Soccer Now & Then (Is It Easier Today?!)

Let’s start with an easy one. In the 70s, 80s, and 90s, soccer was often played on pitches that were looked more like farmer’s fields than sports facilities! This interesting piece from Bleacher Report dives into ten of the worst pitches ever seen in soccer. 

It’s hard to forget about Stamford Bridge around 2003, but such muddy fields were so common in the 80s and 90s that grass was a luxury as opposed to an expectation. 

When you arrive at a soccer venue today, even if you’re playing at the amateur level, you will find that the pitch is in good condition. At the elite level of the sport, soccer fields are nothing short of immaculate, and clubs spend millions of dollars every year maintaining them. 

In addition to better grass soccer pitches, the advent of 4G and astroturf surfaces have enabled clubs and leisure facilities around the world to provide an alternative to concrete or gravel pitches that were popular in the preceding years. 

Needless to say, this has improved the level of grassroots soccer immensely and made it much easier for beginners and amateur players to enjoy soccer in their local communities.

Improved facilities

It’s not just the pitches that have improved in recent years. Training facilities, soccer stadiums, gymnasiums, and a whole host of other related aspects of the beautiful game have improved beyond recognition. 

This is true at all levels of the game, which has made access to the game much easier for amateur players and those that play at the elite level. 

Soccer players that played in the eighties would kill for the opportunity to train and prepare at some of the modern-day facilities, given that they were often restricted to the local park for their training matches! 

Science-backed training

Although sports science has been around for generations, it only really emerged as a trend in soccer in the nineties. European coaches like Arsene Wenger are renowned for bringing sports science into the game, which revolutionised the way that players looked after themselves. 

In the past, it was typically the responsibility of players to keep themselves in good shape. But thanks to huge investments in sports science, clubs offer players an excellent insight into how to prime their bodies and compete at the very highest level.

Sports science includes everything from diets to optimal training routines and sessions and is fundamental to how the modern game is played. 

Naturally, this has made it much easier for soccer players to keep themselves in shape and look after their bodies. Theoretically, this means they can play for longer as they’re in better condition.

Data analysis

Not so long ago, players would listen to their coach talk about the upcoming opposition before the match and maybe watch a video of a previous game. That would be pretty much it in terms of data analysis. 

Now, the scope of data analysis in soccer is incredible. Clubs employ full-time analysis, statisticians, and technicians to comb over data and review points of potential advantage for their teams. 

Such analysis provides crucial insight into a team’s weakness and is likely to form the very basis of the manager’s selection for the upcoming match. While it doesn’t always work, having a bank of accurate data on which to select your team makes the coach’s job much easier. 

It also helps players out on the field, as they can target their opponents’ weaknesses and look to capitalize on aspects of the game that they didn’t necessarily think about before.

More advanced equipment

So many aspects of soccer have changed over the years, including the goal frames to the balls. Every change that has been made in recent times has been made possible thanks to advances in technology. 

Of course, the dawn of the internet has changed our world beyond recognition, altering the landscape of our sports at the same time. 

 Soccer players, coaches, and other staff associated with the game have access to a broad range of applications that help with things like tactics, training, and even post-match recovery that just weren’t available less than thirty years ago. 

Again, these advances have made soccer much easier for players in the present day, as they are no longer reliant on what’s in front of them alone.

What was easier about soccer in the past?

To add some nuance to this article, there are some things about soccer in the past that could be argued were a little easier than it is in the present day. 

Perhaps the most obvious difference is that soccer was much simpler in the past. While things like data analysis and sports science have potentially made the game easier, they have also made the game more complex at the same time. 

Another thing to recognize is that soccer was much more about skill in the past, whereas today, it tends to be more about fitness levels and endurance. 

In just two or three decades, there has been a notable shift in the priorities of soccer coaches, and the speed of the game and the players within it has changed beyond all recognition. Today, it’s not enough for a player to be good enough; they also have to be fit enough, which wasn’t necessarily always the case in the not-so-distant past. 

While we would argue that soccer has got easier in recent years, there are always two sides to every story!

The verdict: Is soccer easier today?

The bottom line is that soccer is easier to play today than it has been in the past. This is primarily due to technological advances, better facilities and pitches, and the use of more advanced equipment throughout the sport. 

While you could make the case that soccer has got a little more complex in recent times, we would argue that with all things considered, soccer has never been as easy to play as it is today.