Fitter yes. Faster yes. Talented athletes? Not for my money. Yes there are some, the elite who have good balance and agility to go with their ball skills and football brains, but most footballers are pretty limited atheletes in my opinion.
So whatâs your solution?
No team is going to stop cheating unilaterally, so it has to be a change in the rules, but what is that change?
Compared to the players of the 1970âs they are super human. Itâd be interesting to compare distance covered, the amount of it sprinting and the speed they move at with the top players of 45 years ago or even 25 years ago.
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Quite.
Could you see Stan Bowles (great player) catching James Milner (add your own description)
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I havenât got an answer really! In rugby there is no point in being weak and going down as the game is physical and you donât get any advantage. In football it is a physical game but you get an advantage by being weak and convincing the referee that you have been fouled. An awareness by the authorities and the officials is what is needed but that will never happen. Itâs the ethos rather than the rules that needs to change but âconsumersâ these days are more interested in watching something that is a real life version if a PlayStation game.
Yeah I agree theyâve got better engines but the amount of so called top players who look like bambi on ice with the ball at their feet, or who canât jump or balance on their weaker leg - itâs a big embarrassing. Maybe Iâm just picking on defenders and tall players with fuck all agility 
Why do you keep comparing it to rugby?
ITâS A COMPLETELY DIFFERENT SPORT
Oh, and donât tell me that cheating doesnât happen in rugby. Biting people, punching, finger in the eye, raking your studs over someoneâs face, spike tackles⌠need I go on?
Because they are both supposed to be contact sports and football is in denial about how soft it is becoming because of the rules that give an advantage to players who cheat. Rugby has cheats as you point out but that is a different argument. As long as football gives advantage to players who are prepared to simulate a foul with minimal contact it will always be somewhat of a sham. But that is what the rules (or laws) allow in each sport. My point is more about the acceptance in football that minimal contact constitutes a foul whereas in rugby you see what it takes to actually put a man off his feet if he is trying to stay upright.
This is not a cogent argument.
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Why?
Contact in football and rugby have never been comparable. Ever. I shouldnât have to explain this.
How convenient.
It doesnât.
No they donât.
Yes, well being a different sport, thatâs going to be pretty obvious.
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Dunno but this is the only period in football when a lightweight wanker like Neymar could be regarded as one of the best footballers in the game. Just the sight of him puts me off the game.
Great player
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Iâm not trying to say rugby is more honest than football. The stamping, eye gouging etc. should be stamped out. But why apologise for cheating in football. I have/do play both sports and love both. I have a season ticket for Newcastle, which doesnât necessarilly mean I like football at all at present:smirk:, but i do find it very frustrating how footballers go to ground so easily. My own team have 2 players in Perez and Gayle who always go to ground too easily and they would earn far more respect and probably more free kicks if they tried to be stronger.
Nobody is
That reduces your credibility 
I doubt it
Well maybe not apologising but accepting.
On your other two points I think you are probably correct:wink:
Nobody is accepting it either, as evidenced by the new review boards for simulation.
Referees will always issue a yellow card if they see clear evidence of a dive.
My next-door neighbour, who is a red, was complaining about Monica Calvert-Lewinsky just now 
. I presume this is a reference to going down way too easily rather than an obscure cigar-in-the-box joke 
. He was angrier than Klopp which was amusing.
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It was an extremely soft pen, but Iâm more upset with Lovren who hasnât the wit to judge these situations and act accordingly.
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I agree on both statements there. About the soft penalty, two hands in the back is always going to leave a big chance of a penalty being given. Both Liverpool CBs look really shakey. Fucking madness to tear after a forward when he is running towards the corner flag.
What was the drive back like?