Some of us truly loved the era of super teams where two, three or possibly even four teams reigned over Europe for a lengthy period of time, dominating everything and enjoying a WC talent concentration that none of the other teams had. However, and if you didn't happen to be a fan of one of those teams, chances are you felt a little bored to have been forced to see relatively the same outcome every year with the same usual favorites sharing the spoils.

Football wasn't always like this. There was a time when Europe's five major leagues had enough talent to compete every year, with a fairer talent distribution that allowed everybody to build elite teams and spoil neutrals with memorable performances.

There was a time when Italy had Inter, Milan and Juventus all going strong. Similarly, Spain had Madrid, Barcelona, Valencia and Deportivo while the PL had the Big Four all competing for the same title. Those teams were so good, yet so close level-wise, that the CL felt like a bloody war. So difficult, albeit so exciting to win.

Now, it's different of course for many different reasons (dramatic drop in talent in world football, money...) that made many teams become not as good as they once were. But if you looked back right now, which decade would you choose as the undisputed best era for football? A decade where Italy, Spain, England, France, Germany and even Portugal had great teams competing all at once in the CL?

Whichever era was going on when you started watching as a kid

so for most here it'll be the late 80s through the early 00s

I think Nostalgia plays a huge part in people's choice along with how much their team was successful. It will always vary for different age groups

40-65 won't pick 2010s as the golden era of football but 10-18 possibly will.

For me it's mid 1950s to mid 1960s (era of de Stefano), but of course I'm beyond the age range RG just gave.

Just sad part of the world in generally where money rules all today, basically nowadays whoever has the most money or at least those that have enough to be able to buy the best players every summer will always have sooo much advantage than those that dont.

PSG, Juve, Bayern, Real, Barca, Man C pretty much own their respectful leagues

Didnt watch football until around mid-late 90s so wouldnt know, but guess it would be prior to that, the 80s?

futbol_bill wrote:For me it's mid 1950s to mid 1960s (era of de Stefano), but of course I'm beyond the age range RG just gave.

your age will forever be a controversial topic in this forum IMO

The 00s obviously

The Invincibles, Brazil golden age, France golden age, Istanbul '05, Henry, Ronaldinho, Pirlo, Del Piero, Kaka, Brazilian Ronaldo, Trezeguet, Bergkamp, Shevchenko, Vieira vs Keane, Pires, Nedved, Maldini, Roberto Carlos, Cannavaro, van Nistelrooy vs Keown, the emergence of CR7 and Messi, Eto'o, Drogba, Rooney, Nakamura, Raul, Luis Figo, Beckham, Michael Owen, Gerrard, Lampard, Torres, David Villa, Riquelme, Inzaghi, Totti

football will never be the same again

Any era besides the current one.

This era of super clubs and all the best talent being concentrated at a small pool of clubs is honestly boring.

It's just sad that you get a talented team like last season's Ajax yet after one breakout year all the best players are sucked up by the super clubs.

Monaco was the same. In one summer they lost everyone and went from Champions to relegation candidates in one/two years. They unearth one exceptional talent in Mbappe and after one season he's gone to PSG.

I feel that if this were the 80s/90s, when the wealth gap wasn't so huge, these clubs would win more trophies because they would have kept hold of their best players.

once the next economic revolution of mankind is over and the lower class overthrows the rich, major football leagues need to adopt a strict salary cap system

Money is a huge driving factor in the talent concentration we're witnessing in today's game, but it's not the only one.

Talent has also dropped significantly.

How many great CFs are there now? Compare that number to early '00s.

How many great fullbacks are there today? Compare that number to early '00s.

Even teams who didn't spend a lot had no problem acquiring great players back then because there was always new talent coming up that was perfectly capable of taking up the torch from those who were sold.

We don't have that luxury now, I feel, because elite talent is very scarce nowadays, and the little we have is shared by 3 or 4 rich clubs.

Ruthless Aggression era (2003-2013) for me, (Exclude Barca winning CL seasons)

Everything after Bayern winning it in 2013 is gobshit (Including the aforementioned)

When it comes to talent, we have to consider how the game has changed tactically.

The early 2000s had so many great strikers because teams predominantly played with two of them and used them as their main goalscorers. Whereas nowadays they're used as decoys for wide forwards or for pressing purposes.

If we expand the scope of "CF" to just forwards in general, so that it included the likes of Salah, Mane, and Sterling, the talent pool doesn't look so bad.

The Demon of Carthage wrote:Money is a huge driving factor in the talent concentration we're witnessing in today's game, but it's not the only one.

Talent has also dropped significantly.

How many great CFs are there now? Compare that number to early '00s.

How many great fullbacks are there today? Compare that number to early '00s.

Even teams who didn't spend a lot had no problem acquiring great players back then because there was always new talent coming up that was perfectly capable of taking up the torch from those who were sold.

We don't have that luxury now, I feel, because elite talent is very scarce nowadays, and the little we have is shared by 3 or 4 rich clubs.

why then is your gut feeling that the talent is not the same anymore?

Kaladin wrote:Ruthless Aggression era (2003-2013) for me, (Exclude Barca winning CL seasons)

Everything after Bayern winning it in 2013 is gobshit (Including the aforementioned)

such a manly man, ffs no homo

As Jay wrote, any time other than this one.

El Gunner wrote:

The Demon of Carthage wrote:Money is a huge driving factor in the talent concentration we're witnessing in today's game, but it's not the only one.

Talent has also dropped significantly.

How many great CFs are there now? Compare that number to early '00s.

