Are top players getting older?

[Bruce Wayne]

I was reading a piece the other day looking at tennis players, and how there is only one mens players in the top 100 that's under 23 years of age (or something like that). The general thing was that it's taking longer to reach the top.

I was looking at the FIFA team of the year and wondering the same thing. Half of the side are 30 or over, with Messi the youngest player at 26 years of age, and the average age of the team 29.

Are footballers not reaching their peak now until their late 20's?

 

[harry]

I was reading a piece the other day looking at tennis players, and how there is only one mens players in the top 100 that's under 23 years of age (or something like that). The general thing was that it's taking longer to reach the top.

I was looking at the FIFA team of the year and wondering the same thing. Half of the side are 30 or over, with Messi the youngest player at 26 years of age, and the average age of the team 29.

Are footballers not reaching their peak now until their late 20's?

I would say a lot of sports men and women are Bruce, due to better nutrition and sports science.

 

[Groucho]

Perhaps it depends on the individual and how they look after themselves. Gareth Barry and Sylvain Distin at one extreme, and Darron Gibson at the other?

 

[Kiwi]

almost all of the players are hitting their peak years in 26-30, aside from are a few like Xavi who are getting on(hes 33). the role that Xavi plays as a pass master means that he has to do less running compared to a say Box to box midfielder and therefore the stresses on the body are less. Hence him playing at or close to his peak for a longer time. IMO Xavi got in on reputation, Schweinsteiger was far better this year. But with all the players at their peak or slightly passing it, the age is much higher. None of the younger players just reaching their peak i.e neymar, bale made it which has contributed also to the increase in the age demographic.
This as well as improvements in sport science has seen the avg age grow.

 

[WA Toffee]

I was reading a piece the other day looking at tennis players, and how there is only one mens players in the top 100 that's under 23 years of age (or something like that). The general thing was that it's taking longer to reach the top.

I was looking at the FIFA team of the year and wondering the same thing. Half of the side are 30 or over, with Messi the youngest player at 26 years of age, and the average age of the team 29.

Are footballers not reaching their peak now until their late 20's?

I think it has always been the case that the team of the year is pretty much selected from the top clubs - which does make sense since the best players want to play for them. However, what i don't think the big clubs are doing as much is buying younger players or bringing them through the academy - hence the average age of a player at the big guns is probably higher than it was 5 or 10 years ago. Young players learn their trade for a few years at small or medium sized clubs before being snapped up. Obviously there are quite a few exceptions to this, but I think the overall trend is going this way - compare Rooney to Barkley for example, Rooney was a hot property and left to join Man Utd at a young age for a huge fee. Barkley is about the same age but we don't have the same interest from the big clubs for him - they would rather sign a player with a proven pedigree, not someone who has just really broken onto the nation scene

For that reason, the younger players are not getting the exposure they otherwise would

 

[chrismpw]

You don't win owt with kids

 

[Bruce Wayne]

I would say a lot of sports men and women are Bruce, due to better nutrition and sports science.

That's the interesting thing though. The tennis article was suggesting that the 'peak' period for a player was shrinking. In other words, it was taking much longer for a player to get to the top of the game than it did previously, due to the physical requirements needed to get to the top. Achieving this level of development takes time, therefore players took longer to get there.

We often say here when we discuss young players that if they're not in the first team by the time they're 20 or something that they won't make it as players. I was just wondering if that's an accurate heuristic now and whether we should be moving back that cut-off period to say 22 or 23?

 

[icburns]

Interesting topic, this.

 

[Rook]

In America just a few years back many baseball players hit their prime in their mid 30s an age where they used to be retiring. Ah the wonders of Roids.

Championship boxers are getting older too, of course they also have a huge drug problem as well.

 

[Bruce Wayne]

To use a cycling analogy, in each of the three week stage races there is a young riders jersey awarded to the best young rider in the race. The cut off point for entry into that competition is being under 26 years of age at the start of the year, so there's a clear inference that the kind of physical development (literally miles in the legs) needed to compete means you often won't do so until you're that bit older.

