The Old Guys Are Still Getting It DONE!
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Some things to know about me.
I’m 31 years old
I’m a high school teacher
I still try to play soccer, and I also coach at my school
Anyway, I was chatting to one of my students about the boots I use (I still rock a pair of Copa Mundials, FYI - If they’re good enough for Zidane, they’re good enough for me).
Anyway, I was talking about how good the Copas are, but they have basically no support and are death for your feet/body. My student was basically saying I had no idea what I was talking about, and he never gets sore after matches.
And I quickly remembered my first dot point from before; I am 31 years old.
Fucking everything hurts.
So to see some of the old guard still smashing it in the top five European Leagues is amazing to me.
I know it can be easy to jump from prospect to prospect, constantly looking for the new thing (and to be honest, a newsletter that has scouting reports on prospects probably doesn’t help that) - but I wanted to spare some today to appreciate the old guys who are still showing those young bucks how it’s done.
Zlatan
Zlatan has been absolutely destroying it for Milan this season. Just check out these numbers compared to other forwards in the top five European leagues over the past calendar year.
He’s in the 90th percentile or above in the all of the following:
Non-penalty goals
Non-penalty expected goals
Total shots
Non-penalty expected goals + expected assists
Shot-creating actions
Passes attempted
Progressive passes
Touches in the box
Clearances
And he’s a few fractions of a percentage off being in aerials won
If you’re not impressed, you bloody should be.
There’s a lot of talk about how the Italian league’s quality isn’t as high as it used to be - and that isn’t exactly false… However, it’s still one of the best leagues in the world. You could even make the argument that it’s the second best league in the world (I don’t think I’d make that argument, but I wouldn’t laugh someone out of the room if they did).
Ibra is 39, and will hit the big 4-0 later this year. At the rate he’s going, I see no reason for him to pull the pin anytime soon.
And, he’s even back in the international fold too, being selected for Sweden’s upcoming World Cup qualifiers - he had previously retired in 2016.
Lionel Messi
Okay, let’s all move past the “Messi is past his prime”, and “Messi is having a bad season” bullshit.
While he may not be as good as he once was, when you used to be that good even a drop off still makes you probably the best player on the planet.
Messi is almost going hero-ball style this year with a clusterfuck of a Barca side around him.
Just check these counting stats - again, compared to players of similar positions around the top five European leagues over the past 365 days.
It’s no surprise that Messi’s defensive numbers aren’t much to talk about. However, there’s a few things to consider here.
I have absolutely no way to back this up with data - but this is vibe I get… I think Messi kind of dictates where opponents attack. Like, opponents want to avoid where Messi is when they attack because if they lose the ball near him it’s game over.
Even if you don’t buy into my theory, he’s been basically carrying Barca’s attack all year. Get off his case!
Messi prices have also taken a bit of a stall recently too.
Cristiano Ronaldo
I think by this stage it’s a legal requirement that a hobby article that mentions one of Messi and Ronaldo, needs to also mention the other.
Here's how the other half of the GOAT combo stacks up this season.
Juve have had a disappointing season, by their lofty standards - and a lot of that is put on Ronaldo’s shoulders.
However, those numbers are still very, very good. Especially those scoring numbers - Ronaldo is often mentioned as someone that gets aided by his penalty numbers… While that isn’t a lie - 0.66 non penalty goals per 90 minutes is absolutely crazy-good.
Robert Lewandowski
Lewandowski’s numbers this season are at the level, where you check them and think the website is broken.
He’s basically a fucking cheat code these days.
Just look at his non-penalty goals per 90 minutes… 0.97. That’s basically a goal a game without penalties.
Now, Lewa has been performing above xG for so long that we don’t really think it’s a fluke - but even if he did perform at xG over the last year, that 0.75 non-penalty xG per match is elite.
I don’t know if it’s because he’s in Germany and scoring a lot of goals for Bayern is par for the course - or if it’s because he plays for a national team that don’t look like challenging for anything - But I think he’s still so underrated when it comes to the all-time great strikers debate.
Over his career, in all club competitions, he’s scored at a rate of 0.83 goals per 90 minutes.
He deserves to be remembered as an all-time great striker.
Karim Benzema
Speaking of underrated strikers - Benzema is a 4-time Champions League winner, and a 3-time French player of the year.
He’s be a World Cup winner too if he was selected in the 2018 squad - I won’t go into Benzema’s history with the French National Team too much here.
And I also won’t mention that he is currently charged with helping use a stolen sex tape to try and extort money from a National Team teammate.
What I will say is that he does seem like a bit of a prick - and if you can win a World Cup without bringing the guy who seems like a bit of a prick, you probably do it.
Regardless, he has had a very underrated career and will be a massive loss for Real Madrid when he eventually does go.
As you can see, Benzema contributes at a high level in pretty much every major attacking statistic.
Benzema looks set for his third consecutive 20-goal domestic season, which would be a great achievement considering a lot of people considered him washed a few seasons ago after a poor return in the 2018-19 season.
It’s going to be interesting to see how Benzema is remembered, but he was a wonderkid that ended up scoring hundreds of goals for Real Madrid… Can’t expect more than that.
Final Thoughts
These five guys must have found the fountain of youth, because they’re still getting it done well into their thirties.
However, there’s a lot more than these guys who are performing in the twilight of their careers.
Part of me thinks, with advanced technology and knowledge, we might see more and more of this going forward. Just think about LeBron and Tom Brady - another two guys that are arguably the best at their sport well into their career.
What do you think? Let me know by commenting below, or reaching out on Instagram @SoccerCardsRock.
Also, make sure you share this article with someone else in the hobby.