Has Football ACTUALLY Got Worse?

Рет қаралды 386,713

Күн бұрын

Comparisons have always been made between teams and players in different generations, but recently, a lot of people have made the claim that footballers have got worse in recent years, and that the game has become less fun, entertaining, and enjoyable.
And yet, the sport has never been more competitive, in terms of the pool of players aiming to become professional, more popular, or more lucrative.
So in this video, HITC Sevens takes a look at the claims, counter-claims, and comparisons, and attempts to figure out whether football really has got worse and what we mean by that, or whether it is all just nostalgia.

Пікірлер: 2 300

@soulfulcabbage7616 6 ай бұрын

VAR being scapegoated is ironic. It just exposed how bad the referees are. Back then, there was so many bad calls and the same people who used to cry about those decisions will be the same ones who hate VAR. Refereeing needs a huge overhaul.

@ST-tf4sq 6 ай бұрын

VAR started when both Messi and Ronaldo were on the edge of their prime, thing is, all of Barca and Real UCL wins, also copa america being like every 3 months and WC 2022 in Qatar, all of that was a clear push for the biggest stars to get their trophies. every year there is some match that is questionable referee calls...

@power279 6 ай бұрын

@@ST-tf4sqyeah..copa America every 3 month..sure mate.. keep on being salty

@tmax959 6 ай бұрын

I would say players have become better tactically and become efficient , however the reason why people think old is better than new because of How open ended games used to be, now most games are very tactical and cagey

@LiftandCoa 6 ай бұрын

As someone watching both regional and top flight football i can say you this: No. VAR makes the game worse. You also can accept a bad call way better when there isnt a second referee using 5 minutes of our time and modern technology withseveral replays and angles and still make a bad call. The fact that people stay quite after a goal when there is even the slightest chance of something, somewhere, maybe, possibly wrong 5 minutes earlier is a death sentence. Either copy it from the sports that know how to do it (eg everyone else), including imposing a strict timelimit and assess the quality of refereeing or let it be. But since football officials are unable to not want to reinvent the wheel our best shot is getting rid of it.

@RW-nr6bh 6 ай бұрын

@@LiftandCoaAccepting a bad call better without VAR? Nearly 38 years and Peter Shilton still can't accept a bad call without VAR...

@LargeLarg3 5 ай бұрын

Those 2006 squads, almost half the players of every top 10 nation are close to legends now 🤣 crazy times

@lws7394 2 ай бұрын

LMAO. That is because in 2006 you were young !! In 1986 the teams were full of legends as well. For example Denmark : Sören Lerby (Ajax, Bayern, PSV EC1), Morten Olsen (Anderlecht Uefa cup 1983), Ivan Nielsen (PSV 1988 EC1), Jan Mölby (LFC), Michael Laudrup (Juve, Barcelona dream team, Real, Ajax), Frank Arnesen (Ajax, Valencia, PSV, EC1), Jesper Olsen (Ajax, ManU), Preben Elkjaer (FC Köln & Hellas Verona champions, #2&#3 at Ballon d'Or ), Allan Simonsens (Ballon d'Or 1977 ! Borussia MG, EC1 final, 2x Uefa cup, , Barcelon EC2) ...... These are 80s and 1992 Legends ! But you were too young/not born yet to remember them ! Another reason : Before 2000 (or better before 2005, when youtube started) is not so much footage available, to see how good players are. 'Seeing is Memory' ! Furthermore since 1993 with the Champions League, and more so since 1996 with the Bosman case, when footballers could play all over Europe and when there was more room for non-European players, you would see all 'the legendary players' in one league. 'Legend' means for you: 'has played for years in the Champions League ' ! Before the Bosman arrest all those Portuguease players would play in Portugal, so you would hardly know them. And the great 70s/80s team of Poland and the 86/88 stars of Soviet-Union/Dinamo Kiev had too difficult names to remember anyway !

@LargeLarg3 2 ай бұрын

@@lws7394 my point is that, compared to lets say the 2010’s or even the 2020’s now, these teams had some crazy squads. Of course there’s been plenty of talent in recent times and plenty of future legends, but man a lot squads back then were STACKED compared to now.

@juanme555 2 ай бұрын

@@lws7394 Not sure if you're Danish or you dont know about football, but those are not legends.

@WhoAreYou905 2 ай бұрын

@@lws7394yeah 2006 was good I don’t know about the shit players in the 1900s

@mikeahusimwenre Ай бұрын

@@LargeLarg3y’all guys can’t understand that for something to be called legendary there’s most be some time aging for it possible. I mean yal talking about 90’s and 00’s when we had the greatest rivality in football in our time plus some many leggends that are retiring now or next year. Don’t know what you’ll say about our era in the next 20 years and trust me the ones coming up now are nothing less.

@stalfithrildi5366 6 ай бұрын

Are we still saying that Cantona's press conference wasn't an obvious dig at the reporters, who all joined together to pretend to be stupid rather than understand.

@stealthiscool 6 ай бұрын

I genuinely think the English press back then were just that stupid

@clarenceonyekwere5428 6 ай бұрын

Yeah, that conference statement sounded very clear

@TheEyeball37 5 ай бұрын

Excuse me? Then tell me what it was they understood that I don't if you think you know what he was saying.

@LucifersLandLord 5 ай бұрын

The idea is that the press reporters are seagulls waiting for him to throw them metaphorical sardines, which he wasnt going to do. It's hard to know if that was intentional, but it makes sense. There is an irony in that his seagull speech was a massive news story though. @@TheEyeball37

@pdfarrelly 5 ай бұрын

Watching city win things is about as satisfying and authentic as watching a computer winning a chess match. Soulless and boring. That's not even counting the off field stuff.

@olympicadam 6 ай бұрын

More money = less risk taking = less chaos/fun

@jackdelacey2505 2 ай бұрын

Especially not fun due to players not being able to celebrate coz they'll be waiting for VAR to chalk off their goal

@olexy.skrypnik 2 ай бұрын

Beautiful forms of art being erased by money making machines across the entire world.

@andrewyp6724 Ай бұрын

@@jackdelacey2505 VAR was a good decision. It should've been implemented earlier. VAR is what puts a halt to referee's biased decision, which often favored traditionally stronger team, player, country. You're not sure if it was a goal? It is a goal if stronger team/player/country did it. It's not if it were other way around. That's what often happened before VAR.

@massey81 5 ай бұрын

I used to watch 70~80 matches per season. now i dont even watch 10.

@enterusername7746 2 ай бұрын

I used to watch 10 per season. Now I watch 0.

@flacohernandez4380 2 ай бұрын

Can't remember the last time I watched a full 90min game

@yamiscape 16 күн бұрын

@@flacohernandez4380I watch a full 90 once a month my team is a shadow of its former self

@SilliusSodus 6 ай бұрын

So you haven’t gone with the idea of making an all time bald XI? You’ve made an enemy of me Alfie Potts Harmer.

@sechabatheletsane9784 6 ай бұрын

Lmfao!!😂😂😂

@waffle.supply 6 ай бұрын

Alfie of 2020 would've made one

@SamTurtonsamsamsam999 6 ай бұрын

@@waffle.supplyno longer the peoples channel

@Samasamuel 6 ай бұрын

Only if he does all time long hair XI

@Max.Hartmann 6 ай бұрын

Zidane, Charlton, Leboeuf, Robben, Stam, Gravesen, Kompany, Vially, Cambiasso, Zabaleta. Goalkeeper: Barthez Referee and most bald of all: Collina

@Taurean_SAMA 6 ай бұрын

It has become very robotic, systematic. Individual brilliance is not cultivated. Any expression of excellent ball control and skill is criticized as showboating and deemed unnecessary even though it's what i like the most about football. When you get dirty tackled as a result they dont always penalize the offense, as if condoning the act as punishment for having great flair. Lots of things going on.

@APsGTG 6 ай бұрын

When Neymar got booked a few years ago for doing skills perfectly illustrates what just said here

@naj_z 4 ай бұрын

I do not really agree. Skills need to be effective. Ronaldinho for example was showing off while being effective and its the greatest thing I've ever seen! Richarlison and Anthony do skills for the sake of skills and it's only right to critique it.

