one thing i noticed is ppl are never happy- there are plenty of amazing talents in football today but cos of the messi and ronaldo goal inflation, they're not good enough because they don't bag 60 goals a year.
Not just that as well. People always say they miss the flair and skills moves but when players do that they say just pass the ball and complain that there’s no flair
@@Noel.4tk and you took the words out my mouth but yeah player either just don't or don't have the freedom to play their football which is what made the sport entertaining so its not really about 60 goals per year I mean we have haaland for that😂 but its not entertaining anymore haaland for instance a striker back in the day of his stature wouldn't be just standing in the box whole game waiting for tap ins they would drop back pick up the ball and either finesse or blast one from far or take on 2-3 players and score a solo
@@amarecudjoe9501 yeah this is why I rate Neymar so highly and players like haaland not so much. Neymar could do everything and he was too skillful as well as effective. Haaland is good but put haaland in the 90s and 00s and he would be a disgrace to them strikers
Maybe they burnouts, I think.. Back then, usually players reached their peak at the age of 26-27, compare it to today, players who are not even 23 yet, have become superstars and the backbone of their clubs, they play full time every week, until they get injured. So it is not surprising that many young stars are 'finished' when they reach the age of 28 or 29.
And playing bunch of matches on intermational and club level helps to that aswell. And a lot of this olayers were rly good but ronaldo and messi dominated so hard that now some of this players are not vonsidered great bcs this 2 were levels above for so long
Pogba and social media was crazy. He could go to sleep at 10 and pundits and Graeme Souness would be on MNF the next day saying he should’ve went to sleep at 9.
i think 1 factor that is missing here is the fact that ronaldo and messi (to a lesser extent real and barca), twisted our view of how good you have to be before you are "world class" or a "superstar"
also a lot of them accumulated HUGE minutes before they turned 23. it’s always linked to injuries later in your career or an early drop off in and around late 20s early 30s
You made an excellent point. Because of the last generations young bulls not becoming longlasting superstars, the new young bulls right now are young bulls and superstar at the same time. Current era of football is literally run by youngsters. Biggest stars right now are Vinicius, Bellingham, Pedri, Yamal etc
I feel like the levels Messi and Ronaldo reached kinda blunted our sensibilities to these players. I remember many times that even before watching a player, they would simply get discounted as not on the level of the two. Isco balled out from 15/16-17/18 basically their threepeat team, dybala was operating at the highest echelons before Ronaldo but still managed a seriea A MVP in 19/20 but even now when Messi's 36/37 he's not called up to the NT. I feel like player's away from their sphere of influence did well. Think premier league and Bundesliga. The again there are players like Reus who were just plain unlucky.
I wish Dybala could’ve gotten the chance to really shine he got stuck under Ronaldo at Juve and Messi for the national team not saying he’s better than Messi at all but just not the environment for him to really get to the next level
what happened is unlike previous generations, these stars never got to experience the very top, Messi and Ronaldo robbed them of that experience by being the best for so long, these guys knew they couldn't outdo them and pretty much gave up, in 10 years time we'll go back to normal with the regular generation shifts, because i doubt we'll get 2 other unfathomable players anytime soon if ever
Neymar still is an absolute legend, Pogba too and De Bruyne… but the German National Team suffered massively from this generation’s failure. The young stars of 2014 - Draxler, Götze especially - just didn’t turn out for various reasons. Then the age group just after them who broke onto the scene around 2015-2017 with Kimmich, Goretzka, Gnabry, Sané, Werner, Brandt, Weigl, Max Meyer (forgotten name by now), Eggestein, Stark, Süle… the rate of success there was like 1/8, with only Kimmich having a genuinely strong career, Sané still immensely talented but showing up at a very inconsistent rate, and Goretzka and Gnabry peaking around the age of 24-25 then just falling off devastatingly. Keep in mind this was an age group that had essentially sent two separate U21 teams to win both the U21 Euro and Confederations Cup (against actual senior national teams that were good), and even the second string of the 1996-born players (the second string where Sané, Brandt and Werner might be the top options) made a U21 Euro final before losing to Spain. By 2020, 60% of them had just dropped off such as Stark, and by 2021-2022, only Kimmich was consistently good.
