“He’s 29”

[Deleted member 101472]

Have seen this so often in recent years and it needs to stop. People mentioned it with Sanchez and I’m now seeing it in relation to alderweireld.

We live in a world where medical science is as good as it’s ever been. Physios are better, treatments are better, medication is better and recovery times are shorter.

This old adage that once you get close to 30 your career is on a downward trajectory needs to be banished from people’s minds. Cristiano Ronaldo is a freak but he’s not an alien, he’s the perfect example of what’s possible by looking after your body the right way, and there are several other examples of players in their early 30s playing at a very high level (there always have been).

I think it’s time to accept that a footballer can continue their form into their 30s and maybe even reach their peak in that age bracket, especially defenders.

Thoughts?

 

[Tarrou]

yeah thanks Wayne look what you did to us

 

[Pogue Mahone]

We're all just emotionally scarred from Wayne Rooney.

 

[Pogue Mahone]

Great minds!

 

[Deleted member 101472]

yeah thanks Wayne look what you did to us

A prime example of how not to look after your body. Never once did he resemble a dedicated athlete.

 

[Saf94]

Think about it this way, 30 is the new 28. 10 years ago if we had the chance to sign good 27 year olds would we have turned them down? In my view I would have been ok with it as long as we had a good mix of young and older players in the squad which I think we do right now, almost all our players before Mou signed Matic and Sanchez were pretty young

 

[GazTheLegend]

I don’t like signing 29 year old players.

Medical science or no, the amount of running a players done by the time he’s 29 has taken its toll, particularly if they came on to the scene early and didn’t look after themselves i.e. Rooney.

Note particularly with players that rely on their engine they don’t play into their thirties. Every defensive midfielder is declining by 30 and done by 32

Maybe technical strikers, defenders and freaks can, but they’re rare.

 

[Solius]

Until he's 29 he's 28.

 

[Deleted member 101472]

I don’t like signing 29 year old players.

Medical science or no, the amount of running a players done by the time he’s 29 has taken its toll, particularly if they came on to the scene early and didn’t look after themselves i.e. Rooney.

Note particularly with players that rely on their engine they don’t play into their thirties. Every defensive midfielder is declining by 30 and done by 32

Maybe technical strikers, defenders and freaks can, but they’re rare.

Do you mean the box to box midfielder? Defensive midfielders do just fine at that age.

 

[Alvaro Maestre]

And Matic is 30 in August , we are doomed.

 

[Pexbo]

Until he's 29 he's 28.

Bit like....

"How old's your boy?"

"24 months"

"Two. Your child is two years old."

 

[Cascarino]

Note particularly with players that rely on their engine they don’t play into their thirties. Every defensive midfielder is declining by 30 and done by 32

Maybe technical strikers, defenders and freaks can, but they’re rare.

Fernandinho is 33 and is having his best season.

 

[Oldyella]

Agreed. No reason modern professionals cannot stay at the top of their game until 33-34.

But saying that, it is not a good business model to buy at that age all the time.

Jose has been pretty good so far in signing across age brackets, but signing Alderweireld would mean you have him, Sanchez and Matic, all big name players who will need replacing at similar times. Same happened with our defence when Fergie was retiring.

 

[badkins]

Every defensive midfielder is declining by 30 and done by 32

Fernandinho is 33, is he done?

 

[Don Alfredo]

29 is nearly 33 is nearly 38...

How the feck is a soon to be 38-years-old going to cope with the pace of the Premier League?

 

[Deleted member 101472]

Agreed. No reason modern professionals cannot stay at the top of their game until 33-34.

But saying that, it is not a good business model to buy at that age all the time.

Jose has been pretty good so far in signing across age brackets, but signing Alderweireld would mean you have him, Sanchez and Matic, all big name players who will need replacing at similar times. Same happened with our defence when Fergie was retiring.

The thing with this is I imagine the club has a 3 year window right now where it’s an absolute primary objective to win the league and go to at least then semis of the CL. Players who are 29-31 now can play a MAJOR part in that success returning, and the result of that success means we have more chance of recruiting the up and coming stars to fill the void.

