Tangled up in Blue
Certified Senior Citizen⭐
Ibrahimovic is 39
I last saw him play for PSG (at Montpellier) before his move to MU a few years ago.Even then Cavani looked the better player.Younger,fitter and and not strutting around so much.
Ibrahimovic is 39
Spot on here
Ricky looks as fit as a flea in the picture but will be 34 in June and there is a clear loss in physical performance in players over 30. A study of 10,759 in La Liga found 2% less distance covered, less high intensity sprints or efforts and maximum speed decreased, across all positions.
Sports Science however has helped increase longevity in the game by close to two years over the past 2 decades due to better nutrition, physio, knowledge and training techniques
The deterioration though is much more dramatic in plus 35 year olds ,losing at worst up to 30% capacity
The good news and I hope for Ricky, is the evidence that players over 30 are better tactically and technically than their younger counterparts. There percentage passes is 3 to 5% better. Their decision making and game intelligence was found to be higher than younger players as well as co-ordinaton of movement within a game. They can apparently improve with less training due to brain and physical experience
The studies I've seen show attackers' performances start to drop off from about the age of 26 and then a dramatic decrease after the age of 30 and then fall off a cliff at about age 35.
Besides the fall in sprints and distances covered, this can also be seen in the number of shots taken and the number of successful dribbles. Players generally counter this by dropping deeper and playing a more creative role but the number of assists falls off after the age of 28.
The way the age decline goes is winger first, central attacking midfielder, full-back, central midfielder, forward, centre-back, keeper last.
Of course there are exceptions and outliers.
One area I'd like to see more studies into is aside from the physical degradation is whether players become more conservative in their decision making - less likely to try something that may go wrong so they'd be criticised for making a mistake or have to chase after the ball.
Find me a better player then ricky holmes in league 1 and 2?
To be fair he didn't do much last weekendWes Hoolahan still tearing up this division at 38
Clearly Zlatan isn't human... If I'm ever asked whether I think aliens walk among us, I'm pointing straight to him.
This is the case with C. Ronaldo, for most of his career he played as a winger that would look to take on players at every opportunity but his age means that it isn't viable for him to play there these days so he's converted himself into a target man..
One area I'd like to see more studies into is aside from the physical degradation is whether players become more conservative in their decision making - less likely to try something that may go wrong so they'd be criticised for making a mistake or have to chase after the ball.
The studies I've seen show attackers' performances start to drop off from about the age of 26 and then a dramatic decrease after the age of 30 and then fall off a cliff at about age 35.
Besides the fall in sprints and distances covered, this can also be seen in the number of shots taken and the number of successful dribbles. Players generally counter this by dropping deeper and playing a more creative role but the number of assists falls off after the age of 28.
The way the age decline goes is winger first, central attacking midfielder, full-back, central midfielder, forward, centre-back, keeper last.
Of course there are exceptions and outliers.
One area I'd like to see more studies into is aside from the physical degradation is whether players become more conservative in their decision making - less likely to try something that may go wrong so they'd be criticised for making a mistake or have to chase after the ball.
Was decent for us up until he wasnt! He seemed to struggle for us in league 1 and looked a little out of his depth! Hes definitely turned it around at afc but I dont think he has the quality of ricky.How about Joe Piggot? Remember him? 13 goals and 4 assists from 25 games for AFC Wimbledon this season, in League One of course. He'd be pretty useful in League Two....
Was decent for us up until he wasnt! He seemed to struggle for us in league 1 and looked a little out of his depth! Hes definitely turned it around at afc but I dont think he has the quality of ricky.
Yes Depends so much on the character and motivation.Age is dependent on the player , yes the odds go down if it working the older they get, but there are enough exceptions through history.
Ballon d’or sir Stanley Mathews 41 years old
Not last Saturday he wasn't.Wes Hoolahan still tearing up this division at 38
Looking forward to getting back to South Upper and watching this lad fire some in. Thinking also how dangerous we will be now with free kicks from both ends of box. UTB