@Agonyam 3 ай бұрын

The club conditions are way better. You don't wanna live 50 years in the past. The condition nowadays are super healthy were there is a lot of hardwork. Cruyff used to smoke and was still good why? Because the club conditions we'rent class at the time and he wouldn't be as great in modern day football.

@dco1019 2 ай бұрын

Marko van Basten had a rant recently before Romania but after the lackluster pool phase. Said, that our footballers nowadays don't come from the street anymore, they're academy players who are told what to do and they have no identify or creativity to solve stuff themselves (attacking and defence) if the system doesn't work. He said he himself even used to communicate a lot with the defenders like baresi maldini how to get the ball upfront the best, and fastest also in-match in dressing room...they solved stuff themselves if the system wasn't working. Nowadays everyone waiting for instructions..and if the system isn't functioning theres disconnect between the players

@goodvibrations8917 2 ай бұрын

@@dco1019 Spot on 👍

@connormitchell6446 6 ай бұрын

It's boring to watch now. Players are too scared to try and make something happen because it goes against the Managers gameplan

@connormitchell6446 6 ай бұрын

@261i7 it's not. My point is it used to be a lot better

@connormitchell6446 6 ай бұрын

@261i7 there used to be a bigger element of chance in games and attackers used to be more exciting

@Karadjordje-rb9ms 2 ай бұрын

Exactly 👍👍 now every football game have a pattern ,passing and passing and passing,like nobody can shoot outside of penalty area. It became so boring to watch.

@MusicalTranscendence 2 ай бұрын

I think there is something else too. Physically, the players are much better than they used to be. There is just no space to be found on the pitch. Pressing and closing down tactics have also improved. So we see 90 minutes of players desperately trying to find a bit of space. At this point, I think the only solution is playing 10 v 10 or 9 v 9 or making the pitch (and probably the goals) significantly larger.

@vinlondon8904 2 ай бұрын

@MusicalTranscendence there's only a few teams that press non stop in the whole of Europe. What are you talking about it? Football has lost its soul, meaning the unpredictability in it. There were always teams that played possession type of football, even in the 70's. Now it's so boring, beyond belief.

@matthewsprague7674 2 ай бұрын

Football has suffered from death by over analysis. All players now have chest monitors which record distance travelled, average position, heart rate etc. So managers are able to control where players are by giving feedback based on real data. Everything is too formulaic. Skillful players are no longer allowed to just "go out and play".

@hijisfriend9030 2 ай бұрын

Messi notices it when his son played. Dude, actually felt bad for future footballer.

@Mike-rm1lb 2 ай бұрын

It's a boring sport. Make the goals bigger.

@BodybuildingSteve 2 ай бұрын

sounds like f1 lol

@idcaf 2 ай бұрын

@@Mike-rm1lband make the pitch smaller

@Krysnha 2 ай бұрын

@@BodybuildingSteve You know, i was watching these because i am a fan of the theory, everihting as it becomes big, money and mainstream becomes bigger and eventualy fail, and was watching these and not long ago an F1 channel and honestly it sounds the same, F1 in the past cars were small, agile, no limits in tire, no limites in pit stops or re fueling, allowing small teams compete, and strategi tactics but in order to prevent death, wich i agree is sad, and bad but killing the sport in a sport wich any one that enters know you are risking your life, i mean F1 now is boring, no overtakes no competition, and every rule supposly to make more competition, make it less, football, i remember a friend, or ex friend talk me football before, was a party, was fun, yes people behave and you watch the matches, shoots from long distances and more things happen than plans, and when you watch it now, i was never a football fan but now, in the past athlete run and play the 90 minutes was a sport, now is boring and in very few feel fun, i am not a fan of footbal and only some intrest in F1, but both look to be fun in the past and look boring now

@brmf4346 2 ай бұрын

Early 2000s were the peak of our civilization

@NazriBuang-w9v Ай бұрын

Lies again? Google Workspace USD SGD

@yamiscape 16 күн бұрын

True, everything is too sanitised and commercialised

@joshuabean8165 6 ай бұрын

Releasing this the day after that utter snooze fest between city and arsenal is great timing

@We_play_games623 6 ай бұрын

😂😂😂😂

@solarmaru49 6 ай бұрын

Personally I thought they still looked like the two best teams in the league

@EBGamez1 6 ай бұрын

169th like :)

@Lilleh__ 6 ай бұрын

@@solarmaru49 the two best teams in the league w/ their attackers having an off day. Defenders was still great tho.

@fbi578 6 ай бұрын

@@Lilleh__ 8 CBs and 4 DMs were on the field at the same time 😭😭😭

@agentk1073 6 ай бұрын

Football certainly feels less fun than it did 10-15 years ago. The days of watching Ronaldinho tearing up the pitch and pulling off audacious skills and tricks in matches have long gone. Now that the money has gotten silly in the game and that VAR has now become a cliche of a talking point, it feels like we arnt actually talking about football anymore but the circumstances in which the game is played. Money, transfers and VAR have become a distraction to how we watch football now

@SuperFilthiest 6 ай бұрын

I mean he was the greatest

@bundesautobahn7 6 ай бұрын

Well, now Ronaldinho has overshadowed his football career in retirement after trying to circumvent a travel ban (his Spanish and Brazilian passports were confiscated for tax offences) by travelling with a fake Paraguayan passport to Paraguay. He sat 5 months in prison and house arrest for it, and IMO should have been convicted for it. But I guess "Rules for thee but not for me" does work because he was allowed to leave Paraguay completely unscathed. And THAT is not an April Fools Joke.

@201hours8 6 ай бұрын

@@bundesautobahn7Blud NOBODY thinks about his controversies before his actual quality 😐

@watt_the_border_collie 6 ай бұрын

Sorry mate but we have to go back 20 years to see Ronaldinho still in his prime. 15 years ago was 2009 😱

@Jout8-re1ij 6 ай бұрын

Who talks about the circumstances football is played in. People who are passionate about football still talk about the football games somewhat. Money and tranfers should not distract you between football game, when that would be weird, if it did distract you.😂

@gregoriuspascalis500 5 ай бұрын

Brazilian national team also suffer from the loss of flair in the game, almost losing that identity

@gustavo-zt2wl 2 ай бұрын

Brazilian National Team is over.

@WhoAreYou905 2 ай бұрын

True, might need another 10-15 years for a rebirth. I don’t even consider Endrick as generational talent, he’s just a modern 9. Messinho will be the best Brazilian talent probably since neymar or pato?

@axep3785 Ай бұрын

@@WhoAreYou905 i agree, endrick is only known for posting black and white pictures of him, making it look like he's the next pele, if it werent for the best pr team of all time everyone would realize that hes just some striker

@stillsober19 5 ай бұрын

The hype leading up to the 06 World Cup was incredible. The Joga Bonito campaign with Cantona and the Brazil team… everything was just hype. I miss the old Brazil

@maseratimitch2024 4 ай бұрын

Yeah and Brazil hasn’t won in what will be 24-25 years by next WC. All that hype and posturing only to get smoked….that’s really what lead to the shift

@BOZ_11 4 ай бұрын

@@maseratimitch2024 Brazil didn't get "smoked", you clown; it was just 1-0 to France (the finalists!) in the quarter finals. Bet you love an embellishment

@sunzi7466 3 ай бұрын

don't forget the Brazilian hype in 2002. in Germany there was more Brazil than German merch at the shops all over

@harveyholmes9533 6 ай бұрын

The trend towards ever increasing efficiency in football reminds me oddly of the popularity of Backgammon. It’s been around for millennia but backgammon became really popular for gambling in the 1960s and 70s because they added a ‘doubling cube’ which meant either player could double the amount of money they were playing for at any time and the other player either has to accept the new stakes or concede the game. This made it incredibly popular in high stakes culture because any game was a few doubles away from being contested for outrageous amounts of money. There were huge world championship tournaments held in luxury resorts in the Caribbean with massive prize money, it’s also why it appears in the James Bond film Octopussy in 1983. What ended up killing backgammon though is once these tournaments started having huge financial incentives people took the time to create backgammon strategies that gave you the best statistical likelihood of winning. The games became predictable and formulaic and as these new strategist dominated, the loss of the unpredictability that brought it to prominence made the super independently wealthy fans lose interest. In turn the money being pumped into the tournaments dried up and so even the strategists left because it wasn’t a viable money making game anymore and now there is basically no such thing as a high stakes backgammon scene and there probably won’t be ever again. All that’s to say if football really is becoming more boring because of increasing efficiency, if it becomes a ‘solved’ game where we know what the best way to achieve success tactically will that drive fans away? And if it will how do you fix it or return to a more entertaining product?

