Why wont die hard GAA fans admit football these days is muck?

All existence is not defined by what a poster may have said on boards.

So you have never watch a game of soccer where commentators and analysts are purring over the number of passes leading to a goal. The point being in one sport the clever use of possession to engineer scoring opportunities instead of aimless hoofing is lauded while in another it’s muck for some reason.

It maybe something in the Irish psyche though. Look at our national soccer team. Lauded when we were hit and hoof and anyone who dared to question was vilified. Or rilugby. The biggest cheer of the day is reserved for the kick to the corner which returns possession to the opposition 95% of the time - until the 50/22 came in at least. It’s only as Ireland started to move away from this strategy to a more nuanced approach that we started to get success

He's right though. They're taking less shots now in football in favour of higher percentage scoring chances.

Well in soccer there might only be one score in a game or none at all , it’s almost impossible to score from more than 30 yards out so it makes sense that you have to hold onto the ball and try to work a situation where you have a better chance to score .

In football there are way more scores and scoring opportunities and you can kick a ball as high as you want over the crossbar from distance unlike soccer so it makes more sense to go for more scores and take more shots in comparison to soccer

Some teams just hit and hope. Meath had 13 scores and 13 wides against Limerick. Loads of wides in a game makes it so much more exciting.

Jaysus!!!!

Thats the Dubs gone.

I refer you to the analysis of @Fr Tod Umptious which identified that as teams have become more discerning in their approach to scoring the number of scores per game has in fact increased. So there is clear evidence that it does not make more sense to hit and hope rather that work a higher percentage opportunity.

Was there a point you were trying to make?

Well of course it's a pointless stat.

But isn't the whole discussion pointless ?

The game has evolved.

And the support has evolved.

No one under 40 is pining for the hit and hope of The Kerry Golden Years.

Because they never knew The Kerry Golden Years.

But for all the negative talk the game* has gone from strength to strength.

*I'm specifically talking about football, I don't care for hurling.

Those standards have changed a lot over the years

But attacking football has no gone away, it's still there.

Everyone's go to team for their rant about defensive football is Jimmy's Donegal.

Well a decade or so ago I stuck on a stat in here that the 2012 Donegal scored more on average than the 2009 Kerry team.

Again that can be described as a useless stat and I don't mind if it is, but where is this lack of attacking football if that stat even exists?

There are more scores on games than there were 40 years ago, how does that explain the absence of attacking football?.

People come to see scores, and they are seeing more of them than they ever did.

Getting back to Jimmy's Donegal the poster child for defensive football was their 2011 SF v Dublin, which Dublin won 0-8 to 0-6.

Everyone told us that was the end of football, and football was doomed, but the very next year Donegal where shooting the lights out and this time winning.

Poor teams will be defensive v good teams because they don't want a whipping, and they can't be blamed for that.

But if any team wants a chance at winning they have to be attacking.

All the top teams of the last decade have been attacking teams.

The footballs definitely are lighter - it’s due to the material used. Similar change to soccer balls.

The minute changes aren’t noticeable if playing the whole time

We will have to agree to disagree on this one. When the balls are span new there is a slightly different feel to them, seem easier to catch and a nice pop off them from a kick, as they wear the handling disimproves naturally.