Modern Football

[cheifo]

The players dont care about Int football as much and it is a shame.I dont sat this out of sour grapes because our lads have been so crap.I remember watching great tournaments like Spain 82,France 84 and Mexico 86 as a kid and the whole thing seemed magical.Rose tinted glasses maybe but the last few int tournaments have'nt had the same sense of occasion.

[Cymro]

I tend to agree with the general sentiment here. I don't think standards have gone down, in fact I think they've improved, but football is certainly less entertaining and more about sheer physicality these days, and improving standards mean less errors which in a roundabout way makes matches less worth watching because it's like watching a team of near-robots play another team of near-robots to see who can defend the best.

Also, I agree with GavinZac's rant, especially about the top clubs just buying the best players and not developing their own local talent. You may argue that we still get some players through the youth teams in the Premiership but how many of Chelsea's or Arsenal's future stars will actually have come from the lowest level of the youth system? Precious few I'd guess. Most will have been poached from other clubs about Europe.

Ah, nothing like a bitter rant about the decline of football on a Wednesday night to refresh the soul.

[Ceirtlis]

Personally I think La Liga is better than the Prem but I see your point. Honestly I think the Champions League should revert back to just the Champions playing it, or at the very most the top two. The current system is just rubbish, but obviously TV rights will dictate what happens in the coming years. Football just isn't the same anymore

The competition would be full of mismatches under the old system and probably would be even with 2 allowed in from some countries. I'm not sure if you are talking in a utopian way or what but it I cant see it ever going back as a "European Super League", would be set up straight away were UEFA to even try it. Witness attempts at trying to limit champions league places to 4 in each country.
I have actually been pleasantly surprised by the entertainment levels of the big matches that I have watched recently. Entertainment wise I would have the current situation as alot more entertaining than what we had in the early to mid 90's, but then again I never saw any of the 70's or 80's which you are probably refering to.

[Marked Man]

I would contest that a team with "so many Average Players" would never get to 3 finals in 4 years.

How right you were.

[bennocelt]

this is based off a conversation I had tonight whilst watching the Utd Braca game. Basically some ol' lad said that if this was the best modern football has to offer he'll pass. I started talking to him about it, he asked who I rate as the three best teams in the world, I said arguably it's Utd, Barca and Arsenal on their day, he said exactly, none of them match up to the great Madrid, Ajax, Liverpool or Milan teams so what's the point, as he said the Champions League since Zidane's Madrid team has been a celebration of mediocrity, and there hasn't been a player to emerge to hold a candle to Zidane in this decade. Whatcha all think? Personally I think he has a point

def agree here
Apart from Messi i dont think there is a quality player out there at the moment
For fecks sake John o sea might get a CL medal.!!!
I hope manure utd get it, only for the fact that Alex deserves one more for all the excitement he has generated for the competition down through the years
Would be a bit sickning to see the likes of Drogba, lampard, and ballack collect cl medals

I was lucky to have seen maradona, baresi and maldini def partnership, Ajax, the dutch trio at AC, etc
I find football very depressing to watch these days, dare i say it ...boring

[bennocelt]

Zidane was a great talent at that age, we simply didn't hear about him over here until he went to Italy. French football wasn't a big thing and he had many seasons under the public radar. To say he was nothing is just plain silly.
..

thats not true, Zidane (who is one of my all time favs) didnt really shine until he went to italy
You only have to look at his performance at the Euros in england to see he was still very much in the development stage

[jmurphyc]

The competition would be full of mismatches under the old system and probably would be even with 2 allowed in from some countries.

The only reason that is the case is because the smaller European countries are paying the price for the top nations getting 3 or 4 teams into the competition each year. If this wasn't the case we'd still have teams like Dinamo Kiev having an excellent team and doing well in the competition. The problem now is that you can go from a team who has won their domestic league in a weaker nation to a team who hasn't won their domestic league one of the big countries and you'll have a better chance of playing in the Champions League. That is one of the main reasons why European football is becoming so polarised; there's no incentive to play in your own nation any more.

[papa-j]

. And Liverpool rarely entertain.

Thats right, very boring
uefa cup final v Alves score 5-4
CL final v Milan score 3-3
Fa Cup final v West Ham 3-2
CL 1/4 final v Arsenel 5-3 agg

how did I manage to stay awake

[micls]

Thats right, very boring
uefa cup final v Alves score 5-4
CL final v Milan score 3-3
Fa Cup final v West Ham 3-2
CL 1/4 final v Arsenel 5-3 agg

how did I manage to stay awake

You're right, every game Liverpool is a thriller. me and all the others that think differently are just blind.

Well done on coming up with 5 entertaining games Lvierpool have been involved in in the last 5 years though

[Block G Raptor]

You're right, every game Liverpool is a thriller. me and all the others that think differently are just blind.

Well done on coming up with 5 entertaining games Lvierpool have been involved in in the last 5 years though

What team has most goals in this seasons CL ?

[micls]

What team has most goals in this seasons CL ?

And that autmatically means they're not a boring team? how many of game came in teh space of 2 games against rubbish opposition?

Im not arguing this anymore, theres no point. But ask any non Liverpool fan if they are an entertaining footballing side and Id imagine the vastmajority would agree with me.

[Pike B]

thats not true, Zidane (who is one of my all time favs) didnt really shine until he went to italy
You only have to look at his performance at the Euros in england to see he was still very much in the development stage

So Juventus signed him for fun yes?? He was already impressing at that stage, and if you check it out you'll find he was being called France's new Platini before Euro 96 even began. So if that isn't shining then what is?? And he is my favourite ever player so I'm not just saying it for the sake of it.
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[bennocelt]

So Juventus signed him for fun yes?? He was already impressing at that stage, and if you check it out you'll find he was being called France's new Platini before Euro 96 even began. So if that isn't shining then what is?? And he is my favourite ever player so I'm not just saying it for the sake of it.
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He is also one of my all time favs too, I love the guy but the fatc is he was very bad in the Euros, really bad. I think he fell over the ball a few times too!!

yeah there was a lot of hype before that tournament about Zidane, thats corretc but he put it too bed with his inept performances and it took him a while to raise his game to another level

french football?

[Sheridan]

Anyone who thinks standards in world football haven't deteriorated, watch this.



The last great game of the modern era? A match shorn of Maradona which still boasted Hagi and Batistuta. Are there are any players of that quality in the game today? Not to mention the contemporaneous Stoichkov, Klinsmann (to suggest that any modern striker belongs to the same species as Batistuta or Klinsmann is sacrilege) et al.

[old git]

Thats right, very boring
uefa cup final v Alves score 5-4
CL final v Milan score 3-3
Fa Cup final v West Ham 3-2
CL 1/4 final v Arsenel 5-3 agg

how did I manage to stay awake

4 games in the last 6-7 years not very entertaining

[superfrank]

Anyone who thinks standards in world football haven't deteriorated, watch this.

All Romanian goals are good but Argentina's second was a goalkeeping mistake. Bati's skill for the peno is amazing.

WC 94 was the tournament where I fell in love with football. The football was such a great specatcle. Brazil, Bulgaria, Romania, Italy, Sweden, all put on great displays. Some great goals too. Owairan springs to mind.

Some more:

[bennocelt]

Yeah thanks for that! great match

by the way
Brazil - France 1986 is still tops for me

[Marked Man]

Belgium USSR in 86 was the best game I ever saw. 5-3 belgium it ended, I think.