@lesbo37 6 ай бұрын

Backgammon was not on my bingo card of anticipated responses. Kudos to you good sir.

@raprice79 6 ай бұрын

@@lesbo37 if Alfie made a video about high-stakes backgammon it would be AMAZING! Brilliant comment by the op!

@corbing7786 6 ай бұрын

This is what's happening to baseball now its been effiencied down to the 3 true outcomes of walk strikeout or home run. It sucks but you can't really help modern analytics.

@DanielSong39 6 ай бұрын

@@corbing7786 Juiced balls and perfectly groomed fields have a lot to do with that The 3 outcomes becomes less viable if the home runs become long fly balls and bunts and slow grounders become an adventure to field

@bbjoy763 6 ай бұрын

Very interesting to read, my only hope is that while we feel close to a solved game of fitness and positional play, there will still be tactical geniuses waiting in the wings ready to reinvent peak football.

@davidriley354 6 ай бұрын

Do we still not understand what Cantona was talking about in that interview! As a man that's seen Gladiator many times, I look back and take Cantona to simply mean "Are you not entertained?" The media followed him and hounded him for years, waiting for his customary moment of madness to arrive. It arrived. Why is everyone so shocked?

@F1Krazy 5 ай бұрын

It's pretty obvious that Cantona is the trawler and the media are the seagulls. My interpretation was always that it was Cantona's way of saying, "You're only here to try and goad me into another controversy. I'm not going to give you that satisfaction. Goodbye."

@Ianmccor 5 ай бұрын

As an American, the rigid specialization and systems in association football remind me a bit of how analytics have hurt baseball, in particular pitching. It used to be that you would see pitchers save their energy so they could pitch the whole game, the batter could put the ball in play and you'd see if the fielders could get him out. Now with more analytics and specialization in baseball, the fielders are only in the game to hit when their team is on offense and it is up to the pitcher to give maximum effort all of the time and strike everybody out. This means the ball isn't in play as much and managers are substituting pitchers out a few times a game which takes a few minutes each time that happens. This leads to most sports fans feeling that baseball is boring even though like with Pep Guardiola's managing this is how the game has evolved to produce more winning.

@stu8095 2 ай бұрын

I was thinking about Moneyball and baseball analytics all the way through this video. XG is just the soccer version of FIP and BABIP.

@benlowe578 6 ай бұрын

Footballers became too rich and too childish. They don't have the grit to put on a spectacle anymore.

@Deadmystery_ 2 ай бұрын

🎯💯

@freespiritable 2 ай бұрын

Money. Footballers became influencers.

@RandalfElVikingo 2 ай бұрын

Like Neymar: he is an adult with a kid and he acts like a clown on social media.

@rubyluger. 2 ай бұрын

Been saying this for ages. Back in 2004 Czech Republic had Nedved. Who was unreal.. My point being that yes the big international teams was full of legends.. But even in the countries which weren't as competitive, they still had people like Nedved. Modric at Croatia is a recent example. Suarez for Uruguay. Portugal were crying out for the flair of Figo this summer. I vividly remember football being a lot more competitive being younger. Now it's all passing and some glorified dragged out tactical bore. Hence why I watch old football now.

@mikeysyke 6 ай бұрын

Football did peak in 2006, great unique players, exciting games, even when it comes to console games, the great Pro Evolution 6 came out in 2006. I never knew how good I had it. Had I known I would have appreciated that time even more.

@marko39383 5 ай бұрын

Nah, our youth peaked in 2006...I barely watch any football now, but I mostly blame my age

@mikeysyke 5 ай бұрын

I was still 25/26 around that time, yeah I’m an old grumpy man now 😅😂

@Lukemasonmedia 5 ай бұрын

@@marko39383 your age is a shitty excuse , there’s 80 year olds that go to every match

@mohmmadnabeehasan4672 5 ай бұрын

@@Lukemasonmedia and waste their time and money watching a corporate dance.

@ColGesso 5 ай бұрын

@@mohmmadnabeehasan4672 But they’re not miserable and bitter like yourself.

@retrorambles517 6 ай бұрын

In my opinion We probably have the most athletic and technically gifted players of all time due to sports science and fitness etc But the players have become identical and boring with no spontaneity and need to be told what to do and when to shoot The game also has too much cheating which slows the game down Maybe we should use var to call out diving and we need to start booking diving more

@Taurean_SAMA 6 ай бұрын

Interesting points to ponder 👍🏽.

@paquinraino8180 6 ай бұрын

"The game also has too much cheating which slows the game down " Ain't no way you said that like the 00's and 90s didn't have that with the Catenaccio from Italian teams

@rootsoriginal415 6 ай бұрын

Not that I'm disagreeing with you but Brazilians are still physically finished before they reach 30. And as a United fan i'd take the technically gifted Anderson or Nani over the more physically gifted Anthony if that guy even excels at anything. Carrick vs Mctominay - Skill vs Physicality. Dutch football from the 90's vs today. Sure they are fitter but my gawd total football was legendary. Sports science doesn't increase player skill and only benefits super disciplined players like Ronaldo or Ibra but you could argue that they are genetically superior to begin with. Didn't help Rooney. Neymar has also left the building.

@maciejbala477 6 ай бұрын

@@paquinraino8180 yeah the cheating/diving is a major issue which i am dumbfounded there isnt done anything about. But it's always been like this, and has actually been worse before. Still, now that we have VAR, we definitely should focus on improving the referees to the point that they can use it to the fullest extent and go harsh on things like diving because it ruins the game

@leonthethird7494 6 ай бұрын

@@maciejbala477they have, there are cards for diving and time wasting now and there is more time added than ever before

@gibbygoldfisch7012 6 ай бұрын

You're bang on with how universal things have become; there used to be a lot more clashes of style between countries, if not between teams and managers. Now it feels like everyone's trying to copy the same systems and same philosophies. I reckon social media and familiarity with other leagues has played a big role with that.

@APsGTG 6 ай бұрын

Yep. Same thing is happening in the actual world as well with every western country following in the steps of America (again, due to social media). Globalisation. Honestly reminds me of in the Bible when it speaks about how the “whole world” will all come to be doing the exact same things.

@jackson711247 5 ай бұрын

Yes I used to watch certain leagues play to see the different styles of play but now it just seems like I'm watching the same thing with a different name.

@oldskoolmusicnostalgia 5 ай бұрын

Chiellini said a few years ago how Italy had lost its style trying to copy Spain and Guardiola. Instead of realising the veracity of what he said, people mostly vented against him. Italy were much better when they played their fierce defend and break style.

@michaelhauser6440 5 ай бұрын

Unfortunately everything has gotten universal. The early days of MMA used to be one martial art against another like boxing versus wrestling but now everybody practices the same things. Even cities have lost their own uniqueness. They have the exact same stores and restaurants that you can find anywhere. It’s pretty sad

@dog4life56 5 ай бұрын

@@oldskoolmusicnostalgia Was italy really better because of their style of play or they just had better players? I do tend for the second one. Italy couldn't even manage to win a WC in their golden era and played awful football besides having a dream team. They managed to lose a WC besides having Baggio whose probably was the most talented italian player ever. On the other hand , in recent yearrs they were somehow able to win a European cup besides possessin one of the least talented squads ever.

