The Evo-Web Football Thoughts Blog

So much fun seeing the former super talent Patrick Cutrone having a fantastic time later on in his career with Como
Don't know how much I've used him on Pes ML (17)
And also realising he's only 26 (feels like he should be 34ish)
 
rockstrongo said:
Feels so tacky
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Yeah. Football is business and has been for many years now so I guess it was inevitable. I don’t like it when clubs build a new stadium and then they forgo tradition and it’s named with their sponsor instead.
Eg: Emirates Stadium.
That’s also tacky but again it’s probably the fate of every club in the world at some point in the distant future. Every aspect of football has a logo plastered on it. I’m going to cringe if we build a new stadium and it’s named as a sponsored stadium.
 
PES4eva said:
Yeah. Football is business and has been for many years now so I guess it was inevitable. I don’t like it when clubs build a new stadium and then they forgo tradition and it’s named with their sponsor instead.
Eg: Emirates Stadium.
That’s also tacky but again it’s probably the fate of every club in the world at some point in the distant future. Every aspect of football has a logo plastered on it. I’m going to cringe if we build a new stadium and it’s named as a sponsored stadium.
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Modern football is a horrible thing, probably end up with a tik tok based league, short games and viewers can chose the line up aswell
 
rockstrongo said:
Modern football is a horrible thing, probably end up with a tik tok based league, short games and viewers can chose the line up aswell
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I know that was meant as a wild statement but years into the future I could very well see something along those lines happening.
 
The era of flawed genuises is gone, Ronaldinho would not survive in this robotic era of football these days, the greatest player ive ever had the pleasure of seeing in the flesh, played the game without fear of losing the ball or giving up posession, pure joy on his face. He would be kept out the team these days by an athlete who could follow instructions to the T and not lose the ball.
 
rockstrongo said:
Todays footballers are so robotic, guess its from club/coaches to minimize risk and run in patterns,
A monster like Haaland is such a machine, but oh so boring, cant even recall anything spectacular hes done so far
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I agree with the general point of view that freedom of expression has vanished in the modern game, and long shots with it - great BBC article about it here which I highly recommend, featuring this graphic:

hjQsDFJ.png


But... Have to disagree on your Haaland point... This is the first goal that comes to mind when I think of him:

 
Chris Davies said:
I agree with the general point of view that freedom of expression has vanished in the modern game, and long shots with it - great BBC article about it here which I highly recommend, featuring this graphic:

hjQsDFJ.png


But... Have to disagree on your Haaland point... This is the first goal that comes to mind when I think of him:

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Yeah youre right on that point, but in the long run,think hes dull as shit, fantastic, but dull, and im comparing to R9/Zlatan/Le Tissier/Batistuta, i think i can find 10 great goals by Zlatan for every single great goal by Hålaand.
 
rockstrongo said:
Todays footballers are so robotic, guess its from club/coaches to minimize risk and run in patterns,
A monster like Haaland is such a machine, but oh so boring, cant even recall anything spectacular hes done so far
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Manchester City does nothing for me in terms of being enjoyable/memorable, but I disagree with your Haaland opinion. He's amazing at doing the most important thing in the sport, robotic or otherwise.

It's probably not a coincidence that he is one of the few top-level players who actually has gotten a rest during the summer (because Norway hasn't qualified for a World Cup or Euros), so perhaps if other players got more of a rest, we might be able to see the best from them, too. There's just too many games and too many tired players; as a fan, it's difficult to stay excited and motivated to watch year-round.
 
Silverdome94 said:
Manchester City does nothing for me in terms of being enjoyable/memorable, but I disagree with your Haaland opinion. He's amazing at doing the most important thing in the sport, robotic or otherwise.
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Hes great, one of the best in that position in a long time, but just like modern football, and Man city, he doesnt do anything for me, hes clinical etc, but not what we used to see in great players, big peronaliyu, breaking patterns doing insane stuff with high risk/reward.
For me, a robot, a great one and fantastic but still a robot, and as i said, boring!
 
rockstrongo said:
Hes great, one of the best in that position in a long time, but just like modern football, and Man city, he doesnt do anything for me, hes clinical etc, but not what we used to see in great players, big peronaliyu, breaking patterns doing insane stuff with high risk/reward.
For me, a robot, a great one and fantastic but still a robot, and as i said, boring!
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And even worse because he plays for city!

I don’t like that everyone pretty much plays with 1 centre forward these days. I miss the days of centre forward partnerships.
So many teams play 433/451. I really think that a team that created a centre forward partnership would catch a lot of teams off guard.
 
PES4eva said:
And even worse because he plays for city!

I don’t like that everyone pretty much plays with 1 centre forward these days. I miss the days of centre forward partnerships.
So many teams play 433/451. I really think that a team that created a centre forward partnership would catch a lot of teams off guard.
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im pretty sure of that too, love the old small fast/big strong partnership up front
 
The talent pool hasn't decreased but current tactics set hard limits on players to play freely and express individual brilliance on the pitch.