 

[CassiusClaymore]

Yeah it's a load of old guff. Ronaldo has had what, 3 balon d'ors in his 30's? Probably another one this year. Granted he's a bit of a freak but the way footballers look after themselves these days they should be (and are) well capable of playing at the highest level into their mid 30's.

 

[JJ12]

Glad somebody else is thinking the same. 29 year olds should still have 4/5 years at the top as long as they aren’t slobs like Rooney or injury prone.

 

[settembrini]

There's no evidence that players are playing at their peak for longer. I remember Milan pursuing a policy based on this idea that was such a disaster for their team they have still not recovered years after they gave up on it.

 

[Smores]

The thing with this is I imagine the club has a 3 year window right now where it’s an absolute primary objective to win the league and go to at least then semis of the CL. Players who are 29-31 now can play a MAJOR part in that success returning, and the result of that success means we have more chance of recruiting the up and coming stars to fill the void.

This.

We don't have time for any more potential unless we want to gift City the next two campaigns. Maybe our fans would be hapoy with that in theory but i don't believe they will in practice.
Ideally we'd look at the 26/27 mark but we can only take what's out there.

 

[JPRouve]

I don't think that it's that simple. There is nothing wrong with the idea of purchasing a player in his late 20s, early 30s because you might find yourself in a situation where you lack experience or professionalism which are things that a veteran can bring. Now, we also have to think long term, if you have too many players in their 30s or close to it, you will find yourself in a situation where you will have to replace too many players in a short period of time, it's also generally not a great thing from a contract POV, young veteran players command bigger contracts.
So, depending on context it's natural to look at player age and question whether that characteristic is a good fit for your team.

 

[Deleted member 101472]

Just to clarify this thread was inspired by comments about united players but extends to all clubs, as I think there’s a general bit of stigma attached to that age across the board.

 

[RedDevil@84]

Fernandinho is 33, is he done?

Sssh.. Stop talking about City players. They have St Pep there who has magical powers while he invented football..
We don't have such people here. 29 is almost pension age for us

 

[ti vu]

There's no evidence that players are playing at their peak for longer. I remember Milan pursuing a policy based on this idea that was such a disaster for their team they have still not recovered years after they gave up on it.

Uh what. Milan failure is not because the old guards failed to perform but they couldn't find the balance with the younger ones in the squad is just poor.

 

[whatwha]

29 year olds have one foot in the grave!!!

Seriously though, signing players near 30 is risky as you may get them after they've peaked as we're possibly seeing with Sanchez. And you'll have to replace them after a few years so you're not building for the long term. And bad business as they'll have no resale value.

Bringing up Ronaldo is a bit pointless as he's blessed with the best possible physique for football. It's not like the average professional footballer could get to his level and longevity just by training harder and never touching alcohol!

 

[Deleted member 101472]

There's no evidence that players are playing at their peak for longer. I remember Milan pursuing a policy based on this idea that was such a disaster for their team they have still not recovered years after they gave up on it.

There is a plethora of evidence that suggests they should be able to. It’s happening across all sports.

 

[RedCurry]

When you bring in a player normally they should be no older than 26-27.

The exceptions being if you are looking to add an experienced backup to your first team or if the player is absolutely one of the best in the world in his position.

 

[Massive Spanner]

when I was 29 I was way too unfit to play football as much as I used to and I like to think I have a very similar lifestyle to most footballers, so that's why I do not trust us signing a 29 year old and totally disagree with this thread.

Now, where's my box of fags and my cans?

 

[U99ted]

We're all just emotionally scarred from Wayne Rooney.

And Falcao, and Schweinsteiger.

 

[haram]

Walker 28 end of the month, Kompany 32, Otamendi 30, Aguero 30 in June, Silva 32, Fernandinho 33. fecking wake up.

That’s half their starting eleven!

