reminds me of the old jeremy beadle joke about him having a big penis but on the other hand it’s quite small
Why aren't certain countries producing top class players anymore?
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Also cheap contraception. Win-win.
Is this the best era of Scandinavian football ever in terms of attacking talent? Isak and Haaland are arguably in top 3 centre-forwards in the world and you also have Gyokeres, Odegaard and some great up-and-coming talents it seems. They are doing something right.
You're probably right.
For Sweden though, I think Zlatan, Henrik and Freddie, around 2002-2006, were better than Isak, Gyökeres and Kulusevski.
At the same time Norway had Carew, Solskjaer and Flo.
Denmark had Tomasson up front.
So again, you might be right about Scandinavia as a whole, but Sweden had better attackers before.
Yeah, that’s what I meant.
Have to say, Carew was underrated - he was so effective at his best. And Henrik Larsson was one of my favorite players of that era.
Yes, it probably is. We have Haaland, Sørloth and Strand Larsen as our 3 strikers.
Ødegaard, Nusa, Bobb and Schjeldrup.
And the talents just keeps emerging.
Nypan (18) moved to City, Walle Egeli (19) just became the most expensive signing in the Championship, 25 mill to Ipswich.
Loads of countries and clubs have been visiting Norway to see why we continue to produce these technical types of players.
We desperately need a GK and a top CB. If we get that then this national team could go places.
I'm a bit disappointed that you listed Gyokeres though. 😉
I just know when I was a kid, pretty much everyone I knew played footy in a league for some sort of amateur thingy. The Liverpool league had ten divisions in the south end alone, I've just had a look and it's not the south and north merged and there are four divisions. I'm guessing it's the same in Scotland and Ireland.
There's just more shit to do now. Also, when Liverpool were getting most of their talent from Scotland and Ireland, many African countries were a way behind in terms of organised kids football etc. Now they're not. So the playing field has been levelled, and it's a numbers game. Scotland and Ireland are both about the population size of as if Liverpool and Manchester joined together and became a republic. 5 million. There's 1.5 billion people in Africa, so 300 times more people. If we're talking 18 year olds it's probably double that. Hardly a surprise that there are now better kids coming through systems that are now developed.
There's just more shit to do now. Also, when Liverpool were getting most of their talent from Scotland and Ireland, many African countries were a way behind in terms of organised kids football etc. Now they're not. So the playing field has been levelled, and it's a numbers game. Scotland and Ireland are both about the population size of as if Liverpool and Manchester joined together and became a republic. 5 million. There's 1.5 billion people in Africa, so 300 times more people. If we're talking 18 year olds it's probably double that. Hardly a surprise that there are now better kids coming through systems that are now developed.
England still produces as many great footballers as it ever did though, maybe more. The population's grown a bit but not by THAT much.
It could be that Scotland didn't so much used to produce lots of great players but lots of FAMOUS players, who were famous because they played for big English clubs. But now our league is about 10x stronger they can't do that anymore. Yeah Scotland used to qualify for tournaments but they were always still terrible once they got there. Maybe the reason they don't do that as much now is more due to the growth in other countries.
It could be that Scotland didn't so much used to produce lots of great players but lots of FAMOUS players, who were famous because they played for big English clubs. But now our league is about 10x stronger they can't do that anymore. Yeah Scotland used to qualify for tournaments but they were always still terrible once they got there. Maybe the reason they don't do that as much now is more due to the growth in other countries.
Yeah I think they've definitely declined but trying to compare the two eras is tricky because the leagues have changed so much.
3 or 4 top class players then and none now is probably fairly normal fluctuation. It'd be whether that pool beneath them has genuinely weakened or not.
3 or 4 top class players then and none now is probably fairly normal fluctuation. It'd be whether that pool beneath them has genuinely weakened or not.
Also its much easier (and aligned with performance incentives) for academies to recruit youngsters from across the globe versus running local trials and taking in the best of local talent.
When I was a kid I was part of a club that sent all of the players our age (i think around 8 - 10 years old) to an open trials that was run by Southampton (and I grew up 35 miles away). I can't imagine they do that on such a scale any more and invest more in international scouts and academies etc.
When I was a kid I was part of a club that sent all of the players our age (i think around 8 - 10 years old) to an open trials that was run by Southampton (and I grew up 35 miles away). I can't imagine they do that on such a scale any more and invest more in international scouts and academies etc.
How does that work, though? You have 3 similar strikers. Do you play 4-4-2?
4-3-3 with Sørloth out wide right and Nusa left. Ødegaard in a similar role to what he plays for Arsenal.
Have to be said that Sander Berge also has developed into a top top player these last few seasons.
Can we not say that for a lot of countries nowadays?
Uruguay - strikers galore a generation ago - now?
Chile - anything really since the days of Sanchez/Vidal?
Turkey - used to produce studs - nothing really now.
The African giants don't do it either much anymore ... Nigeria ... Ghana ...
Uruguay - strikers galore a generation ago - now?
Chile - anything really since the days of Sanchez/Vidal?
Turkey - used to produce studs - nothing really now.
The African giants don't do it either much anymore ... Nigeria ... Ghana ...
I don't agree about Turkey now that they've got Arda and Yilmaz.
The reason I brought up the "Home nations" and Ireland is because they traditionally used to have a large presence in the Prem.
Actually Roy Keane was talking about it on the overlap today. He was very critical of the FAI.
Can Uzun looks a proper talent
