Just look at the bottom teams, Sheffield United has conceded 100 goals. When I started it was unusual for a relegation team to concede 70 (or even 60) which was what made Derby infamous for how terrible they are, it was unusual to be that bad. Now we have 3 Derbys every season.
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I think I remember that gameâŚ
That was one of the first games, if not the first one after Ferdinand got the ban I think.
Hate to admit it but his ban definitely had a huge impact on that title race. He was the only elite CB they had at the time, their defence was horrible withouth him. Always loved to see Silvestre and Brown together on the pitch.
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What does this actually mean? Lol. Iâve never been absolutely certain of what âtechnicallyâ means in a footballing sense.
Player-for-player, you could probably get a better Man Utd (AF era) player in each position of the current Man City side. (Maybe not KdB)
Agree. Arsenal, Man Utd, Man City and Chelsea have had good spells but few teams dominated for as long as Liverpool did. Home and away they played to packed houses.
Built by Shankley, refined by Paisley and Dalglish, demolished by Souness.
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Ribery wasnât all that and has an inflated reputation.
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The current Man City side sure, but the ones with Mahrez, David Silva etc⌠ooft itâd be difficult imho.
I guess I define technical ability as being able to make seemingly difficult things with the ball, look very easy and doing it on the regular/not a fluke.
For example in our current team, Iâd say the folk with âtechniqueâ are Odegaard, Vieira, Saka and Jesus. For Man City itâs KDB, Bernardo Silva, Rodri, David Silva and maybe Foden.
With SAFâs team it was RvP, Ronaldo, Rooney⌠but before then itâs becoming a blur as to who else had that X-Factor. I mean Giggs was great, but it seemed to me like he always did the basics incredibly well (better than most) but I probably wouldnât put him in that bracket.
Kanchelskis, Cantona, Beckham, Irwin. Even Mark Hughes.
An argument can be made for all of them having technique on the ball.
Keane? Very few players overturn the Juventus result in 1999
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Scholes and Keane were exceptional central midfielders. Carrick himself was a great servant for United.
Beckham was a gifted right midfielder.
Tevez, Rooney, CR7, Berbatov.
Absolute buck loads of talented players United had with âtechnicalâ quality too.
Fair dos, those guys (bar Backham) were very much before my time, so donât remember them.
I agree with those guys tbh, completely forgot about Berba and Tevez
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Criminally underrated by lot of the new football fans who just seem him as a pundit who probably used to âkick lumpsâ out of players.
He was a complete midfielder.
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Iâm arguing about that all the time lolâŚ
He was an elite midfielder and one of the best midfielders in the world in his prime.
Basically was to United what Rodri is to City now, plus a ton of leadership.
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Fucking every player did back then, including all the international players. It was just how the game was. Wasnât an âEnglishâ thing which is a big misunderstanding.
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Yeah. That performance vs THAT Juventus team is as good as any midfield performance youâll ever see.
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Is it fair to say that the game in other leagues moved on from that type of ultra physical play while some parts of the English establishment still cling to it or at least have a bit of wistful nostalgia for it?
The Serie A was the best league on earth by some distance in the 90s and it was ultra physical.
Yeah but it isnât that way now, is it? My point was that other leagues have moved on by and large but thereâs this weird nostalgia in England for that type of agricultural football.
The entire game has moved on from being hyper physical. Doesnât mean there arenât droves of fans across the world who still clamour for a more physical game. Itâs not unique to English football fans.
Maybe but itâs certainly more prevalent among English pundits or pundits commenting on English football. For example, thereâs not a ton of clamoring during ESPNâs Bundesliga coverage for a return to an ultra physical style of play.
I really like Old Trafford.
Itâs embarrassing that theyâve have let it fall apart like this.
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