Why Did 2000's Football Look Like That?

[@JibRules]

I really hope you guys like this vid, I am gonna pass out now, grinded in 24 hours to make this

[@bread-number_2]

Rest well dude

[@Mikafui-h1p]

Yes bro we love this vid keep up the good work we shall be waiting😃👍

[@karatemonkey124]

Get some rest and take care of yourself dogg, vid was fire.

[@farinaafsar5250]

Great vid Jib get some rest

[@oldskoolmusicnostalgia]

Respect. I hope you at least get some satisfaction seeing your content is viewed and engaged with. I barely ever get 30 views on those I create haha.

[@fishyfish6510]

We are living the Nike ad where robot clones took over football

[@charlesisaya8698]

Fr tho

[@justno984]

I mean we literally live in an era where a footballer like haaland is considered one of the best players in the game... that alone should tell you where the game has gone.

[@mrmeeseeks2534]

@@justno984Haaland is a classic striker, akin to the likes of Lineker and Van Nistelrooy, hardly ever scoring outside the box but a true target man, if anything Haaland is a throwback to football of the 80s,90s and early 2000s.

[@ans7033]

@@mrmeeseeks2534 nah, classic strikers from early 2000s could atleast pass around and dribble, Haaland just makes runs and scores tapins. Even a 39 year old Cristiano or a 41 year old Zlatan if he still played would give a team more than Haaland has ever given

[@DeezN1892]

I’d be careful with this, because I remember everyone my dads age used to say this exact same thing whilst fantasising about 1970s football

[@Venom-lr3sq]

Mid 90's to Mid 2000's. Absolutely nothing is touching that.

[@ArsnlFCM]

Ive never personally witnessed that era of football, but just looking at players highlights, the way wingers like Henry and Dinho take on defenders, crunching tackles Thuram and cannavaro made, and the way players were able to basically do wtv they want on the pitch is astonishing

[@ayoNan2311]

@@ArsnlFCMcheck out Totti and Shevenko. Rafa Marquez. Maldini cannavaro good times

[@gladiatorscoops4907]

late 90s to early/mid 00's was when individuality, technical ability, athleticism and player affordance was at its absolute best balance compared to modern football. This was a time where all the elements we loved so much came together. If you want to read a more detailed breakdown of the difference between the 90's/Mid 00's compared to modern day read below, but Its a lot of words lol: Individuality: In terms of individuality - you had players like Di Canio, Matt Le Tissier, Berbatov as technically gifted if not better than most modern players. But in all probability none of those superstars in their peak would be signed by the big clubs across Europe in modern day because they were lacking so much from an athletic and work rate POV. Yet these players have given us some of the greatest moments in the sports history. With the shift to positional/possession team based football, modern players are taught to move the ball rather than trick the opponent or dribble past a player because the stats tell us there is a greater percentage of success in scoring by passing and moving. We are seeing less take-on's compared to the 90s. We have some incredibly skillful modern dribblers, Musiala, Jamal, Dembele, Vinicius to name a few but they dont match up to guys like Ronaldinho, R9, Okocha, Messi in his prime. Players from a young age are being taught to be better team players, more emphasis on position and possession rather than showing individual flair and skill. I'm sure if a player tries a rainbow flick in training at Man City successful or not you bet Pep is going to give him the hairdryer treatment. So for the most part players are conditioned not to try the unexpected, to instead play the percentages. Of course this style shift is understandable if it means you have a better chance of scoring. But from a spectacle pov its far more entertaining and memorable watching Okocha rainbow flick the ball over Martin Keown's head and go past him than watching him pass the ball to a teammate. Technical ability: In the late 90's to mid 00's you had some of the best technical players from any generation. Players like Bergkamp, Rui Costa, Baggio, Berbatov, Ronaldinho and of course potentially the greatest of them listed: Zidane. In modern football The average level of technical ability has got better from back then, but we are yet to see any modern player surpass the technical ability of Zidane. Athleticism: From a fitness pov there has been a massive change, every modern player is expected to have a much higher level of fitness than the average back in the late 90s mid 00's. Clearly overall player fitness has drastically got better, but you still had players back in those days who could run all day, players like Gerrard, Park, Gattuso, Makelele who were as fit as anyone playing the game today. In terms of player speed the average level has once again risen greatly in modern day, most players are expected to have a fair level of speed and athleticism, however even the fastest modern players aren't faster than the speedsters of the 90's/00's generation. Back then we had Djibril Cisse, Obafemi Martins, Marc Overmars, Samuel Eto'o, Kaka, Ivan Cordoba, R9, Roberto Carlos, Bernard Mendy, Thierry Henry, to name a few as fast as any of the modern players today, in fact one match SkySports recorded Thierry Henry reaching a top speed of 39.2km/h - a higher top speed than anyone has reached in the PL since they began officially recording player top speeds. Player affordance From academy level - players are taught to be great all-round footballers. The youngsters who make it are all high level athletes, they are comfortable playing in multiple positions, are excellent in possession, have excellent passing ability, have a very good understanding of space, can play in various systems and most importantly are excellent team players. This development carries on when they become professionals, with coaches preferring this level of versatility and team based ethics. But with this emphasis on making fantastic, versatile team players we have lost a little in the mastery of some positions and skills. "Jack of all trades, master of none" is a little basic but almost describes what has happened. Yes we still have players who are unbelievably good in their specialist position, an example being Van Dijk or William Saliba will inevitably be, but we have less of those top 1 percent's in their specialist positions. For example we have an abundance of excellent forward players, but very few of the highest quality Centre Forwards. CF is a specialist position that you usually have to have a natural ability for or a top coach can see in a player and coach them into that role. But if the coaching is focussed on making jack of all trades forwards then you will lose out on finding or developing players in that specialist role to reach that absolute peak level that very few in the history become. We only have a certain amount of time and if players are being coached to be a CB, a Fullback, a DM instead of just mastering the CB position then inevitably you will eventually get a drop off of the top 1 percent in certain positions. Of course back in the late 90's early 00's you had the occasional exceptions to the rule - both Maldini and Puyol starting out as fullbacks and transitioned to become the best of their generation as CB's. But this was a rarity only for some truly exceptional footballers. Go back and list the world class CB'S in the late 90's to early 00's compared to now, its frightening. CF's too, the drop off in modern day compared to that golden generation is staggering. Rules: For the CB role its important to mention the rule changes and how they have affected modern football. Players aren't allowed to be as physical as they once were, so this definitely hampers CB's in a lot of ways. There is a generation of defenders who made a living in top flight football because of their mastery of the "Dark Arts" who now wouldn't have a chance of making a top flight football team because of their shortcomings from a tactical/athletic and technical pov. The best defenders in the late 90's early 00's knew how to be nasty if they needed to but they had all of the attributes of modern defenders too. But they were also getting incredible experience playing against a different breed of CF's compared to modern day. You needed your top 1 percent CB'S to combat the unbelievable CF's we had playing in those days, the type of player that lived to score, that weren't drifting out wide taking on players and looking to setup teammates, players like Robbie Fowler, Alan Shearer, Ian Wright, Andy Cole, Anelka, Michael Owen, Van Nistelrooy to name a few from the PL alone, not even mentioning across Europe where you had some even better goal-scorers in some cases. Rule changes in modern football have made it less entertaining: The broken handball rule, the broken offside rule, VAR ruining the immediacy of the game, destroying the passion, making football a far more nervous watching experience every-time a ball goes in knowing there is a group of ppl looking for reasons to chalk the goal off. There are more factors as to why football in the last decade has declined from its peak in the late 90's to mid 00's: less interesting club and player rivalries, money's negative influence. Why modern football sucks in short: Modern football is mechanical, with less individuality more homogeneous players, less interesting rivalries, money dominance I could go on. Anyway yeh sorry about the essay, but it was fun for me at least!

[@ArsnlFCM]

@@gladiatorscoops4907 its fine, i read the entire thing completely 😂, it definitely makes sense

[@chrisgoat6435]

Technical ability wasn't even existing back then, except a handful of players 🤦

[@federicopalacios7439]

2006 was the most stacked WC ever.

[@JoyceAppia-cj1od]

No

[@greatvideos1446]

2002 WC Ronaldo Ronaldinho Rivaldo Carlos . England Scholes Beckham Owen etc. Italy + many more

[@Theo-fp2oe]

You're obviously young, 2006 was a joke compared to previous world cups

[@outlawedTV88]

my first WC was Spain '82

[@robertthompson176]

France 98

[@pedropierre9594]

Summary, 2000’s football was great to watch because players had more tactical freedom

[@gimlisanko]

No, it was great to watch because young footballers developed a unique style simply by playing a lot of football, many of them in the streets. Professional academies changed that

[@NoryLevi]

@@gimlisanko professional academies dont really change that, the fact that prem allow freely foreign investment and a few teams like bayern, madrid, barca tank their own league to gobble up majority of money into football changed that. Back then we would have young great talents playing regular football for all kind of different teams, nowadays big teams find young talent, buy them too early, hoard all the talents on their bench, or loan them to different clubs every year, so young talents never get enough play time to develop or have enough consistency in teams to develop

[@adrian225]

@@gimlisanko Professional academies have existed for as long as professional football is a thing. They're not the problem, the problem is that a lot of players don't have streets to play on and that football clubs nowadays rely less on technical skills, creativity and flair and way more on practiced routines and tactics. Not to mention that nowadays big clubs just buy up all of the big talents and best players from the other teams simply because of how much richer they are.

