SEE YOU! A brand spanking new modern fitba thread 2021/22

Yeah Gazza was a genius footballer but as thick as pig shit off the pitch, regardless of his addictions. Not in a mean-spirited way (with the exception of the domestic abuse obviously), but he was really stupid. Childlike is the best description.

 

I knew what you meant. I simply asked because they were both midfielders.

 

Best soccer game I ever played?

This:-

 

Yeah, Best was better I'd say but their talents and funnily enough their career trajectories are absolutely comparable as they both shone bright and burned out quickly because of alcoholism.

 

That FA CUP final.... What were Spurs thinking?

 

I will forever wonder how different Gascoigne's life would have turned out if he'd put this away. If he scores, England are in a major final for the first time since the World Cup win, we probably win the final and all the glory that comes with it, his potential is realised, things might have changed for him. Maybe not, but I'll always wonder...

It's crazy sometimes how life can change direction and pivot on (in this case) mere inches.

 

I think like so many things history and marketing have a ton do with it. What's weird is how little action there actually is.

 

As an average height dude (5'10) I'm loving the fact that so many average height and short guys in football are dominant.

Messi only 5'7. Maradona only 5'5. Pele only 5'8.

Thats unheard of over here. America's two greatest current athletes, LeBron and Tom Brady, are 6'8 and 6'4.

It's a very welcome change!

 

He was offside anyway.

 

Off topic but in bball i find it funny how if a guy is 6'11 he's not a true center. He's more of a power forward that can play the position.

One more inch? "Proper Center". wtf

 

There is no more center position, tbh.

Every fuckin NBA player is a perimeter player now. Theres a few outliers, but not many.

I hate it. I so miss the days you had guys like Jordan dominating the perimeter, and Hakeem the Dream dominating inside. In other words, BALANCE!

 

Yeah it's a good point, I always liked watching the Barcelona-Chelsea matches in the 2000s because it pitted the small but obscenely talented and skilled Barca players against the well-organised, powerful and a lot of the time brutal (but also skilled in their own right) Chelsea players. I hate both clubs but it made for a great clash of styles and they had some classic tussles over the years.

 

In regards to the NBA the only small guy I remember is that Bogues guy (I think that's his name?). Steph Curry to my eyes seems fairly small too by NBA standards but would probably still be considered tall next to the average bloke.

 

Latest guy I watched a short doc on, Francesco Totti. He was a class Ital.

 

Yeah, Bogues remains the shortest guy in NBA history. He was 5'3. Decent player, but nothing more.

Curry is 6'3, which is about average for a modern day point guard. You go back 25-30 years, and the average point guard was closer to 6'1.

The last truly great small guard the NBA had, and still has, is Chris Paul, who's 6'0.

 

It's crazy how both Spain and Barca were so good at defending corners. You would figure that would be a big weakness but nobody ever really seemed to be able to exploit it.

 

Loyal too, I can respect that. People give shit to Shearer and Batistuta for not joining "bigger" clubs where they could have won more trophies, but as Batistuta said "winning one trophy with Fiorentina would mean so much more than winning ten with Juventus". I like that, Shearer and Batistuta ultimately failed but I can totally understand the sentiment.

 

Curry's 6"3?? That's crazy, I was sure he was shorter than that.

 

I posted this image here a long time ago.



I wish there were more like him.

 

It's true, good point. I only remember the Terry header against them in the 4-2 win (where Ronaldinho scored a beauty), and even then it was only because one of the Chelsea players grabbed on to Victor Valdez so he couldn't dive for the ball (in true scummy Chelsea fashion).

 

Nope, he just appears short because he's up against giants .

Curry isn't a true point guard anyway. He's a point guard-shooting guard hybrid... they alllll are.

The pure point guard died out in the 90s with guys like John Stockton.

 

I was gonna say, the other players must be fuckin gigantic

 

Even though North American sports have a draft system and salary caps to attempt some form of parity free agency is what in a lot of cases screws the smaller franchises. A free agent is going to pick a big team in a more glamourous city nearly ever time given the option. So you have teams out there that will meet salary demands but players won't even consider them.

 

Point guards are traditionally like 6-6'3. Some have been bigger, and the very best big point guard was farrrrrrrr and away Magic Johnson, who was 6'9.

The best way I could compare positions for you is... shooting guards are strikers. Their primary objective is to score, with some playmaking mixed in.

Point guards are attacking midfielders, as they run the offense, and also score as needed.

 

They are. It's insane.

Look at The Rock standing next to two ex NBA players.

 

The Rock must be a lot shorter than advertised. I thought he was 6'4. Barkley is like 6'5, but he looks like 6 inches taller.

 

Nice one, that makes sense. Those heights are mental to me, it's crazy someone can be that tall in such a creative position and yet still be so athletic. The tallest guy I can remember seeing in football (who was actually good) was Peter Crouch who was around 6"6/6"7 but he was an anomaly.

 

I'm guessing its because a lower center of gravity makes it easier to control and dribble the ball.

A 6'9 footballer would probably be clumsy as fuck.

 

And he was scrawny and gangly looking unlike most NBA players. One exception would be Shawn Bradley who always looked weird and uncoordinated. Then you have to realize the dude wasn't 6'6, but 7'6.

 

Pretty much. Generally speaking the tallest football players are goalkeepers for obvious reasons.