The quality of Football is going downhill! Anyone agree?

[elkanofan]

I believe the top players of this modern era for me aren't as good as they where 10-20 years ago. In general i think football in professional quality terms it's not as good as it was. There's no one big factor for this. It's many factors.

This has been more and more noticeable in recent years. The premier league in terms of quality is clearly going downhill quite sharply yet an ordinary united side are still the second/third best in Europe. Let's face it the World Cup in quality terms was not good, most matches where very dull, conservative affairs (thank god for Germans)! It's true the 1990 world cup was boring as sin but that era of football didn't have a quarter of the issues we have now!

I do think they all evolve from the greed for money.

- Finances playing too big a part in football (For me the who transfer system is a mess an it's only going to explode!)

This leads to problems with:
- Too many games (UEFA Cup, FA Cup etc.. being completely devalued)

- Lack of competitiveness. If you want to win the league, you need to enter the billionaires arms race or just rack up ridiculous sums of debt. most teams these days just try to consolidate their current position.

- The Champions League big club monopoly

- Wages and transfer fees spiraling out of control. You thought Andy Carroll for 35 million was bad. I think Jordan Henderson, who's just a decent young player at Sunderland going for 20 million is beyond ridiculous!

Also.

- The mercenary player culture. Not just that players are only interested in getting paid, or they seem to jump ship as soon as a bigger club comes knocking with little loyalty. I mean that will always happen but most importantly just how many talented young players are ruined by clubs who buy players for narcissistic purposes and completely mistreat them!

- Lack of 'community' in football. elements such as ticket pricing through the roof in England especially. Supporters feeling like customers rather All these plastic Barca, Madrid and untied fans with no real connection with the big clubs, instead they just support them because it makes them look cool or feel accepted, they are happy to buy into hype without really understanding what football is all about.

There's many more issues which cause this. some i can't think of at the moment. Other elements again linked to society and things which are caused by the points i mentioned above.

I saw this video and it sums up modern football so well.

This Neymar, he's talented no doubt, but the next Pele? He's Robinho with a even more ridiculous haircut.


Watch the video, it starts with usual plastic, overused, commercial music, all overly dramatic with clips of him doing, well nothing. then when we finally get to the 'action' at 1:25 what do we see? a DIVE, yes a dive! The state of diving in football is something which really is out of control. It's so screwed up that cheating is becoming an accepted action in football. What's wrong with a player having balls to ride a challenge? or like i said above the increased pressure of money being too much of a factor in football with Billionaires demanding success and TV rights, prizes etc.. mean you have to do anything to win!

So many overhyped prima donnas out there at the moment! Who one season are the next Pele Maradona Bruce Lee then in the next are warming the bench and forgotten about (Sergio Canales anyone?)

This has been rather brief, i wanted to get deep into this, I'll expand on this later but wanted to open us this debate here

I know someone will come with an argument, players are more athletic than they where in the past. Problem being this has lead to a decline in technique levels. We are getting too many Moussa Sissoko's and not enough Juan Roman Riquelme's!

[UFGN]

There was a period in the mid to late 90s where there was a higher than typical number of top draw world class players. Zola, Cantona, Bergkamp, Fat Ronaldo, Seaman, Giggs and loads more in Spain. But generally there are a few stand-out players at any one time and thats what we have now. The general quality of the game hasnt changed although attitudes have changed, especially toward international football, which i think has a much lower profile now.

[gzagee]

I agree to some extent the excitement has decreased, for my money. But I'm unsure the quality has decreased. You look at many foreign academies and technique is still the first thing they teach. Watch the Euro U21s and you'll find that still many of the foreign sides are more comfortable on the ball than their English counterparts.
Teams are now far better conditioned and better organised than before.
There have been mercenaries coming here for a long time. The influx of foreign stars has bred this type of situation.
You can thank Sky for that.
But as I say, I'm not as excited as I was back in the 80's/90s. So I'd say football maybe isn't as enjoyable as it was 25-30 years ago.

There disconnect between fans and players. There was a time you could share a drink with your hero in the local pub. You'd see them in the street.
I wonder how many more 'scandals' there are now in the papers compared to back in the day? When did the back pages become front page news?
I once watched a documentary about World Cup 1990, many of the journos cite that tournament as the last time players and journos would mingle together. They shared the flight to Italy, they mingled in the team's hotel, they were allowed access to players for interviews.

By the time England played at their next world cup (1998) the bonhomie had long become a thing of the past. The game had become businesslike. Football was big business. Multi-millionaire 'stars' were becoming de rigueur. Access to players was restricted. They were the new Michael Jacksons, Mick Jaggers, Diana Ross's, Bon Jovis of the day.
Once again you can thank Sky for that.

[GunnGunn]

I'd wonder if people would be saying this if they supported any other team but us...

Being an Arsenal fan should come with a mental health warning.

[gzagee]

I'd wonder if people would be saying this if they supported any other team but us...

Being an Arsenal fan should come with a mental health warning.

To give elkan credit if you bothered to read some of what he posted it's more than just thinly veiled disgust at another trophyless season, it's about his thoughts on the state of football.

- Finances playing too big a part in football (For me the who transfer system is a mess an it's only going to explode!)

- Wages and trasnfer fees spiraling out of control. You thought Andy Carroll for 35 million was bad. I think Jordan Henderson, who's just a decent young player at Sunderland going for 20 million is beyond ridiculous!