[@ssmufc9941]

Take me back to 4-4-2, a keeper who actually caught the ball, a blood and guts on the line CB partnered with a calm ball player. Two tenacious lung busting fullbacks. Two CM’s who could play and fight at the same time. Tricky wingers, and the fabled big-man-little-man duo up top.

[@spatrick1441]

bring back the w-m !!! :D

[@tf-ok]

For those who enjoy structure and stability.

[@aghy52hag]

We will never see this again

[@gimlisanko]

Lung busting fullbacks in a 2000s era 4-4-2? I must have been watching a different sport. Overlapping fullbacks are a modern addition to the game

[@ssmufc9941]

@@gimlisanko Lol define ‘modern’ … Ashley Cole, Paltrice Evra, Maicon, G.Neville and so many more. Covering 00’s and even 90’s …

[@Ciaran-pi7vl]

during 1990 to 2012 i feel as if we witnessed the greatest players to play the game

[@secsee1657]

One thing is, training methods for everyone got so much better... the guys Ronaldinho styled on ain't gonna be flailing like Michelin men no more, just keep their balance, try to play it safe, esp. since any contact now is a yellow, no incentive to go all in on a challenge and give someone a highlight dribble, esp since there's someone covering you. The gap between the top top player back then and an average one was much larger cause good coaching was rare and geniuses were those who had it in their blood already at birth

[@bear_eater254]

​@@secsee1657Absolute nonsense 😂. Defenders today are lucky we longer have players like Ronaldinho or R9. It's just a simple fact 2000s players were just so much better this is of course because of the coaching, back then the coaches didn't put emphasis on robotic calculated moves like flair and elegance is what everyone wanted. Barcelona had highly Technical players suited for possession football because that's what they were taught, Brazil had flair players because that's what the streets, league and futsal demanded. The players are products of robotic calculated football academies nowadays there's no longer street football.

[@secsee1657]

@@bear_eater254 The average amount a player ran during a game~ 10% less than today. The fitness allows everyone to cover each other's spaces, thus creating a stronger defensive formation. This doesn't benefit flair players, who need space to beat their man. To pass today's defense is a taller task. If you only saw Ronaldinho's compilations, I guess you can think he's a magician, but 20 years from now people will see Mbappe's and see him as an even bigger monster. Ronaldo's stepovers would get a laugh most of the time because there's data on it, and everybody knows not to commit too early. If you remember, now beloved Mourinho was called a football terrorist back then, parking the bus, playing it safe. He didn't have magicians, just fucking solid men who had each others' backs, and of course Lamps, SWP, Drogba, J Cole and the likes to kill the game. So disciplined they didn't lose 150 straight matches at home. Effective, yes, pretty, nah. The special one for a reason. You evolve or you die. No space for undisciplined teams. Then we had Barca who broke the system with speed and spatial awareness, essentially killing off every team who ran like morons after each ball, got tired, and finished after some pass behind the lines. Now the data mining for any position is so advanced, there's a huge gap between DEFENSIVE LINES 20 years ago and now. Individuals, we can talk about, but what made them so great. Last ditch tackles, yeah, powerful checks, yeah, but the first was caused by bad positioning of the team more often than not, and the second was permitted by refs, right now these same men would get red carded first chance. But don't tell me VVD or Walker wouldn't be dogs 20 years ago. Today with fullbacks running against the opposition and coming back to defend it's pretty much a different game for wingers. More stamina for players and more spatial awareness training allows defenses to be stronger, if they're disciplined, and devalues the individual dribbler who with the ball at his feet has to move into a space which will be closed down ASAP. So yeah rn it's a different game. Maybe the greatest last 10 years midfieldier in Modric shows how to break down defenses today, but his skill and self-belief is really rare. Totally unpredictable and technically expert.

[@afa78djd]

​​@@secsee1657The most nauseating rhetoric i hear you youngsters say, ad nauseum. 🤣 🤣 🤣. That's all you got, a dream scenario where the lapse of only 10 years, defending got so abysmally superior that absolutely no one could score anymore. 🤣 🤣 🤣 Messi alone disproves your little theory here, he got tired of destroying your so-called, best in history, defenses, with slalom runs, especially that of the biggest teams in Europe.

[@secsee1657]

​@@afa78djd huh?. First, he specified 1990-2012. That's two-three decades ago. Facts are the physical and organizational capabilities grew more and more demanding every year. There's more money in the sport, the players are healthier, they're drilled on how to behave. This video is about individual geniuses. Of course players find it harder to shine when covered the moment they get the ball. That's why we're talking about Messi, Hazard, Modric, Mbappe, as the best, players who have the ball GLUED TO THEIR FEET. Who can do it in a crowd. Not chain-smoking vintage 10s who have 5 seconds before someone starts pressing them or a Brazilian winger who before a takeon chooses between an elástico or a rabona. Having the lungs to run 10% faster than the players in the 00s effectively narrows the pitch and allows for PHYSICAL DEFENSIVE coverage of the same spaces the flair players would run into.. If everyone is pushed to the same level, by physios, this is a tougher playing field. Without endurance, you're just not playing football today, unless you're CR in the NT Messi? I don't know, do you think that ONLY defensive players got better with tactical development, physical development? And do you really try to compare the Man United he faced in the CL Final with today's Man City? HE struggled bad against Chelsea the first 5 seasons he met them, if you forgot, and I never praised Man United for defensive mastery. Mourinho was the man examplifying this, not Fergie. Messi THRIVED IN BARCELONA, he suffered with Argentina without a trophy for 16 YEARS. He needs a team set up for his skills, with SMART PLAYERS he can link up with. Messi being the goat proves my point. The OP said the best players played between 90-12, and the whole fucking point is that Messi is universally agreed to be the goat for now. His prime was 09-19. And he's the goat for displaying both playmaking genius, and close control dribbling mastery. But Mbappe's technique is up there, and his resemblance to Ronaldo Nazario tells me he would overtake Messi as a fan favorite. The only problem he's had was playing in P$G. He created ~8 big chances last CL but has zero assists.

[@MarlOut]

also the lack of technology meant that many players that played during this time were actually forced to play football out in the streets, were the best footballers are bred

[@sameersheriff7078]

I don't know if you agree with me but men were strong and masculine before compared to now leading to sports turning to be soft as well with the introduction of new rules and var .

[@MadPaperMario]

A lot People had owned home computers since the mid 90s and affordable internet by the early 2000s and everyone was able to afford a cell phone like a Motorola Razr their was definitely tons technology

[@sameersheriff7078]

@@MadPaperMario But what about social media and loads of degeneracy and brain rot it brings along with it !!! Players back then would be glad that they didn't have to go through any of these during their careers.

[@MadPaperMario]

@@sameersheriff7078 fair point most of the 2000s social media isnt prominent

[@MarlOut]

@@MadPaperMario yh but were kids that time really fixated on it compared to today

[@QuyNguyen-gl2cc]

WC2006 is probably the WC with the most world class players: Ronaldo, Ronaldonho, Kaka, Adriano, Cafu, Carlos from Brazil, Messi, Crespo, Riquelme, Marcherano from Argentina, Gerrard, Lampard, Rooney, Terry, Ferdinand, Beckham, Cole, Owen from England, Zidane, Henry, Vieira, Ribery, Makelele from France, Ballack, Klose from Germany, Buffon, Cannavaro, Nesta, Pirlo, Totti, Del Piero from Italy, Torres, Villa, Alonso, Xavi, Iniesta, Puyol, Ramos, Casillas, Raul, Fabregas from Spain, Ronaldo, Figo, Deco, Carvalho from Portugal, Robben, Van Persie, Van Nistelrooy, Van der Sar, Sneijder from Netherlands, Cech, Nedved, Rosicky from Czech and Modric, Ibrahimovic, Shevchenko, Drogba, Yaya Toure

[@mikeoxlong4588]

It was so good that you left out so many other legends. but I don't blame you writing it out would take ages. That WC was insanely stacked

[@martinho5474]

and ronaldo almost helped figo and deco win it if it wasnt for zidane

[@casualtie061188]

This makes me sad, what a time for football. I just don't enjoy it as much anymore

[@JoyceAppia-cj1od]

50's, 60s, 70s were awesome too

[@aominedaiki8250]

Rewatching the Brazil vs France in 2006 WC was like watching an all star game!

[@yannich1991]

I grew up watching this era of football. Nothing will ever be the same. It hurts watching football now…

[@peelover7]

at least you got to watch it

[@NuestoSalvador-Z]

And now all AFRICA ; Mbape, Vinichus, Belinjam, Yasmine, etcetcetc No whites anymore ( Blak Illuminatis rules the world) They changed the football, now is more physical, everybody plays in the same way, they want us to believe blak players are better and always have been, when the level is LOWER than ever thats the reason why football is DEAD

[@The-phenomenon-x9]

Ikr then it was real football nowadays tactics have taken all the special abilities from players

[@freedomofspeech2855]

The footballers of that time had personality, charisma, and impact. They didn't need to have strange hairstyles or cover themselves in tattoos, which they didn't do. They enchanted us with their style of play. In every team, there was that incredible player whom everyone enjoyed watching.

[@NuestoSalvador-Z]

And now all AFRICA ; Mbape, Vinichus, Belinjam, Yasmine, etcetcetc No whites anymore ( Blak Illuminatis rules the world) They changed the football, now is more physical, everybody plays in the same way, they want us to believe blak players are better and always have been, when the level is LOWER than ever thats the reason why football is DEAD

[@NuestoSalvador-Z]

Blak Illuminatis changed everything...thats why football is dead forever In what world best players are Mbapa, Vinichus, Belinjam or Yasmine ? only in this era 20 years ago the would be playing in Valencia,Everton, Fiorentina, Villarreal, things like that and thats too much Now blaks want to rule the world, and they want us to believe they always have been there hahaahah 👁👁👁👁

[@Velai_Vai]

They did have weird hairstyles. Just look at ronaldo nazario or beckham

[@bear_eater254]

Serie A in the 2000s was illegal, even Teams like Fiorentina and Sampdoria had absolute gems.