 

[100]

Nothing wrong with 29/30 year old players but I’d be wary of building a first team with too many. We can still afford to sign 3 or 4 but I’d hope that’d be offset with Pogba, Bailly, Rashford, Lukaku and Martial having plenty of gametime, which I’m confident they will.

Id be slightly worried about an aging first 11 with the lack of longetivity in management and our seemingly lack of footballing direction within the boardroom.

 

[LawCharltonBest]

Some 29 year olds is fine. I don't want Mourinho to start building a squad on them. It'll call for another major rebuild in a few seasons time.

 

[Massive Spanner]

I sort of get the point of the thread and all, but like, is there really anything wrong with wanting a 21 year old over a 29 year old?

If anything it applies to many facets of life, not just football. Amirite fellaz?

 

[Pogue Mahone]

And Falcao, and Schweinsteiger.

Oh yeah, them too.

Thinking about it, it's actually easy to see why people are nervous about signing 29 year olds. All the more so with Sanchez not setting the world alight (so far)

 

[Deleted member 101472]

I sort of get the point of the thread and all, but like, is there really anything wrong with wanting a 21 year old over a 29 year old?

If anything it applies to many facets of life, not just football. Amirite fellaz?

Age divided by 2 plus 7

 

[JPRouve]

I sort of get the point of the thread and all, but like, is there really anything wrong with wanting a 21 year old over a 29 year old?

If anything it applies to many facets of life, not just football. Amirite fellaz?

No, 29 is far better.

 

[HTG]

I don’t think people actually think or say that once a player turns 30 he becomes shit. But 30 is about the time when many athletes simply start to lose a step, or even two. At some point of a career, a player will decline. No matter what. If you want your team to be as good as possible, for as long as possible, it makes sense to want as many players as possible on the verge of their peak, or right at it. If you buy a player nearing 30 or older, it’s just more likely than not, that he will decline quite soon.
If that’s the case, you're left with a player who's only getting worse, could have cost quite much and demands a high salary. Because around that age, players usually sign their biggest, thus most risky (from a clubs perspective) contracts.
It is just a matter of smart business to consider age and the possible decline it brings with it, when buying or scouting players.
That doesn’t mean you should never buy players that age. But doing so frequently, will stretch the budget for wages, increase the age of the squad, decrease its potential and could cause serious problems when attempting to rebuild. Because old players are worth less and thus won’t get high transfer fees.
If you buy a guy aged 30, your stuck with him, if he doesn’t perform. Because he won’t get a better contract elsewhere and nobody will pay an adequate fee. That’s quite a risk and always has to be considered.
If you buy a young guy for a lot of money, even if it doesn’t work out, you’re more likely to find someone willing to get him, simply because there’s still potential.
Martial is a great example. Even though it looks like things are not working out between you and him, you’ll most likely get a fair fee and can buy someone else. If Martial was above 30, good luck with that.

It’s no coincidence that of all clubs, Real haven’t purchased a single outfield player above the age of 25(!) since they got Modric. The only players above 25 they got were on a loan or goalkeepers. That is if I remember this correctly.
What did that do for them? Their team was and still is (at least internationally) very hungry, plays together for a long time and if someone doesn’t fit anymore (Özil, James, Di Maria, Higuain, Morata and maybe Bale next) they get paid very handsomely for them. It’s smart business. Nothing else.

 

[villain]

We can't expect to win the league with wonder-kids & potential, this isn't FM.

So I think the people who don't want 29 year olds, should adjust their expectations after the fact. A young, inexperienced team just isn't likely to win the league, and domestic cup, and go far in the CL.

 

[Nick7]

We're all just emotionally scarred from Wayne Rooney.

To be fair, he was 29 in a 50 year olds body.

 

[do.ob]

There is a plethora of evidence that suggests they should be able to. It’s happening across all sports.

Evidence would be statistics not a hand full of examples, as there are plenty to "prove" the opposite as well: Rooney, Falcao, Lahm, Schweinsteiger were all world class players who at some point around 30 were just done physically or mentally.