Comments on: Today’s Superstars and the Age of Maturity

By: sss866

sss866 — Wed, 06 Aug 2008 13:09:10 +0000

if you still have the will and the passion to keep going then you can play well into your thirties albeit you will need to adapt your game slightly. gary Mac and Henrik Larson are prime examples of this

By: Arsenal

Arsenal — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 02:15:40 +0000

Ronaldinho seems to decline faster then i thought. I mean at 28, he is almost done, while Beckham (abt 5 years older) had just past his peaked and then United sold him.

What could you expect? Footballers (or flair players) careers are short(most of the time) and when you lightweight and up against tough defenders, you never know when your skills have reached its peak or career would end (Cisse and maybe Eduardo), so when they give their best shot in one season (Flamini, CRonaldo) they want to move on for better wages (new club or not) and lifestyle. And players themselves know they can never repeat that same performance they just did in a season.

Wonder if his skills can unlock Serie A’s defence, like picking a lock.

By: Lewis

Lewis — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 18:04:59 +0000

Luca Toni is 31 and Henrik Larson is a forward that relied on speed well into his 30(s). Still, I think the general premise is correct. I suspect the key factors to overcoming a short career as a “flair” attacking player are discipline to maintain one’s physical condition, adapablity to change your game to suit tactics and your physical limitations, and luck with injuries.

By: Richard

Richard — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 16:01:53 +0000

I thought it was “Form is temporary, class is permanent”.

By: Mads United USA

Mads United USA — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 15:27:27 +0000

Giggs and Scholes are still great, but only because we expect less of them now, whereas Ronaldo (the Brazilian) still carry the expectations of past glory on his weak knees…

A t-shirt once told me: “Success comes and goes but class is permanent!” (football class NOT personal class)

By: Mads United USA

Mads United USA — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 15:24:48 +0000

I think it has more to do with the media’s and people’s expectations.

If Ronaldo next season “only” has 20 goals and gets to the semi-final of CL, is that proof that he is going down-hill or that your expectations are too great?

I claim the latter!

By: giramondu

giramondu — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 14:49:48 +0000

like is said in the article a top player’s career depends much on luck (no injuries, good teams to claim victories and media attention) and also in the abbility to manage media pressure (from WAGS to gossips and paparazzi’s). there’s no special theory to analyse this, from player to player the story is different.
anyway, i believe the mentality of a young player at 18 / 19 / 20 years of age is a strong signal to preview its career. That’s why i believe CR7 will be indoubtedly a truly great player for the next 7 / 8 years. It’s not the pace or the skill, but the way he faces all challenges put to him. For example, every minute last season people were saying Messi was better than him. So what does he do? He wants to move to Spain and fight Messi in his homeground… a new challenge, a new motivation for him to keep him playing better and better… and what else, near the best players (Messi and Henry, Xavi and Sneijder) in the world to learn more and more ?

By: Manager

Manager — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 12:59:59 +0000

Zidane peaked at some where near 28 when he was at still Juventus in 2000. Figo too when at Barca.

In my opinion, these “superstars” who leave the club that made them a superstar will never get back to what they were when they were “brought up”. But the best situation is stay at your club you were brought up in. It is like an orphaned kid, who was brought up, and because u became famous, u decide to join a royal family(even paying the cost of the family buying you over – think buying out contract) and when in their family, u dont know what they expect and worse they dont train you but just show u off.

I know it isnt the best example but very applicable to see the seriousness of it.

But for Rooney, i think there might still be some improvement left in him. He isnt in the “superstar” catergory yet!

By: Gary Andrews

Gary Andrews — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 12:11:52 +0000

It’s an interesting one. Most young superstars in recent years do seem to have tailed off towards the end of their careers while the late develoeprs who’ve not been playing at a high level from an early age can keep going well into their 30s. Shearer and Sheringham were definitely not subjected to the same hype or regular games when they were at the same age Rooney was.

Fowler, while still capable of flashes of brilliance, has been a shadow of his former self for many years.

I’m actually struggling to think of a top level footballer in the Premiership off the top of my head (awaits to be swiftly corrected) who’s as good now as when they were a teenage sensation. Joe Cole possibly…

By: Richard

Richard — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 12:03:06 +0000

In order to find the age where footballers reach their “peak”, we should consider the ages of the best footballers in the world. Looking at the Ballon D’Or award for the last 5 years and their respective age at the time:
2003 – Pavel Nedved (31).
2004 – Andriy Shevchenko (28).
2005 – Ronaldinho (25).
2006 – Fabio Cannavaro (33).
2007 – Kaka (25).
we see that the ages match what is already believed. Defenders early 30’s, and midfielders and forwards have a larger range depending on their type of play and can peak as early as 25 or even as late as 31.

The decrease in performance after their peak is the contentious issue here, as some decrease in ability faster than others. BUT as these superstar players have such a high peak, their decline in ability will mean they take a good few years before they reach the level of everyone else. And yet of course, the greatest players have the ability to alter their game as they got older, Ryan Giggs springs to mind.

To be honest, I don’t think Ronaldo, Michael Owen, Nicholas Anelka, Ronaldinho are good examples of a so called crash in ability after their “peak”. Ronaldo was best player in the world at 21 and then again in 26. Owen has still got the ability to score goals, if he manages to stay fit. Anelka’s attitude may be questionable but his talent was apparent enough at Bolton for Chelsea to splash the cash. Ronaldinho has had one off-season last year, and will need another bad season to be considered rubbish. I think the only difference between their performances now and before is media portrayal. Media hype decreases with age as they become old news, but that doesn’t meant their ability decreases just as fast.