@Barbariansdagger 6 ай бұрын

Anyone who watched the abomination of a title contention game of yesterday between City and Arsenal can simply understand that if such game of such high stakes is a snooze fest then football indeed got worse. Everyone wants to hold onto the ball doing f*ck all with it but pass laterally because the other team are a bunch of spineless lizards with their buttocks stuck on the goal line.

@catmeowing4329 6 ай бұрын

There has to be a balance here. I may be speaking from a biased point of view, as a teenage football fan, but we can't pretend that the current tactical chess has become a bad idea. Recently i watched an "old school" Premier League game from the 90's and i was WIDELY surprised by the lack of quality. It was just throwing the ball long all the time, losing turnovers at the most dangerous areas. No... "La Pausa" as they call it now. Just throw, throw, kick, kick and rush. I didn't like it one bit. I mean, are those types of games the ones people are missing? Its one thing to be spineless and not try to attack, another to run like headless chickens for the goals.

@nickyheart 6 ай бұрын

@@catmeowing4329nostalgia blinds people. we'll look back at games in 30 years from now and be astonished at the lack of proper initiative and positioning too.

@za5528 6 ай бұрын

That's just nostalgia bias. People complained about elite club football being nothing but "parking the bus" and athleticism all through the 2000s especially in the EPL. A lot of big games in the 2000s were absolute snoozefests, people talked about it constantly back then too. High stakes games like WC and UCL semis and finals used to have a reputation for being guaranteed to be cagey and boring but have been much more exciting lately, the 2018 and 2022 WC finals and SFs were some of the most exciting ever. The 1990, 1994, 2002, 2006, 2010 and 2014 WC finals had 7 total goals between them and 4 red cards (should've been 5 for De Jong). It was 0-0 at full time in 1994, 2010 and 2014. Both the 2018 and 2022 final had more goals than 90/94/06/10/14 finals combined

@JobHans 6 ай бұрын

@@catmeowing4329well yh, same reason why it looks like players like ronaldhino or okocha are no more while it actually isn't true, it's that now you can't make those skills without big risk of losing the ball bc back then they gave so much space

@Barbariansdagger 6 ай бұрын

@@catmeowing4329 Premier League in the 90's was shyte. Serie A and La Liga and maybe even Bundesliga were of superior quality as Premier League as English football was trying to recover from the 5 year European ban that was imposed onto English clubs because of what Liverpool fans did at Heysel.

@praetor47 4 ай бұрын

yes, it's worse, for all the reasons you stated, and more. 1) too many games. making players focus on athleticism and tactics in training, making themselves pace more, plus what Bruce said, and you have what we have today. 2) too much money at stake. leading to a top-down risk-averse approach to the game, and optimization strategies to minimize risk at every level 3) the lack of what italians call "bandiere". it has become so much about money, that not even the players care about the game, about the clubs anymore. that's why players like a Totti, Del Piero, Gerrard, Maldini, Raul, Zanetti... you know, the symbols of clubs who remain loyal no matter what, who stand the test of time, who grew up with the club, who are intrinsically linked. 4) and this is the biggest one: the curbing of the individual. to add to the points you made about flair and unpredictability. Grealish is the perfect example. he didn't become a better player with Guardiola, it's just that he followed instructions in a well oiled machine and he happened to be there when they won the Treble. he didn't transform Grealish into a "Treble winner" because Grealish was far from being fundamental in that win. but anyway, back to the main point, coaches nowadays, as you stated, expect that from everyone: do what you are told, follow instructions, don't stray too much from your position and assignments... ...and that's taught at the youngest levels. and kids these days join these schools and academies younger, and there are more of these schools and academies, leading to even more uniformity and a greater loss of unpredictability. i want to cite/paraphrase a recent interview with one of the greatest players ever, Roberto Baggio: "kids these days don't play in the streets anymore, they don't just put two shirts down and 'that's our goal, let's play', they go to school and are part of the machine and the streets are empty, so they don't have the flair and technique they used to" (that's the gist of it, roughly) and he's not talking about the basic technique, because, again as you noted, it has gone way up, 'cause you don't really have as many centrebacks who can't pass the ball [for example], but today you don't even get a classic 9 like Pippo Inzaghi, who had little technique but great intuition about positioning which made him look like the luckiest player on earth year in year out, because with all that drilling, training, discipline, following of instructions, you're slowly eroding and erasing the intuition, the flair, the elan... you've made a sport into a product, and we're part of the problem

@praetor47 4 ай бұрын

one more thing i forgot that greatly illustrates the downward spiral of football: the (d)evolution of the Champions League, formerly Cup. it used to be only about the actual League Champions, nobody else, which made it a bit more unpredictable as a competition, and gave more chances to 'lesser' teams. now (again, as you noted), it's always the same in different configurations. it's the Richest League, not the champions considering how many clubs from the top leagues qualify, and through how many pre-qual stages small league winners need to get through to even get a chance to play some 3rd placed team from a mid tier league so if they win they get to play in the group stages, only to get humiliated because all their top talent got poached by the big clubs when they were still underage anyway oh, and that restriction on the CL meant that the UEFA Cup was much more important and prestigious, as you had a shitload of top tier clubs competing. it wasn't just 'that european cup for the poor', it was a legitimately great competition. and then they also axed the Cup Winners' Cup... ...all just so that the CL could have more clubs, more matches, more money to pocket. it's just... sad

@joniboi3699 2 ай бұрын

Beautifully put.

@findbinnu 6 ай бұрын

Watching the Man City vs Arsenal fixture yesterday, it brought to mind a chess match between two Grandmasters, rather than a game of football. The resulting stalemate was the perfect expression of this corporate control masquerading as football.

@arjunghanekar6140 6 ай бұрын

Acting as if there weren't 0-0's back in the day

@rohithraman6488 6 ай бұрын

@@arjunghanekar6140 Serie A at its peak had so many 0-0's and 1-0's yet no one was complaining like people are now lol

@aze4964 6 ай бұрын

yea man there were no 0-0s or 1-0s in the prime of Serie A. nostaliga merchants are my least favorite brand of football fans

@DanielSong39 6 ай бұрын

Shades of Spain-Russia in the 2018 World Cup

@Cream147player 6 ай бұрын

The Liverpool - Man City game last month was very good though, end to end and enjoyable. And as long as I’ve watched football, there have been good games and there have been bad games. The reality is yesterday we had two teams who were scared to lose, that has always happened too.

@bzilla-d4i 6 ай бұрын

That Zidane take isn't too far off though, Zidane was a big game player. In Serie A, during the battle of the Trequartista(10), Baggio, Totti, and Rui Costa were a lot more consistent than Zidane when it came to producing magic week in week out. In Totti's case it was every week up until the injury. Which slowed him a tiny bit, and in Rui's case his love for Benfica which saved Benfica as a club itself. I have no doubt if Rui didn't ask to go to Benfica he would have been part Milan till 2007 if not longer and Benfica's current fortunes would be a lot different. He sacrificed part of his career for the love of his club.

@spacecamel2501 5 ай бұрын

It's the same with Riquelme with Villareal, week in week out

@bzilla-d4i 5 ай бұрын

@@spacecamel2501 Riquelme is one of the best footballers to ever grace the planet, but English media will have people convinced they had better players lol

@tholav0402 5 ай бұрын

Easy comparison to show between starting strikers in some teams in 2006 and in 2024 (the difference is INSANE) Arsenal : Henry/Havertz (or Jesus) Chelsea : Drogba/Jackson Liverpool : Crouch/Nunez (maybe an improvement) United : Van Nistelrooy/Hojlund Real Madrid : Ronaldo/? (no real striker outside of Joselu) Barcelone : Eto'o/35yo Lewandowski Atlético : Torres/Morata Milan : Shevchenko/37yo Giroud Inter : Adriano/Martinez Juventus : Ibrahimovic or Trezeguet/Vlahovic Bayern : Makaay/Kane (improvement)

@alanchamberlain9902 2 ай бұрын

Yeah the days of elite strikers are over we use to have Aguero, Cavani, Falcao, Suarez, David Villa, Mario Gomez, Klose etc too.