Players have become, in current lexicon, mid. They are good, solid players but they are not better than players in the past, in fact they have gotten worse. Vinicius Junior is the definition of a bloated superstar. He works and thrives under a certain tactical system but taken out of Real Madrid and thrown into a Brazil shirt he is nowhere near as world-class as even Fred in 2007. The fact that mid-goalkeepers like Emiliano Martínez are considered world-class are beyond me, too.

Players nowadays are athletes. They are fitter than even but they lack creativity and quick decision-making to shine. That's why Kevin de Bryune is hailed as one of the best PL midfielders ever - he is different from the rest, he is something else; but on the other hand I think that Micoud and Joe Cole from the 00s were as exciting as de Bruyne as playmakers. I'm not taking anything away from KDB, it's just that he along a handful of players are truly generational talents compared to their peers.

Players from other generations didn't benefit from fitness, PT, and diets to improve their output coming the weekend but they were better equipped in toughness, mentality and creativity. Players like Le Tissier or Berkovic were unicorns with odd flaws but it were enough to inspire a whole generation. Nowadays, considering the current state of football, it's sad how we've managed to regress.

However, on a better and happier note, I do believe all traits listed above will return to football. Football is cyclical and we've just arrived on the WM idea of the Hungarians in the 50s. It's about time that flair will rise again. The classic N9 is on the rise with Gyokeres, Sesko and Haaland. It's matter of time till the N10 comes back into the game.
 
steff said:
The era of flawed genuises is gone, Ronaldinho would not survive in this robotic era of football these days, the greatest player ive ever had the pleasure of seeing in the flesh, played the game without fear of losing the ball or giving up posession, pure joy on his face. He would be kept out the team these days by an athlete who could follow instructions to the T and not lose the ball.
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I think this is exactly the point. Flaws, divergence, different characteristics and contrast is what makes sports in general exciting and conducive to storytelling and intrigue. It's almost like modern trainers are trying to create 100 rated players in all facets of the game, like cyborgs. Sure, it can lead to more "efficiency", but where is the contrast? This is what made football great, what sparked our imagination, the polarity of genius/error, quieter moments interspersed with moments of inspiration, creating plays and goals like threading a needle. With the rise of statistic analysis in football, and trainers and coaches encouraging players to maximize "the play that statistically leads to the highest percentage", the beauty and artistry of the game is unfortunately taking a backseat. And it's a damn shame.

Take for example a player like Valderrama.. Slow, with low work rate, at times seemed like he was walking with the ball, but with an absolutely magical right foot and awesome vision that created something out of nothing. Sócrates, an unathletic player, with his long gait and deliberate tempo, but who saw things that others didn't, orchestrated the attack beautifully and had a rocket of a shot. These flawed geniuses are what created personality and color in football, and now that's sadly gone in favor of "ultra-efficiency".

That's one of the reasons why I love watching "lesser-known" leagues. You can still find a lot of creativity and personality there.
 
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Lovely Milano derby last night, stunning atmosphere and a late game winner from the underdogs (Inter could have made it to 7 straight derby wins) probably saving Fonsecas job at Ac Milan, some weird subs by Insaghi in the second half (the whole midfield)
Great game
 
Man Utd 1-0 at home to FC Twente. Ten Hag brings on Garnacho.
Owen Hargreaves reporting at touchline overhears Ten Hag Message to Garnacho. That message was “defend defend defend”
So you bring on your flair player and tell him to defend a slender 1-0 lead at HOME instead of trying to secure the win with a other goal??
Needless to say Twente scored after that and the game ended a draw.
We deserve to be dumped out of the Europa if the message from Ten Hag is “Defend”

Edit: More garbage vs Tottenham
 
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Not a big fan of the new Champions League format..
This is the simplest explanation I could find (reading the explanatory text kinda gave me a headache haha)..
I think this new format makes each game less important, and also gives big teams an even greater chance to qualify, reducing the chance of upsets.
Why mess with a good thing? More games, more money I guess. 🤷‍♂️
I hope Libertadores doesn't go this same route..
 
This was one idea in World Football that didn't make me violently angry and I think improves the old, bland group phase, while keeping the bread and butter of the knockout stages as they are (perfect). Sure, it was difficult to figure out at first and there's not a real flow to the fixtures like we had in a four-team group phase. If I had to quibble with one thing, I think playing all these matches and having 24 of the 36 teams advance to the knockout round is a bit much (my same complaint of the 24-team Euros playing 2/3 of the matches to eliminate 1/3 of the teams).

But take a look at the table after two matchdays! Borussia Dortmund, Brest (!), Benfica and Leverkusen sit in the top 4. There's a huge log-jam in the middle that will, of course, sort itself out after more matches. It's incentivized teams to go for it because they are competing against 35 other teams, not able to look at the traditional four-team group and figure that they can get a draw away or play a heavily-rotated lineup against "weaker" opposition. The only real question most of the time in the old format was who would finish first and second in the group.

Lille beat Real Madrid and now Real sit 17th...it's a result that may prevent them from finishing in the top-8 and receiving the first bye. That result probably wouldn't have had as much of an impact before (didn't Real lose to a Moldovan team in the group stage a couple years ago, with little consequence?).
 
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