Why are hammerings becoming more common at the top level?

Just in the past 2 years we've had

Germany 7 Brazil 1
Netherlands 5 Spain 1
Real vs Bayern
Bayern vs Barca
BVB vs Real
Liverpool/Chelsea vs Arsenal
Liverpool vs Everton
Arsenal vs Spurs x2
Utd vs Arsenal
City vs Utd
Liverpool vs Spurs

Honestly in the previous 10 years I can remember very few games like that

(edited 9 years ago)

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Reply 1

Kutta

I think perhaps attacking players and improved whilst defences have got worse.

In thrashings, normally one team gets the lead and the other team goes all out which means the team can easily hit them on the break, that's what happened in the Bayern v Madrid game :smile:

Or its just one team fails to turn up :smile:

Or the other possibility of one team outclassing the other :smile:

But I agree, and i'm not complaining.

Reply 2

shawn_o1

4 goals in 6 minutes, has any team boasted a worse record than that I wonder

Reply 3

Kenan and Kel

Arrogance of the inferior team in their set-up, they believe they can match the opposition blow for blow but are disappointed. Heck, it's even the case when teams are of identical levels, just one team's set-up is poor.

Reply 4

_Dreamville_

There could be a combination of a few reasons -
Players don't care as much about winning (not worded great but you understand)
Players change tactics when going down to push extremely forward leaving gaps at the back for the leading team to score more as we saw today
Defences have generally just got less organised and aren't prioritised highly enough during training

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Reply 5

GenialGermanGent

Players have poor morale and no fighting spirit these days any more. Once they concede 2 or 3 goals, all they worry about is how this will affect the sales of their clothing line and how they'll get ridiculed on social media - instead of fighting back. And then they concede even more and the team falls apart...

Reply 6

Malevolent

Defenses are getting worse. Also once they concede two or three they just want to be off the pitch as soon as possible...

Reply 7

shawn_o1

Well it wasn't that long ago that teams were coming back from 2-0 or 3-0 down... guess it doesn't happen at the World Cup anymore

**** defending

Original post by shawn_o1

Well it wasn't that long ago that teams were coming back from 2-0 or 3-0 down... guess it doesn't happen at the World Cup anymore

When was this regularly happening?

Reply 10

shawn_o1

Original post by manchesterunited15

When was this regularly happening?

Crystal Palace vs Liverpool
Leyton Orient vs Rotherham
Arsenal vs Hull

...sorry, poor argument since all those games were in England. I'm sure it happens in leagues and tournaments across the world, just not the World Cup...

Reply 11

scrotgrot

The game is much more about high tempo and attacking these days and attacking formations are in vogue. There are almost no superstar defenders like the feared Italian defence of the early 2000s. The French and English defences of the time also eclipse anything that's on offer today many times over. Even the tricksy attack-focused Brazil had Cafu and Roberto Carlos.

We are living through a bit of a golden age in football from an entertainment standpoint. I used to watch football religiously from about 2002 to 2006 and back then it was very different, you lot don't know you're born.

Reply 12

Pete_91

Defending has massively declined and attacks have stayed the same if not got better. Net result is more hammerings.

Reply 13

Zerforax

Also happens more in cup competitions because the losing team may as well go for hell for broke. What's the difference between losing 1-0 or 5-0 in a cup competition? At least if you make an attempt, you might be able to make it 3-3 or something.

Reply 14

ZÃ¼rich

Original post by Zerforax

This happens more that it used to though. Big teams never used to hammer each other in the CL years ago but now it happens fairly regularly :confused:

Reply 15

419

Original post by Kenan and Kel

Basically this. The obvious conclusion to make is that overall, there's shut defending in football but just like last night, it was to do with non existence in the overall defence setup if the team due to indisciplined players been caught out of position and doing stupid things leading to loss of possession in dangerous positions. Only Dante knew the meaning of defending last night.

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(edited 9 years ago)

Reply 16

midgemeister7

Besides the odd case such as Champions' League hamerings, I don't think big scorelines are becoming more common at all. It just seems this way because the current results are more fresh in our mind. For example, this is a scoresheet from 12 years ago (scroll down): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2001%E2%80%9302_FA_Premier_League

As you can see, there are plenty of drubbings by a 5+ goal margin - we just don't remember them!

Reply 17

username358506

Where was the spirit of Istanbul?

Reply 18

jam278

Original post by Kenan and Kel

Original post by Zürich

I've noticed that too. Defences are poorer and tactics. Teams who rarely get hammered such as Chelsea are like that because they'll attempt to stay compact and solid then chase the game.

Chelsea vs Spurs(4-0)
Barca vs Atlético(4-1)
Real vs Atlético(4-1)
Man City vs Arsenal(6-3)
Milan vs Arsenal games.
Real vs Schalke.
Everton vs Arsenal.
PSG vs Leverkusen.
Liverpool vs United.

There's actually been so many hammerings the past 2 years from the top teams in their respective countries.

Barca getting beat 7-0 was the funniest thing I've seen though. It was just so unexpected.