Modern training methods and tactical rigor have greatly affected football and lost the fun side that fans of the world's number one popular game look for.
In an article for the British newspaper "Financial Times" (FT), writer Janan Ganesh sees that football has changed drastically nearly 10 years ago, with matches turning into mere static running scenes and repetitive, soulless offensive maneuvers.
The writer says that one of the clearest examples of the control of the tactical aspects of beautiful play is the match in which Guardiola - when he was coach of Barcelona - removed the French star Thierry Henry from the field, because he violated his instructions and did not adhere to the tactical drawing, although he had scored a goal. in that match.
How has football changed?
According to the author, the aesthetics of football depends mainly on the creativity of the players and their improvisational movements, and some chaos on the field, but everything has become meticulously drawn until the appearance of the players has become completely different, most of them were very skinny, but the current players have become macho, even those who They need to run a lot on the field, like right and left backs, and players in professional clubs spend many hours in the gym.
Despite his admiration for the American character that dominated the sport of football, that is, the complete reliance on data, statistics and accurate analysis, the writer wonders whether these developments will lead to an impact on the essence of the game and make it more like athletics?
The writer adds that many football fans yearn for the beautiful nature of the matches in the past, and they certainly admired skilled players in Euro 2020 who remind them of the past, such as the rising Spanish star Pedri, the youngest player in the history of the competition, and the Dutchman, Frenkie de Jong.
As he put it, the fans still love "lazy" stars such as George Best and Ronaldinho, and Italy - despite its historically uninteresting footballing nature - still glorifies its talented star Roberto Baggio.
Among the few players in the last Euro, who belong to the ball of the beautiful time - according to the writer - Belgian Kevin De Bruyne, who has the skill of possession of the ball, positioning in the appropriate position and shooting accurately towards the goal.