@@schnitzelfilmmaker1130 I think it has a lot to deal with the fact that the Bundesliga is trying to become the premier league, their youth systems and integrating them into bundesliga football is honestly terrible. They only have these really good young players from overseas but no academy home grown ballers. It’s not like the talent isn’t there, they just aren’t given a chance like the French does with ligue one. Making young players shine on the scene and putting a name around them
This means they can play at the highest level consistently which Germans just aren’t doing with their young talent, prime example why in the world is Manuel neuer at 39 still Bayerns #1, countless academy youngsters who have won trophies like hulzmann,schenk,Schmitt have the potential to replace him but crickets
@ tbf being a Bayern standard keeper is beyond what some of these can do, but I do think the Bundesliga probably has a bias against homegrown players sometimes, aside from a few clubs. But also the generation this video is talking about did actually have enough German talent in the Bundesliga and doing well, but they just failed badly just like most of the entire generation of football born in those years.
@@schnitzelfilmmaker1130 True the whole 90s generation kinda failed miserably, ngl. But as of for the Bayern #1 nah ion think so, could’ve easily replace neuer with even nubel or one of the young guys instead they send them on numerous loans and they never get a chance to shine
@ only Kimmich has had the career he should’ve, but tbf at least Gnabry, Goretzka and Süle won UCL before they fell off and Goretzka is still somewhat useful… But I don’t think Nübel or Schenk or any of them have the ability to replace Neuer, you saw against Man City that Sommer made some cool saves but overall the team’s trust broke down because he’s just not good enough. Only Seimen or Urbig among those of a reasonable age have the potential to replace Neuer I think.
Just a huge horrible combination of injures, tactical & style changes, social media influence and of course the surprising longevity of the rising stars from the mid to late 2000s. Great video and the fact you mentioned no Ballon d’Or winner being born 2000 onward is kinda wild. Shout out 2020 Lewandowski cause we all agree on that but the fact that we are halfway through the decade and the player with the most Ballon d’Ors won in this time started his career during the PS2 & GameCube era is wild. Hopefully in the next 5 years the new era guys have killer seasons and win it. Vini, Wirtz, Haaland, Jude and the ninja turtle.
the players born in the 1980s were uniquely gifted, most gifted generation ever, they were around to benefit from modern tactics, modern science but also grew up in the last real tough era and last street football era. A unique generation.
Just too many matches and players lose juice faster. Look at pedri. Barca and Spain drained life out of him few seasons ago Nice video pretty underrated channel
Too many games and systems, burnout and not allowing players to be themselves is whats killing them but in the long run the sport as well, thank FIFA for one of the reasons
I've always thought and talked about how unjust the abuse sports players receive is, absolutely ridiculous how people treat them as if they owe them something. They're just sports players for god's sake, just people who want to play at something they love. These kind of vitriol and demands should be directed at CEO's and politicians, people whose acts actually affect us, people who actually should answer to the public, not to people who just try to entertain us by juggling a ball.
Messi and Ronaldo's longevity is to blame. The gamification of the sport is also a function of the widening of the median ability of footballers today, i.e there are more median ability players today than previous generation.
The "lost generation"--Neymar, KDB, Pogba, Salah, Hazard, Isco, James, Bale, Dybala, Griezmann...Basically the early 90's boys, victims of the longevity of Messi and Ronaldo, obviously there are exceptions(Neymar and KDB) who are amongst the best players ever, their peers just can't say the same. The legacy those two have left behind is ridiculous. Neymar with his cultural impact as we all wanted to copy his style of play. KDB and his passing will be mythological by the time he hangs it up. Just imagine 20 years from now the comps that will be recycled from those 2...