How many great fullbacks are there today? Compare that number to early '00s.

Even teams who didn't spend a lot had no problem acquiring great players back then because there was always new talent coming up that was perfectly capable of taking up the torch from those who were sold.

We don't have that luxury now, I feel, because elite talent is very scarce nowadays, and the little we have is shared by 3 or 4 rich clubs.

why then is your gut feeling that the talent is not the same anymore?

Because we don't have as many talented footballers as we used to, and the few we have today get immediately snapped up by the richest clubs, leaving the selling clubs struggling to replace them with equally talented ones.

I'm of the believe that talent for the game doesn't change i.e Di Stefano back in the 50s would still be Di Stefano in 2020. What has obviously changed is how the game is being played. The same example of Di Stefano, if he took that same training from the 50s and played in a match now, he probably won't last the half or even 20 minutes.

2000s because that was my teenage years and I watched the most football then

New football sucks football from when i was young only good

The Demon of Carthage wrote:

El Gunner wrote:

The Demon of Carthage wrote:Money is a huge driving factor in the talent concentration we're witnessing in today's game, but it's not the only one.

Talent has also dropped significantly.

How many great CFs are there now? Compare that number to early '00s.

How many great fullbacks are there today? Compare that number to early '00s.

Even teams who didn't spend a lot had no problem acquiring great players back then because there was always new talent coming up that was perfectly capable of taking up the torch from those who were sold.

We don't have that luxury now, I feel, because elite talent is very scarce nowadays, and the little we have is shared by 3 or 4 rich clubs.

why then is your gut feeling that the talent is not the same anymore?

Because we don't have as many talented footballers as we used to, and the few we have today get immediately snapped up by the richest clubs, leaving the selling clubs struggling to replace them with equally talented ones.

and im asking you why you think that is the case?

honestly, we've had this talk in another thread before that i think Art made, and i think this view is an illusion of some kind.

Perhaps it has to do with the style of play that Jay mentioned. Football has become more systematic, and therefore players are groomed to fit into the system instead of standing out from the crowd. That's the best answer i can give. I don't think it is as simple as players were more talented back then.

As simplistic as it may seem, I do think players were more talented back then, yes.

And I don't think it can be attributed to nostalgia or anything because I watched my favorite club lift more trophies now than they did when I was younger.

Let me illustrate my reasoning with an example: We all agree that Messi and Ronaldo are two of the best players in history no question, but do you really think they would've dominated the Ballon d'Or as much as they have if they had been born in the same era as, say, prime Zidane? Or Ronaldo? Or Ronaldinho?

Compare Brazil's NT of 2002 to the one they have now. See the plethora of legends they had back then and compare them to the team they have now.

Compare Serie A of late 90s-early 00s to the one we have now.

There was an abundance of talent back then that made and kept many clubs competitive no matter how many players they lost in the market. Now? You see them struggle to even replace one, and this also includes the elite clubs.

it depends on what one terms as golden era. for all the talk about how great things were in other decades, because the game had not grown to where it is now, there are stars in those time periods that we never saw play, not because of age, but because not every game was televised and little to no access to certain leagues

you also take into account since sports science and medicine wasn't where it is now, the chances of seeing your best player play on the weekends wasn't always guaranteed back then. and as much as we like to complain about the money in sports, it has always been a facilitator in the game

i would go with the 2000s, it wasn't a huge drop off as far as talent and as a fan one was spoiled with an array of options as far as watching games. it was also the perfect blend of marketing and football (which really boomed in the late 90s; rise of becks, the epl, galacticos and nike's entrance).

if we are looking at other factors (access to the games, players availability, talent, rule changes etc) besides just talent (we've had that debate on numerous topics and subtopics) i'd say 2000s. but once again all this is subjective, so subjective i might wake up tomorrow and refute everything i typed

El Gunner wrote:The 00s obviously

The Invincibles, Brazil golden age, France golden age, Istanbul '05, Henry, Ronaldinho, Pirlo, Del Piero, Kaka, Brazilian Ronaldo, Trezeguet, Bergkamp, Shevchenko, Vieira vs Keane, Pires, Nedved, Maldini, Roberto Carlos, Cannavaro, van Nistelrooy vs Keown, the emergence of CR7 and Messi, Eto'o, Drogba, Rooney, Nakamura, Raul, Luis Figo, Beckham, Michael Owen, Gerrard, Lampard, Torres, David Villa, Riquelme, Inzaghi, Totti

football will never be the same again

Assalamu'alaikum warahmatullahi wabarakatuh to Muslim
& Good day to the rest

That bolded names + Zidane
are good enough
to be the reason.

Zidane made the 00s memorable because of the headbutt, so sure

As a fan the 2010s were probably the best due to all my teams reaching success. Real winning 4 cls, Peru reaching the WC and final of the Copa America, Alianza lima winning the Peruvian league etc.

However I think the golden age has to be given the 2000s. Football expanded its world wide marketability that began in the 90s and reached new heights. Footballing wise there was so many great talents that made the sport very watchable.

The 2010s were great too, but I'm willing to bet that in 30 years if you asked a casual what they remember about that decade they would instantly give you the Messi v. Ronaldo rivalry and rightfully so. These 2 dominates competitions (at the club level) and increase the prestige of the world cup despite those 2 underperforming. However, I'm sure most old school fans disliked that Messi and Ronaldo dominated the decade and attention was taken away from other leagues and world class players also suffered due to the rivalry and the constant hype FIFA and the media gives to the rivalry. the ballon dor is a good example of this.