[@DavidRFIT]

From mid 1980s to mid 2000s, actually. For 20 years Serie A was by far the best league in the world.

[@teddymeister95]

@@DavidRFIT and no other league has reached those heights. even current PL or Messi-CR7 era of la liga

[@miguelporras8366]

​@@teddymeister95Messi and CR7 was all transnationals. Both teams needed serious referee help to win in Europe

[@Rvneee]

90s*, Serie A was the premier league of today

[@mimichaten]

Yeah, 90s Serie A was the most dominant, having maintained the world's best league for a decade. Early 00s La Liga & Serie A are the world's top two leagues. Late 00s, the world's best are three leagues, La Liga, Serie A & Premier league. From 10s, Serie A fell very rapidly.

[@MarkoGLHF]

The craziest thing for me is how strong Serie A was. Inter: Ronaldo, Zanetti.. Juventus: Del Piero, Zidane... Milan: Shevchenko, Maldini.. Roma: Totti, Cafu.. Parma: Buffon, Cannavaro.. Lazio: Crespo, Nedved.. FIorentina: Batistuta, Rui Costa.. Brescia: Baggio, Pirlo It looked like every single team had one or a couple of World Class players. I mentioned only two players from each because I don't have two hours to write them all, but is just INSANE how much talent was there.

[@ThunderChunks]

Looking at the international Titles and other leagues I dont think that Italian football was in the prime in the 2000s. It was the 1990 when it was best and everyone wanted to play in an italian club.

[@MarkoGLHF]

@@ThunderChunks Well, it is debatable, there was an all italian champions league final in 2000s and they won world cup in 2000s. I am not saying they were not good in 1990 but I think they were better at the start of the millennium. Cannavaro, Nesta, Pirlo and many others from that league reached their peak in 2000s

[@teddymeister95]

@@MarkoGLHF I'd slightly agree more with the 90s being better. If I'm not wrong there's was always an Italian club in some European final, whether it's the champions, or uefa cup or europa etc. I think the all-Italian final in 2003 and a WC victory was just to seal the world class cycle Italian football had. We also reached the 1994 final only to lose on penalties to Brazil

[@MarkoGLHF]

@@teddymeister95 When I think more about it, it has to be end of the 90s and the start of the 2000s. Parma and Fiorentina for example were not that good at the start of the 90s I think. By the end of the 90s they were very good, and I think we have to take that as an argument because that is when there was the most strong teams in serie a. 1997-2001 something like that

[@entertainmentworld4224]

in 90's Prime Baggio was in Juventus Crespo in Parma Pirlo and Sheva are not there Sampdoria of Pagliuca, Vialli and Mancini was a very strong team. Zola,Chiesa,Ravanelli,Weah,Baresi,Costacurta,Stam,Davids,Conte,Dechamps,Peruzzi,Recoba,Bergkamp,Kanu,Henry,Nedved,Di livio,Zambrotta,Toldo,Laudrup,Zamorano,Roberto carlos,Inzaghi and many others were very good too. but the super star of early 90's was Baggio and in late 90's was Delpiero and Ronaldo. and keep in ur mind 80's was much stronger than 90's with Maradona,Platini,Zico,Mathuaus,Gulit,Van basten,Rossi and many others WC,CL,Euro champions and Ballon dor everywhere.

[@juliusalimari]

I was a little kid when I witnessed 2002 world cup final. It was so good, and we were so happy. Then I witnessed all the 2000s football era, including the breathtaking 2006 world cup, and 2010. It was a time to be alive. I deeply miss it

[@jpepe-qg4qj]

Same here .I still watch football but does not feel the same as 2000s

[@kimjongnuke593]

2002 was also my first WC, I still remember to this day when Senegal beat France, Germany beat Saudi 8-0, and controversial match between South Korea and Italy.

[@PEGGLORE]

Italia 90 was better when a kid. Seeing Maradona's Hand of God in 1986 when you're 5 years old is a classic moment of life as well. You missed out..

[@wasigupitobudiarto7767]

I was really pissed when Ahn Jung Hwan scored a winning goal against Italy

[@Beastmodeon666]

Turkiye got 3rd place in wc 2002

[@aditm4]

man i still remember watching the 2002 and 2006 world cup with my brother and my late father. shouting loudly everytime R9 shoot. filling my world cup minibook with the winning country's flag sticker up until the final match. just remembering these things could make me cry like a kid. may we meet again in the next life, father.

[@11111653]

the answer is in 0:03

[@DrackoAAAAA]

Ong thank you

[@UncoveringTruth732]

Yahushua is Yahuah

[@UncoveringTruth732]

@@DrackoAAAAA Yahushua is Yahuah

[@AsaNisiMasa-cc2id]

After Guardiola's Barcelona, everybody wants to play possession and pragmatic football passing the ball around. Creativity has been dying because of that.

[@kareemlawson878]

but that barca was magic

[@ecafracs10]

Guardiola destroyed football, i can't watch a 90 minute game now without going to sleep, of the sheer boredom the game is getting

[@thewand3r3r45]

@@ecafracs10lmao you can’t blame Peps barcelona which happened in the 2000s for the crap we have nowadays 😂😂😂😂 not to mention Peps city is fun to watch not like the other teams which are boring

[@benjaminowolabi6891]

​​@@thewand3r3r45if City's football is interesting to watch for you, I can bet you never watched football in the 2000s How exactly does 10,000 passes to score 1 goal interesting to you? You can predict Arsenal and City goal process. Play to the wing with an under lapping full back to put in a cutback. If that doesn't work, pass it to De Bruyne to spam crosses from wing, then we get the over hype of his passing ability. He can't even lace Ozil's boot No crosses, No out the box shots, No dribbles, No out of the world pass... there's no creativity anymore, it's all a machine

[@thewand3r3r45]

@@benjaminowolabi6891 i’m older than you so yes i did watch it 😂 you know nothing about it except highlights

[@robbiebalboa]

The style and panache of the late 90’s to mid 2000’s hits different to the current day. (Edit watching afterthe Euro & Copa America Final) there’s certainly no composure. The players are too focused on playing it out so quickly they can overlook and almost easy option to play a short pass or play a central that forces them to be caught out in counters, the ones with the brains need to be utilised but I think a lot of managers can’t understand that.

[@LongSeax88]

Even early 90s late 80s. Football is a joke now.

[@intello8953]

@@LongSeax88why would you say football is a joke now?

[@aleksam1504]

Cause it is. ​@@intello8953

[@bear_eater254]

​@@intello8953Because it's a joke😂. Like where are the Ronaldinho's and Zdiane's.. what, Bellingham?😂😂🤦

[@goatfader]

@@intello8953 Have watched England or France at the Euros this year? Supposedly top teams playing awful football and just scraping through.

[@dim_ks10]

That's why I like kvaratskhelia. The man is pure football!

[@thelawyer95]

He's gonna turn into a robot once he goes to another club unfortunately.

[@teddymeister95]

@@thelawyer95 unless he goes to Real Madrid. Ancelotti grew up in that era and he loves letting players express their game

[@a.demifemiflapo5795]

Kaladze's successor even though he was a defender haha

[@thelawyer95]

@@teddymeister95 Lol I hope not, he wouldn't get much playing time. Barca with Flick could be interesting as he plays good attacking football.

[@peelover7]

@@thelawyer95i’m a bayern fan but flick is a bit overrated by non bayern fans, we won a treble in a season where teams were hit really hard by covid, sure we were doing good before covid but i feel like the reason we were doing good was because of our individual talent and not the management, we played prime liverpool under klopp football. i mean no other team had 5-6 players who were scoring screamers in the ucl that season

[@iMertin]

I was born in 1990 and these were the days. So much freedom and flair

[@adambassuni6084]

this is the biggest nostalgia bias video ever 😂😂 go watch a random premier league game from 20 years ago between a top and midtable team and watch one now, you'll fall asleep watching the old game with how slow, boring and risk free they play- just hoofing it up the pitch

[@adambassuni6084]

@@Kōgan_Dekai they literally play with twice the speed and excitement that games 20 years ago had Its literally backed up by stats too 🤣 You're just a nostalgia merchant who didnt watch football back then or just only remembers the good moments. Which is exactly what people in 20 years will do about the current time saying "2020s football was so much better than current"

[@BartolomeoColleoni94]

