Were the dutch side of the 70s not as good if not better than the brasil teams of that era? I wasn't alive then but I remember my father telling me that the dutch team of the 70s was the greatest team he has ever seen. Maybe it's the fact that they never won anything that people don't mention them, from what I gather they should have won the world cup in 74 and 78. Imagine the heartache of those players that played in both those world cup finals and lost, must have been devastating.
I second that. Football was better, the artistry in the Brazil '82 team for me was amazing, I've seen nothing that changes my opinion, the goals scored by the likes of Zico, Eder and Socrates were mind blowing, considering the types of boots they wore and the footballs they had, they were swerving balls for fun. Brazil '82 is imprinted in my mind.
Personal opinion here, some say the dutch team of the 70s and their revolutionary Total Football were the best team ever, some say Brazil. I say Brazil because they had more flair. The problem with football was that teams were very defensive, especially Italy. Germany were solid and never over committed players forward, Brazil had to change their philosophy from "if you score 3 we will score 4". In USA '94 Pereira (Spelling ?) was tasked with bringing the World Cup home by any means, he made the decision to play with 2 DMs, Dunga AND Mauro Silva. He brought the World Cup home but was criticised for playing negative football, not the Brazilian way. Ever since then the samba flair and style of Brazilian players has disappeared. In recent-ish years only the real Denilson (bought by Real Betis for a world record fee) and Romario are players that I would say would fit in with the old samba style players, gifted with levels of flair other's couldn't match. The players now seem more mechanical in style. Even the real Ronaldo, although one of the best players EVER seen (top 3 ever in my opnion) had that physical edge and burst of speed, but I wouldn't say he was elegant with it. I doubt we'll ever see players like that again, it seems to be pace and power, finesse has gone, the game is too quick now.
