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[Albion] Would this team beat our current best eleven?







Doonhamer7

Well-known member
Jun 17, 2016
1,447
Our current team would beat the combined best of the Brighton and Forest teams, put in context our current team would easily beat the 1980 champions - Liverpool which includes Dalglish, Souness and Hansen
 


One Teddy Maybank

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Aug 4, 2006
22,915
Worthing
You think Dunk would crumble? Don't be daft.
This.
Dunk is probably the nearest player we have to a 70s/80s style player, the difference being he is as comfortable on the ball as Lawrenson and Hansen, he just isn’t as quick. (But quicker than Fozzie)

It’s always an interesting question and an impossible comparison, as training, endurance and diet have improved so much. The pace today is also a lot quicker and every player is an athlete.

My question would be whether the technically gifted players of today are able to play on uneven surfaces.

In my mind there is no doubt that the Hoddle’s, Bowles, Currie’s would have been fine surface wise, but how many could do it the other way.

Conor Gallagher would of course benefit as his touch is crap, and he’d get booked less as he’d be diving in like everyone else….
 


Flounce

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Nov 15, 2006
4,153
You think Dunk would crumble? Don't be daft.
Mitrovic and Lukaku :smile:

Not that WE had forwards like that in the 80s though

Not sure Dunk would have had too much trouble with Robinson though, both run/ran like they have lead in their boots comparitively.
 
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Triggaaar

Well-known member
Oct 24, 2005
52,831
Goldstone
The current version of Dunk yes, he has lost a lot of his mobility and awareness in my view.

Playing in today's PL Dunk is up against the best players in the world and you think he couldn't handle 1980's Brighton? I'm sorry but you're being silly. He's stronger and fitter than they were, they would be the ones crumbling.
 










dazzer6666

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Mar 27, 2013
55,252
Burgess Hill
Of course it is.
But players can only be among the very best of *their* time, with *their* training methods etc
Lawro was
Which is nothing to do with the question posed :shrug:
Today’s squad would rip the old one to pieces. Too fast, too strong, too technical.
 






studio150

Well-known member
Jul 30, 2011
30,184
On the Border
Given Shilton couldn't keep out Gary Williams piledriver from the edge of the box, Verbruggen isn't going to stop it either.

But unlike Clough I would expect FH to praise the quality of the shot, as opposed to saying it was a fluke
 


Not Andy Naylor

Well-known member
Dec 12, 2007
8,975
Seven Dials
Most people here are dismissing the 1979-83 team on the basis of their diet and fitness. But what if the same players had had present-day levels of coaching and fitness? I think things would be far closer in that case. Brian Horton today would be the number six we are crying out for. Peter Ward converting some of those chances we regularly miss? Yes please. John Gregory or Gary Stevens at right back, and Mark Lawrenson to add technique and a bit of pace to the back four? Every day and twice on Saturdays.

Verbruggen
Gregory Stevens Lawrenson Estupinan
March Horton Baleba Mitoma
Ward Pedro
 


nickjhs

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Apr 9, 2017
1,528
Ballarat, Australia
Not a chance. Loved this old team, saw them play many times but they are not a scratch on what we have now. I doubt many old first division sides would be competitive in today's game
 








One Teddy Maybank

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Aug 4, 2006
22,915
Worthing
Mitrovic and Lukaku :smile:

Not that WE had forwards like that in the 80s though

Not sure Dunk would have had too much trouble with Robinson though, both run/ran like they have lead in their boots comparitively.
Not many 80s forwards had mobility and physicality though…. So not really the same IMO.
the Jordan’s, Latchford’s, etc., wanted a delivery to attack, whereas Lukaku (who until Roma away had got nothing from Dunk), moves across the line during the game.
 






heathgate

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Apr 13, 2015
3,830
Playing in today's PL Dunk is up against the best players in the world and you think he couldn't handle 1980's Brighton? I'm sorry but you're being silly. He's stronger and fitter than they were, they would be the ones crumbling.
A defence is not one player, my view was based on the current best Vs the best then.
 


Beanstalk

Well-known member
Apr 5, 2017
3,012
London
On a modern pitch with modern balls and kit not a chance.
Never really understood this argument. Even if it was in 80s conditions I still don't think it would be close.
Footballers are basically as physically fit as it is humanly possible to be now. You have central defenders who are as fast as some of the fastest people on the planet. Whilst also being 6ft4.
After 60 minutes the 80s teams would be on the floor.
These were people who's training mostly consisted of crosscountry running and who spent the evening after a match drinking and even smoking. Totally unrealistic to think they'd compete.
100% this.

The issue with arguing that any team from a previous era would beat any team (of similar standard) today is completely based in nostalgia rather than reality. I was watching an 04/05 Premier League years and the standard of football then was atrocious compared to today.

The question should always be "was the team in 1980 more enjoyable to watch than the team today?" otherwise it's just a silly comparison.
 


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