​@@adambassuni6084 I’m smelling that typical turd world young blood FIFA video game influence aroma here coming off your B.O aroma . Pewwww it stinks and it always wreaks a lot coming off you bunch . … We know …We know ….Stats , Analytics, Heat Maps , Fitness tests , agility , speed , strength, etc …..YUP FIFA 2025 , 2024 , 2023 , 2022 , etc all talking here . Have we been comparing the Fifa Legends players in the video game recently to the current crop by using these “ new and improved “measures mate - because you wreak of it ? As if that can really be used as any proper yard stick to measure the quality of play back then and the amount of true maestro craftsmen found in abundance all over the pitch back then versus the cookie cutter players of today and the rather lame and over hyped but much too often underwhelming generic game of today . I mean possession style football is definitely fast though ! I mean like sideways type of fast and back passing type of fast ! Like Triangular type of fast ! Like ya know , useless type of fast ? …..Rather than just being purely straightforward and direct type of fast ( with far less but much more efficient passing ) when actually trying to focus on going UP the pitch , instead of passing the ball in triangles while slowly making your way up the pitch instead … Yeah surely that’s more entertaining there . I mean why score from a quick and direct fast goal off a counter with all of maybe 3 or 4 passes from the back ? When instead you can hold on to the crap out of the ball with a million triangular passes , working your way ever so gently and carefully up the pitch….and only then finally decide to go for goal once near the penalty area ? But yeah possession type of football does seem to have its benefits indeed . However it would seem here that more often it is benefitting the opposing team . Because players now are so focused with possessing based tactics where they literally pass up ( excuse the pun ) for a more direct through ball up the pitch due to their possessional tunnel vision . So bad it is that sometimes they assist by passing it right into their own net . TEN OWN goals in Euro 2024 . ELEVEN OWN GOALS in Euro 2020 ( mind you at that time those 11 own goals were more own goals scored than in all the previous Euro Cup own goals combined . TWENTY ONE OWN GOALS IN THE LAST TWO EUROS . And funnily enough you will find the same trend in domestic football too where own goals are UP ! Put down the XBOX or PlayStation or whatever remote it is son ….and go outside in the sunny Middle East where you’re from and go and actually play the game outside instead . You will actually get some color too from the Sun . You probably need it . Lack of Vitamin D lends to brain deficits if you haven’t heard .

[@rafallo1333]

​@@adambassuni6084on point mate, I just can't stand those people biased by nostalgia, no facts, just feelings and dreams.

[@NIDELLANEUM]

Fabrizio Romano spoiling transfers reminds me of something similar that's been happening in Hollywood, with movies. Back then, you barely had any idea about what a movie was like: if you didn't catch the trailer, or read a magazine, all you knew was "there's a movie" and rumors/theories about it. Now, they show pictures, announce the cast, and talk about it nonstop, even *years* before the movie is released. We no longer have the element of surprise in anything, we already know what to expect.

[@iwantgoals1566]

This is what happens when sport and art are pushed hard through the funnel of marketing. There’s no such thing as letting your work speak for itself. We live in a generation where everything has to be hyper marketed and sold, even your soul.

[@NIDELLANEUM]

@@iwantgoals1566 and this has led to an implosion in the movie market. Look at how rare it is for blockbusters nowadays to actually be profitable. Sure, the cost has changed a lot, both for the production (when you spend so much that you need *almost a Billion Dollars* to profit, you may have gone too far) and for the moviegoer (people wonder "why is nobody going to the movies nowadays?" as if going to see one movie now doesn't affect your financial capability for weeks, if not months), but it's absurd how people are now so tired about the movies. Something similar is occurring with football too. I mean, to sign 2-3 players, you need to spend as much as what costs to make an Avengers movie, and ticket prices have skyrocketed a lot (ever seen that Tifo Football video where they prove that you can technically travel to Europe for 3 days for the same amount that it costs to see one Manchester United game?)

[@ssmufc9941]

Exactly. It’s the same with gaming too now

[@sasapocuc6616]

Well then make your own surprises in your own life

[@lonewanderer882]

@@sasapocuc6616 what a smart statement

[@argenisjrg]

The 2006 World Cup was my first experience with football. It was amazing, it had some mystics that I can't explain logically.

[@BablooTandoor]

2010 was crazy too!

[@spacecamel2501]

It was the last world cup that felt that way. That level of atmosphere and magic hasn't been the same since

[@eone199]

you want more mystics? look at earlier WC

[@reginald6451]

First WC still got the sticker book almost full

[@oldskoolmusicnostalgia]

1990s and 2000s were peak football

[@anthonymcken6050]

It will never return so get used to it.

[@tomocchii]

@@anthonymcken6050it will. Life is cycle and like most things, football will eventually go back to the beginning when a new player, like Messi or perhaps even better emerges and has other players that are similar in talent, or there is a revolution in tactics and everyone stops copying Pep. I think people will eventually get tired of this and work to change it. Unfortunately I see it getting much worse before it gets better.

[@jegna4]

@@tomocchiinot going to happen football is about making money now it’ll only get worse after the 26 World Cup

[@LtCommanderTato]

@@tomocchii I dont see that happening, european football is becoming african entirely and here you dont any creativity. Just mercenaries wanting money.

[@Mark-zx4cl]

@@LtCommanderTato African runners and athletes ( not proper Footballers ) who are trained in Europe and reap plenty of the benefits of the modern day system and politics ( as if we are the Red Cross for Footballers from the turd world ) and all so they can play for a Euro nation ( with no loyalty whilst always drumming up the woe is me I am black and play in Racist Europe tropes ) while benefitting from playing for that Euro nation and also in that Euro nations leagues and if all else fails they can use their back up citizenship to play for their nation of their parents origin in Africa or Turkey or etc . Just so they can play a crappier version of the National Football of your own Euro nation that once was played - beautifully ….by your own ethnic Europeans. At least Spain with a majority of ethnic Spanish players barring only two won the Euro against the English and Africans of England. So Football still won …and screw France too . If I was an ethnic Englishmen or Frenchmen I wouldn’t watch those pretenders represent my nation on the pitch . I wouldn’t even bother. They may be better runners and overall athletes ….but proper footballers who are finely shaped into their craft …they most certainly are not …barring only a few in history . I can count them all on two hands . I would need dozens and dozens of hands for ethnic Euro legends of the game.

[@Apokalypseplease]

Mid 90's to Mid 2000's were the best era not only in football but in human mankind.

[@AnwarAnwar-dm2id]

Very well said...

[@Fcblover]

it really was... Altough the 70's and 80's were also great for football

[@asdfkie]

naw di natale and milito should not be in this conversation. If anything van nistelrooy vs henry was the clash of the 2000s. I remember as a kid reading my issue of football weekly and checking how many goals each guy had, and both were doing something like 30 goals a season.

[@dermoooojj255]

90s were even better, modern football has turned into basketball played by robots

[@italiangentleman1501]

​@JacobS-q7c I don't think the VAR is the problem. It's more like the individual aspect of Football that got more put on the background.

[@turkx6]

Nah

[@Sonuuuuuuuuuuuuu]

as they said old is always gold

[@rumblebird9888]

Remember that Nike ad made for the 2014 World Cup where football was taking over by robots

[@LtCommanderTato]

@@rumblebird9888 african robots, dont think just follow orders and get a paycheck.

[@bobcaca6744]

Modern football is so dull and boring 😂

[@aidygooner]

Everyone wants to pass the ball around too much like Guardiola's team and press every time like Klopp's team which doesn't suit most teams and players as we're all different; technically, physically and mentally.

[@ko-rp7ge]

It can be sometimes. They are still entertaining matches and players too.

[@stormmeansnowork]

I suggest to change the rules so that it mandates (except when a team is playing with less than 11 men), there must be at least 2 players in the opposition half at all times. That would hopefully makes it harder for teams that intentionally wants to sit out a 90mins game for a draw to actually draw it.

[@Barkbatosu]

Imagine somehow making soccer more boring lol

[@Pekara121]

​@@stormmeansnoworkthat's a bad rule.

[@mentalblocked]

For a long time national teams feared playing against Brazil. Don't get me wrong, Brazil was always good, but for a long time was fearful. Argentina today still has good football, like the old times. Time will tell...

[@DeezN1892]

The national teams all play the same type of football nowadays. I don’t mean to sound like a hipster but the Brazilian league now genuinely still has this exciting competitive football filled with star players in each team. The other South American leagues don’t have that. Argentinian league is reaaallyyy bad now

[@jimmyyue238]

Nowadays, these teams have to pay the referee in order to continue to be like before.

[@Carlosmltr]

Brazil still has an elite team, filled with protagonists at some of the biggest clubs in the world. However the national team is going through the worst phase I've ever seen. Our players can't handle pressure, they are consistently losing to European teams, even if they are in better shape, that's bizarre. Yesterday's performance against Colombia at copa America feels like an all time low. To make things worse, we don't have a genious player like Neymar in the younger generation, hope Endrick is able to replace him at some time.

[@gloopdogg1145]

Same reason why Espana won World and Euro cup is reason why Argentina won,rest was in down fall and change generations,when France and Italy was in Prime the same Espana with same players who won later cant pass a group stage...Much better Argentina generations with Mess didnt win bit this where half of planet cant name 5 Argentinans beside Mess won World cup,that just show where football is now...

[@guiguitoLemon]

@@gloopdogg1145 that's a great point, actually. I had never thought of that.

[@martijn_yt]

‘Science has shown that long shots are not effective’ … Euro24: ’Hold my beer’ 😂

[@eone199]

looks like obviously nobody sees roberto carlos playing football...

[@moritzpichler5981]

@@eone199 not everyone is Roberto Carlos...

[@AthulChandran-qx5nw]

What happened in Euros 2024 usually happened even in the most boring 2000s football matches.. That's the difference!

[@mohimenulislam7288]

@@AthulChandran-qx5nw finally someone spoke the truth. people defending euro 2024 are so funny. they come with excuses such as we have more younger players than before and there were some long rangers. pathetic

[@20fadhilRevolution]

@@AthulChandran-qx5nw Exactly. It doesn't excuse that many clubs, like Manchester City, are so obviously sterile in creativity.

