Football in it's current version

[Mickyblueeyes]

Players definitely more willing to make the big move and then disappear than they previously were. Probably because there is more money and the squad system is well and truly a priority (not so much in the early 90s).

 

thinking back to when we went up in 94. Yes the big teams had stars but so did:

 

Wimbledon - Fashanu, Jones, Earle, Ekoku etc.

 

Cov - Dublin, Solako, Ogrizovic (?)

 

Saints - Le Tissier

 

Villa - Atkinson, Saunders, Houghton, Staunton.

 

QPR - Ferdinand and Sinclair - Ferdinand did leave but to become no.9 at Newcastle.

 

Sheff Wed - Bright, Hurst etc.

 

Saw a pod with Evra in passing on YouTube and he mentioned that the PL he played in, every team had stars while now it’s only a few. A few years on, West Ham had Di Canio, Anelka at Bolton as examples.

 

Of course there was always big moves back then which didn’t work out but there was a spread of talent which made the league highly competitive. 

Edited 30 September 2024 by Mickyblueeyes

[trugerkem]

I have started going to watch Plymouth Parkway … they are through to the last FA Cup qualifying round and I’m rather excited by it … they had 235 people watching their last league game so this is some achievement… I have been priced out of going to Leicester games .. still a huge fan and always will be but I’m reduced to watching every game on tv now 

[Foxdiamond]

I occasionally go with grandson to watch his local team Stevenage in League One. We sit in the family area. Tidy little ground and a friendly atmosphere and football OK. 

[worth_the_wait]

2 hours ago, foxfanazer said:

Growing up watching football in the 90's and 2000's felt somewhat magical in comparison. Each team seemed to have their own identity and uniqueness. Every club had their characters and somewhat of a belief they could beat the big boys. Nowadays it seems like 80% of the teams simply play survival or damage limitation football, including ourselves.

 

 

In terms of competitive football, the best time was probably the 1960's and most of the 1970's.

 

This was a time when clubs still shared their home gate receipts, so even though Man Utd/Liverpool/Arsenal were richer than others ... not by that much.    It genuinely felt like anyone could win anything.

 

In the 20 seasons from 1959-1978, there were:

 13 different Champions
 15 different FA Cup winners
 14 different League winners (in 18 seasons)
 

Just think about those stats for a minute.

 

In addition to that, all the clubs' grounds were utterly unique, with their own historical make-up of terracing and seats.   You could never mistake any 2 grounds.     Now with all seater stands, quite a few feel "same-ish"  eg. us and Southampton, Bolton and Huddersfield, MIddlesbrough and Derby, etc.

 

Edited 30 September 2024 by worth_the_wait

[Foxdiamond]

6 minutes ago, worth_the_wait said:

 

In terms of competitive football, the best time was probably the 1960's and most of the 1970's.

 

This was a time when clubs still shared their home gate receipts, so even though Man Utd/Liverpool/Arsenal were richer than others ... not by that much.    It genuinely felt like anyone could win anything.

 

In the 20 seasons from 1959-1978, there were:

 13 different Champions
 15 different FA Cup winners
 14 different League winners (in 18 seasons)
 

Just think about those stats for a minute.

 

In addition to that, all the clubs' grounds were utterly unique, with their own historical make-up of terracing and seats.   You could never mistake any 2 grounds.     Now with all seater stands, quite a few feel "same-ish"  eg. us and Southampton, Bolton and Huddersfield, MIddlesbrough and Derby, etc.

 

Agree with you. Mind a lot of the grounds were neglected and clubs did not spend too much on upkeep 

[Jabbaranks]

I've felt this way ever since we won the FA Cup and the Prem. Everything afterwards for me just seems like the biggest anti-climax.

 

Following City from the mid 70s, what MON achieved at the club felt at the time like the pinnacle of whatever we could achieve...and yet through Vichai's dream, we lived the dream that seemed ridiculous. 

 

Allied to VAR, ticket prices, food prices, FFP, poor refereeing, compulsory 'is this a library' chanting as if it's razor sharp wit, a massive disconnect between the club and the fans, players who don't give a shit....I struggle to get that hunger I had for the game when I was younger. Might just be an age thing.

 

In summary, 8 years ago it felt like having a three way at the Ritz with Cindy Crawford and Naomi Campbell. Now it feels like fingering Natalie Cassidy behind Pork Pie Library. 

