Graeme Souness has bemoaned the state of modern football, while also taking aim at England goalkeeper Jordan Pickford.
Souness is known as one of the most outspoken pundits, three years on from his departure from Sky Sports.
He has never been afraid to mince his words and, ever since stepping back from punditry, football has changed considerably.
More and more, teams are relying on small gains for maximum results. Arsenal, for example, recently won the Premier League title having scored 27 goals across all competitions from set-pieces.
It has led to both fans and pundits alike to question the state of the modern game. Some enjoyability has been lost, with free-flowing football no longer commonplace.
Now, speaking to The Telegraph, Souness has provided his strong verdict - with the 73-year-old admitting he's torn.
“I don’t miss the travelling,” he said when asked about his time away from the airwaves.
“But I love football. I’ve always loved football. I’m like everyone else, do you know what I mean?
Graeme Souness has bemoaned the state of modern football, while also taking aim at England goalkeeper Jordan Pickford
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"The game has changed and we have to accept it’s changed. Some ways it’s changed for the better, other ways I’m not so sure.
“My biggest fear is the simulation and the poor refereeing.
"I think the referees have to get back to where they were with these set-pieces.
"Now set-pieces are important, they always have been, but it’s gone overboard. You saw it when West Ham played Arsenal, as an example.
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Every team to have won the World Cup | GETTY/GB NEWS“It’s all about blocking: blocking the goalkeeper, blocking the best headers.
"There’s nothing clever about it at all. I think something has to be done about it because it’s spoiling our game. One hundred per cent.
"Then I hear some of the things that are said by managers. It’s blinding people with science, isn’t it?”
Souness then continued his criticism, remarkably claiming that Pickford is picking up clean sheet records for playing against 'pub teams'.
“The referee was less sympathetic, the pitches were s**t," he added while comparing to the game to his own era.
"If I describe a scenario where you’re going to go on bobbly pitches and you know if you try to take a second touch, then someone is trying to hurt you.
"Today there is protection and the pitches are like carpets.
“George Best used to run with the ball a foot from the end of his toes on pitches that were like ploughed fields.
Jordan Pickford has 43 clean sheets for England so far
| REUTERS"So where do you need the best technique? So, you know, that’s the argument you have to consider when you talk about who is the greatest of all time.
“People are just monetising football. Their argument, of course, would be that they’re ploughing those proceeds around.
"But you look at it now and it’s very difficult not to qualify for a World Cup, isn’t it?
“Scotland had a brilliant night, when beating Denmark. Scott McTominay’s overhead kick, there were some exceptional goals and it was a tremendous achievement, but we weren’t the best team on the night. I don’t want to downplay it, but it’s hard not to get to a tournament now.
“Look at England. Your goalkeeper [Jordan Pickford] is claiming all these clean sheet records against f***ing pub teams! And you can put that in!
"Andorra, Latvia, Albania. You see all kinds of goalscoring records being broken.
"I made my debut, in comparison, against Yugoslavia – that’s six countries now!”
Pickford is level with Joe Hart on 43 clean sheets for England. Whether he can add to that tally in the coming weeks, as the World Cup prepares to commence, remains to be seen.