A reminder for those of us who are now at or are older than the age typically described as the "peak" for a footballer that we are getting old came from Liverpool defender Joel Matip this afternoon.
Signed on a free from Schalke, Matip has very quickly found his feet in English football and has proven to be an excellent piece of business in a transfer climate where 25 year old defenders playing in top leagues seem to go for a minimum of £25m...
He's been so good, in fact, that he has drawn comparisons to Liverpool legends and former MOTD favourite Alan Hansen, but when he was presented with these comparisons while speaking to the media, Matip honestly admitted that he had never heard about the Scot.
I'm sorry, I have to say I haven't heard of him, but I know this club has won many trophies in the past and has had many great defenders.
It's an honour the fans have welcomed me so much and that they appreciate my game play. Knowing I have the supporters behind me is a pleasure.
How could you never hear of Alan Hansen?!
Actually, it's quite easy for a kid from Germany born in 1991 to not have a full knowledge of the defenders of Liverpool's glory days, but he dealt with that one rather well.
It reminds us of the time Frank Lampard claimed a chat with Luke Shaw before the 2014 World Cup made him know it was time to retire.
I was having a chat with Luke Shaw and I mentioned Tony Adams and he didn’t seem to know who I was talking about.
I said: ‘Are you winding me up?’ And he said: ‘Who did he play for?’
I knew then then it was time to retire.
Shaw's lack of knowledge being far worse than Matip's in this case.
It's something we're going to have to accept, as time goes by players are going to be forgotten by the newer generations of football fans... And players, clearly.
Matip will now surely be aware of Alan Hansen's prowess as one of the finest defenders in Europe during his pomp, but all he really needs to concentrate on is keeping up the good work.