[@jakehammond12345]

You also forgot to mention that 2000's was pre steroids so the players, playing a stamina sport, were slim an graceful. Now, the stamina sport players are strangely built like MMA fighters, despite running for 100 minutes twice a week plus regular two hour training sessions. It amazes me that people somehow believe that they also have the time to lift loads of massive weights and bulk protein shakes. And... this happened suddenly because weights didn't exist before 2010. I played myself, I'm telling you, if you are playing competitively twice a week and maybe doing a hard training session once per week... you aint bulking up without Juice.

[@daviebananas1735]

Serie A players were all on steroids in the 90s. It’s not a secret. Steroids came into prominent use in sports in the 80s.

[@jakehammond12345]

@@daviebananas1735 ok but they looked lean and athletic. Suddenly around 2010 they all look like rugby players

[@lukyguy1240]

I'd say mid 90s to mid 2000s. By the time Spain and Barca rose up, the beauty was already in decline.

[@Hypocrisy.Allergic]

Tiki taka ruined football

[@lukyguy1240]

@@Hypocrisy.Allergic it was amazing at the time, but unfortunately everyone else tried to do it too, and that ruined football.

[@muwafaqmosa5303]

I agree, when the Italians were taking over football in Seria A , during 80s to 2000s football was great, but after they won the 2006 world cup it would seem that they lost interest in football, not long after that the Spanish league showed up it, and they started this delusional classico, and before football was full of talented nominations for balloon dor but afterwards it became all about Messi and Cr.Ronaldo, I think the Spanish have ruined football.

[@oldskoolmusicnostalgia]

@@muwafaqmosa5303 They didn't lose interest, there were serious financial issues in calcio and the fallout of Calciopoli was something the league didn't recover from. No other league would seek to destroy one of their biggest clubs on such flimsy charges (see how Barcelona and Man City's various "cases" have gone). I dislike tiki taka as well but the other thing that ruined football was that nobody can compete with the Premier League's television money.

[@BakaryD]

Yeah you're full of shit. barca and Spain had peak football, the real peak was Bayern 2013

[@averageaimer8533]

This is back when it was a ‘sport’. Now it’s turned into a ‘game’

[@mihneaiordan1813]

While I don't necessarily agree with this whole spiel, you should reverse these to make your point. A game is fun entertainment. A sport is the competition that requires the highest level of athleticism and strategic optimization.

[@MA-ck4wu]

As @mihneaiordan1813 said, you have it backwards. It used to be a (beautiful) game, now it's jus like any other competitive sport, highly optimized.

[@miguelpereira9859]

What does this even mean? I would say it's the exact opposite, players nowadays are bigger athletes but are less players

[@jamesinhenley]

Dyslexic much?

[@jamesinhenley]

4:50 “defences have got a lot stronger over the years” have they ? Is there a stat to back this up ? I thought it was widely accepted the opposite was true

[@MatiasMartinez-fy6vw]

you forgot riquelme in 2006

[@craigdavis5818]

Yes. One of the greatest footballers I've seen.

[@timoteovalles724]

Not hate to pep but he is an example of the change in football. His táctico style doesn’t allow players to express themselves as much so you really don’t see the quality of players as you did before. An example being Greenlish from his time at Aston Villa to now it’s not the same player. However there is a few players that still play in an expressive way like doku, Vini but it’s not the same.

[@MrSivinator]

Though I appriciate your efforts made making this video, you my friend, are speaking nonsense. Simillar to my little brother, who was born in 2006, you are looking at this topic from a nostalgic perspective. The players mentioned in this video all had their highs and lows in their careers. It's easy to look back to their records as defining to who they were as footballers, but you have the whole career being compared to active players. For example, in the mention period players had their peaks for shorter time in comparison for today. There was never a player like Messi or C. Ronaldo who enjoyed their prime time at football for almost 2 DECADES (which mostly comprise of the 2010's). Also, there were ALOT of flops with unprofessional players being promoted for their talent, but once getting to the highest level they started living as though they already retired (e.g. Adriano). David Beckham was already a HUGE star when moving to Real's galacticos, which were shyte.. The Italian football golden age was very very defensive oriented. I do agree that football felt better when the players felt like men and not like daddy's big boys, and if I were to put my finger on when it started to be the main stream, I'd say it was when Abramovic bought Chelsea. Football has evolved immensely thanks to modern tech to my taste, mainly thanks to higher work ethic standards of today's clubs and players (you can't cut corners no more). One last thing, you really overemphasized the quality of the dribble being made by strikers, which more often than not had ended with some awful outcome for the attacking teams. Nostalgia is a b..

[@khalil-j6j]

Players back then were just better , the only things that got better about football in modern times are tactics and fitness facilities , players are fitter and more athletic now but nowhere near the levels of the legends that played in the late 90s and early 00s

[@ballislife9924]

Not true Because of the evolution of football tactics, athleticism, and analytics, it's just harder to stand out. Everyone is an athlete, everyone is talented, and you get no space at all. It's just harder to stand out. It's just the nostalgia speaking out of you.

[@dim_ks10]

@@ballislife9924 Technically, they were better back in 90-00s. Additionally, most pitches are being cut very short and they are just perfect nowadays, and therefore everything moves faster (ball and players) which is harder and even unnecessary to demonstrate technical skills than before. Where it's evident that players lack of imagination and dribbling skills are 1-2-1 situations where they have to dribble against the last defender or the goalkeeper. We almost see no feints or tricks.

[@khalil-j6j]

No nostalgia whatsoever since i only started watching football about 10 years ago , before that i didn't care much about football but once i got obsessed with it i was thorough in my research , i've seen full games from the late 90s to late 00s and players were actually on another level technically , modern tactics stripped players of any flair , player are now developping as system players from a very early age , not to mention we've actually seen legends from the late 00s that carried over to the 2010s destroying modern footballers like cr7 , messi ,xavi , iniesta , scholes was still bossing the prem at 37 38 in like 2011 2012 where modern football was in full flow ​@@ballislife9924

[@RaamiKala]

@@ballislife9924 Chat shit. What you're basically saying is back then the good players were more athletic than the bad players and so were able to stand out. Your logic isn't logic-ing. Everyone was on the same level of athleticism back then, but the good players were some of the best ever to play the game. Today, everyone still has similar levels of athleticism, but there are far fewer standout players. What that's down to is beyond my expertise, but you can't say that the great players of 15+ years ago were only able to stand out because athleticism was not as good back then as it is now.

[@ballislife9924]

@RaamiKala But that literally is one of the key reasons. Genetics play a huge factor in explosiveness, for example. Strength and explosiveness training was not prioritized until the 2010s, so players that weren't gifted (the majority) couldn't keep up. The other big reason are tactical advancements that congested the field a lot. You can't easily receive the ball, turn, and then take players on. Nowadays, you have immediately someone on your back upon rwveun the ball. Turn a game on from like the WC 2006 and watch how much space there is in the midfield. It's laughable. But that favors creativity and technical players because you can actually go at defenses. On average, the technical abilities, the explosiveness, and the tactics have evolved, and that's natural. It happens in every sport. As an entertainment product, you could argue that the 2000s were better but not the actual quality.

[@marihutten]

I was old enough at the time to remember and I think we romanticize it a lot because it was a mixture in which skill was very high but people recording videos and saving it on their computers and videos becoming viral were at the beginning. IN a few words, all you see are the "best moments" but if you actually watch the matches defending was pretty wack (in terms of strategies and defenders working as a unit), full of spaces to score outside the box. Now it's really tough, the style of defending is so compact. I'm not saying there wren't great defenders, you had people like Cannavaro Lucio in this era and there were other greats. I'm talking about the SYSTEM. Plus now people run 11km per game, it's more about the physicality than ball on the foot skill. Even young players now don't develop or practice a lot of set pieces (directly to the goal I mean) as you used to see. The type of Juninho Pernambucano or Beckham scoring from a setpiece directly on goal was because they spent a solid part of their training practicing this. Now during training you spend more time at the gym gaining muscle and developing cardio and resistance. I think previous eras will always be romanticize because as time goes by all we see are the highlights, most of us are not watching entire games from 20 years ago. If you watch by the highlights, yeah sure lol

[@exploremore2438]

The first person I am seeing saying absolute truths. I started watching football at 6 during the 2010 world cup, I didn't know anything before that. The only memories were the times were I played Winning Eleven with uncle and got smashed 😂. But after that I became a football geek and even up till now I am so football obsessed, if you asked me, I would tell you the golden generation was the 2010s, the calibre of elite world class players, streets will never forget ballers, and the funny thing is that they were doing it on a high, on the biggest European stage (UCL) dominating their leagues, iconic moments, the competition and level of talents at the Ballon d'Or podium. It was something else. Football is experiencing a cool down, but with the up-and-coming talents, young established talents and players who are hitting their primes, we should brace ourselves for fresh madness.

[@liamwilliams6651]

This is pretty much what he said though. Tactics, formations and over coaching have made the game boring to watch. It's not just romanticising, I was born in 97 and grew up watching the 00s. I could watch every single game back then no matter who is playing. Nowadays I will really only watch a club game if a few of the lads are going down to the pub to watch it. I've gotten so bored by the sport that I have moved onto rugby and mostly watch that now.

[@BajaToxic]

use to watch Ronaldo highlight when i was a kid and then come the 2010 WC, Im so disappointed when he didnt do skill every 5 second

[@exploremore2438]

@@liamwilliams6651 You've gotten older sir. That's how shit works.

