The current state of Football

[O 20,624]

It's almost the end of an era. Messi and Ronaldo won't contest the semi-finals of The Champions League for the 1st time since 2005.

The dominance of Spain's two Giants is coming to an end also. Barcelona are a spent force and Real are still transitioning away from their latest great team.

When you look at the state of the current crop of centre backs, it pales in comparison to the position 10 years ago. van Dijk the clear standout. Ramos is also coming to the end.

As for goalkeepers, has there ever been a more error prone period from the game's top goalkeepers? De Gea, Lloris, Ederson, Karius, etc. I think higher lines and playing out from the back are big factors here. More is expected of the modern goalkeeper. They're all having Barthez moments now.

Apart from this current Bayern side, there's no other obvious elite team around at present. It looks like The Champions League and Balon d'Or will have multiple winners moving forward, which was the norm 20 years ago. That might be a good thing, actually. Less predictable.

Football is headed for a cloud of mystery.

Edited August 15, 2020 by O

[Deez Nutz 372]

15 hours ago, O said:

It's almost the end of an era. Messi and Ronaldo won't contest the semi-finals of The Champions League for the 1st time since 2005.

The dominance of Spain's two Giants is coming to an end also. Barcelona are a spent force and Real are still transitioning away from their latest great team.

When you look at the state of the current crop of centre backs, it pales in comparison to the position 10 years ago. van Dijk the clear standout. Ramos is also coming to the end.

As for goalkeepers, has there ever been a more error prone period from the game's top goalkeepers? De Gea, Lloris, Ederson, Karius, etc. I think higher lines and playing out from the back are big factors here. More is expected of the modern goalkeeper. They're all having Barthez moments now.

Apart from this current Bayern side, there's no other obvious elite team around at present. It looks like The Champions League and Balon d'Or will have multiple winners moving forward, which was the norm 20 years ago. That might be a good thing, actually. Less predictable.

Football is headed for a cloud of mystery.

And England will still fail on the International stage...some things never change

[O 20,624]

1 hour ago, Deez Nutz said:

And England will still fail on the International stage...some things never change

 

Kane/Abraham

Sterling/Rashford----------------------Sancho/Greenwood

Mount/Grealish---------Foden/The Ox

Henderson/Rice

Chilwell/Saka Maguire Gomez TAA/AWB

Pope/Henderson

Could be changing this decade. A lack of CB talent and depth might be their downfall. And they're also lacking a deep lying playmaker who can dictate the tempo of a game, but they might just have to play a style more like Liverpool's.

 

 

 

[JaimeL 315]

16 hours ago, O said:

It's almost the end of an era. Messi and Ronaldo won't contest the semi-finals of The Champions League for the 1st time since 2005.

 

Holy shit.

 

Interesting to see where things go. Some amazing young players coming through - Sancho, Mbappé, Greenwood, Foden, many others across many leagues. Wonder how they'll compare to the likes of Rooney, Ronaldo and Messi in 10 years.

 

Even all the big teams seem to be in a state of flux; only Bayern seem to be powering on (they did fantastically well managing their transition from Robbery). Unlimited funds City have many of their best players in their 30s/gone already, Liverpool are at their peak but seem unable to strengthen in the transfer window with heavy funding (Thiago would be a coup but they need more, there's no way they can sustain their insane injury luck), Madrid have many ageing stars and are going hell for leather on megabucks Brazilian teenagers (and Hazard lol), Barca are post-Ferguson Man United multiplied by early 00s Leed United, PSG seem stuck in a state of irrelevance - can they finally bag a CL this year?

 

Interesting comment about defenders - they've really tailed off from what we had 10-20 years ago. I imagine (though could be completely wrong) this is a result of most countries adopting a less intensive "win at all costs" mentality with youth teams and physically intimidating players, and tending towards technically superior players like Xavi and Scholes, who mightn't necessarily be the best players as kids against bigger players but are coached into stars. Who knows, with the perpetual backwards nature of Irish football we might have the best backline on the planet in the years to come?!

[O 20,624]

1 minute ago, JaimeL said:

 

Holy shit.

 

Interesting to see where things go. Some amazing young players coming through - Sancho, Mbappé, Greenwood, Foden, many others across many leagues. Wonder how they'll compare to the likes of Rooney, Ronaldo and Messi in 10 years.

 

Even all the big teams seem to be in a state of flux; only Bayern seem to be powering on (they did fantastically well managing their transition from Robbery). Unlimited funds City have many of their best players in their 30s/gone already, Liverpool are at their peak but seem unable to strengthen in the transfer window with heavy funding (Thiago would be a coup but they need more, there's no way they can sustain their insane injury luck), Madrid have many ageing stars and are going hell for leather on megabucks Brazilian teenagers (and Hazard lol), Barca are post-Ferguson Man United multiplied by early 00s Leed United, PSG seem stuck in a state of irrelevance - can they finally bag a CL this year?

 

Interesting comment about defenders - they've really tailed off from what we had 10-20 years ago. I imagine (though could be completely wrong) this is a result of most countries adopting a less intensive "win at all costs" mentality with youth teams and physically intimidating players, and tending towards technically superior players like Xavi and Scholes, who mightn't necessarily be the best players as kids against bigger players but are coached into stars. Who knows, with the perpetual backwards nature of Irish football we might have the best backline on the planet in the years to come?!

Teams want their defenders to be comfortable on the ball now, so defensive attributes like heading aren't deemed as important.

Terry and Vidić would be deemed subpar in some ways with the way the game is going.