Indeed. Many players who come out of Brazil nowadays play so many games as youngsters. Neymar had 177 appearances for Santos by age 21. That’s a lot of strain for a youngster. Add to that the increased match load players are under and it’s no surprise he suffered with injuries so much. I’m not sure why but many stars with Neymar like flair have often been injury prone and the increased match load can’t be good for those players. More games will mean more physical players will rise to the top over talented but less physical players.
Something that causes this is our habituation to having both Ronaldo and Messi playing at the same time. It never happened and it probably will take several decades until we have two players who are arguably the best of all time playing at the same time, for such a long time. The fact that both came up at about the same time and just started smashing every record there ever was and absolutely dominated every individual prize there was for like 18 years is insane. It'd be insane for any player in the next generation to reach 8, or even 5 balloon d'ors. It would already be insane if someone even got into the top 3 for 5 or 6 years consistently, and to think that anyone could consistently be the winner or runner-up for 13 years seems impossible. We were so lucky to watch them both, they became absolute legends, the greatest superstars you could think of, and played at that extraterrestrial level for almost 20 years. Football without a similar presence after a long period with CR7 and Messi obviously won't feel the same for a while
I wouldn't say we won't see two great stars at once because we did get the R9 and Zidane and Figo and I think we are going to get that with the new crop of young guys but the longevity of Messi and CR7 did for sure ruin the conception of what a superstar is but as the new Gen will grow with this generation their standards will be also be molded by them maybe not to put them above a Messi or a Ronaldo but to put them in perspective and have them as all time greats. Vinicius, Lamal, Mbappe, Bellingham all could potentially have 2-3 Ballandors not 5 to 8 but still alot and might shift out the Figos, or the Zidanes or the Iniestas out of conversations or just challenge them.
@chillspot331 Yeah we got the likes of R9, Figo and Zidane at the same time but not only didn't they reach such an outstandingly superior level to everyone else but, as you said, their peaks were not as long and they didn't coincide as much - even though they were playing in the same era, there were times where one would be clearly ahead. They had good seasons, bad seasons, etc. Ronaldo and Messi got us used to having two out of this world players playing incredibly well for almost 20 years in a consistent manner. I agree with what you said, I just meant that these two took things to a level that was never seen before and will likely take ages to happen again
@@chillspot331 Mate, you can't be serious. Messi and Cristiano are so far ahead of R9, Zidane and Figo that it's not even funny. Like there is a chasm between them. I think you guys still underestimate just how utterly brilliant Messi and Cristiano were. For some perspective, Luis Figo, Zidane and R9 all kind of came into prominence as world class players around the same time (1995-1996). And all three were pretty much dome as world class players at the same time (2006). So that's roughly a ten year period of them being world class. Messi and Cristiano have at least 10 years of being top 2 in the Ballon D'Or. Not just world class, but THE very best. Their entire careers as the undisputed best players in the world is at least as long as the careers of R9, Figo and Zidane being just world class (not even top 2, but just world class). There's levels. It doesn't even come close.
@@brianduru3753 i agree with what you said but we gotta factor in culture and technology coming into play in the messi/ronaldo era which allowed them to stay fit which came about because of Arsene wenger when he moved to arsenal enncouraging players to keep fit and be on a diet to be consistent. Heck even messi would have been done by 26 years old if pep didn't correct his diet in the 08-09 season. Point being the other superstar eras prior to the Messi/Ronaldo era did not have the same information and technology available to them at that time, also luck does play a factor.