[RoboFox]

Probably feels particularly galling as a fan of Leicester City since we basically completed football and became a world-renowned so-called model club only to piss it all away and revert back to the mean in a few short years. 

 

The sentiments about football in general wouldn't be half as pervasive if we were still battling it out for Champions League places every season.

[foxfanazer]

Just now, RoboFox said:

Probably feels particularly galling as a fan of Leicester City since we basically completed football and became a world-renowned so-called model club only to piss it all away and revert back to the mean in a few short years. 

 

The sentiments about football in general wouldn't be half as pervasive if we were still battling it out for Champions League places every season.

Yeah this could also be true 

[Fox92]

55 minutes ago, Stadt said:

The quality is far higher nowadays. Watch a game from 15 years ago and you’ll be surprised at just how shit it is.

 

The atmosphere, ticket pricing, VAR, FFP/PSR suck the soul out of the game though.

Looks better though. Fast and direct. No boredom. Nothing slow or teams trying to play out and losing the ball time and time again. 

 

Every top flight team practically plays the same nowadays.

 

15/20 years ago Arsenal were sublime, quick, played football on the ground and could counter within a blink of an eye. On perfect pitches that players have nowadays they would be even better. Bergkamp, Henry, Pires, Viera... players like this I grew up on who would not look out of place today. Calling a previous era "shit" is stupid. Everything moves on. In 20 years time people will say the same thing about football today.

Edited 30 September 2024 by Fox92

[Samilktray]

7 minutes ago, Fox92 said:

Looks better though. Fast and direct. No boredom. Nothing slow or teams trying to play out and losing the ball time and time again. 

 

Every top flight team practically plays the same nowadays.

 

15/20 years ago Arsenal were sublime, quick, played football on the ground and could counter within a blink of an eye. On perfect pitches that players have nowadays they would be even better. Bergkamp, Henry, Pires, Vieria... players like this I grew up on who would not look out of place today. Calling a previous era "shit" is stupid. Everything moves on. In 20 years time people will say the same thing about football today.

But the quality was shit 20 years ago compared to today, and the quality 20 years from now will probably make football now look shit? So not that stupid I don't think 

[Footballwipe]

Yeah there's lots already said here about the fact after winning everything we have it feels anti-climactic, and also how our owners have frittered away our chance to be a mainstay in the top part of the league.

 

I'm very much a "top PL matchup" and the big games at the end of the season when football means something. It just feels so empty otherwise, dare I say that David Mitchell sketch about football atm.

 

Modern football seems to have turned everyone into a mixture of either a conspiracy theorist (RE: referees, governing bodies), a financial expert or a great defender of the club they support, no matter what. Couple that with the fact modern sports media spends all the time it can feeding this, tapping into all of these to drum up the engagement they so crave and it just makes it so tiresome.

[RYM]

My enjoyment comes from going with my two lads but if it wasn’t for them I’m not sure I’d bother with a season ticket or go at all TBH. 
 

I don’t get to a lot of games as I’m in Glasgow and it’s expensive to travel like everything else these days. 
 

We watch a lot of local football too and that’s great fun but again that’s more about time together than the matches.

 

[Pliskin]

It’s becoming more of a sports entertainment akin to WWE than sport.

 

The magic of the game has long gone, I go because I love the club, but my love for the game is dwindling year on year……. 

[adam]

It's the players wages that are the main reason why the game is in tatters. All these clubs making massively loses is madness and mainly its all down to the wages. There should be a salary cap. No one needs to be paid 200k a week to play football.  Fans getting ripped off week in week out with shirts, tickets, food and the players getting richer each season. Don't see how it will ever change now unless TV companies get bored of it.

[Le Renard]

An "Identity", the 80's was generally kick 'n' rush.  If teams are losing they seem not to have an identity, but when they are winning we somehow can see an Identity.   It is one of those phrases du jour that seem to be bandied about by pundits these days. 

Edited 30 September 2024 by Le Renard

[Stadt]

15 minutes ago, Fox92 said:

Looks better though. Fast and direct. No boredom. Nothing slow or teams trying to play out and losing the ball time and time again. 

 

Every top flight team practically plays the same nowadays.