[@liamwilliams6651]

@@exploremore2438 I can tell you now that isn't the answer. Look at Zidane's performance against Italy in 2006 WC final. He made it look like a schoolyard game, at one point there was four Italians trying to get the ball off him. When does a player ever have the audacity to try this stuff in a final these days? In fact you rarely ever see a player try and dribble past players especially in midfield anymore. Just always looking for the safe pass. Its boring as fuck so I don't watch anymore. I have also been watching rugby since 2007 and thats now better than ever so my age and nostalgia has nothing to do with it.

[@yahyataskn7904]

Newer football fans slander Ronaldinho a lot, saying X player has more g/a and stuff and it's just nostalgia. The real reason his fans love him that much is we've watched him carry barcelona to la liga titles and a ucl, with their whole tactic being "just pass it to dinho and let him do his magic"

[@mem5860]

Even commentators we're like, Ronaldinho don't pass to anyone, if You do that we Will not score

[@SM1LE2006]

Fax

[@DevonRyeTheDragonfly]

It’s all about the way he played. He was a wizard with the ball and people may not realize but he’s been a great influence on players such as Messi, Neymar, CR and many more who themselves have shaped generations to come.

[@m.c.martin]

It was the way he played and the way he scored

[@quein92]

@@DevonRyeTheDragonfly He was simply just magical to watch. No other player really came close to him. There may have been others that were about equal in terms of generall fotballing skills, but when Ronaldinho got the ball he set the world on fire, and he often did it with a smile and such raw creativity that had never been experienced before. I remember watching Barcelona vs Real Madrid with my dad, and my mom sat down to watch it with us. She's not interested in football at all, but after 45 minutes she was CRAZY about new favourite player, Ronaldinho. He was so good that he could awaken football passion to people not at all interested in football.

[@AlexTapisevic]

Just take a simple italian team that no longer exists like Parma that had Buffon, Cannavaro, Thurame, Mboma, Asprilla, Zola, Nakata, Stoikov, Veron, Baggio, Stanic, Crespo, and Sukur in a span of 5 years.

[@Maisonier]

Dude, you didn't even mention Riquelme! He was the epitome of great football in that decade! And what about CARLOS BIANCHI's Boca Juniors? They beat both Real Madrid and AC Milan during that same era. In the 2003 match, Boca deserved to win in regular time and showed superior physical strength in extra time against Milan ...

[@VGP90]

How crazy was Serie A in the 2000s? The greatest Italian attacker of all time Roberto Baggio was banging in goals for Brescia and mentoring a young Andrea Pirlo at the same time. Top quality.

[@trollstomper88]

Waking up every Sunday morning to watch football Italia. The pure drama felt by that show made MOTD look pedestrian. Who says you need pundits? Just one good presenter and the madness of Italian commentators in the background.

[@Zahrul3]

And brescia nearly got relegated

[@20fadhilRevolution]

And in late 90s and 2000s we also have: R9 in Inter, at first season was unimpressive attackers wisely. Romario who's just blasting in Flamengo, a Brazilian club that fell into mid-table by 1998. Batistuta, who was playing for Fiorentina. Several legendary defenders were in Parma, like Thuram, as well as Buffon. Di Natale, who played for Empoli and Udinese.

[@robs9237]

Defenders in the 2000s: Thuram Nesta Maldini Cannavarro Samuel Lucio Puyol Ferdinand Campbell Terry Vidic Carvalho Stam. Defenders now: 💩

[@marihutten]

I think there were amazing individual defending talents such as the one you mentioned but the defensive systems were weaker than now. Check the amount of space that used to exist in the box back in the day. Most teams now play with like 7 people in the box if they transition to defense, back then teams would just leave the 3-4 defenders there. Now the entire team runs back to cover every space in the box.

[@cyz44]

dont forget the beast Roberto Carlos

[@hectorlagos8937]

HEY! respect king Maguire sir!

[@brianduru3753]

This is rubbish as there have been many excellent defenders since. Ramos, Van Dijk, Hummels, Bonucci, Chiellini, Thiago Silva, Diego Godin.... You also ignore the fact that the game has changed and the way defenders are asked to play and the responsibilities they have are different today.

[@LongSeax88]

@@marihuttenyeah, everyone parks the bus now, boring poor football. We are currently in the weakest era of football, since football became a professional sport. No talent, no passion. It’s literally a woman’s game now.

[@dosko9980]

idk why people always glaze the early and mid 2000s. Football was amazing and it is just as amazing right now. It's nostalgia and rose tinted glasses. In 10 years, when the majority of the 2010s players have retired, people will look back on this time frame and say "wow, the 2010s were really a golden era for football". We will look back the likes of Neymar, Ronaldo, Messi, Kroos, Kante, Kane (if he manages to win), Iniesta, Hazard, Salah, Kroos, Cavani and many many more. You remember those long gone eras so fondly, because you were younger, times were simpler, not because football was so so much better. To my grandparents everything before the 80s was the best era. My grandfather always talked about the cup in 54, where hohberg still played after going into cardiac arrest. "Real men" as he called it. Legends like Pele, Di Stefano, Yashin, Beckenbauer, Puskas.

[@STALKER1918]

Throwing it on nostalgia solely is incorrect. The author himself noted how he did not catch the 2000's, and listed worthy arguments for why the game was objectively better back then.

[@eone199]

you are absolutely wrong. everyone knows who pele is. and nobody can get better achievement than pele in WC.

[@dosko9980]

@@eone199 okay, how does that add anything to the discussion?

[@SiyabongaSibiya-pj9gb]

Facts 😂😂 I just laugh when someone says things were better in the past.

[@dosko9980]

@@Kōgan_Dekai "use your eyes" great that you cannot refute my argument.

[@fiilisboa]

As a Brazilian, I loved this video. Brazil was always a creative force, where tactics worked around 2 or 3 players in the attack. Now our coach only trains defensive tactics, happy with a 1-0 result. Football is dead, but the fact that so many people are talking about this, maybe it hopefully changes everything in the near future.

[@20fadhilRevolution]

Brazil also lacks the creative players with strength. R9 and Ronaldinho were powerful dancers in their prime. Now the best dribblers like Neymar would struggle against Garrincha.

[@jrothweldo7]

I can remember more about the 90s 2000 then football today the players back then where world class every club/national team was stacked with quality

[@GamingInfested]

I think there were less of rigged games too, I dont know for sure I was kid in 90s. But now even huge championships are rigged af

[@redbaby679]

Not just football most sports peaked in the 2000's

[@attan5127]

I would say '90s, but yeah. Sports in general are boring today. I have zero enthusiasm for the Euros or the upcoming Olympics.

[@benhicks9481]

nearly every sport has become more professional or athletic, the skills or flair of each sport are almost lost because of this. The best players/teams in each sport aren't actually the best you think of from a talent viewpoint, but from a consistent performance viewpoint. Football with Henry/Ronaldinho was fun to watch, golf with Woods/Mickelson, tennis with Federer/Nadal you could list every other sport when these icons were playing and they were fun to watch not just because of their stats or how much they won, they made the sports fun to watch while making it look easy.

[@BennyBlancoFromStatenIsland]

Even 100 metres, I didn't even bother watching at 2024 Paris Olympics. Why should I? I already watched Usain Bolt in the 2000s, no one will ever come close.

[@traductionscultureen-arver2307]

@@attan5127not only sports. Movies, music…something happened. Multiple things. I spend years thinking about this question. I think in order to have normal relationships and magical lives and episode, you need absence. Not being able to contact someone or being contacted. That’s what was life in 2000, 90’s and before. So magical relationships, telling friends stories that happened..internet, sms, smartphones, public wifi, 3g 4g, and social networks did that. Take that away on a personal level with some people, you get back to before and life is magic again..

[@NoCluYT]

@@attan5127I could only say the 90s for basketball. Most other sports peaked in the 2000s-2010s. Especially the mid 2010s because that's when we had such a perfect balance of tactics, skill, passion, and pure personality in playstyle.

[@luqmanmohd2737]

This is all Pep's fault. That bald fraud 😅

[@cerveshred]

Never liked that bum, he only train big money squads with big names. I prefer Marcelo Bielsa or Thiago motta in that sense.

[@okflyaway99]

@@cerveshred Thus same applies to Mourinho, Ancelotti, Conte, etc. Am I right?

[@SergioCalcio]

@@okflyaway99 no Mourinho coached little old Porto to a UCL win in 2004 . Ancelotti started with Reggiana and then Parma ( he was instrumental in shaping the talents of a very young Cannavaro , Buffon , Thuram , Crespo , etc ) and was solely responsible for Parma winning the UEFA Cup in 1998.

[@okflyaway99]

@@SergioCalcio Pep also promoted a previously relegated Barcelona B back to the higher division a season before he was given the first team job back in 2008.

[@SergioCalcio]

@@okflyaway99 taking Barca B from the third tier to the second tier and only for the team to end right back in the third tier ( the season he left ) is not as impressive as the accomplishments of what Ancelotti did with little old provincial Parma and their players ( molding the young talent of some of Europe’s best ) and winning the UEFA Cup . Nowhere as impressive as Mourinho winning the 2004 UCL with Porto on the UCL stage . No . Pep was handed ( BARCA ) in 2008 of all teams ( BARCA ) based only on a resume of securing promotion of the Barca B team from the third tier to the second tier . Compare that to the accomplishments of Ancelotti with Parma ( Parma prior was a perennial Serie B team and barely played in Serie A…barely before this ) . Then also compare that with Mourinho at Porto where Porto hadn’t won anything on the Euro continent in decades and he knocked out some of Europes best en route to the 2004 UCL . Not even close.

