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Time — don't judge it, just enjoy it
Author: Isaque Argolo | Creation Date: 2022-12-14 14:32:46
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1863, the year it all began, when the rules were stabilized and football was kicked off. How many matches have taken place since then? How many players have stepped on amateur and professional fields? How many changes? How many plots of the most unexpected were made? A lot has passed. It's the time. And each era has its peculiarity, its moment, its unique and specific touch compared to the others.
I am reminded of a story by the exceptional James Catton in which he asks the players of Aston Villa, the 1896/1897 FA Cup champions, which team was better, "The Invicibles" or Aston Villa themselves. In response, some players replied that at that time Preston players had no rivalry, football was still very young and that they were not as fast, that it was easier — impressively, it was in 1897.
And these comments were made by several future generations throughout the history of football. And the previous ones, the ones who did the same thing, took their own poison.
Several time comparisons, between eras, have been performed — and they will always be performed. The later ones, through an erroneous judgment method, tend to belittle the earlier ones, with an unpleasant, disrespectful tone.
I was reading a comparative article between José Manuel Moreno and Pelé, commented by those who saw the Argentine and the Brazilian. Many using arguments that in Moreno's time football was not so fast, the defenses were weaker and among other things. Isn't that exactly what people say disrespectfully about Pelé's time these days?
Perhaps, someone can find something normal in current football. Tomorrow, that could change completely. Isn't that exactly what happened with the offside rule in 1925 — something that completely changed the game?
Those who tend to belittle the most remote eras of football, due to any ignorant speech, remember: the current era will inevitably be belittled, while they themselves defend the era, by those who will come in the future. And so it will be consecutively.
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