@@gabriielsc no R9 and Zidane and Figo were levels above everyone else again what is considered better has changed, we are thinking they weren't better as the stats or accolades don't reflect that but no one back then thought a Rivaldo was better than R9 even tho he won a bAllandor during that time, heck growing up you knew the legends because they always got documentaries or spotlight and it's always been that way the only difference is Messi and Ronaldo just stayed good that long and then put up once in a lifetime numbers but, again those guys or anamolies, but if u look at football there is always a down generation that is talented but kinda doesn't become that team of greats as they kinda get caught up with another generation unfortunately, that is kinda what happens, now u think that a Zidane or a R9 are not close to Messi and Ronaldo and you are correct but again Messi and ronaldo are Aliens the same way a Pele was or a Maradonna or a Cruyff was seen this new Gen is going to make their mark but to expect a Ronaldo/Messi type career will be impossible so I said that the players like Zidane, Figo, R9 etc those players that are in the 5-20 range are going to start being pushed aside, or be challenged as their legacies while not Ronaldo/Messi are still legendary, Vini rn has the potential to be the 2nd greatest player in Brazil History if he simply can carry over his club performances to Brazil.and you might not realize how big that is but you also probably didn't grow up seeing the allure of these legends and how they were represented before social media took over, and with the shift of football being taken eventually this next generation will define their own legacies free from the Ronaldo/Messi era as the stats will stay but eventually they will be just stats, if someone is 10 years old this year they've never seen prime Messi and Ronaldo, and when they become a real football head they will only know a vinicus or Yamal or Halaand or a Mbappe as the best player but they've never seen Ronny and Leo so they will only see the stats and while the stats will hangover their head eventually no one will care as they will simply say Ronaldo and Messi were built different and won't be touched but all the other legends are now going to be moved out, Jude might become the greatest English player ever , Vini is already on the way to knock off his Brazilian greats, Mbappe is also half way their as he is a top 5 French player all time already, behind only a Zidane, Platini and Maybe Henry, so its already happening and hopefully us older heads can keep the peace by remembering past stars but respecting the future talent as well.
I don’t know if you watched the super copa Italiana. But I feel like players like pulisic, Rafael leao, and Theo Hernandez were great moments of flare coming back to football. I often see this narrative but I think it’s because people only watch the top 3 leagues and not serie A. Even kvicha khvaratshkelia and Osimhen (when he was at Napoli) were great examples of ENTERTAINING football . Watching mid table teams in serie A is great too.
And to mention Lautaro Martínez was super flashy and cool too. I just feel like we should be open minded to watching other leagues besides premier league, Laliga, or bundesliga.
Game needed it to a certain extent, you can go watch a game of 2 of the best teams in the early-mid 2000s and despite the technical ability on the field every one is jus whacking the ball all Willy nilly as if you can score the ball by giving it to the other team every 10 seconds
@@Boonil22 I kind of agree tbh, older football was entertaining asf but there was a lot of ping pong ball and it was probably frustrating asf for certain managers, it was only a matter of time before someone revolutionized the sport and popularized the more controlled (and admittedly more robotic) football we see today. As a fan ofc we’d love to see entertainment prioritized again but from a manager’s perspective, the current best way to win is to follow the trend
@@mandafrombk yep, it jus take players willing to go for it even if it’s against the coaches wishes. No manager in history could’ve tied Messi down no matter how hard they tried.
Dybala I feel is an odd one out Juve kept chasing superstar to superstar he wasn’t given the opportunity to be their sole 9 kept playing in a front 2 or pushed to the left.
Personally i feel tactics have bridged the gap between average and world class players or at least made it harder for players to shine cuz now you gotta have almost everything in your game to stand out rn And there's a lot more criticism and scrutiny now more than ever Now if you're mid defenses will expose it and you're gonna feel it from the media Also there's a lot preference on athleticsm than before with pressing and all that shit Defending is more team oriented than individually like before
It was incredible and so rare that this generation of 10 was able to switch role during the tactical shift. Fabregas for example was able to shift to a holding midfielder and grizemann was able to establish himself as a second striker or even at a deeper role with france
sick video man! you presented a situation and reasons for it really clearly and in a rlly engaging way👍🏽 watching this before my first day of my second semester and as silly as it sounds, it’s refreshing to hear an american person chatting about footie-feels a little bit like yapping about soccer with friends (none of my friends like football so thanks for that haha)
The game changing from a tactical perspective makes a whole lot of sense when you specifically look at James. Look how different international football is to club football. When he plays for Colombia, he can play as a classic number 10 without the need to endlessly press or track back. As a result, he’s usually the best player on the field. Meanwhile at his club, he can’t even break into Rayo Vallecano’s starting XI.