[@broscastefano]

Before the 2000 golden era, there's been a strongly influenced tactic football, everybody more or less followed the Arrigo Sacchi's dogmas (organization, pressing, offside, low to none improvisation). Majority of matches were boring, the strongest team in Italy, Capello's Milan, won the serie a three years in a row basically with the defense. The peak of this approach was reached during euro 1996, where many matches ended 0-0, giving a very poor show to the audience. Also in terms of players, despite many talented ones were playing (Baggio, Romario, Stoichkov) there was not a real top, indeed for the world cup 1994 they wanted Maradona to play with Argentina to attract audience interest towards the tournament, and when no longer needed, they got rid of him. So, you can see some similarities with the today scenario (replace Sacchi with Guardiola) or the absence of top players (don't tell me Bellingham and Mbabbe' are tops please). I hope that what changed the tide during the 90s will happen also today, and we will see enjoyable football again.

[@ThEEqualizer93]

Go to 7:39 thank me later

[@omarmoreno6721]

Messi and Cr7 were so goated that the players beneath them like Neymar, Hazard, Suarez etc couldn’t shine as much like they would in the early 2000s.

[@Dera07]

Huh

[@omarmoreno6721]

@@Dera07 wdym huh? Incase you need more explanation, if the players mentioned above besides Messi and Cr7, played in the early 2000s they would be as good as the ones mentioned In this video.

[@Alzenryo]

They still shine, but cant be the best.

[@HenriqueM-jh1ye]

Hazard is overrated. Peak Neymar was incredible indeed.

[@goku7297]

None of them would be in that legendary status not even close

[@diogofontes8739]

Calling Raul Meireles, a PFA Fans' Player of the Year, a "Random Player" is some weird shit. Maybe your audience didn't watch football back then but that doesn't make you a "connoisseur".

[@cashblaster3475]

Was a bit taken a back by that, he was such a class player

[@garronkaramitas4215]

Yeah try Nouradine Naybet or Pascal Chimbonda

[@MjolnirMarks]

My gran would know who Pascal C is and was.

[@MrSameerMalik1]

@@MjolnirMarks johan elmander

[@MjolnirMarks]

@@MrSameerMalik1 Bolton legend. Too easy

[@Djiehh]

It felt special when you were able to watch the great players play when I was a kid in the late 90s. It was either during a World Cup, or a Champions League final, or when one of the S-tier clubs from Italy or Spain would face off against one of your domestic clubs (I'm from Germany, but Germany was never known for flashy signings back then). Today, I feel like I could pay somebody 9,99 a month and I'd be able to watch any player I wanted, maybe even during breakfast or when they're out shopping for clothes. 🤷‍♂ Also, teams and players have become so interchangeable. You would be able to pick Beckham or Roberto Carlos or Totti out of the crowd based on how they moved. And if somebody was wearing white or - God forbid - *red* shoes, you know they'd be trouble.

[@patrickorone1149]

I think the eye test ended with prime messi. Now days its hard to see a player that stands out. Back then a player who wore shirt 10 could always pass the eye test. You could easily spot them out of other players on the pitch. Todays players are so pragmatic. they dont stand out. They dont pass the eye test. its boring.

[@luiscarvalho450]

If you were 10 years older you'd say the 90s were the golden era. We always look back with tinted rose glasses. Apart from that, what changed football significantly was Mourinho. Being the first guy with no playing experience and a college degree in sports, the exact contrary to his peers. That happened during the early 2000s. In 2002 to be more exact, with his Porto side. From that moment on everyone started studying football instead of watching football.

[@marcoprates1936]

Its not the 2000s that were so great. It was always like that. Now is the problem! Something happened. The players seem more narcissistic than ever. They make more money with publicity and social media than with football.

[@JLano]

Blame Pep Guardiola. Everything went south after emergence of his Barcelona.

[@gregorydamoenjr9591]

delusional

[@skumorz]

You know nothing. It's not Guardiola, it's the other teams parking the bus. I know you all are young when you type this kind of shit.

[@nxt1990]

You summarized it all my friend. Football used to be magical.

[@meatiesogarcia6478]

I remember that era and a lot is just nostalgia. Obviosuly the sport has changed, but the same was said during that era: older people said football was better in the 70s and 80s, and that era was full of celebrities who played football instead of football players (like Beckham, who people said came to Madrid to sell t-shirts). Football back then was a lot more physical and tactical than in previous generations: Cruyff or Socrates used to smoke during the matches, now that's unthinkable. Sachi's Milan was a great tactical advancement, football became way more tactical and compact than in the 80s. There are certain things worse now, players seem to have less skill in general, inflation is a real think and the business side is making the sport a spectacle for wealthy masses who watch the match on TV instead of focusing on the traditional fan, but it's just how the sport evolves, and there will be always good players with magical boots.

[@glenzheng1077]

While it’s true that a lot of it is nostalgia, it’s also hard to deny that football today is more robotic than it used to be. Look at Grealish, who was an unbelievable player at Villa. Purchased at an incredibly high amount just to be a cog in a system.

[@spatrick1441]

yep, grealish has chased the pennies and become a worse player for it

[@StPeterEagle]

What a shit take. Nostalgia merchant confirmed. I lived through that 2000s era and a majority of them have poor efficiency. Football today is great. Simplicity breeds quality.

[@geoffclarke3796]

I agree this was the best era for football. Too much tippy tappy football now and not enough players running with the ball and scaring defenders. The current era is better than when I was a kid in the 80's, where there was too much route one football, too many thuggish players and terrible pitches, but not a patch on 20 years ago.

[@Sinha010]

I felt like defenders were more consistent. Now, even in teams like Man City with over 100k back-lines, I feel like they'll make a stupid mistake and cost a goal. Like they forgot how to defend 1v1s.

[@DLFitness1]

It makes sense why Pepe even at 41 is world class on 1v1's because the youth doesn't have the nerve or sometimes the skill to fight under pressure.

[@alxnd_r6345]

Watching football since 90s and i always repeat how 90s and 2000s are the peak of football. Some kid will come up and say something like this: But players are faster and run more today. Ok do you think the old ones couldnt be trained to run a bit more? The quality dropped too much especially after Xavi Iniesta era finished at barca. Only the players in Real Madrid remained at elite level. Just the players from serie a 20 years ago would be enough to outclass the complete worlds football today.

[@obamer1342]

does anybody score like juninho? or dribble like r9? or have the explosiveness of teen messi? or the technique of zlatan?

[@alxnd_r6345]

@@obamer1342 Nope. Football is doomed. People overhype Vinicius but lets be honest he makes good runs when there is space and sometimes some fancy move works. I dont even want to start naming 90s and 2000s midfielders.. Or players like Rivaldo was

[@LupusAries]

And there were true Characters, like Der Titan........... Good old Olli Kahn an absolute monster between the Posts. And famous for saying what he thought, zero fucks given! I mean that guy had defenses that weren't as good as today and he kept a clean sheet for 21 games in the Bundesliga, germany's top league! And he basically dragged the german 2002 Squad into the final kicking and screaming! As he did with the KSC in the UEFA Cup in the 90s, it was a middling club, not one of the big ones in germany and he basically dragged them to the semi-finals of the UEFA Cup. He was the goalkeeper attackers were afraid of. What we need today has already been said by Kahn back on the 01.11.2003 after his team had lost to the Schalker FC, "Eier, wir brauchen Eier - Sie wissen was das heißt!" (Balls, we need to have balls - you know what that means!") P.S. For those poor souls who don't know him, he's that guy with the number 12 at 4:53-5:54 .

[@LongSeax88]

Players are slower and run less today. You just believe the media hype.

[@axellyann5085]

@@LupusAries Kahn was a monster bro. The guy carried germany squad in that world cup. I was watching some clips for the final against brazil and the only thing i could think was how crap the defenders played that match. First R9 goal wouldn't happen if Ramelow actually tried to defend, but he was just walking inside the box after a rebound. Nowadays i can unfortunatelly say that both squads (germany and brazil) are absolute dogshit.

[@estevesmartins7935]

Don’t knock Raul Meireles. One of the few that played for both Chelsea and Liverpool at a high level

[@Ameisenigelytk]

I think a facor is the rising quality, espacially in defense, as well. They barely make any blunders that give more tension to the game.

[@PlayerPro119]

Ronaldinho and R9 were freaking beasts

[@mikoes27]

okocha was so entertaining to watch

[@ARandomSkillIssue]

And the late 90s was a golden age too

[@AdminOne-hj4dt]

I would give anything to go back to the 2000s and enjoy the football then😢

[@sohamchivukulae6235]

😢😢

[@sundersquare]

biggest difference nowadays is the strikers, strikers then could actually do what it their position says, strike the ball. Now they value runners like Jackson at chelsea, just pace and can't actually strike the ball cleanly. I think Aguero was the last striker who was actually a good striker of the ball, so many donkeys now.

[@alphonsoacqua]

I turned 16 in the year 2000. It was an awesome period of football. Great video mate, subbed. 🤜🤛

[@redstone5062]

Overall talent levels have dropped post 2010. This is why 2 exceptional players dominated the last decade.

[@karatemonkey124]

Exceptional falls short to describe Messi and Ronaldo, even generational talents is underrating them. I don't agree talent levels dropped since the 2010s saw the rise of absolute ballers like Hazard,Ozil,Alexis Sanchez, Luis Suarez, Lewandowski and so on. I am a fan of the 2000s era but the talent level is on par in my humble opinion. The fact that during post 2010 we saw the rise of quite literally two of the GOATs does not discredit the other players that competed with or against. It's just Messi and Ronaldo's level was that much higher than everyone else's.