Now teams press from the front as their main defensive strategy. Sitting deeper with good positioning, short distances between players and strong communication between the back four isn't as common. Mourinho's first Chelsea side used to be the masters of this. They'd rarely concede a chance, let alone a goal. 15 goals conceded in a league season will never be beaten.

Mourinho and Simeone's tactics are obsolete at present. That style might have a renaissance someday.

[JaimeL 315]

35 minutes ago, O said:

Mourinho and Simeone's tactics are obsolete at present. That style might have a renaissance someday.

 

That'll be really interesting to see, much like Leicester and 4-4-2. I'm still delighted that we're out of the dourball era - Ole mightn't be the greatest manager to have, but he does at least want to attack teams and is letting our best players play with some bit of freedom. What went on under Mourinho... 

[Deez Nutz 372]

I would be happy to see our full backs and keeper hoof the ball away from the danger zone, rather than play it out at the back on many occasions. 

[O 20,624]

1 hour ago, Deez Nutz said:

I would be happy to see our full backs and keeper hoof the ball away from the danger zone, rather than play it out at the back on many occasions. 

I'd personally kneecap any of my players who boot the ball up the pitch. Looking forward to management.

[MikeM 10,070]

I think only in years to come that people will see how truly great Cristiano and Messi were. You might get a talent like that once in a generation, to have two at that level is very rare.

Mbappe is probably the closest in terms of raw ability and power right now. He will need to move to Barca or Real to fulfill his potential however. And that will also depend on the rebuilds of those clubs.

[Mickey Mouse 1,119]

Classic United teams of the 1990s would walk these leagues. 

[aardvarked 11,014]

10 hours ago, Mickey Mouse said:

Classic United teams of the 1990s would walk these leagues. 

They'd get turned over mate, would make Bayern vs Barca look close. Our 07/08 team would annihilate them too.

If the same group of players had been born 20-30 years later, then maybe. Several of them would have to change up their position and style of play though. 

[Mickey Mouse 1,119]

1 hour ago, aardvarked said:

They'd get turned over mate, would make Bayern vs Barca look close. Our 07/08 team would annihilate them too.

If the same group of players had been born 20-30 years later, then maybe. Several of them would have to change up their position and style of play though. 

Of course they would they are ill in their 50s now. 

[Albert Quixall 3,867]

22 hours ago, MikeM said:

I think only in years to come that people will see how truly great Cristiano and Messi were. You might get a talent like that once in a generation, to have two at that level is very rare.

Mbappe is probably the closest in terms of raw ability and power right now. He will need to move to Barca or Real to fulfill his potential however. And that will also depend on the rebuilds of those clubs.

Not to Barca. They're a fucking mess right now. ZZ should get him and build around him. DiStefano Mk.II.

[John Locke 1,196]

Ronaldo and messi are exceptional for their longevity, their ability to virtually stay fit and not pick up any nasty injuries. They have been the fulcrum of their respective sides churning out goals. It is probably rare to have players like that in the history of the game combining such ability with professionalism. That said i would not put them among my favourite players. Zidane, fat ronaldo and peak ronaldinho had a certain magic about them despite not churning out goals at the same rate of messi and ronaldo.

[O 20,624]

1 hour ago, John Locke said:

Ronaldo and messi are exceptional for their longevity, their ability to virtually stay fit and not pick up any nasty injuries. They have been the fulcrum of their respective sides churning out goals. It is probably rare to have players like that in the history of the game combining such ability with professionalism. That said i would not put them among my favourite players. Zidane, fat ronaldo and peak ronaldinho had a certain magic about them despite not churning out goals at the same rate of messi and ronaldo.

Messi has produced as many magical moments as any player in history. Messi at his peak had the creativity of a David Silva combined with the explosive nature of pre injuries Ronaldo.

He wasn't as aesthetically pleasing as Ronaldinho who went out of his way to try the ridiculous, when being subtle was sometimes the better option. His 2004-2007 was pure joy.

That 73 goal season from Messi might never be beaten.

 

[MikeM 10,070]

1 hour ago, John Locke said:

Ronaldo and messi are exceptional for their longevity, their ability to virtually stay fit and not pick up any nasty injuries. They have been the fulcrum of their respective sides churning out goals. It is probably rare to have players like that in the history of the game combining such ability with professionalism. That said i would not put them among my favourite players. Zidane, fat ronaldo and peak ronaldinho had a certain magic about them despite not churning out goals at the same rate of messi and ronaldo.

Cristiano on the ball is magic in any definition of the word as far as I'm concerned. I'd pay to see Cristiano play on his own with the ball. I wouldn't say the same for Messi. For me that's why he's my favourite of all time.

[O 20,624]

54 minutes ago, MikeM said:

Cristiano on the ball is magic in any definition of the word as far as I'm concerned. I'd pay to see Cristiano play on his own with the ball. I wouldn't say the same for Messi. For me that's why he's my favourite of all time.

Meth is a helluva drug.

[O 20,624]

• City & Liverpool are a shadow of the sides who amassed 97+ points
• Real (knocked out) and Barcelona (taken to ET) by a minnows in The Copa del Rey
• Juve are 10 points behind league leaders AC Milan 
• Lille & Lyon are pushing PSG all the way at the moment
• Sporting are leading Liga NOS

Imagine if United, Atletico, AC Milan, Lille and Sporting won their respective leagues this season?

It has a real late 90's/early 00's feel to it. The unpredictability.

Having said that, I do think Covid is the main factor behind a lot of this. Teams who press will probably suffer the most.

[Mickey Mouse 1,119]

https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/583310