Modern day wingers

[SophLad]

Back in the 70s it was the fashion to play 433 with a left winger who was just that, clung to the touchline, skinned the full back and crossed the ball. Right wingers seemed curiously less common. When 442 became the thing, there were wide midfielders who could cross but did more of the donkey work as well. We've rarely seen out'n'out wingers since then.

Laurie Cunningham was so much more than "just" a winger. In the more modern era, Beckham was renowned for his crossing, but I don't recall him dancing down the wing leaving defenders in his wake like Willie Johnston.

Tbf, it's probably largely because of the way defending has changed since the LC days. LC (and other wingers) would draw the challenge and skip past players. The defenders would dive in because they knew it was a ticking off or yellow at best. Try half of those challenges now (you don't even need to connect these days) and you're probably seeing red

[Fulham Fallout]

Back in the 70s it was the fashion to play 433 with a left winger who was just that, clung to the touchline, skinned the full back and crossed the ball. Right wingers seemed curiously less common. When 442 became the thing, there were wide midfielders who could cross but did more of the donkey work as well. We've rarely seen out'n'out wingers since then.

Laurie Cunningham was so much more than "just" a winger. In the more modern era, Beckham was renowned for his crossing, but I don't recall him dancing down the wing leaving defenders in his wake like Willie Johnston.

Tbf, it's probably largely because of the way defending has changed since the LC days. LC (and other wingers) would draw the challenge and skip past players. The defenders would dive in because they knew it was a ticking off or yellow at best. Try half of those challenges now (you don't even need to connect these days) and you're probably seeing red

Willow often saw red, with no shin guards and his socks around his ankles.  Anyone went in hard on him and he’d be getting sent off, never mind d the player who went in hard.  Ally Robertson, another hard Albion player.