The current top scorer in Serie A, with 16 goals to his name, is Cristiano Ronaldo; who just turned 36 last week. Just below him are three players who each score 14 goals: 27-year-old Romelu Lukaku is the youngest of the three; Ciro Immobile is 30 and Zlatan Ibrahimovic has reached the venerable age of 39.
Typically, this is where the jokes that label the retired league Serie A begin, a place where older gunners continue to score goals, aided by a reportedly slower pace of play alongside defenders as geriatric as themselves. It’s a stereotype (also very loosely); however, it is based on the fact that the league’s scorecards have been led by a 33-year-old named Antonio Di Natale for the past decade; Luca Toni, 38 years old; Erin Dzeko, 31; and Fabio Quagliarella, 36. Nevertheless, we will notice an unusual fact when we look at the scorecards of the most important leagues in Europe.
The top scorer in LaLiga de España is Luis Suárez, from Atlético de Madrid. “El Pistolero” is 34 years old and is coached by Lionel Messi, 33; as well as the players occupying fifth and sixth places in the category: Karim Benzema and José Luis “El Comandante” Morales. (In eighth place we have another 33-year-old footballer, Iago Aspas from Celta de Vigo). In the case of the Bundesliga, Robert Lewandowski (32 years old) leads the league and among the top 10 scorers we have Thomas Muller, 31 years old; and Lars Stindl, who at the age of 32 is still part of the Borussia Monchengladbach attack.
Clearly, the Premier League is a bit more youth-oriented. However, we must emphasize that if Jamie Vardy, the 34-year-old Leicester City player and last season’s top scorer, would not have been limited to 16 games as a starter in the current tournament; He could challenge the current leader, the Egyptian Mohamed Salah (28 years), who surpasses him with five goals.
If we compare this season’s scoring tables in England, Spain, Germany and Italy with those of 20 years ago, today we will find 14 players over 30 in the top 10; compared to just 8 in the 2000-01 season (in fact, the number of over-30s in the Top 10 in Serie A has dropped from five to three). Older players are more likely to score goals and there are some very obvious reasons behind this trend.
The first is clear. Advances in sports medicine and science have helped extend the careers of football players. It’s not all about Cristiano, who can do 142 sit-ups in 45 seconds; or the cooling (literally) to -200 degrees Celsius (-328 degrees Fahrenheit) in the cryogenic chamber you have in your home. This phenomenon is also due to the fact that many foot soldiers take better care of themselves. Also fundamental is the fact that advances in surgical procedures and medical techniques imply that injuries that were once debilitating or condemned their careers to death sometimes make football players even stronger than before.
Another factor that has affected the statistics is the presence of Cristiano, Messi and (two steps below) figures like Suárez, Lewandowski and Ibrahimovic. The first two are strong candidates for the seat of the “Greatest of All Time,” blessed with so many skills (aside from a diligence and professionalism far surpassing most of their peers) that it is not surprising that they maintain their high standards. standards., long after he turned 30. Lewandowski is the Bundesliga’s third leading scorer of all time (and is likely to finish second at the end of this season); Suárez is the only player by names other than Cristiano and Messi to have scored 40 goals in a season in one of the four major leagues in European football in the past 20 years and, well, Zlatan is Zlatan. The Rossonera figure scored his 500th goal in club football last weekend. “Ibra” is comfortably one of the best footballers of the past 50 years, alongside Messi, Ronaldo, Pelé, Romario and Gerd Müller.
We often point out how fortunate we are that Messi and Cristiano are contemporaries; But it is also true that there have not been many periods in football history with such a high number of top scorers within the same generation.
Two other closely related factors probably also play a role.
The first has its origins in the so-called “Bosman Law”, the 1995 court ruling that made it illegal for clubs from Member States of the European Union to impose limits on the number of foreign players they could draft or sign. Diego Armando Maradona, for example, had to play with at least eight Italian footballers in the Napoli shirt during the peak of his career. So it was inevitable that the supporting cast wasn’t as talented or tuned in to the “Pelusa” as it could have been if the club could have signed whoever it wanted to put together its squad. Add the above to the effects of the polarization of the past two decades (an unprecedented broadening of the gap between the handful of super clubs that can spend more and the rest of the teams) and the current generation of goalscorers is benefiting like no other. another in history.
In short, the teams they play for have an abundance of talent unprecedented in football history – they win more games and score more goals than ever before, which translates into better stats for forwards.
In addition, there are two other factors related to this situation, both of a more tactical nature. If in the past there were many teams that deployed two strikers on the field; Today we see that most have one offensive endpoint, which of course results in a larger generation of opportunities. Likewise, many of the above players are largely relieved of defensive duties when they are not in possession of the ball, either pressing or withdrawing.
(Not everyone gets into this thesis, however: Benzema and Lewandowski are working high without possession, and it will be interesting to see how far they manage to keep up with this trend, given that they are approaching 35 years: one or two years going extra miles can make a big difference). On the other hand, most of these players are active in top-level clubs that boast that they have higher ball possession; consequently, they have less work to do when it comes to running and defending. Not to mention that they spend most of the time near the opponent’s goal.
Longevity also manifests itself in other functions; however, it is not so abundant in places other than the target. They are not scorers; therefore, we cannot easily measure your contributions with statistics. Despite this, there are many notable players, almost 35 years old, who regularly contribute to the highest level.
In Spain, Nino (40 years old) has played 12 games with the Elche shirt so far this season; while Jorge Molina, the Granada shooter, has scored nine goals in all competitions at the age of 38. Luka Modric (35) remains at the center of Real Madrid’s midfield; while the unstoppable Joaquín (39 years old) has played 18 games as a winger for Real Betis (the first Spanish player to score goals in the League in four different decades).
Serie A has Bruno Alves, 39, who leads Parma’s defense line; while, just halfway through, another 39-year-old named Rodrigo Palacio is a regular at Bologna. Last week, Goran Pandev scored two goals for Genoa at the age of 37; while Franck Ribery, who is also 37, remains strong as a left winger for Fiorentina. Eintracht Frankfurt has taken fourth in the Bundesliga table, with Makoto Hasebe anchoring his midfield at the age of 37, and they also came with David Abraham (34) behind him until his departure for Argentine club Hurricane. Oscar Wendt (35) is a first baseman at Borussia Monchengladbach and Petr Pekarik (34) is a regular at Hertha Berlin.
It is true that the Premier League has a predilection for young people. Aside from Vardy’s presence, Thiago Silva is a regular at Chelsea at 36; Joao Moutinho (34) is the undisputed midfielder for Wolverhampton Wanderers and James Milner (35) has played 23 times in all competitions with Liverpool. And of course, just two weeks ago, Phil Jagielka (38) played 90 minutes in Sheffield United’s shirt in their 2-1 win at Old Trafford against Manchester United. But the grandfather of all, the man who shows us that age is just a number, plays in France and is part of the Montpellier squad.
Vitorino Hilton is a 43-year-old center-back who stays strong. The defender has made 17 appearances (13 as a starter) in Ligue 1 this season and would have had more had he not been penalized with two lockouts that forced him to sit out three games. (We’re not sure how many sit-ups he can do in 45 seconds or if he’ll get into the trusty old cryo chamber after the workout.)
The time when clubs with Arsenal status only awarded one-year contract extensions to players over 30 years old has gone down in history: an example of this is the three-year pacts with Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (31) and Willian (32) signed last summer. . With good genetics, a lot of hard work and professionalism, coupled with a little luck, the footballer can remain productive when he is almost 35 years old. You don’t even have to be Zlatan or Cristiano, although it helps a lot.