Footballers today are fitter, faster, stronger and generally more skillful, but are seriously lacking in character.
But the pitches and balls help a lot.
Best, Marsh, Bowles, Curry, Worthington, Hoddle etc had it all despite being kicked all game, every game.
Imagine how good they'd be on today's pitches
Clarke initially brought professionalism to Barnsley and that was all that was needed to make a difference.
When he added skill & flair to the squad we never looked back.
Now every team has that professionalism and organisation, too much in fact.
All the time wasting, play acting, diving and feigning injury have ruined it for me.
Even with VAR they refuse to penalise blatant cheating.
Modern fans accept it and don't see anything wrong with it.
They scream for cards for good honest challenges and shout for penalties every time someone falls over.
Even hard men like Souness & Keane see fouls that don't exist sometimes.