@SWOTHDRA 2 ай бұрын

Makaay is waaay better then Kane

@svrsl7819 2 ай бұрын

@@SWOTHDRA as a German in the early 00's Makaay was the #1 name you'd hear every week when it came to awesome goals. Though Kane is probably the best in the entire op 2024 lineup

@stefanvasov3843 2 ай бұрын

Pep had also part in this with his endless passing tactic

@AFCAglory 6 ай бұрын

Ah yes, the dirtiest game in fifa history🇳🇱🇵🇹..all I remember is my dad yelling at the tv almost every minute or two, he was cussing out every player besides the keepers...what a horrendous game. And we lost as well. And 13 years later, we lost to portugal 1-0 again in nations league final. Portugal is Oranje's boogey team.

@octavianpopescu4776 6 ай бұрын

You should look up a match Chile - Italy at the 1962 World Cup. The battle of Santiago. They have karate kicks, boxing, rugby tackles, a player removed from the pitch by the police. There's a video I'd recommend "Italy v Chile World Cup 1962 The Battle of Santiago" from a channel called broodje80. It has the reporter at the start questioning whether the World Cup can survive that match, calling it "the most stupid, disgusting exhibition of football in history". So... check it out! 😀

@jammybizzle666 6 ай бұрын

Every team is a Dutch bogey team

@hiranom20 5 ай бұрын

Holland also lost to Portugal on three other occassions that were significant: In late 2000, they lost 2-0 at home to Portugal in Wcup qualifying which proved decisive. They lost 2-1 in the Euro 2004 semi-final, and then 2-1 again at Euro 2012 in the group stage.

@AFCAglory 5 ай бұрын

@@jammybizzle666 cap

@AFCAglory 5 ай бұрын

@@hiranom20 the pain..

@japphan 6 ай бұрын

One important point. For unique styles and identity, we have national teams. This creates an immense anticipation for the big tournaments, that they are, in fact, something else. Instead of the highlight to get to see a game once a week, we get it once every two years. These tournaments get even more special because of the respite form the weekly grind. Let's go Sweden this summer! We have our best offense in decades, and will threaten any team! Oh, wait. We didn't qualify.

@YeTism 6 ай бұрын

Think I’m just growing out of football now that my generation, the Messi/Ronaldo generation is ending.

@APsGTG 6 ай бұрын

It’s deeper than that the Messi cr7 era is ending. The sport is changing for the worse

@KamsiyonnaEzepue 2 ай бұрын

I am a 2010s dude but when my dad showed me football from 1990s and 2000s, I got more excitement from watching a 2005 UCL final than the 2023 final Also I downloaded Retro Football Manager so that I can at least manage them

@gunders85 6 ай бұрын

2006 was so stacked. Costa Rica had Wanchope, Ecuador Antonio Valencia, Paraguay Roque Santa Cruz, Trinidad & Tobago Dwight Yorke, Ivory Coast Drogba & Yaya, Iran Ali Daei, Mexico Rafa Márquez, Ghana Michael Essien, USA Howard & Dempsey, Croatia Modric, Japan Nakata, Korea Park Ji-sung, Togo Adebayor, Saudi Sami Al-Jaber and Ukraine had Shevchenko. In terms of pure star power and their legacy, on at least a national level, will never be repeated

@Trini-Viking 5 ай бұрын

The true star player of Trinidad & Tobago was Latapy, Ironically he hardly played in the world cup because we had to play boring football to survive. His style of play and age would have been a liability. The death of genius in the game.

@gunders85 5 ай бұрын

@@Trini-Viking Russell Latapy is someone i only knew by name, so thanks for sharing

@sunzi7466 3 ай бұрын

exactly. I'm wondering why he didn't say anything about the starpower... there is barely a star in the Americas or Africa anymore. Eastern Europe has just Lewandowski and Modric which both are facing the end of their carreer, no Italian, Spaniard or Dutchman...

@m.c.martin 3 ай бұрын

The U.S. was Howard, Donavan, Bocanegra, Claudio Reyna, and still Brian McBride. That was Dempsey’s first WC and nobody knew who he was

@m.c.martin 3 ай бұрын

@@sunzi7466 Yamal and Nico Williams are by far the best players on Spain

@bbcmotd 5 ай бұрын

Maybe I'm old and 30 now but I remember every player from a 2008-09 game between Chelsea and Liverpool but now I have no idea who plays for Milan or Barcelona in UCL playoffs other than a couple big names.

@bzilla-d4i 6 ай бұрын

The old school approach is returning with some coaches like Inzaghi and Thiago Motta. They play a beautiful brand of football. I spend my entire Saturdays watching football from all leagues, but I've never found myself watching City under Pep out of my own free will if it's not a Champions League KO tie.

@eddiecorado1635 4 ай бұрын

It’s not just that we have worse and less entertaining football but also boring tactics and footballers full of fear and that are too afraid to act out on instinct and be who they are. They are now the image of the club instead of the footballer who plays for the club. Absolutely abysmal, and people(online) dislike and thrash individualist in any team all the time. They think in stats and numbers which is embarrassing.

@michaelhauser6440 5 ай бұрын

The fans are to blame too. If it’s so boring then stop watching so they will have no other choice than to make football exciting again

@WaltherVonDerVogelweide_1312 6 ай бұрын

I personally just love the 70s football, putting on the 1970 world cup semifinal and watch Siggi Held Out of nowhere dribble past four defenders like he is literally Messi and then do a cross that is so bad it looks like he never did a cross before. That is what I associate most with old football, players who are in their strong case world class in every standard but in parts of the game they are not too familiar are like literal amateurs

@nyasha_ish 6 ай бұрын

33:14 the irony of this video ending becoz Man City vs Arsenal is about start, but it actually fits the ending of the video

@dellboid 6 ай бұрын

When I was a kid in the 90's/ 00's I absolutely loved football. There were so many characters and such a wide range of top footballers with unique play styles/ identities. However now when I watch football it just seems bloated, over analysed, over thought and boring quite frankly. To me most modern footballers are just clones of each other and everything is so tactically efficient its actually taken some of the chaos and soul out of the game. I've always felt for a while and said to a people a few times that my generation had the best time for football.

@Webby07 5 ай бұрын

One thing I can be thankful for is ill never forget seeing Ronaldinho in that Barca/Brazil as a young kid and being mesmorized, Ronaldo in that United shirt and Drogba in that Chelsea shirt. Classic Prem was peak.

@krishnaprem3823 6 ай бұрын

Short answer. Yes. Pep Guardiola ruined football. There are no shot stoppers, no-nonsense defenders or actual forwards now. There are just athletes who know to pass the ball till the end of eternity on both ends of the pitch in every team.

@APsGTG 6 ай бұрын

Absolute 100% facts. The sport has become too mechanical and has kicked out naturalness & soul in the name of stats, probability, and mechanisms. If this football today was the football we grew up watching, we’d have never fallen in love with the sport.

@matthewturner2803 5 ай бұрын

Sums up modern football perfectly. It's a borefest.

@crazybrothers5544 5 ай бұрын

Ye but when players don't play like fucking robots people complain bcuz football fans forget its a fucking game its meant to be entertaining at the end if the day winning shouldn't matter (to a certain extent)

@politicallyincorrect2564 5 ай бұрын

Pep 😂😂 no way mate, Pep had 12 years or so without a UCL. It is literally impossible to ruin football as a single manager.

@RaulEdu33 3 ай бұрын

Pep was sanctioned for testing positive for PEDs. I'm sure his players are also on Pep-tides and the Guardiolone secret sauce.

@kennedyikechukwu3300 6 ай бұрын

My god… being born in 1997 this World Cup was my first World Cup. So much good memories. Especially the Final ⚽️❤️ 😊

@uriustosh 6 ай бұрын

Russia 2018 was better, Brazil 2014 was so much better Qatar was poop

@Username-mn7pc 6 ай бұрын

qatar had the best group stage and knockout games .Its not even a debate@@uriustosh

@salmarham8630 6 ай бұрын

For sure, your first world cup is always the best! Espana 82 for me 😂❤

@kennedyikechukwu3300 6 ай бұрын

@@uriustosh ehhhh Everyone has their opinions. 2006 Germany was probably the more entertaining to watch due to level of players that were competing at the time. A lot of legends played their last World Cup in 2006.

