Originally Posted by SmashedHombre

I was having a similar discussion with my mate a few days ago. Is it only a matter of time before African teams start dominating world cups? Europeans and South Americans have dominated so far simply because they have the experience and the pedigree. But now these tall powerful Africans are starting to make their impact on the best leagues in the world. You only have to look at the Premier League to see that Drogba is arguably the best centre forward and Essien arguably the best midfielder in the League. Yet they don't display the technical abilities of their European counterparts like Cesc or Berbatov. It's their pure strength and power that makes them so scary. I think we eventually came to the conclusion that although players like cesc and scholes are smaller than your Essiens and Diarra's, they are by no means lesser players or less effective. As Fergies Gum said small guys are always going to have the technical advanatge over larger players. I would take a Messi or a Xavi over an Essien every day of the week for example. What you also have to take into consideration in todays game are the refs. Look at Crouch for example, he gets the whistle blown for a foul against him simply because he is taller than the defender half the time. Another advantage for the smaller player. The game is evolving and some players are getting bigger and stronger, but I really don't see thes eplayers dominating the game. Fans love to see technical players over brawny ones. Even in the premier league, we are top of the table despite not being anywhere near the biggest team around. Yet Chelsea who are full of these tall powerful athletes are playing catch up.

Actually I'm not really sure where I am going with this, its friday morning and I have just eaten a whole bar of dairy milk and nut for breakfast so I'm feeling a bit light headed. I don't even know what sport the bloke cescs mullt is talking about plays, as I cant watch the video due to being at work.