[@CarlosRojas-hr6ms]

I think it’s more the rise of tactics and fitness that really masks how good the top players are. The heavy pressure systems give no time to play. Not to mention all the pep clones who despise losing the ball and play no risk when attacking. But in international competition you get glimpses of how good a guy like modric would’ve been in the past

[@ans7033]

From 2010 there were still top level talents coming up, from 2015 onwards, the clone era began, mindless pass and press tactics taking over in every league

[@rod6722]

You've got it exactly backwards. CR7 and Messi are complete anomalies. Players in the tier below them like Suarez, Neymar, or KDB are really in the same tier as the likes of Henry, Ronaldinho, or Figo.

[@karatemonkey124]

@@rod6722 exactly, I share this sentiment heavily to the point I said the same thing lmao

[@Hannah11876]

I like the madness between the mid 80s to mid 90s where a single player could turn an entire tournament apart (Maradona '86). An era where goalkeepers could only be 5'8 (Campos, Higuita) and still regarded as good. An era where the craziest goalkeeper to have ever lived (Rene "El Loco" Higuita) would decide to leave his goal and dribble around while scoring goals (41 career goals). An era, where teams would emphasize playing beautiful instead of effective (Joga Bonito, Brazil 1982-1986). I also adore the slow paced football of that era, in which players with incredible technique could thrive (Carlos Valderrama) despite lacking pace. Football was more beautiful back then because there was freedom when it came to tactics. These days, EVERY small team attempts the same thing: heavy emphasis on defence with counter-attacks through wings over and over again.

[@MBison-vm6gq]

I blame Pep 🤷😂

[@gorcsauce696]

Its peo and Jose M well the people tryna copy them with no talent 😂

[@punk4rockorz]

I remember playing these early 2000 fifa games and it was so much fun picking Italian teams because they honostly all had some crazy players and it was a fantastic league.

[@Vladimir-hd5nn]

Rose-tinted goggles. I was there, and it felt normal.

[@misunderstoodninja]

Pep Guardiola also killed football.

[@tsesunnykailong7855]

i always thought it was me growing up and started to find football boring, but thanks for reminding me!

[@TonyNaber]

It's interesting you mentioned the 2006 World Cup which was the tournament that got me into football. I'm slowly coming back to football after a decade of nearly no interest

[@BartolomeoColleoni94]

Speak English . What the hell are you on about with Madrid ?

[@AnkaraAnkaraMessiMessiMessi]

Baggy kits, long hair and the black shoes. I literally grabbed that style since i was a kid till today even tho i didnt watch football at all. I feel bad of not really having that experience in that time.

[@diogomelo7897]

Putting the nostalgia that inevitably come with this conversarion aside, the one aspect that I think really is lacking today is regarding variety/individuality. Not only about each team having a star player, but because of the focus on the systems, many players are raised in an enviroment that doesn't give much freedom to the player, unless his talent is quite ahead of the others, so the managers will set the team around that player. But even with players like this, when they join a bigger team stacked with talented players, they become "just" another player and the magic just seems to be gone (Grealish would be a good example of that, but there are many other cases where this happened to some degree). Then on the leagues, the impression that it gives to me is that the top teams and the bottom teams are evolving, while the intermediate teams are the ones who fell, so yes, while the top dogs might have always be in the top of their leagues, and even in the champions league, the teams that you would expect to maybe put a challenge and steal some trophies here and there are no longer being able to do that, so even a league that might always have a dominance of a few teams can look even more one sided. And one thing I think is not talked that much, is that a lot of the young prospects frim the early 2010's just declined quite early. Guys like Neymar, Hazard, Bale, Pogba, Gotze, Thiago Alcantra, had their careers affected by a lot of injuries, and now we are in a situation where the Ballon d'Or has being mostly between Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo (up to 2020) and the players from their generation who had their peaks late like Lewa and Benzema vs the guys from the new generation who haven't reached their peak yet like Mbappé and Haaland, kinda like we are in some kind of power void after the Messi vs Ronaldo era.

[@rutger7452]

I wonder how many people in the comments here actually watched matches from that era. You’re just being blinded by nostalgia and the fact you can’t get through 90 minutes of football because you’re all addicted to the dopamine rush of your mobile phone

[@erikcee3765]

Beautiful game is finished

[@groudon004]

You're right

[@lirian3879]

Bro this channel is going to blow up soon I feel it. Pure love of football, earned a subscriber.

[@timcliffsmith]

Kind of a lot of rose-tinted bollocks being spoken here. Don't get me wrong, loved football in the 2000s, loved it in the 90s too. And the 2010s, and this decade. The main issue with current footy is the application of VAR. But apart from that.... This is the type of thing where, if you were born 20 years earlier, you'd have been banging on about how great football in the 1980s was.

[@DH-TV]

Similar to what I've said mate. People get nostalgic about era when their team was winning or at least more competitive add in the fact they were 20 years younger and its looks like a golden era! Same with fashion, music, movies, video games etc

[@oldskoolmusicnostalgia]

But that's the thing, 1980s football WASN'T great. There were brilliant individual talents like Platini, van Basten and Maradona but the football was brutal. In the 1990s one big changed propelled football into a new golden era: goalkeepers no longer being allowed to pick up backpasses. That completely changed the rhythm of the game and effective time of play. That is why the 1990s and 2000s are the peak of football, it is not simply nostalgia. Even worse to compare with music, which has worsened even more than football over the past 2 decades.

[@davidjordan2336]

@@oldskoolmusicnostalgia I think much more impactful than the backpass rule change was the decision to not allow defenders to get overly physical.

[@EduCrossHands]

​@@oldskoolmusicnostalgia Look for Brazilian League football in the 80s, it was a whole different game that the one played in europe

[@timcliffsmith]

@@oldskoolmusicnostalgia Yeah, but my point is that if this guy was at the age he is now in the 2000s, he'd be making a vid about how great the 80s was. It's just false nostalgia.

[@MarianoRodriguez]

Oh, and a number 9 knew how to actually score, with both feet and his head. Now they have to be man-marking running machines that can get away with mediocre skills.

[@Canbrokesiehtgleichaus]

Pep and jose destroyed the spirit of football

[@kkiwirocks]

that blue-yellow T90 ball is legendary

[@anthonyreed480]

Crazy that Cristiano was in the baggy clothes era, and was still top tier post-2020 😅

[@jrudymorganclark2072]

I watched football even before the year 2000 from the mid 90s to the late 90s, and the kid and style of football from back then was much better than today.

[@JamesCarter-us7hw]

No it wasn't 😂

[@hy8482]

I've saw futbol in the 90s but definitely the quality has diminished after the mid 2000s. Good times 👍🤙 Idk why you brought Modric up 😂 guy was a ghost until the 2010s... Di Natale wasn't even called up for 06 😂 You're definitely young and gen z...

[@majobasller1]

Hmmm, I think there are a lot of backward looking exaggerations in this video… „insane amount of top players“ -> why would there be less todsy? How do you compare that? „Players nowadays hide behind a screen instead of giving a direct answer in the next game“ -> whats in that statement except a general social media critisim? Im also not a big fan, but do you have any proof or fact that players today dont answer in the next game or less often? Could go on like this forever. Yes the 2000s were great but often how you turn it into criticism against current football has no point to me

[@kaji8144]

Never knew Jib was a sonic fan

[@undo1988]

wrong , serie A was best league in the world in the 90's

[@ans7033]

Facts! Seria A was the undisputed best league in the world until 2006

[@TuncOzturk]

Thanks to Guardiola, football is dead at the elite levels. But thankfully there's internet now so I can watch anything I want from the golden era.

[@dexjec]

2004 Euros and the Greek team, now that was some beautiful football. Also 442 prevalent PL, Allardyces, Heskeys... Mmm peak stuff. I think I rather watch Ange & co..

[@ankansharma4897]

After euro 2024 performance of big named team like france, england portugal, belgium. I really miss crazy football stories, mentioned in 2000's. Now football has been restricted, everyone is playing with strategy and tactics to maximise winning or draw. The raw football charm is lost.

[@DevonRyeTheDragonfly]

Great video, brother! You’re spot on. Your last statement is also true, we are at the dawn of another golden era of right now.

[@JibRules]

Thank you ❤️

[@njiu]

you sound like you don't know anything about anything

[@sameersheriff7078]

It is probably down to football turning soft over the past decade and with the introduction of var it has gotten far worse, now players aren't committing themselves to harsh tackles to minimise the risk of getting a red card or conceding a penalty but rather prefer to defend as a group and cut passing lanes to make opponents pass sideways or backwards and when it comes to finishing players are missing sitters more than ever before mainly because of var affecting their confidence during goal-scoring position into thinking that maybe their toenail could have been in the offside position so is it worth scoring the goal just to get ruled out later on. Also, nowadays managers themselves want more spotlight through their fancy tactics, style of play and philosophy so therefore don't let players in their team do any kind of fancy skill moves like before but rather prefer them to pass it to the nearby players in the name of creating better chances and sticking to their style of play. All of these issues are making football teams to be more of the same and a lot more predictable than before making it less interesting to watch.

[@StevenLewis-y3q]

Not much access to the Internet which means no copying and genuine flare football. Instead of Peps boring rigid style that teams have been trying to copy ever since.

[@RomanAroundSF]

I can't believe I sat through all of that for you to not talk about the AC Milan with Shevchenko on it. you call yourself a connoisseur of football and didn't say a single thing about one of the greatest players from 2003 to 2005 until he moved to Chelsea and Jose Mourinho who didn't want him on Chelsea to start off with sat him down on the bench and ruined his career 😂😂😂😂😂 What a joke of a video.