The current top scorer in Serie A, with 16 goals on credit, is Cristiano Ronaldo; who just turned 36 last week. Just below him is a trio of players who score 14 goals each: 27-year-old Romelu Lukaku is the youngest of the three; Ciro Immobile is 30 years old, and Zlatan Ibrahimovic has reached the venerable age of 39.
This is where the jokes that label the Serie A relegated league usually begin, a place where older gunsmiths continue to score goals, aided by a slower pace of play with defenders as geriatric as themselves. It’s a stereotype (very weak, too); however, it is based on the fact that, in the last decade, the league’s scoring rankings have been led by a 33-year-old named Antonio Di Natale; Luca Toni, 38 years old; Erin Dzeko, 31; and Fabio Quagliarella, 36. Despite this, if we take a look at the scoring charts of the major leagues in Europe, we will notice an unusual fact.
The top scorer in LaLiga de España is Luis Suárez, from Atlético de Madrid. “El Pistolero” is 34 years old and is escorted by Lionel Messi, 33 years old; as well as the fifth and sixth place players in the category: Karim Benzema and José Luis “El Comandante” Morales. (In the eighth position we have another 33-year-old football player, Iago Aspas from Celta de Vigo). In the case of the Bundesliga, Robert Lewandowski (32 years old) commands the table and among the top 10 scorers we have Thomas Muller, 31 years old; and Lars Stindl, who at 32 is still part of the Borussia Monchengladbach attack.
Obviously, the Premier League is a little more youth-oriented. However, we must point out that if Jamie Vardy, a 34-year-old player from Leicester City and the top scorer of last season, had not been limited to 16 games as a starter in the current tournament; He could challenge the current leader of the league, the Egyptian Mohamed Salah (28 years old), who is five goals ahead of him.
If we compare this season’s score tables from England, Spain, Germany and Italy with those of 20 years ago, we will find 14 players over 30 years old among the top 10 today; compared to just 8 in the 2000-01 season (In fact, the number of 30-year-olds in the Top 10 in Serie A has dropped from five to three). Older players score goals more often and there are a number of very obvious reasons behind this trend.
The first is obvious. Advances in sports medicine and science have contributed to the prolongation of footballers’ careers. It’s not just Cristiano, able to make 142 innings in 45 seconds; or cooling it (literally) to -200 degrees Celsius (-328 degrees Fahrenheit) in the cryogenic chamber you have in your residence. This phenomenon is also due to many pedal soldiers who take better care of themselves. It is also fundamental that advances in surgical procedures and medical techniques imply that injuries that were once debilitating or have come to condemn their careers to death sometimes even make football players stronger than before.
Another factor that influenced the statistics is the presence of Cristiano, Messi and (located two steps below) figures such as Suárez, Lewandowski and Ibrahimovic. The first two are strong candidates for the “greatest of all time”, blessed with so many skills (apart from having a diligence and professionalism that far exceeds most of their colleagues) that it is not surprising to see them maintaining and high level. standards, long after the age of 30. Lewandowski is the third all-time top scorer in the Bundesliga (and will likely be second at the end of this season); Suárez is the only player with a name other than Cristiano and Messi who has scored 40 goals in a season in the last 20 years in one of the four major leagues in European football and, well, Zlatan is Zlatan. The Rossonera figure scored the 500th goal in club football last weekend. “Ibra” is comfortably among the best footballers of the last 50 years, along with Messi, Ronaldo, Pelé, Romario and Gerd Müller.
We often emphasize how lucky we are to have Messi and Cristiano as contemporaries; But it is also true that there have not been many periods in the history of football that could have such a large number of scorers in the same generation.
Two other closely related factors are also likely to play a role.
The first has its origins in the so-called “Bosman Law”, the 1995 court ruling that declared it illegal for clubs in European Union member states to impose limits on the number of foreign players they could sign up or sign up. Diego Armando Maradona, for example, had to play with at least eight Italian footballers at the peak of his career, wearing the Napoli shirt. So it was inevitable that his support cast would not be as talented or adapted for “Lawn” as it could have been if the club could have signed anyone who wanted to build their team. Add the above to the effects of polarization seen in the last two decades (an unprecedented widening of the gap between the hands of super clubs capable of spending more and the rest of the teams) and the current generation of scorers has benefited like no other in history.
Bottom line: The teams he plays for are proud of an unprecedented abundance of talent in football history – they win more games and score more goals than ever before, which translates into better statistics for strikers.
In addition, there are two additional factors related to this situation, both of which are more tactical in nature. If in the past there were many teams that deployed two central strikers on the field; Today we see that most have a single offensive endpoint, which naturally leads to a greater generation of opportunities. Likewise, many of the players mentioned above are largely relieved of defensive tasks when they are not in possession of the ball, either by pressing or retreating.
(However, not everyone agrees with this thesis: Benzema and Lewandowski maintain high work rates without owning the ball and it will be interesting to see how well they manage to maintain this trend, given that they are approaching 35 years old: one or two years of extra mileage can make a big difference). On the other hand, most of these players are active with high-level clubs, which boast a higher percentage of possession; as a result, they have less work to do when it comes to running and defense. Not to mention the fact that they spend most of their time near the opponent’s goal.
Longevity is also manifested in other positions; however, it is not so abundant elsewhere than the target. There are no markers; 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 12 appearances with the Elche shirt so far this season; while Granada striker Jorge Molina scored nine goals in all competitions at the age of 38. Luka Modric (35 years old) continues to be the central point of the Real Madrid midfielder; while the irrepressible Joaquín (39) has 18 appearances as a wing for Real Betis (becoming the first Spanish player to score goals in the League in four different decades).
Serie A has Bruno Alves, 39, who commands Parma’s defensive line; while, halfway, another 39-year-old man named Rodrigo Palacio maintains a regular presence with Bologna. Last week, Goran Pandev scored two goals for Genoa at the age of 37; while Franck Ribery, who is also 37 years old, remains strong as a left winger for Fiorentina. Eintracht Frankfurt won fourth place in the Bundesliga standings, with Makoto Hasebe as the anchor of his midfielder at the age of 37 and they came to have David Abraham (34) behind until his departure to the Argentine club Hurricane. Oscar Wendt (35) is the first baseman for Borussia Mönchengladbach, and Petr Pekarik (34) is regular for Hertha Berlin.
It is true that the Premier League has a predilection for young people. However, apart from Vardy’s presence, Thiago Silva is used to Chelsea at 36; Joao Moutinho (34 years old) is the undisputed midfielder of Wolverhampton Wanderers, and James Milner (35 years old) has 23 appearances in all competitions with Liverpool. And of course, just two weeks ago, Phil Jagielka (38 years old) played 90 minutes wearing the Sheffield United shirt in the 2-1 victory at Old Trafford against Manchester United. But everyone’s grandfather, the man who shows us that age is just a number, plays in France and is part of the Montpellier team.
Vitorino Hilton is a 43-year-old central defender who remains strong. The defender has 17 appearances (13 as a starter) this season in Ligue 1 and would have had more if he had not been sanctioned with two expulsions that would have forced him to serve suspensions for three games. (We are not sure how many sessions he is able to do in 45 seconds or if he enters the old reliable crisis room after training.)
The moment when Arsenal-sized clubs granted one-year contract extensions to players over the age of 30 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 work and professionalism, along 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.