Age of the Workhorse? Cesc "More talented players are being phased out for workhorses & powerful players"

I do agree with him at least in the PL.

Hasn't it been always like this though? Workhorses will always find success in their physical capabilities, while technical players need to be smart in their plays. I don't particularly think one supersedes the other, maybe in the PL that might be the case. However, in my opinion, in the current era there's seemingly a lack of those pure technical midfielders, maybe its just me, but i see midfielders being pushed to be more defensive, not shirk their responsibilities, heck just look at Verratti who's a bit of a hopeless case when trying to defend. Compare that to the days of Pirlo/Xavi/Zidane where they didn't put a huge shift defensively, just pressure opponents. My 2 cents.

what an arrogant piece of shit.

being a "workhorse" takes Talent you moron. it takes effort, great strength of will to build a body that can endure and repeat efforts at higher intensity than the rest, week to week. Those "workhorses" dont just wake up with great physical conditions, they work at it, because developping your body takes incredible strength and dedication to control what you eat, repeat efforts consistently and to make sacrifice.

But no, enjoy your paella, your little cheese and barbecue meat like Kun, rest on your so called "talent" and we will see where that takes you.

on the bench so far i guess, oh well... i hate players that talk like that.

It's not anything new at all, Xavi said similar when Rijkaard was Barca manager ( although surprisingly considering Xavi's history i don't think it was as arrogant as Cesc sounds here.)

I don't think this is true at all, it's only that creative players are no longer allowed to simply ball watch. Off ball movement is more important than ever. The only way you can afford to be 70s lax is if you are Messi level good.

More talented players would never be "phased out". For all the sled dog and work horse and blood, sweat and tears stuff, a talented midfielder would always be preferred. Just that, quite a few of Fabregas' ilk (including him) are simply lazy. It's not like he has never played in his preferred position before (he has), he simply can't conform to what Conte wants.

There are two kinds of talented players

Group 1: Those like Messi, CR7, Hazard, Xavi, Robben etc. Players who have unreal football talent in the first place but are also willing to succeed and work for it. Guys who work hard to maintain their same level of excellency year after year. Guys who understand the concept of "team play" and make their teammates better.


Group 2: This is the group for guys like Fabregas himself and other Balotellis, Taarabts of this world. Lazy slobs who think the whole world revolves around them and are NOT willing to give the extra effort it takes to become a perennial great player.
"I have talent, so everyone should kiss my feet" ? Life doesn't work like that.


Fabregas should look at himself in the mirror instead of talking rubbish.

He is just trying to justify his (old?) laziness.

Fakenaldo unreal football talent. Unreal is the right word.

I agree with him though, modern tactics are taking skill out of the game. I blame Pep and jibers type of people.

Yeah because nobody likes workhorses more than Pep

Yes, he puts them in defence.

Mr Nick09 wrote:
being a "workhorse" takes Talent you moron. it takes effort, great strength of will to build a body that can endure and repeat efforts at higher intensity than the rest, week to week. Those "workhorses" dont just wake up with great physical conditions, they work at it, because developping your body takes incredible strength and dedication to control what you eat, repeat efforts consistently and to make sacrifice.

No.

I agree with the rest though.

It's just that the talent margins are growing thinner which allows those who work harder to get the edge on those who naturally rely more on their talent.

People point to years past and say look how much more graceful and talented and so on the players look, etc. However, players now just have less time on the ball and the skill gaps are getting smaller and smaller so hard work and dedication are becoming much more important.

Players simply have less time on the ball, so as a result what they do off the ball has even greater importance than what it once did. Yeah, a creative player might provide that decisive action when he has the ball, but at the same time he might let the team down off the ball. Most coaches prefer a player who won't let them down for 88 minutes rather than a player who sometimes does something important within 2 minutes.

That's why systems now are all about creating passing options. You don't want the donkeys to think too much on the ball, so you want to create a system that gives them options on the ball. Offensive training is all about memorizing specific sequences and movements while on the ball.

Personally, my favorite type of footballers are street footballers who are creative and think outside the box. However, if they've aren't willing to put in a shift, they have no place in today's game.

The physical side of the game matters a lot, and it's only going to be more important in the coming years.

Casciavit wrote:Players simply have less time on the ball, so as a result what they do off the ball has even greater importance than what it once did. Yeah, a creative player might provide that decisive action when he has the ball, but at the same time he might let the team down off the ball. Most coaches prefer a player who won't let them down for 88 minutes rather than a player who sometimes does something important within 2 minutes.

That's why systems now are all about creating passing options. You don't want the donkeys to think too much on the ball, so you want to create a system that gives them options on the ball. Offensive training is all about memorizing specific sequences and movements while on the ball.

Personally, my favorite type of footballers are street footballers who are creative and think outside the box. However, if they've aren't willing to put in a shift, they have no place in today's game.

The physical side of the game matters a lot, and it's only going to be more important in the coming years.

Spot on. I'll add this

PSG: Veratti, Motta
Barcelona: Iniesta, Busquets
Real Madrid: Modric, Kroos
Bayern Munich: Thiago, Alonso
Manchester City: Silva, De Bruyne, Gundogan and even add Yaya to that
Manchester United: Carrick and perhaps Pogba
Juventus: Marchisio, Pjanic
Napoli: Hamsik
Sevilla: Nasri, Vitolo


Almost all the top teams have small technical players or players that wouldn't be considered work horses. Cesc's problem is that he is tactically inflexible. I made a long post about it in a previous thread. The era of having one player burdening the team is gone. Only Messi warrants such treatment because of his abilities. Cesc can't cut off passing lanes effectively and his positioning is awful. He can only do one thing at a time so he requires a man beside him to do the dirty work. The fact that even in a team like Barcelona where Pep was having a midfield orgy, he looked out of place and got in his own teams passing lanes and even said that he can only play his game in response to criticism. Not buying what he said. Maybe in the EPL, sure but around Europe no chance, but this is nothing new, Modric was put on the wings when he first came to the EPL, Scholes was played on the wing to accommodate Sliprard and Lampard in MF The English game is about wining second balls so you can understand if they don't want diminutive players there but if you can work hard, you will get in.

But what is a workhorse ? Just look at Modric. Besides being a GOAT technically he is also the guy who runs most in our team and is very important defensively.

Cesc is a disgrace of a 29 y.o. footballer btw. He has declined so much in the last seasons that it's almost impossible to associate him with his younger self in Arsenal.

More like, creative players who think they can play at a top club without *bleep* breaking a sweat are phased out for players who aren't luxury players. Except for the absolute best of course, they can get away with being relatively lazy.