Defenders were better in my day

[Reg of the Rovers]

I know it's a debate we've had on here before, with some broad disagreement I think, whether football is better quality now or back in the day - but Rooney re-stoked the fire suggesting the defenders he played against were better than the defenders nowadays:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/articles/c0q7yz75490o

Different game back then for me, more about strength than speed as you could make a big tackle and throw your body on the line - the John Terry style, but now defenders are build like racing snakes - van de Ven, Saliba etc and it's more about skill and pace.

The favourite 11 threads on here have rekindled the debate for me, so interested in others' thoughts?

[keith79]

Could you see tony Adams playing a 60 yard  pass to Henry feet

[Stocksbridge Owl]

It's a really interesting point. I'm not sure that defenders were better back then, rather they were just different as the game is different.

30 years ago a central defender such as Des Walker was a real rarity who went against the grain. He wasn't especially strong, but he was quick with a fantastic timing to make a tackle and read the game better than any other defender that I've seen since.

Going back even further, Bobby Moore was quite similar. The way he used to time his tackles to perfection was second to none.

[Fal]

The defenders were better back then because they didnt have the same rules to abide by nor VAR to worry about, Vinny Jones and others used to really take players out and didnt even get a yellow. These days you get a yellow for the smallest thing depending of the ref.

[welloffside]

Stocksbridge,

                 Bobby Moore once commented  "If I have to make a tackle I've made a mistake"

      Or words to that effect

[selby]

 I was once in Don Revies company years ago, and he stated if Bobby Moore was the best centre half in the first division at the time he wouldn't have played most of his career at West Ham.
  And my thoughts are that if Peter Swan and Tony Kay had not got involved in the betting scam, with especially Tony Kay he would not have played as many games for England.
  Was he really more important to the team than Styles and Charlton, it was those two and Wilson and Banks who were the defensive strong points against the better sides. They were immaculate against star players every game in the World Cup.
  Jack Charlton wrote in his book that Ramsey had him in when he was first picked and said to him " you might think I think you are the best centre half in England, as a matter of fact I don't think you are in the top six but you can do a job for me, the minute you don't you will be out" and that's the art, putting eleven players on the field that complement each other.

[selby]

 Keith79 only about 1in4  50 yard passes reach where they are intended and quite a few have ended up in the wrong intended onion bag the last few seasons. 

[drfcsteve]

The defenders were better back then because they didnt have the same rules to abide by nor VAR to worry about, Vinny Jones and others used to really take players out and didnt even get a yellow. These days you get a yellow for the smallest thing depending of the ref.

If you’re making that point surely that mean defenders now are better, if they have to defend within stricter rules and can’t just “take players out” if they get in to trouble?

[ForsolongaRover]

The defenders were better back then because they didnt have the same rules to abide by nor VAR to worry about, Vinny Jones and others used to really take players out and didnt even get a yellow. These days you get a yellow for the smallest thing depending of the ref.

If you’re making that point surely that mean defenders now are better, if they have to defend within stricter rules and can’t just “take players out” if they get in to trouble?

I'm always surprised even after watching a game how few tackles are statistically recorded. The "Dribble" was the one-on-one method for a player to deal with a defender who challenged him. My recollection is that wingers, players like Stanley Matthews, would undertake   numerous attempts to beat a full back every match, not just one or two and the successful winger would beat his man by wrong footing him more often than not.

Then there was the transitional era of Norman Hunter and Co which was probably the crudest time coinciding with the big money coming.

My impression nowadays is that compared with the 40s and 50s, it is less of an individual game, players are more mobile. It used to be Centre half v Centre Forward and Full Back v Winger, but now the action is crowded, players combine to win and keep the ball with more close passing and less one-on-one; corners used to be Backs vs Forwards. Yes, tackles were less sophisticated back then, but the injuries did not appear to be worse, perhaps because the game was much slower.

Modern standards of discipline suit modern players and the modern game.

[sedwardsdrfc]

Aren’t defenders just asked to do a lot more now. In the old days you could just be a spoiler type and the game was about getting the better of your forward and not much more.

Now you have keepers playing daft passes to you in the box and a big clearance towards the corner for the striker to chase won’t cut it.

So defenders now can be made to look a bit weak/daft. But ask some of the old defenders to do the same and they’d melt. I would back modern centre half’s to be very good if asked to limit their game.

[drfchound]

One of my best mates is a former pro CB with a long career and hundreds of league games played.
He said he used to get applauded simply for booting the ball away and into the stand.

[idler]

Anyone who saw Dave Blakey play centre half for Chesterfield in the late 50s early 60s would wonder what he was doing on a football field.  One tactic, kick it as far forward as possible.

[DonnyNoel]

Rooney was a fantastic player and also paradoxically underrated but some of his opinons are just lazy shit that the BBC seem to be happy to use as clickbait. He knows his race is run as a manager so needs to get in as a pundit. Can't do that with any decent level of tactical analysis so alternates between this and Amorim criticism.

Defenders were always better at defending the further back you go because a) it was their sole role and b) kicking people up in the air was fine. Football evolves every 5 years so whilst it makes for fascinating discussions (eg the favourite/best players threads) it makes sweeping statements likte that a bit hard to take seriously.

[Usher wide.]

Wayne Roomey’s best position now would be as a doorman in a Sports Bar.

[selby]

  Alexander Arnold as a defender must be the poorest ever to pull on an England shirt.
  There is not a top side in Europe that defensively don't see him as a weakness to attack when in possession.