Let’s discuss some of the things modern football fans hate. There’s a lot to love about football; it is simply the greatest sport in the world. But there are some things about the modern game that just grind our gears. And we don’t mean just us, we mean football fans all around the world. These are 10 things every fan hates about modern football.
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Things modern football fans hate
1. International Break
The first thing has to be the international break. Yeah, we understand that qualifiers have to be played in preparation for international tournaments and all of that, but it really doesn’t stop the international break from being so annoying. Each time an international break comes around, we all have to go find something useful to do with our lives and we don’t like that at all.
Another thing that makes the international break so annoying is the injuries. It’s nearly like teams can’t have a single international break without injuries to major players. That alone is enough to make anybody annoyed. Even club coaches hate the international break.
2. Long VAR delays
Fans have adjusted to the use of VAR, but the delay to get a decision right is something we’ll just never get used to.
We can see from our screens that the player is clearly offside, why is it taking you an eternity to draw the lines?
And you know what’s extra annoying? Sometimes, they take all that time and still end up getting the decision wrong. Just subjecting us to two-dimensional suffering.
3. VAR refusing to intervene
You know what’s also annoying? VAR refusing to intervene unless it’s a straight red card.
The referee could’ve gotten the second yellow card decision absolutely wrong, but because it’s not a straight red, it cannot be reviewed. That’s just utterly ridiculous. A sending-off is a sending-off. If it’s significant enough to get him off the pitch, then it should be significant enough to be checked by VAR.
You already waste our time anyway, so why not waste it checking something that matters?
4. Punishment for Natural Follow-Through
Another thing we have found out that fans really hate is players getting heavily punished for follow-throughs or very natural movements. I mean, Marcus Rashford’s red card in the Champions League game against Copenhagen, for example, was nothing short of disgraceful.
Curtis Jones suffered the same fate as Liverpool fell to Spurs this season. This is not the game we used to know and love.
5. Intentional Soft Games
It’s not just the refs and authorities that annoy fans these days. The players and coaches are culprits, too. And one of their biggest crimes is making the game go soft. If you go online these days, you’ll see so many instances of fans crying about how soft the game has become.
Rivalries are no longer what they used to be. In the buildup to a North London derby, Merseyside derby, or Manchester derby, we’d see players from opposing teams smiling with each other or maybe even hanging out. Huh?!
These games are no longer as heated as they used to be. We’re not encouraging fighting on the pitch or any of that, but come on! Give us some spice!
6. Robotic Games
We also hate how very robotic the game has become. A lot of players these days are just all about running and scoring; no skill, no flair, nothing.
Maybe Messi and Ronaldo broke the sport and made us too dependent on goals, maybe it’s technology, maybe humans are evolving…whatever it is, it just is not fun anymore. We literally had Ronaldo Nazario, Ronaldinho, Zidane, Figo, Rivaldo, Okocha, Henry, and many more all in one generation. These guys used to get on the pitch and put on a proper show while still producing output. But these days, Neymar attempts a rainbow flick once and the media wants his head on a spike. The game is really losing its beauty, man.
7. Player’s Time- Wasting Tactics
Player’s time-wasting tactics can actually be very annoying. We want to watch football. We don’t want to see you feigning injury and theatrically rolling on the floor when you were barely even touched. Like, come on! Get up and win the game honorably. You know, like a man!
8. Booking Players Celebrations
Now, back to the refs, we have a question for you guys! Why do you book players for certain celebrations? What do you have against a player taking off his shirt to celebrate?
Some of the coldest celebrations in the modern game were produced when players took off their shirts. Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi, Mario Balotelli, Chloe Kelly, Andres Iniesta…we could go on and on.
But what do these players get for giving us these memorable celebrations? Yellow cards. Come on!
Okay, let’s even say we manage to come to terms with players getting booked for taking their shirts off, what could be wrong with players going to celebrate with fans? We really don’t get it. Why do players get booked for going to share their joy with the supporters that have come out to watch them?
And some other times, it just feels like refs book players when they celebrate in ways they don’t understand. Till date, we still don’t understand why Kei Kamara was booked for his twerk celebration.
9. Unimaginative jersey designs
At this point, Nike’s creative team might as well be part-time construction workers.
You guys remember that season when Puma practically made the same jersey for different clubs, all without badges? Instead of putting a badge, they decided to write the name of the club across the shirt, like it was possible that we’d forget what team we were watching. They did this for City, Dortmund, Fenerbahce, Milan, Marseille, and a few other clubs.
Also, third kits are supposed to go crazy with designs, but it feels like it’s more miss than hit these days.
10. The Ultras
Last but certainly not least on the list of things fans hate about modern football is – and this may sound a little paradoxical—Ultras. Yes, Ultras are fans – super fans, if you like – but fans hate them.
Like, you guys just need to chill a bit. You’re taking this thing too far. The whole culture of forcing players to wait behind on the pitch after a game to scold and berate them? Nah, that’s just overdoing it.
If you remember, PSG Ultras called Messi a son of a b***** and camped outside Neymar’s house to say vile things to him only to end up getting embarrassed by Newcastle in the Champions League the season after both players left.
We don’t know what’s giving these Ultras this much power and audacity, but they really need to pack it up before it becomes an actual pandemic in the modern game.
Those are the 10 things fans hate about the modern game. We’re pretty sure you have a few more things to get off your chest.
