Football isn't any weaker than it was bro. Many legends would struggle in todays game because they lack athleticism for it. Now the floor for how versatile and good at everything a player needs to be is much higher. Football is so clearly at the highest level it's ever been and people need to put the nostalgia aside and actually watch full games from each decade of football. The world class teams right now would shred most best teams in history. And most legends had glaring holes for today's game. R9 at his peak would be worth 99 value like Messi in my OF though, arguably the highest peak in history with Messi. Mbappe is good but hes not a R9 level of talent.
In 2007 they changed the tackling laws which is why football is so much about physical power these days compared to the past where it was much more of an artform. That's being lost now. I love football history and this is quite clearly skills being lost such as marking and the way the game works these days is far too exploitative to allow players to reach the same levels as before. The game is now so much about money and money laundering at the top especially agents want a clean, sanitized game and really don't want their prized assets getting hacked down with a broken leg because of some bruiser psychopath like Vinny Jones used to be back when football was for the purists and was really about community vs community.
I take the Dortmund vs Inter game in the champions league last week. I watched that full game back, what shocked me is not jut how similar it was to PES 2020 in that there very few really cynical fouls at all. Both teams didn't jump in and look to hit the other side to breakup possession, Dortmund are a high press team but even they tried to tackle squeaky clean at all times. with the amount of diving you see these days the strict limits to the types of tackles you could do, so many teams really back off and are afraid to invite contact which an attacker can look to win free kicks or penalties if he dangles a leg. Hakimi the right back scored twice from just running in as an extra man unmarked since Dortmund where totally dominant in possession since inter unlike Serie A teams at their peak couldn't really go ugly, they where outclassed by a better team and had no answer to Dortmund and Jaydon Sancho who was awesome.
Back in the 60's When Catenaccio rose with Inter, coach Herrera was very strict on diet and fitness, it was crucial to how the team would work on and off the ball. This whole hype centering around athleticism and physicality from the media is just that, hype to keep you buying from these organizations. There has always been athletes in football, from its very conception, ripped, pumped to the brim full of legal and illegal substances. its just back in the peak eras of the game which was the late 90's early 00's, the tackling laws where less strict so out thinking your opponent and the true artform of the game shone above. It was so easy to take a player out, things like pure dribbling for example where very important factors to a players game, along with real craft of passing. I look at the Milan team in the early 00's and they would be able to kill you just through how incredible their passers where, there aren't teams that well rounded anymore, City aren't that, Liverpool are essentially a lunatic team who kill you with pressing, Jordan Henderson is a very bang average player but hes a serious horse in terms of physicality.
Anyway my friend before i ramble on, i know of someone from my childhood who became a international footballer for a major nation. He was absolute not some wonderkid or some incredible talent. He was just a physical monster at cross country. Another who had far better technique never made it due to his size, which shows how broken academies are these days. Its too much about fitness for me.
But yeah decrease stats if that's what fits you better, personally i need higher stats to witness a football thats more realistic, the player engine is too dumb compared to irl players with lowish values.
Plus higher grades means ML have the starters starting games and scoring at realistic rates. Means you won't ditch X players because he's in a down arrow as well, you'll make do with him being a realistically worse self instead of that braindead donkey they normally turn to.
Same for most stats really like i have no idea why they rate in such reductive manner. Just cos Messi is rated like a winger he can't have world class passing stats. But he is the world's best passer with KDB and both dont have much to envy to the best passers in history. They should both get 97+ passing stats, seems normal you could pull most passes the game allows you to with those two.
No problem. We all come from different places all over the world so we all think differently, so however you want to use stats if fine by me. Its all about making the best experience for us all.
I just really think the game is a mess in most aspects and has been for years. Financially its already eating itself as it is and some of the stuff which is happening in lower leagues is just showing Football needs a entire revamp financially.
