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Writer's picture@alexLEboxe

Boys against Men?

Believe it or not…football is changing.

When we used to watch nations like Scotland, Republic of Ireland or Wales line-up in these competitions a good old “rolling up the sleeves” mentality was all you needed to get a reasonable result.

But in 2024…you just need that little bit more.

The boots have changed, the kits are streamlined and sadly but truly you cannot really challenge for the ball anymore.

There I said it.

In last nights one sided affair between Germany and Scotland we quickly realised how this competition is going to be played out from an officials point of view. Zero tolerance. The game needs to look slick, clear and obvious and bundles of fair play.

Cue Ryan Porteous and his desperate leap/lunge towards the ball in his own penalty box. Gundogen the unfortunate player on the end of it is probably lucky to not be strung up in a Munich hospital tonight awaiting casting and a space boot for the next six months.

Porteous challenge on Gundogen

But he survived, Porteous rightly and justly saw red for a kind of tackle that just doesn’t have a place in modern football anymore.

Speaking of Football, last night showcased a shining example of youth making a major impact on the International scene. Florian Wirtz & Jamal Musiala are two players flourishing in this new era of minimal contact on the ball and certainly void of the old skool “crunching tackle”. Had Roy Keane been on the pitch or a certain Gordon Strachan maybe this German side wouldn’t display such fluidity.

Florian Wirtz opens the scoring for Germany

But this is their age, their era and their football.

It’s Boys against Men and they have skill & technique coming out of their flamingo pinked plastic boots, they prance, they whirl and they score beautiful melodic goals.

Germany dazzled, as Scotland looked like they were still brushing the dust away from Euro 96.

Willkommen to Euro 2024, a new age of Football.

Enjoy.

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