31 Oct 2025 11:00:54
Football is really regressing back to the 70s, teams are now stopping this playing out from the back as much, simply because they can't and the well drilled press was creating mistakes and goals, but now everyone is going back to the big long ball unto the box, pulling, blocking and shoving. The big strong tall fast players are back in demand. We have come full circle.
VAR and refs don't know what to do, Arsenal have been getting away with these well worked fouls in the box for 2 season s now and every else is copying the plan because refs weren't strong enough to stop it last season. The beautiful game is now slow possession outside the box, look for a cheap free kick, corner or touch and pump the ball into the box.
31 Oct 2025 13:01:48
I don’t think football is regressing, I think it just continues to evolve in response to dominant trends — when one style becomes widespread, opponents adapt by exploiting its weaknesses. Because teams have adopted high pressing and possession-based systems, this has opened space behind defensive lines, making longer balls and direct transitions more effective again.
There maybe a time in the near future when we see 2 strikers up front again and out and out wingers. A right footer on the right and a left footer on the left.
31 Oct 2025 19:15:52
I agree ports. I do agree with some of redcons points also .
Put that great Barcelona team into the epl today and they would still walk away with it imo playing their style.
City had a similar style initially under pep not for 1 moment suggesting they were like his Barcelona team BTW.
Brazil won a world cup in 70 with that style.
The trouble with trying to emulate that style with inferior players is that they can't do it as well and get caught with a high press.
Imo its not gone back to the Jack Charlton or Wimbledon style or anything close to it. Maybe partly because the tackling and physicality allowed now is night and day from those times.
As ports says the game evolves continually. The laws also evolve so the coaches need to adapt all the time. i'm sure even the intro of VAR has made players think and act differently.
31 Oct 2025 19:24:06
Soon it may regress to the point you can actually tackle a player again and not penalised for breathing on them.
31 Oct 2025 21:09:07
That’s the thing for me, Keefy. There’s a big difference between long balls/ long throws/ sneaky fouls in the box, and the war zone of 70s football. The sheer amount of physicality allowed up until the EPL era makes it completely different to today.
You see Haaland bullying defenders, back in the 70s he would battered and the refs wouldn’t say a word. I don’t ever see the game going back to that, more that teams have started to realise that playing in a more direct way can actually be more effective than trying to play out from the back against a high press.
01 Nov 2025 02:34:22
Watched a classic 90s game of utd away at Wimbledon a while back. They were assaulting us at every opportunity. It is wild to watch even 90s era back now.
01 Nov 2025 09:57:19
Football goes in cycles, Pep brought a very possession dominant style of play that suffocate the opposition, to counter that we saw teams deploying a box midfield to crowd out the middle and teams looking to press higher to avoid being under pressure on the edge of their box, to counter that teams started playing over the press, Arsenal have moved to a very defensive compact style with an emphasis on set pieces to avoid those balls over the top.
Football keeps changing, no point trying to fight it, just adapt with it so you can remain successful.