Does modern football have less entertainers than past decades?

JPRouve

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My observation is that the parks and places where I used to play street football as a kid are now empty. I could be wrong but I think that there is signifcantly less young footballers that come from street football, they seem to play organize football or video games.
 

Cloud7

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Fully agree with this, and this is why Neymar is one of my favorite players in world football. He’s one of the few players still around who actually entertains
 

RedDevilCanuck

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I agree but everything is cyclical.

Eventually flair and showmen will be back in abundance along with the importance of a No 10 or DLP like Pirlo or 2006 onward Scholes.

The current trend of pressing, highly technical (usually short in height and quick players) and possession based players will last another half decade or decade.

The next cycle will be much more direct and athleticism will be even more emphasized.

It will be players Lukaku's size and even bigger and faster but more technical.

Even though it's been said since 1994 America is eventually going to erupt with talent. Their stock of amazing athletes these days are playing less American football which is their biggest sport. Basketball is obviously the next biggest and baseball has fallen off the map (especially with African Americans) since the 90's. Hockey is niche sport with such a different skillet it doesn't really count.

The more direct and athletic game will suit American athletes.

Note, I'm not American.
 

Moonwalker

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Anyone who answers yes should watch Dyche's press conference and re-think.
 

Foxbatt

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Cruijff let's his team do lot of individual playing. But it's played to a general overall system. I am trying to find his interview on it. How the ball gets to Laudrup and in Cruijff's words, " Laudrup does his own things but it eventually gets to the box" and we score the goal.
I would say Ronaldhinio was the last of the great entertainers. He played with a smile on his face. The things he did was outrageous.
 

paraguayo

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We should promote Socrates' idea of removing one outfield player in football so there is more space and entertainment. Even Van Basten's idea of tweaking offside rule to make pitch bigger isn't bad
 

Harry190

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Club football is less entertaining that it was in the 90s. For one thing, there's less actual football being played. It's far more negative and tactical.

The 90s and early 2000s were the peak.

 

Freak

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My take on this is the game has become more about team plays and patterns and less about individuals influencing things. Add to that the fact that every team seems to press like crazy these days means there is less time on the ball for individuals to showcase their creative prowess.

You can almost compare modern football to the Fifa video game, where player's individual attributes are not noticeable and everyone seems 'generic'. Whereas football of old used to be like PES, where players had highly noticeable individual attributes (R.Carlos with his shooting, Beckham's stylish free kicks/crossing etc. etc.)
 

Zen86

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Football is just becoming increasingly pragmatic. Less emphasis on flair and cavalier attacks, and more on win-at-all-costs team drills and submissive tactics. Its more important now to stop your opponent from playing football through possession and pressing than it is to go out and win the game toe-to-toe. It’s all a bit dull in comparison to the early 00s and earlier. It’s a result of too much money in the game and too much data at our disposal.