22 Oct 2026 17:56:39
More s question for ed1, or others. Saw u say other day that there went very many left back or right back options and then something similar for forward players. Now united look like they may require a new manager, but again, to me the potential options available seem very underwhelming.
So question is, what's happened to football were everything has gone a bit rubbish?
{Ed001's Note - overcoaching of kids is the biggest issue, they no longer just play footie, they have to be 'organised', and they coach out the brains and flair. Modern managers mostly want players to follow instructions, with little room for them to use their own initiative.}
23 Oct 2026 08:45:07
Who would win a team of gazzas vs a team of declan rices.
23 Oct 2026 08:50:40
Out of a team of Gazzas maybe 7 of them would be sober enough to play. And at least one would be looking for Raoul Moat with chicken and lager.
{Ed025's Note - love it Flash..
23 Oct 2026 09:39:16
Mac Allister insinuated something similar the other night. Having to think too much instead instead of being able to play within tactical bounds is stifling all round.
23 Oct 2026 10:13:02
To be fair that's what Fernandes said a couple of days ago and he has been called a lot of names by a lot of people. IMO, he was being honest and isn't wrong.
23 Oct 2026 10:43:04
Ed, me and my physical therapist (ex. academy product at Union St. Gilleoise here in Brussels) and I were talijkng about this during our session and he said that there are no former "street ballers" in football anymore.
That flair, panache, maverick-type qualities are being coached out of youngsters now that the likes of R9, ZZ, Ronaldinho, Neymar who were street ballers before going professional, are no longer available because those qualities are now being ignored or being coached out it them.
Or better yet, such players are just being jettisoned as youngsters.
23 Oct 2026 11:10:57
The irony is most of these modern managers are control freaks and obsessed with everyone following their instructions, yet now Pep and Klopp have left domestic football. Not one of the others have achieved anything great. They're all a bunch of NPCs obsessed with mediocrity, on a constant merry go round of being sacked by clubs wanting to move in a different direction - only to find out their current manager is no different to the previous one
This is why I like Iraola, he doesn't fall into that bracket.
23 Oct 2026 12:49:35
I implied in another thread that a lot of managers wouldn't be there were it not for the protectionist policies of FIFA or whoever requiring silly, exclusive licenses in order to coach a pro team. No one will ever convince me that the likes of Michael Carrick, Russell Martin, Roberto Martinez etc are any better than coaches looking after amateur teams - they were simply better players, are better connected, and now float from job to job, achieving absolutely nothing while the overall standard and organization of football gets worse and worse.
As for players, kids shouldn't be in academies - they should be learning to play football with their friends and making memories, and what works and what doesn't. No one ever became Maradona because they listened to a coach like Guardiola - they simply became a worse version of it.
23 Oct 2026 14:50:30
Roberto Martinez has the impressive honour of wasting not 1 but 2 country's golden generations, not to mention he started the wheels in motion in turning the best Everton team of my lifetime into relegation battlers. If you're looking to award the manager for being pound-for-pound worst of all time he has to be up there
Other managers (De Boer, John Carver etc) have had worse stints. But nobody matches Martinez' longevity of utter garbage. Almost impressive ability to consistently turn wine into water.
23 Oct 2026 17:33:24
Well said Ed001, spot on, too many wannabe Guardiolas at youth level who care more about their own merits than actually developing these kids and nurturing their natural abilities.
23 Oct 2026 22:39:46
Mancini, Martinez is the world's greatest spoofer.
Bar has nothing on him in this regard. not in the slightest.
Also, Martinez is the ultimate poster boy for the popular line, "Fake it till you make it".
Must be great at taking interviews.