Was having this conversation with Astro a few days ago, about how "big money" transfers have changed in the modern era. If a club was in the transfer market for a marquee signing, this is what football looked like a decade ago.... Full-backs - Ashley Cole, Zambrotta, Cafu, R. Carlos, Zanetti, Salgado, Evra, Neville, Thuram, Lahm CBs - Cannavaro, Terry, Rio, Maldini, Lucio, Nesta, Carvalho, Vidic, Stam, Puyol, Ayala, Blanc, Gallas, MF - Kaka, Zidane, Totti, Vieri, Nedved, Ballack, Gerrard, Scholes, Lampard, Pirlo, Gattuso, Deco, Makelele, Essien, Alonso, Rui Costa, Seedorf, Xavi, Wingers - R Pires, Giggs, Beckham, Nedved, Figo, Robben, Ronaldo, Messi Forwards - Shevchenko, Fat Ronaldo, Ronaldhino, Raul, Henry, Ruud Van Nistlerooy, Bergkamp, Del Pierro, Drogba, Etoo, Crespo, Inzaghi, Trezeguet, Rivaldo, Villa, Torres Back then, when you spent record sums (£20-30m) on a player, you kind of knew what to expect. There was a certain standard of quality and you were likely to get a good return on the pitch. The problem now is that clubs continue to have the same approach to spending, but aren't taking into account that the pool of players they're spunking big money on, simply doesn't compare to back then. It's almost as if the price is determining the 'quality' rather than the quality determing the price, so you get situations like Sterling going for £50m. My point is, how many truly great FBs are there out there? Or CBs? or MFs or CFs compared to the numbers you had back then. And how many of these players would compare to the names mentioned above? Don't get me wrong, there's some great players out there right now, and I'm not for a second knocking them, but the numbers simply don't compare. Personally I think the quality has dropped across Europe and world football. Back then, we almost became accustomed to the high standard of players, and we're kidding ourselves that some of the names we bandy about today could hold a candle to them. If you're a supporter of a big club and you're looking at positions you need to improve, what names can you see out there? They don't have to be the finished article, many of the names I've mentioned above were either emerging talents, but even then, they had demonstrated the quality they had at the highest level.
You're right, I was thinking about this a while ago. Stupid amounts are being spent on players that nobody has hardly heard about . This Belgian lad we are supposedly signing for instance.
Money is overrated. I would argue that our great grandchildren will probably post a similar thread in 100 years time.
The only difference is that fees have increased and in some cases it's not even been that much. You could easily name the top players in their positions now and have a similar list, quality wise. I note that Veron's missing from the OP's list of players. He cost nearly £30m and he was absolutely ****. He then cost another £15m and was **** again. The amount of money in the game has gone up massively, so transfers fees have gone up with it. You could've written this same article at the time that you're talking about and changed the numbers a bit and people would've agreed with you.
I'm not so sure, but feel free to put up a list of players from the current era if you believe that. Make sure you choose a wide selection of clubs as I've done as well. I think you'll struggle personally but should be interesting. Re: Veron, hence why he's missing from the list
As PnP stated, the context has changed, now for those marque signings you gotta be closing in on the 100m mark, which no one wants to pay. For example, how much would Suarez, Messi, Bale, Ronaldo, Neymar or Mueller cost? they're marque signings that no one can afford.
It's impossible to point out prospects that have enormous potential now, as there'll be disagreement about their quality. We know how the players on your list turned out already, so there's no argument to be had.
Why go on about names?? Go find your own 'new name'. Who'd ever heard much about Mahrez, Kante, or even Vardy, 12 months ago. Now everybody knows who they are!..
Prospects? Every player I've mentioned had achieved something at the highest level or were already highly regarded as some of the best in their position. I think you've misunderstood. I'm not saying who was better, the players then or the players now. I'm simply saying that the choice of quality players who you could spend high sums on were far more proven at the highest level and so you had a much wider choice of top quality players to choose from. And they're not from 2 or 3 clubs either, they were playing for 3 or 4 Italian teams, 3 or 4 Spanish teams, 3-4 English teams etc... If you can give me a similar list of players from now I'd be surprised, that's what the OP is about.
A decade ago Messi had only played about 30 games for Barca. He wasn't even an established member of their first XI. He was seen as a massive prospect, but he certainly wasn't at the top of the game. I'm not seeing the distinction between there being top quality players and top quality players that are available to buy. As you have players on your list that were basically one-team players, could you explain the difference please?
Some big clubs do this, others choose to use smaller clubs as a stalking horse. But the merits of which is better is a whole new different debate The quivalents of Mahrez, Kante or even Vardy were around a decade ago as well. They wouldn't make the list above though.
I'm with PNP on this. Hindsight is a wonderful thing. There are many good players out there of the same quality (or better) now. Don't ask me to list them as I cba Even without really thinking of them names are flying into my head!
Anyone who watched football knew Messi was a remarkable player. He only missed the second half of Barca's champions league winning season due to injury. I watched him play for Argentina in the WC against Mexico and the only images you could see painted around the ground were that of Messi, comparing him to Maradona. Having said that, lets not split hairs and agree Messi wasn't established. I think you're trying your best to pick holes but only picking away at tenuous points. No need to make this complicated, you said initially that "you could easily name the top players in their positions now and have a similar list, quality wise" and I'm genuinely interested to see if you can. The biggest problem is you'll probably name them from predominantly a handful of clubs.
I think Treble's getting all romantic and sentimental about the time Utd were a good team, and decided to bang out a list of players during that period.
You don't need to list them, but look at it from the perspective of buying players. If you want to go for a top CF for example, how would your choice compare to those stated above? Then think about other positions like full-backs or CBs. If you're a top club anywhere in Europe then there's not much to choose from.
I'll start the list (including GK's ) GK - Neuer FB - Alba CB - Kompany MF - Pogba Winger - Ronaldo Forwards - Suarez Feel free to add or delete.
I'm picking holes, despite you actually conceding the point and it being completely fact-based? Ok, then... GK: Neuer, Buffon (still), Cech, De Gea, Lloris, Ter Stegen, Navas, Bravo. DEF: Bonucci, Silva, Hummels, Varane, Chiellini, Alaba, Godin, Lahm, Alderweireld, Kompany, Alves, Pique, Ramos. MID: Iniesta, Pogba, Modric, Ozil, Busquets, Kroos, Schweisteiger, Silva, Toure, Rakitic, Reus, Matic, Veratti, Gerrard... ATT: Messi, Ronaldo, Neymar, Suarez, Bale, Muller, Ibrahimovic, Lewandowski, Aguero, Tevez, Sanchez, Robben, Higuain, Lacazette, Griezmann, Hazard. That's just a quick list and I've left loads of players out. I think you get the point, though.
