Quote:
Originally Posted by Serenity Now
I think you're underestimating how good a trainer Pele was. He would practice all the technical aspects of his game for hours on his own after team training. And I understand that preparation in Brazil, for the national team at least, was perhaps the most advanced in the world at the time.
You might see a marginal improvement in terms of some of the physical aspects of his game with modern methods, but technically I really don't think so. He was close to perfect, in any case.
You also have to consider that South American football was in a very different state back then. The mass exodus that exists today simply was not a factor then. Imagine virtually all of the South American players in Europe today playing in their own countries. That was the reality in those days.
And Pele also played regularly against top class European opposition in exhibition matches, as Santos toured around the world to raise revenues. These matches were very competitive as well, much more so than most friendly matches today.
You're certainly correct on the refereeing angle though. Although Pele wasn't adverse to throwing his weight (or his elbows) around when required.It's obviously impossible to say whether all the money flying around today would have had an effect on his hunger and desire for the game, but Pele faced a tremendous pressure to perform, both for Santos and for Brazil. In my opinion, comparable to anything the major stars face today.
He also had to deal with most of the temptations that a modern footballer would, in terms of women etc.
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With training, I was refering to improving his physical attributes, ie speed, strength, stamina from an earlier age, avoiding injuries and training enough to keep him ticking over all the time, the modern techniques that seem to enable footballers to run forever, I wasn't doubting his fitness then, I'm sure he would benefit though.
A move into Europe now, even with Brazillian football at the level it was then, would benefit him in terms of learning a different style of football, playing in different conditions, with rather than against, the European style.
The World Cup in '66 could well have had a diffenrent ending had referee's prevented teams from kicking him out of the tournament.
Plus improvements to boots, balls, pitches, stadiums, all would benefit him. If Frank Lampard can score so many from distance, and Clarence Seedorf similar, Pele would be pinging them in from all over!