@desmondachocky537 6 ай бұрын

Nah! I think u are the one who has been pooping alot since Dec the 18th event in Qatar.I can easily tell a salty mourner almost 2 yrs on lol! Cope son,we feel ur pain.

@adamaalto-mccarthy6984 6 ай бұрын

We all miss just watching football on tv. MOTD, KZbin, FA cup. I can’t afford subscription. Football is for the lucky few now. Just give us some more. What harm would it do?

@TaniasUncle 4 ай бұрын

What Eric’s speech means is obvious and hilarious. He’s the trawler, the press are the seagulls and anything he says to give the press a story to write things about him and give them headlines is the “sardines” and what they’ve come for. He’s mocking them and giving them exactly what they want at the same time. They have come to his press conference (followed the trawler) because they (the seagulls) think they’re going to get a story to bash him (eat the sardines being thrown into the sea) and then he hits them with his little genius quote.

@adh_roshan 6 ай бұрын

In short words, Pep and his disciples (Artetas, Kompanys of these world ) are the one who are destroying football. That's why Klopp leaving the PL is one of the biggest PL loses.

@stefan5730 6 ай бұрын

The thing is Pep style can only work with unlimited spending.

@sammcivor1885 5 ай бұрын

Klopp isn't much better. He's created a system that relies on pure athleticism

@nialldavidson197 6 ай бұрын

Hmm.... I'm not sure whether it has, really. Could just be generational nostalgia. There will have been many people even in and around 2006 that will have moaned about the decline of football compared to when they loved it, 20 or so years before that, and we'll probably look back on these times and say they were still fun haha

@AlesRatzka 6 ай бұрын

That is of course true, the same discussion is being held about Formula 1 for ages. When I was watching it in the late 90s and early 00s, I remember older people calling it boring and nothing like the sport in the ages of Lauda or Senna/Prost rivalry, even though today many people complain how it will never be as exciting as in the V8 era and the seasons when Schumacher was facing Hakkinen in the title struggle. Back to football though - even in the 00s, there was already "too much money" in the sport in comparison with the 70s or 80s, when Maradona was the most expensive player for just 1 million pounds. It was already much more "perfect" and predictable, there wouldn't be a team like Steaua or Crvena Zvezda winning any European trophy just like in the 80s. But from today's view, football in the 00s was still pretty much about individual choices, flair and consequential randomnes and footballers were mostly still footballers and not super-athletes. These are factors that can be proved by pure data and not just by nostalgia of those who remember. But these things are just a natural evolution, the success of mankind is based on the endless improvement and always finding the most efficient ways, so it's completely inevitable and the most we can do is remembering certain parts and phases of this development as fondly as possible.

@nialldavidson197 6 ай бұрын

True true, I'm watching Leicester and Norwich right now and the exciting nature of this game and in particular, the football league, is still enthralling to watch as it's ever been in all time I've been watching the game, particularly at this stage of the season. So, even though players individual personalities don't stand out as much as they (generally) maybe used to, the game itself and the structure of it, can be still just as exciting today. You've only got to look at the results in the latest round of the cup, two brilliant afternoons in a row. Have faith people! 😅

@exeye7214 2 ай бұрын

. I used to watch soccer all the time growing up in the early 2000's. I've gotten back into it again largely thanks to Wrexham which give futball such a personal touch that I loved watching growing up. Watching the Euro's now is so frustrating and boring. How the hell can a team be in the Semi-Finals and have not scored a goal of their own yet? Like seriously how is that possible? It feels like 89 minutes of top speed and acceleration and crosses into the box that lead nowhere and 1 minute of a play or an individual decision that makes a goal. That's why now I say that it's like watching athletes and not soccer players.

@GizmoMcs 6 ай бұрын

In Portugal there was lot of talks about our youth academies lately turning players into robots and losing the creativity (street soccer like) our players used to have and it seems they been changing it a bit to allow more creativity again and make winning at young age less important than developing the player.

@BC-th3mx 5 ай бұрын

It has, used to be too hard to score, now it's the opposite - PL is having record averages, CL is frequently above 3 goals a game after rarely touching that before, it's a bunch of tap-ins and howlers

@donaldvanvliet9039 5 ай бұрын

Not a surprise, in the eighties and nineties italian defensive football ruled and brutal tackles were allowed…every team had a butcher…that had an impact on the score😂

@BC-th3mx 5 ай бұрын

@@donaldvanvliet9039 Yeah that's the other extreme, Serie A was so defensive that goals per game dipped under 2, which is insane and lower than any WC ever for context. 2.5-2.8 has been the standard

@maomao1247 6 ай бұрын

After how boring Arsenal v City was, I’d say it’s gotten worse

@abasudoh7459 6 ай бұрын

Lol, I'd take that 0-0 over getting piped by city any day of the week 😂😂😂

@Blueflag04 6 ай бұрын

Im a City fan and that was a result i would take

@dvdv8197 6 ай бұрын

That wasn't the point, now was it, @@abasudoh7459? 😑

@octavianpopescu4776 6 ай бұрын

That's just one match. I remember a match when I was younger, in my country's championship, I think it was in 2000 or around that time, it was such a beautiful match in that, absolutely nothing happened, none of the teams had any shots on goal, in fact, I don't remember them having shots towards the goal. 90% of the match was played at the midfield, just slow, lazy passing on a spring day, you could see that the players weren't in the mood... that was it. It was the most uneventful match I've ever seen. So you can't really draw conclusions based on 1 match.

@randomhooman3236 6 ай бұрын

@@abasudoh7459 maybe because you are arsenal fan but for neutrals no, city had like 75% possession in the 2nd half and didn't register a single shot on target (only 3 shots taken and hardly any touches in the opposition box) I'm all in for the "technical aspects" of the game to improve football and i know football is not only about goals but there's a sense of excitement when the ball is in the opposition box, football is also about making risky last man tackles, having amazing counterattacks, taking shots and missing them by inches, line breaking through balls but yesterday it was just 2 teams playing too safe take the example of united vs liverpool in the fa cup, it was a complete chaos, after united's 2nd goal there were no tactics those types of games make people love football

@quesodillanocheese6198 2 ай бұрын

I feel that this analysis is very timely given the quality displayed at the Euro last month. Edit: And Copa America. Both tournaments were riddled with underperforming teams.

@julio502 5 ай бұрын

unfortunately football is becoming just another side of immediate profit over everything else, this is not just football of course and basically the direction we as humanity have chosen to become complacent. amazing video btw.

@justinajlc 5 ай бұрын

This is so well written, absolutely agree with everything you covered! I think this is the age of Super coaches, not super players. Players are more or less like the coach's chess piece. As someone who started watching football in the 90s, I find myself almost having to re-learn how to enjoy football in recent years. But nowadays I can appreciate the tatical chess game a lot more. And I think if we transport some of the modern players back to the 90s or 00s, they'll be able to impress a lot more on a individual level.

@siphemanana2551 5 ай бұрын

I feel like it’s the era of billionaires rather than coaches

@Jeff_2x 6 ай бұрын

People got realize these systemic approaches these mangers are taking are just more effective to win games instead of the constant unnecessary flair football some players play without being effective while playing that style.

@Growlizing 5 ай бұрын

This. Modern football requires that all players fullfill their role in the system at all times, or your team will lose because of your mistakes. Everyone is good at transitions, so ironing out mistakes is so, so important.

@kennywilkinson913 6 ай бұрын

The game between portugal and holland was surreal, van bommel and deco both sent off, both at barca, sat side by side as the game went on 😂

@daimsaeed 3 ай бұрын

Imagine living in germany as a kid during the 2006 wc and the matches happening next door and your dad not taking you there 🙃

@sunzi7466 3 ай бұрын

the big difference is the lack of starpower. 2008-2023 everyone was focusing on Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo. now, we are left with nothing...

