Its proper football the legends of the 70's and 80"s didnt complain they got up and gave as good back, footballs soft now a days for a contact sport, a derbys all about getting stuck in.
Come on mate, this is the 21st century now. Yes, I was there in the crowd back in the 70s and 80s, but leg-breakers and career-enders have never been cool.
Players these days have (or at least should have) a bit more finesse and rely more on skill and application than thuggery. You can still get ''stuck in'' without assaulting players. I class the way we press as getting stuck in. It's aggressive, in your face and intense, but it's also clean. We have terrorised teams, all without kicking shit out of them.
I wouldn't say the game has gone soft. I'd say much of it had grown up a bit. It's faster and more demanding than it ever has been. What I think
is soft, is the shitbags who fake injury, roll around on the floor, wave imaginary cards about. All that stuff is cowardly, and flying in with leg breakers and career threateners is just dinosaur football employed by those who lack the skills to play properly.