The death of an ex-playing TV pundit is when he continually says: "In my day it was like this - and it was better". I find myself feeling that the Premier League is a far superior place than when I set out in 1992 - but one area of slippage is defending, as Sunday's Manchester derby may illustrate.
Both clubs have amassed a vast array of firepower. Yet each is currently struggling to balance defence with attack at a time of huge change in the way the game is played.
If you look at the Premier League goalscoring chart, it bursts into the thousands from 2010 on. There were 942 goals in 2009 and 1052 last season. That's a huge shift. Once you have a five-year trend of more goals being conceded and more scored it starts to look irreversible. It points to a permanent change in the sport.
With old school coaches, 60-70 per cent of your training ground work would be defensive. Where your foot would be, the position of your hips, how often you would have to turn your head to avoid ball-watching. I compare it to a musician stripping a song back to its elements.
I started off with a high defensive base. Players now are starting out with a high technical grounding and learn the defending later.