@stevec6232 6 ай бұрын

Definitely priority is physical work not technical skill.

@GylesNoDrama 5 ай бұрын

Great video as always Alfie. Quick thing though, when you were talking about Saka at 20:18, you used a pic of Tariq Lamptey

@mxpe21 2 ай бұрын

money corrupting leagues, diving becoming common place - slowing down games and making for boring plays, VAR pulling goals that would’ve otherwise stood years past. I’m not even sure if there are any ways to fix these issues.

@JJJ111JJJ 2 ай бұрын

I've noticed the amount of horizontal and backwards passing has increased dramatically since the early 2000s. Teams spend most of the games just functionally moving the ball around while the other team sets up a defensive wall that inevitably shuts down whatever offense they try to get going. The only way to score anymore is off of set plays and the occasional lucky bounce. It's boring.

@wellingtonrodrigues7654 Ай бұрын

And now they press high

@RyuzakiTaiyou 6 ай бұрын

Best German players in the premier league of all time. (Day 619) I will not give up until the video is made or Alfie himself tells me to stop. Everyone else telling me that will be ignored. If you don't believe my number, just go back to the previous videos. I'm at the bottom most of the time, but I'm there.

@gamakujira64e23 6 ай бұрын

We believe in you

@lucaslonchampt613 6 ай бұрын

Bouyaka Bouyaka! 619!

@lsspongebobfaze5312 6 ай бұрын

We believe in you

@SKa-tt9nm 6 ай бұрын

Yes! Still going strong!

@maettsook 6 ай бұрын

Uwe Rosler?

@mohno4265 5 ай бұрын

11:24 That Barcelona is something else. Not peak, but impresivly good.

@Mhl345 4 ай бұрын

Nowadays footballers are grown up kids, whereas there were men on the pitch until the last decade.

@micahkiyimba8641 6 ай бұрын

Footbal is financially broken. Seeing teams that are mid table in the EPL outspend historically great teams like Marseille,Lyon,AC Milan,Inter,Benfica and Ajax shows how unbalanced the game has began. Arsenal Vs Man City yesterday was as boring a title battle as any I have ever seen.

@stefan5730 6 ай бұрын

Lyon lol, Nottingham Forest is bigger club than them.

@jorisoims3085 6 ай бұрын

@@stefan5730 The same Nottingam that wasn't in the Premier league for over 25 years, while Lyon won 7 straight Ligue 1 in the 2000's and reached the UCL QF 10 times in a row ? And which other team from mid table Premier League got more history than Lyon, spoiler none.

@patrickbateman1660 6 ай бұрын

The PL is well run. La liga only cares about real/barca limiting growth. Series A is suffering due to decades of corruption. Bundesliga limits its own growth with 50÷1. And league 1 is irrelevant outside of PSG. No one wants to hear it but the PL reformed, invested and ran itself properly and is reaping the rewards.

@adamfysh-foskett961 6 ай бұрын

Good vid, as usual. To add to the nostalgia section, I remember talk in the 90s about how much more robotic and athletic, and less creative, character-filled and fun football had become, compared to, say, the 60s and 70s...

@Longlostpuss 5 ай бұрын

Yes, I saw this coming well over two decade ago, too many average players getting overpaid and bringing down the quality of the game. Football's golden era ended around 2009.

@johnboy14 2 ай бұрын

Coaches are ruining the game. They're obsessed with tactics and the suffocate players.

@miggygetright6344 6 ай бұрын

I went to see Espanyol vs Atletico Madrid at the now StageFront Stadium and fell in love with football all over again, what a game.

@TheVegoran 2 ай бұрын

I think one problem is how the younger players are brought up, both in academy and in life itself. Social media and just kids that lived in comfort all their life and youth coaches that don't promote individual creativity. You definitely see way less kids playing on the streets unlike before. One club players that breathe and live the city don't exist anymore

@rakeshm2893 3 ай бұрын

Football on TV is still pretty fun. It's the social media kids that have made it boring with their "Pessi", "Penaldo", "VARcelona", "VARdrid", "115 chargers club", "Oil club" and "warra trophy" comments. It's so irritating. There's no real discussion around football, just immature fanatics fighting.

@rohitsequeira6023 6 ай бұрын

I think, Messi and Ronaldo set the bar too high by dominating. That’s why people don’t see as many stars in future world cups compared to 2006 World Cup.

@isaacnewton3514 6 ай бұрын

Very good point

@martifrey3357 2 ай бұрын

Messi and Ronaldo pretty much failed both in almost all their Worl Cup attempts. Even in 2022 Messi only scored because he was given 5 weak penalties lmao

@UnchartedNL 2 ай бұрын

The fact that you didnt mention Ruud van Nistelrooy in The Netherlands Squad is a felony

@brandonconforto315 3 ай бұрын

As an American and casual soccer fan i can believe that its possible players aren’t as good because the pool of players is smaller in Europe then it was 20 to 30 years ago because of the demographic decline. The same phenomena has been playing out in football because there was a huge drop in youth participation 10 to 15 years ago.

@umbela5646 6 ай бұрын

With the whole science behind football getting much more refined, people are subconsciously choosing the more direct and tactical approach to games than anything else. The teams are much more organized, the players are faster and more durable with proper trainning, diets and gear, but on its counterpart, the "true" skill that was born from the lack of all support, the skill that came from the individual, based on pure creativity is getting short handed. "Football" as the previous generations have known isn't dying, there are still lots of icons that replicate that nostalgic feeling. But it surely is not so present as before.

@rfvtgbzhn 2 ай бұрын

4:52 Maradona was the best player of all time though. He had a lot of personal flaws, but I don't know any better player.

@Fritz973 Ай бұрын

Peak Maradona was insane, even other greats like Zico, Platini, both Ronaldo's, Van Basten etc look a full level below. Only Messi is close, an attacker version of him to Maradona's midfield role. Messi played in a much easier time though, he dribbled past players, Maradona dribbled and hurdled them. I never saw Pele though.

@D1Snr 6 ай бұрын

Yes it has. No question. Individualism has gone out of the game and the team 'system' has taken over. I honestly believe the huge wages in the game at the top level has raised the stakes so high that players have become more risk averse.

@michaelbanh4000 6 ай бұрын

Watch Quang Hải - you will be amazed He is one of the few, top class, hyperexpressive ballers in the game - putting his art on the pitch against all top players from Asia and other teams for 8 years and counting. He is the reason why I watch Vietnamese football. Football is not just Premier League

@YungBaymax 6 ай бұрын

A new Alfie upload immediately makes my day

@wandel51 5 ай бұрын

When Brazil won the World Cup in 1970, all the players were playing at Brazilian clubs. In 2002, half the team was still playing in Brazil. Most substitutes. From 2006 on, we never have more than 3 players on local leagues among the selected. So yes, obviously some leagues are much worse nowadays.

@lesbo37 6 ай бұрын

As someone who went from mad crazy fan to pretty much not caring there is one single aspect of football that unequivocally worse and has, for me and I'm sure many others, ruined the sport and that is the diving. I actually even enjoyed the women's game more despite being so incredibly unskilled and unathletic simply because the diving pandemic hasn't hit that yet or at least not to the level of the men's game at the top levels. It's funny that the skill level is higher than ever, the athletic ability is higher than ever and I'd rather watch amateurs who don't dive and are a quarter as talented simply for that reason. Maybe it's that I also grew up on contact sports and thus have a strong understanding of sporting physics when it comes to contact but that is the area of the sport that ruins it, I don't even get to the other aspects before that crap has me turning it off.

@pp3917 6 ай бұрын

A masterpiece of football commentary

@otvosmatyas 2 ай бұрын

Football just became too technical. The best example for this is if you compare Haaland and Mbappe the two best strikers now to Cr7 and Messi, they might score as many or even more goals then these two legends but i always got that feeling that something is missing and it doesnt matter how many goals they score they will never achive such legendary status. They dont have nothing individually special about them. Or even better example an El clasico, in my opinion it doesnt feel special anymore, its just another game to get through, its probably because these young players doesnt have the same passion for their team as the old ones like Puyol or Ramos.