Don't worry, it'll only last this summer. You'll be happy once Platini's brainchild the Financial Fair Play rules kick in next season, then

[GunnGunn]

It made a lot of sense Gza, i will admit, but it seems brought on by the fact that we don't have many top quality players ourself, or just a depressive outlook on the football World.

As i said, if we had scooped the PL or the CL i wonder if people would have been this down in the dumps.

[Forest]

Its more tactical now days, teams will write off a match against United, Arsenal, Chelsea etc because they got WBA the following week as they see it as easier to get points.

Thing is though you may say that but when i say i like watching some Championship football partly because Forest play there, some people slate it and call it rubbish. When someone does a quality dribble and scores, they say poor defending etc.

[UFGN]

Ive often wondered, what is actually the difference in ability level between a league two player and a prem player? Or even conference versus prem? I bet its not as much as you might think. Maybe 20%? Look at when Havent played Newcastle in the FA Cup and only lost 2-0

[Inchpräctice]

I believe the top players of this modern era for me aren't as good as they where 10-20 years ago. In general i think football in professional quality terms it's not as good as it was.

I'll start with this statement.
10-20 years ago who were the top players?
Zidane? Bergkamp? Cantona? Figo?

All very entertaining.

Today we have Messi (probably the best player you and I will see in our lifetime), Cuntiano Conaldo (£80m player), Sjneider, Kaka, Henry, Benzema, RVP, Cesc.

I would argue that there's just as much entertainment in that second lot as the first lot.
If you want to talk about the quality of football generally then the best way to judge it is to watch a match (the full 90 minutes) from 20 years ago.
I think you'll be surprised at how slow the pace is, and you'll have forgotten that there are long periods of the game where nothing happens.
The pace and intensity of the game has slowly crept up and increased at a rate that's hard to notice, but if you go back and watch an old one you'll notice it.

These days the foreign imports have created a situation where a player no-one has heard of from Africa/Brazil can score an amazing 30 yard screamer, even though he's only playing for West Ham/Fulham.
In the past those kind of teams were made up of GHELs who were proper grafters but had no skill or flair.
We're pretty spoiled these days imo.

[Zedie]

I agree to some extent the excitement has decreased, for my money. But I'm unsure the quality has decreased. You look at many foreign academies and technique is still the first thing they teach. Watch the Euro U21s and you'll find that still many of the foreign sides are more comfortable on the ball than their English counterparts.
Teams are now far better conditioned and better organised than before.
There have been mercenaries coming here for a long time. The influx of foreign stars has bred this type of situation.
You can thank Sky for that.
But as I say, I'm not as excited as I was back in the 80's/90s. So I'd say football maybe isn't as enjoyable as it was 25-30 years ago.

There disconnect between fans and players. There was a time you could share a drink with your hero in the local pub. You'd see them in the street.
I wonder how many more 'scandals' there are now in the papers compared to back in the day? When did the back pages become front page news?
I once watched a documentary about World Cup 1990, many of the journos cite that tournament as the last time players and journos would mingle together. They shared the flight to Italy, they mingled in the team's hotel, they were allowed access to players for interviews.

By the time England played at their next world cup (1998) the bonhomie had long become a thing of the past. The game had become businesslike. Football was big business. Multi-millionaire 'stars' were becoming de rigueur. Access to players was restricted. They were the new Michael Jacksons, Mick Jaggers, Diana Ross's, Bon Jovis of the day.
Once again you can thank Sky for that.

+1 The game just doesnt feel the same anymore. The politics involved is crazy nowadays, the public displays of affection for clubs that the players cant wait to get out of if the price is right is slowly eroding the game and what it is about.

I cant think of many top players who have stuck with Arsenal for thier whole careers and im feeling that one club players will soon be a thing of the past.

Then again, im not sure if it was there before, but i didnt pay as much attention to it / was not aware of the shift in the ethics of the game.

[gzagee]

We're pretty spoiled these days imo.

Yep, I agree.

Although I can't figure out whether we're spoiled more now or before?

[Leody]

I think the biggest thing is the over commercialiazation of the game, the insane amount of coverage from top to bottom that you get, the hyper celebrity status that players get and the ridiculous pay... all leading to a huge disconnect between the players/clubs and the fans.

The game isn't any different, just connection to the fans leaves much to be desired and that leaves us less entertained because we aren't as attached anymore. Just ask SE13...

[gzagee]

Not trying to be funny but, footy seems to have been Americanised.
Wouldn't surprise me if Sky took the blueprint ofthe commercialisation of US sports such as Baseball, Basketball and Gridiron and replicated it in football.

[Leody]

I will never understand "Americanized" as a term... it's synonymous with commercialized. Any half brained businessman would have done what's being done in football now. Just took longer for Europeans to see the insane amount of money that can be made in sport.

[StLGooner]

I will never understand "Americanized" as a term... it's synonymous with commercialized. Any half brained businessman would have done what's being done in football now. Just took longer for Europeans to see the insane amount of money that can be made in sport.

What g-man means is, football in Europe and England specifically was about the community you lived in, and the teams that played in those communities weren't looked at as a business, they were looked at as a club. Kind of like joining a club, you joined the community to support your local CLUB, and that was your life. In America, sports were always more like a business since we've been alive, it wasn't so much about the community and being apart of something (it was in some ways, but not like over there), and it quickly became more of a business and about money. It was a huge deal back in the day, when players started making more than the president, and American sports was never the same after that. It isn't such a bad thing, but money rules everything and it was inevitable that it was going to happen to football. And I guess since we kinda made sports an entertainment business first, then that term is used.