etc, etc.

Every individual case is different, but having listened to some ex players (such as Hendrie and Etherington), I certainly do have some sympathy. The truth will out for Tonali and Toney, but I do sincerely hope they get the get the help they need (if they do need it).

Walkers hand was in a natural position though, he was decelerating (being Walker this would be a significant slowing down process), whilst simultaneously looking over his shoulder. The forward can’t recall who it was, gave him a slight nudge (just part of the game) and so Walkers hand raised slightly away from his body to provide a balancing pivot. This was entirely normal and it’s OK that players hands move up and down when slowing and accelerate at tremendous speeds.

James also shouldn’t have been penalised in the example you gave.

This is what the rule should be, but unfortunately IFAB bizarrely changed it for VAR and TV…

But this is what is totally wrong with the new hand ball rule.

Walker doesn’t want to handle the ball, he’s running back towards his keeper who is making a clearance, as a defender the last thing you want to do is deflect the ball in anyway.

He puts the brakes on, the striker gives him a little nudge, his hand moves out naturally to balance and Ederson makes a slight miss kick and the ball brushes Walkers hand.

He never intentionally handled the ball in a gazillion years, he has zero benefit to handle the ball and clearly didn’t make any move to handle it deliberately.

Nobody, and I mean nobody had any issue with the handball rule before it got changed to accompany VAR and it should be reverted back ASAP as it is farcical.

Ballon d’Or specifically had little to do with the World Cup in previous years and was Euro/UEFA Club competition centric (by definition).

In 86 for example despite Maradona being a rare player to really dominate a WC, and despite him playing in Italy, he was ineligible for the award due to nationality.

Also in 86, Linekar won the Golden Boot at the WC, finished top scorer in the English 1st Div (PL), scored a hat trick on his debut for Barca and still only finished second because he didn’t compete in a UEFA club completion.