patrickblue wrote:getdressedmctavish wrote:If the current City were to play Mercer and Allisons City they would win ten nil. Colin Bell was a wonderful player in an era when we drew our players largely from other clubs in the North of England or brought local lads through our youth team.Colin came from Bury for fucksake. Ya Ya is one of the best players in the world, a physical phenomenon, tactically honed at Barca and capable of things Colin would not have known were possible, such as Ya Ya's free kicks. The only area Colin was better in was tackling.But its like comparing a Ford Anglia with a 2014 Ford Focus.Watch the utube of the 68 game against Newcastle. Its like parks football.Enjoyed it, mind.
I don't think there's any doubt that the current side are on a whole different level to the Mercer Allison side, but that's not the debate. As someone else as said, some players are just ahead of their time. The whole thing about Colin Bell was the fact he was a superb all round footballer coupled with the fact he had so much stamina and endurance it was almost superhuman. If you want to compare then and now, Ya Ya, wouldn't be putting free kicks in with the balls they used back then. It's generally pretty impossible to compare older generations of sportsmen or women with current ones for just the reasons you have quoted, but also your car comparison isn't valid, training techniques haven't advanced by anything like the degree that science and engineering have, purely because the human body has much lower limits. At the time, Bell was much as you describe Ya Ya, one of the best players in the world, and a physical phenomenon.
If they were contemporaries in any period of football history, (which is what the debate's about) having watched both week in week out, I would say that Bell has the edge
Bell was better at everything bar fee kicks. But he didn't take fee kicks. Neither did Yaya. Bell couldn't learn the same with a modern ball ?
The things Yaya is good at, such as running with the ball/shooting, Bell was a bit better at but it's closer (Bell much better at real long distance shooting though).
Someone can honestly tell me Yaya is a better header of a football than Colin Bell ? Also Bell was one of the best volleyers of a ball I've ever seen. Evidence Yaya is better ? Getting on the end of crosses, Yaya how many with feet or head ? Bell how many times, scrambling the ball in the 6 yard box, winning headers ? How about actually crossing the ball ? Yaya do that much ? Yet we saw bell doing it frequently.
How come they both play the same position, but Bell scored shitloads of headers & six yard box goals, volleys, put loads of crosses in, regularly tackled wingers & centre forwards as well as midfielders & regularly won headers in his own penalty area but Yaya doesn't do any of those things that often?
Fernandinho is closer to Bell on some of those attributes than Yaya.
Modern day football would have been much easier for Bell, not harder. The same for Francis Lee. Bell would be even fitter now & not get so many injuries due to playing on nice pitches & not having to play v Ron Harris or Norman Hunter or Tommy Smith etc etc.
Gerrard when he was younger, is the nearest player to Bell in the modern era, not Yaya Toure.