I was thinking about this today actually. How there are many things that would point to the "sport reviving", like the explosion of flair players like Lamine, Writz, Musiala, etc. i think it will be interesting to see how this current generation develops, kids are being trained more efficiently than 20 years ago. Which is the only way to explain 16 and 17 year olds debuting and racking up 50 games before the age of 18 (Cubarsi and Lamine). Does this mean player careers are gonna be shorter? Or will this generation sustain itself because they were raised with that early career and the increasing intensity of the sport in mind? Making it so the loss generation was just, yet again, a transitional period where stars were rising up as training standards for young players was shifting.
Messi and Ronaldo having absurd longevity changed alot of persons perceptions of a successfull prime, most players would maybe have a good 3 or maybe a 5 year peak. Messi and CR7 balled out to supernatural levels for a decade plus. Look at the vini campaign last year, some people with this warped perception expect messi/cr7 levels
Nothing happened. Messi and Ronaldo just warped everyone's expectations of how long a superstar can stay at the top. It's quite normal for top players to fall off from their early 30s. Of course, you have some truly remarkable players exhibiting outrageous longevity (especially the Italians), but history is full of top players declining sharply once they are the wrong side of 30. For instance, Ronaldo Nazario? He was a fat tub of lard at 31. Kaka was cooked at 31 too. Ronaldinho was also pretty much done at the highest level, Thierry Henry and Beckham were in the MLS in their early 30s, Shevchenko was done too, Cannavaro wasn't anywhere near the player he once was, Wayne Rooney, Cesc Fabregas.....I could go on. It's nothing new.
Ronaldo, Kaka, Ronaldinho, Rooney would all make it in a "top 5 list" for players who are known for having their peak years cut short by injury/disease/lack of motivation. Not the best examples.
yeah it was always kinda odd to me how the top players of today aren't ones who you would consider to be in prime ages, just old guys or young guys, the in between, not so much. it's such a weird period, it's difficult to explain. like how many players aged 28-33, a player's prime, would you consider superstars? rodri, kane, salah? then you start scraping like maybe lookman, griezmann, carvajal, rüdiger. even kdb's body been failing him the past year
You even have players like Sterling who basically attacked 24/7 by the sun, for literally doing anything. (e.g getting mad at him for buying his mum a car.)
@@ninjalectualx no one cares about sterling anymore, when he was englands top player he got the scrutiny that comes with it. you obviously weren't around in the rooney or beckham era because they got far worse.
Yk what, this is the same thing you'll hear, I truly blame the way football is today, there are no longer "superstars" cause a lot of teams don't allow that growth of players, like when I watch highlights I'm like "damn, this looks way more fun then the formulated football we have today" but at the end of the day it's just how it is
Imo the messi ronaldo generation of players have played for so long the generation after them has been outshined still. No one expected messi and ronaldos generation to still be playing football.
i also feel like for a lot of these players the dopamine is so easy to come by so they all opted for laziness and subpar careers as opposed to putting the work to build themselves it would happen in the past too, but in the present it's a lot easier for something like this to happen due to the availability of dopamine
I personally I don’t think it’s because of Messi and Ronaldo ruining our expectations of “superstars “. The only reason is simply no current superstar is as gifted as Messi or Ronaldo, or even Neymar. If players like Neymar , Hazard were young in today’s game they would put up Messi , cr7 numbers. Neymar in 17/18 had like 32 g/a in 20 games which is why I think he would do damage if he was a youngster today.
When Neymar left Barca it was the time when he was really close to Ronaldo and Messi talent wise but also stats wise. Before he left I thought he could become the main man at Barca. He was that good. Injuries in the following years at crucial times prevented this. But I think a fully fit Neymar could have provided numbers over a whole season like these guys. Shame that his career is over basically, I miss seeing him play. I don't think any player today has his talent
The burnouts happening now too. EG Barcas pedri and gavi or foden. Physical or mental pressure being put on them even in stacked teams is immense. Would somone be shocked if fede valverde level drops as he ages? Doubt theyll be able to last as much as modric or kross or casemiro
I agree. The problem isn't that players today aren't talented... there's generally more quality in every team today, across the whole pitch. That combined with this over coached era, makes it more difficult than ever for any players to stand out above the rest.
