Just wondering if the likes of Becks, Nevilles, Ole, Teddy etc would beat the teams today in the Premiership and Champions League. Thoughts?
Provided that there was the same level of back up to the squad that we see today, the only problem with the teams in those days were beyond the starting 11 and bench you were pretty much stuck with youth prosepects of varying levels, hence why as Scholes and Keane were suspended Jonathan Greening got his mits on a winners medal after being on the bench and Giggs had to play right wing as Beckham and Butt were the central midfield pair with Jesper Blomqvist on the left flank. But generally as a starting 11 it was pretty solid, but the defence was much shakier than it would be these days, though Neville, Stam, Johnsen and Irwin were no mugs.
As O+E has said, the first XI was brilliant as was the substitute bench. Beyond that, we were a bit thin I suppose. That team could give the current Barca side a game though.
It was the defence i was thinking off, i dont think even the likes of Pallister, Irwin, May would be no match for Rio and Vidic, still good back in the day.
Pally wasn't playing for us in 1999. Stam would definitely be comparable to Rio or Vidic, not sure about Johnsen tho' - he was more of a competent sidekick to Stam rather than a top CB in his own right. And we were a bit too reliant on older backup central defenders like May and Berg back then, rather than having a lot of talented young players coming through like we do now. Tho' bear in mind that the Great Dane more than made up for these shortcomings. The 99 defence was a bit weaker, but then the midfield was stronger. People mention Greening playing, but he was no worse than having Gibson in the centre when we were missing CMs last year. We lacked a bit of cover in wide areas, particularly on the right of midfield, but up front we were at least as strong with Cole, Yorke, Ole and Sheringham. I think our first team from 99 would comfortably win the league and reach the later stages of the CL today. But, as back then, any injuries to key players (mainly Stam, Schmeichel or any of the 1st choice mids) would hurt us pretty hard.
Probably more passion than the current team, don't think they'd sail through it though, 12 years is a long time, players have become a LOT fitter and the pace of the game has increased so much.
It's honestly not about how much our team improves imo. Any side playing Barca atm needs to raise their game and also needs some of the Barca side not to show up if they are to get anything. That's how Inter knocked them out in 2010, how Chelsea almost managed it in 2009, and how Arsenal came close last year. If Barca hits their stride it doesn't matter how well you do they will still tear you a new one, but if Barca have an off day then our current team is perfectly able to beat them at home and frustrate them at the Camp Nou. And of course it may not even be us who do knock them out - Chelsea, Real and City all have the players to knock a below par Barca out of Europe and even Inter, Bayern and Arsenal could give them a scare with a slice of luck. It all comes back to the CL having so many good teams in it, so it's not good enough just to be the best, you need to get the luck when you need it. And since the competition started no team has had that luck two years in a row...
Spot on Solid defending (easier said than done I know ) and using set pieces wisely is the way to beat them IMO.
I think they would destroy this supposed "best league in the world". Football standards have gone down a massive amount since then!!! Besides Messi and ronaldo and obviously a few others, the level of actual "brillance" is non existence, even then I honestly do not compare messi or ronaldo to the likes of zidane, at all. Ronaldo and messi are thriving in the new era, I think they would not have been as succesfull against the old rear guards
next time any of them decide to pop up in a champions league final with a winning left footed volley from the edge of the box, please let me know
Solid defending against Barca is more a case of hoping that one of their crucial players will go missing or have a bad day imo. Unfortunately now they've lost Eto'o and Ibra that happens less and less often - we can only hope Sanchez turns out to be a lazy inconsistent little bastard who goes missing in the CL