@tougedrift 6 ай бұрын

Alfie saw Arsenal v. City and got to work 😭

@DavidLimofLimReport 6 ай бұрын

There was absolutely nothing wrong with that game... Unless you bought into the hype BS by Sky Sports.

@tougedrift 6 ай бұрын

@@DavidLimofLimReport nah im not being serious, match was just kind of boring but understandably so

@cmonman1407 6 ай бұрын

@@DavidLimofLimReportfirst half was boring, second half was way better because it was chaotic.

@Blueflag04 6 ай бұрын

@@DavidLimofLimReport nope, im a City fan but the game is still boring

@yugoslavia1995 5 ай бұрын

@@DavidLimofLimReportit was boring bcs of the team are playing for results with strict system whivh makes football boring its that simple and barca blood managers are famous for strict structured systems what a shame they ruined football

@CharlesOffdensen 5 ай бұрын

That header was the last thing Zidane ever did as a pro footballer. In the World Cup final. In my opinion, the years after 2000 were the worst for football. In the 90ies there was a looot more dribbling and a whole lot more technical players. Look at say the German squad. In the 90ies they've had Moeller, Sammer (one of the best dribbling defenders), Basler, etc. While in 2002 their most gifted player was Bernd Schneider. The 60ies, 70ies, and 80ies were even better. 2006 and 2010 were two of the bottom three World cups in terms of average goals per game. The quality of those goals was also worse. Even though the players were less violent than before (with the exception of the Dutch) and the pitches were way better than in the 90ies. Today the football is also more technical and fun to watch. Expect the club football is more boring, but that's because the same clubs are champions every year, not because of the game. There are more goals today than 20 years ago, too. Sure, the tactics are also more important, because of the improved fitness of the players, but the footballers are just better and more fun to watch today. I've been watching football since 1994 and have watched many games from the earlier times. Football was very fun until around 2000. Today it's still OK (not as good as it used to be, but this is not because of the players), but between 2000 and 2010 it sucked big time. If you want a sport that got much worse in the past 20 years, go watch tennis. Sure, the players are better, but the game is extremely boring today. The different surfaces are no longer different. 99% of the points are decided by the serve. As a result, all the players train the same and play in the same way. Whenever someone more interesting to watch comes up, like Grigor Dimitrov, they don't succeed. If tennis fans are nostalgic I would understand that. If older football fans are nostalgic and want the football of the 60ies, 70ies, 80ies or 90ies I would understand that, too. But people from Alfie's generation who say that football got worse, that I don't accept. Football got better, and footballers got better in the last 20 years. Big time.

@harukrentz435 5 ай бұрын

How is footballers are more fun to watch today? 🤣🤣🤣 they are all robots.

@CharlesOffdensen 5 ай бұрын

@@harukrentz435 No, there were robots 20 years ago. Nobody would try anything like a dribble, or remotely interesting. Again, look at people like Bernd Schneider, who were hailed as very technical. He never ever tried anything interesting. Any player today plays with more improvisation. Even Mats Hummels runs more with the ball. Football today, or in any age, is a million times more beautiful than what it was 20 years ago.

@meowbauh 2 ай бұрын

Ever since Pep managed clubs in Spain, Germany and England, yeah its all getting boring.

@Truthwins52 5 ай бұрын

Top strikers in 2024: KANE & HAALAND. 1999: R9,Romario,Weah,Kluivert,Makkay,Bergkamp,Zola,Baggio,Raul,Tristan,Anelka,Batistuta,Vieri,Salas,Zamarano,Asprilla,Kanu,Edmundo,Oliveira,Nillis,Owen,Yorke,Cole,Sheringham,Shearer,Suker,Boksic,Kovacivic,Milosovic,Crespo,C.Lopez,Del Piero, Totti,Larsson and many more. Freekick specialists in 99: Beckham,Harte,Zola,Shearer,Hasselbaink,Van Hoijdoonk,Albertz,Djalminha,Rivaldo,F.De Boer, Figo, R.Carlos,Del Piero, Baggio, Recoba, Mihajlovic, Totti, Hagi, Okocha, Batistuta and others Today? Ward Prowse, Payet, Messi and at most 5 others. Footballers are getting worse in INDIVIDUAL ability, but the TEAM is better due to cohesion. Let's divide players into 3: terrible, mediocre, and excellent. Today's uniformed football has ridded the game of terrible ones cos every players has to know how to trap, turn and pass, but the excellent ones are bred amidst chaos in the streets e.g. Neymar, Messi, Suarez - these are extinct, there are more mediocre players than ever.

@raiyanfazal5940 2 ай бұрын

It all went downhill after 2014

@gibbygoldfisch7012 6 ай бұрын

It's the effect of money, improvements in fitness and too many matches in the calendar. Teams are optimized now to play a certain way with rigid structures and pressing, so everyone's a cog in a machine rather than an individual given loads of space to show-off. There are fewer opportunities for quality players to demonstrate a bit of magic because managers have figured out that unlocking teams with passing is more reliable than just dribbling and hoping. Maintaining possession is everything so sides have become more risk-averse. On top of that, a handful of teams have hoarded all the best talent, and anyone playing them knows their best bet is just to park the bus and hope for a fluke winner from somewhere -- which is the case now in most matchups. The end result is that the majority of games feel more like basketball or handball matches, passing around on the edge of the D, with limited play in midfield. And then we have all these extra injuries, because the big sides are asking for too many games from their players over the course of a season. EDIT: Wrote this before watching the video, looks like you've got a very similar view haha

@michaelkearney8419 6 ай бұрын

Great vid. Peps killed footbal. Also 20:17 = not Saka

@fishyfish6510 5 ай бұрын

My theory is that in the past tactics weren't as advanced so it was heavily reliant on player quality. Now tactics have developed so much so there's no need for extremely high quality players to make good teams. If you have a team of decent players who can perform each of their roles in a tactical setup then you have a great team

@yegi6207 3 ай бұрын

The truth is that the players could, in theory, unite to demand a less intense season calendar with fewer games, which would probably increase the quality of games and bring back that "mysticism" you referred to. The problem is that this would implicate a lower income from broadcast rights and advertising to clubs and, subsequently, lower pay checks, salaries, and bonuses to players. As such, most of the players themselves are more interested in expanding the regular season more and more so they don't suffer pay cuts. It's a vicious cycle and I don't see it getting better anytime soon.

@gabrielmorales7208 5 ай бұрын

Great video! I agree especially with the calendar bit. The worst thing about it for me is the stupid amount of international breaks. Like getting a superstar player injured over a Spain v Georgia that nobody sees is so stupid. Other thing that I hate is the tendency of broadcasting a game like it was a movie. The amount of cameras makes it seem like you have to always be switching them. So the game is happening and the director of camera is glued to the reaction of a fan, or someone in the bench. It's so frustrating.

@simontravers2715 5 ай бұрын

One thing that annoyed me (and this started around 2010-ish) was slo-mo close up facial reactions, especially England during the 🇿🇦 WC. I don’t wanna see every bearded scruff close up shouting something or looking stupid open mouthed dumbfounded all because “Add drama”

@gabrielmorales7208 5 ай бұрын

@@simontravers2715 I think the first question in the job interview for camera director at football broadcasting is "do you like football?" And if the answer is no you are hired. 🤣

@fillphd 6 ай бұрын

spot on. great video and very concise

@miokuroki4097 2 ай бұрын

Football got faster and more athletic for sure. But also it got more robotic and less creative. No individuality, players just do as manager planned. No more incredibly creative artists like Ronaldinho or Zidane. Just kick the ball to the fastest guy and run forward.

@thedailylifeofthings 5 ай бұрын

Love the video - as always; however, I have to say that I don't think the quality has gone downhill - I genuinely think footballs got worse because tribalism has become so toxic, hypocrisy/outright lies has become so widespread in the media and amongst fans it'd be almost comical to watch if it wasn't so saddening, and there are certain team's fanbases that make being a fan such a chore and so miserable that i'd rather just not talk about football with people anymore