Obviously they're different sports, but I dare say football is as physically demanding now as it's ever been. Maybe the likes of Barkley and Rooney who are came through in their teens are the exceptions rather than the rule, and we should wait until a player is in their early/mid 20's before judging them? Seamus seems a prime example. He's still often regarded as a youngster, yet is 25 now and in fantastic form.

 

[DualityNSNO]

Can I just say, that the tennis player under 23 in the top 100 is Bulgarian - Grigor Dimitrov - who is 22 and is oddly enough #22.

 

[The Hibbert Agenda]

I think the real interesting element to this debate is not whether nutrition and sports science contributes to a player reaching his/her peak around 30, but rather the importance of EXPERIENCE in making athletes the best in their game.

There is no arguing that the body at 20 is in better shape than at 30 (9 out of 10 times)- so the real key in developing these top players is experience and mentality.

It then suggests that your examples of Rooney and Barkley (include Bale, Messi, Neymar, Ronaldo) are the outliers due to their ability despite little experience. Seamus like you mention is another strange example due to just how late he joined the game and his ridiculous pace of development.

2 thoughts lead from here-

Everton's staff can not really judge the potential or ability of a young player based on athleticism alone. Some fantastic athletes simply do not have the mentality (Michael Johnson). Also its hard to judge the development of players who don't seem capable of certain attributes until they're on the field given experience and then enforce their own change and development (Ramsey this season, Coleman too). As such I am all for us sending out 10 u21 players on loan as we're doing. It's the only way to really allow for this development.

Secondly it really underlines my support in what Roberto keeps emphasizing which is the need to recruit only the right player. The ones with the right mentality and the right personalities and the right attributes. Not based on athleticism alone. Get lost Drenthe- I want Colemans and McCarthys. That is all.

 

[Bruce Wayne]

I know my physical abilities are much better now (at 34) than they were at 20 so I don't think it is always the case. Strongmen and cyclists (to use two polar opposites) both reach their peaks towards the late 20's/early 30's.

I quite agree with you though regarding the mental side of the game. I kinda wonder, given the global nature of the game and all, whether there is such a depth of talent now that the levels are much higher, therefore youngsters need both the physical and mental maturity that comes with a bit of age in order to make a dent.

A lot of folks seem to suggest that technique is largely settled by a players teenage years, so what remains is therefore physical development and mental maturity (in terms of tactics, preparation etc.), both of which may take a bit longer than was previously the case.

 

[njligernj]

Maybe the likes of Barkley and Rooney who are came through in their teens are the exceptions rather than the rule, and we should wait until a player is in their early/mid 20's before judging them?

Yes. I mean obviously you can't keep everyone around until their mid-20's but I do think football especially is too quick to judge on players. In every N. American sport I can think of players who were cut by teams or even out of the sport entirely in their mid-20's and then worked their way back and went on to be elite level players. There are a few football examples I know of but they seem to be fewer in number and less exciting examples (possible that's a hasty generalization though).

It stands to reason if the window for a football career is longer the window for judging a player should also become longer.

Anyway to answer OP I always had it in my head that peak was around 30 anyway. Not back in the 70's obviously but that is about where I'd place it now. I assumed all the people whining about Barry's age when we were signing him were teenagers who just thought 30+ means old -- I guess it's also possible they were 50+ and used to the "good ol' days" when a player was done at 30 because he never stopped smoking and drinking.

We've always used the "if he's good enough he's old enough" line on young players; we might need a "if he's good enough he's young enough" for the older lads.

In every sport I follow I can think of older players who are among the (if not the) best players in the league. Peyton Manning breaking passing records in the NFL at 37, Marty. St. Louis in the NHL scored more points than anyone else in the league at 37/38 years old, in the UFC it's fairly common to have world Champions in their late 30's (and Couture was heavyweight champion in his mid-40's).

At some point (hopefully) we'll figure it all out and stop aging entirely. Then what happens to sport? Will people play for hundreds of years? Will we care or will we be too busy going off to shag robots on some distant sex planet?

 

[Kurt.]

Better education, nutrition, training methods, rest periods, ..... All of these contribute to being able to sustain a very high level for longer.... Thus players who are now over 26ish are only just hitting their peak.... I think this generation are the first to see the results of better living if you will ..... Be Interesting to see what the next 30 years produces.