wco81 wrote:Modric and Pirlo were pretty effective into their 30s. Messi too obviously.
But were they making big runs at that stage? Were they ever those kinds of players like Messi was in his youth where he'd beat several defenders in making those long runs along the wing?
Instead, they can make these pinpoint passes into the box or move the ball to the right player to lead to great scoring chances.
As well as accuracy in set pieces.
Seems like the sport has changed, now with more aggressive pressing, with defenders getting better at pressing and taking strategic fouls to prevent runs, the game now is to make quick, accurate passes.
Every team is now doing some version of tika taka? Will we ever see players making iconic runs like Maradona again? Even if there are players with potential for that kind of individual brilliance, they're being coached to play within the system, move the ball up with high-percentage passes and for those with great technical precision, they make the wow passes.
In that Beckham documentary, they showed Beckham having room and time often for making long passes or even that goal he scored from almost mid pitch. You wouldn't see that in the PL now or as frequently, because they press all over the pitch and if there are players who are brilliant with the ball, then they're often doubled and tripled.
The discussion began talking about ballon dor / FIFA player of the year winners, and I felt Modric had a good shot during Croatia's wc final run, despite them having other star players. Of course, Messi and Ronaldo, being who they are, won all these awards over the years--and any complaints against it are futile...with the exception of course of this most recent one, as Messi was subpar for PSG and then went to the MLS.
There's no real need to compare Modric/Pirlo to Messi, as they are deep lying playmakers.
I do think there's a role for these types of players, there just hasn't really been any who are as good as they are. Lobotka on Napoli played the role brilliantly last season under Spalletti, and they won the scudetto. Locatelli is doing it for Juve this season, but he simply isn't as good as Pirlo or Modric were. Of course, I do agree that these positions are more likely to be utilized in Spain and Italy than England.