 

15/20 years ago Arsenal were sublime, quick, played football on the ground and could counter within a blink of an eye. On perfect pitches that players have nowadays they would be even better. Bergkamp, Henry, Pires, Viera... players like this I grew up on who would not look out of place today. Calling a previous era "shit" is stupid. Everything moves on. In 20 years time people will say the same thing about football today.

Watch a game, there's lots of aimless hoofing (AKA losing the ball time and time again) - even in the Champions League. There's very little pressure on the ball which is jarring as a modern viewer.

 

It's romanticism, look I'm not a fan particularly of slow build up football, especially for the below average teams in the league. But football is better now, the quality is higher, the likes of Savage wouldn't have a top flight career.

 

It's a totally valid thing to say the quality then is shit compared to now.

[foxfanazer]

3 minutes ago, Le Renard said:

An "Identity" Do people know what they are talking about, in the 80's it was generally kick 'n' rush, if teams are losing they seem not to have an identity, but when they are winning we somehow can see an Identity. 

No not true. You can be losing games but still have your own brand of football. Like Spurs now for example, whether they win, lose or draw it's clear they have their own way of playing that you can differentiate from the other teams

[grobyfox1990]

These threads appear every so often, the equivalent of Clare who's clocked 27.5 years rattling around a FTSE 250 or a local SME and constantly complains, moans and resists change. Clare, do yourself and everyone else a favour and get another job, move to another city, try something else! Just go away Clare! Much like Clare, football fans will not do that as they don't have the mental strength to make a change as they age.

We'll see the next generation complaining about how TikTok threads and gaming 'just isn't the same anymore' as they cross the 30 threshold.

 

 

[Scanchez]

Tattoos, massive headphones, sliding on your knees when you score, 'we go again' tweets..

Load of bollocks.

[worth_the_wait]

18 minutes ago, Pliskin said:

The magic of the game has long gone, I go because I love the club, but my love for the game is dwindling year on year……. 

I go for pretty much the same reason.

 

I love the club, as in what it represents ... the City of Leicester and the County of Leicestershire.

 

I enjoy meeting up with old m8's before and after the match.

 

But it's only in fleeting moments that i really enjoy the football.   I used to love it all so much ........

[Vowels]

It’s the great beans/spaghetti debate over and over and over and over ( like a primate  with a little pair of pan lids ) 

[Fox92]

3 minutes ago, Stadt said:

Watch a game, there's lots of aimless hoofing (AKA losing the ball time and time again) - even in the Champions League. There's very little pressure on the ball which is jarring as a modern viewer.

 

It's romanticism, look I'm not a fan particularly of slow build up football, especially for the below average teams in the league. But football is better now, the quality is higher, the likes of Savage wouldn't have a top flight career.

 

It's a totally valid thing to say the quality then is shit compared to now.

The quality of games is better now but quality of player is similar as there are good players and awful players in every era. There's enough top flight players now that are not great and the likes of Savage are as good as these players.

 

It probably is a valid thing to say so I do apologise for saying "stupid". You back your point up so that's fair enough.

[Stadt]

Just now, Fox92 said:

The quality of games is better now but quality of player is similar as there are good players and awful players in every era. There's enough top flight players now that are not great and the likes of Savage are as good as these players.

 

It probably is a valid thing to say so I do apologise for saying "stupid". You back your point up so that's fair enough.

The median player is better now. Even controlling for technical ability they're much fitter, more tactically aware and composed in possession.

 

You're right every era has its bad layers but a bad player in 2024 is better than a bad 2004 equivalent

[worth_the_wait]

Lots of valid discussion about "quality".    But that doesn't equate with enjoyment.

 

In the 1970/80's the "quality" was less.   The pitches were sh*t.   The grounds were lousy.    Many of the fans were  badly behaved.    You got drenched on open terraces when it rained.    etc etc etc

 

But I loved it.      Today, so much of the so-called high quality is a bit "meh", as some might say.

[Chris_OGrady]

Got very little interest in premier league football now. I think part of it is because I'm older and it's just the same thing every year. 75% of the games are completely pointless and the atmopshere/culture is just so dead.  Last year in the championship was the first season I've been engaged in a while. I still enjoy all the European competitions, it's just the premier league which feels so stale. 

Edited 30 September 2024 by Chris_OGrady