@SI-cd7xs erm... is the video not talking about the big talents that didn't go on to reach those levels or deliver as consistently? The over coached aspect is real. That's why we aren't seeing playmakers like Ronaldinho anymore. Although Dinho wasn't just a generational talent. If he'd been a little more devoted to training and partied less, he would be in the conversation about the greatest player ever, full stop.
Today’s players are severely lacking when it comes to talent and skill as compared to the greats of yesteryears. It's almost amusing how they lack even the most basic composure in front of a keeper, resorting instead to mindless, brute force tactics in hopes that the ball might land in the goal by sheer chance. Why even attempt at displaying the refined artistry involved in maneuvering around an opposing keeper or execute the graceful finesse of a skillful chip, when you can simply aimlessly send a powerful shot praying it might hit the target? And don’t even get me started on these so-called footballers' misguided attempts at dribbling, which only serve as flashy step-overs, devoid of any technique or artistic playing style. They are completely oblivious to the significance of composure, consistent accuracy and vision as they flail ineptly on the field, unable to comprehend the basics of playing football.
@Zagirus there are some players who have found themselves in the top leagues, and even the top clubs, by mistake. But you're taking it too far. There are good young players
@@Zagirusyep. There’s a lack of elegance and smoothness nowadays. Football isn’t beautiful in the modern era. If I was a kid watching this stuff I would’ve NEVER fallen in love with football
You missed the biggest flop of that generation. Balotelli! But I will say, along with all of your points, the longevity of the old guard hampered the growth of that generation. Messi and Ronaldo are STILL playing along with other players pushing 40. Older players still playing at that level didn't allow the focus to fully shift towards the younger players. And now that generation (my generation actually..35) has been sacrificed for this new generation of amazing talent to flourish. You see this in the NBA with players like Lebron still playing and, not coincidentally, the workplace of average people.
I think a large part of the problem is that football became too tactical, which is not a bad thing but it created a large pool for physically capable players. Speed and offensive awareness for forwards Stamina and defensive awareness for midfielders Speed and strength for defenders This is a good thing for fundamentals but it should not come at the cost of creativity. Technical awareness is a rare thing in football these days. Coaches rely on systems to combact other systems instead of creative flair to break said systems Teams like Madrid continue to succeed because they always have such players, who can break systems Technically aware players offer a level of output that diminish their faults because they are aware of more then what the coach wants them to do If u can create a place for such players ,u will likely succeed
It is funny how you dont talk about Germany and German players here, while they are the epitome of this problem. 2013/2014 was a peak to German football that the newer generation couldnt come close to. People like Kimmich already talk about how they dont want to be a part of the generation that couldnt achieve anything, even though he and people like Goretzka, Gnabry and Sane are fundamentally responsible for the last triple season. However the Bundesliga seems to finally wake up, which is atleast partially due to a mixture of young and old stars and finally some adversary for Bayern.
@@matthewmartin7391 yeah exactly. Götze is basically the last one that is actively playing of this generation. And he had to go through alot. Hopefully he can achieve another title with his elder statesman play in Frankfurt.
@@kovius564 I uploaded it at exactly 3 and then turned on the game. After Gordon’s goal I went to get food man I didn’t even bother torturing myself wit the rest 😭
@@mandafrombkeverything abt that game was rancid-I’ve defended Arteta but Martinelli and Havertz as they have for most of the season has played like they’d never seen a football in their lives and he left Sterling freezing on the bench A week into the new year and we’ve basically cost ourselves two trophies it’s actually depressing watching this team
Basically the late millennial players (88-95) that largely failed to keep up expectations, I won't lie though...even the early gen z players (96 or 97-02) haven't really have been all that great despite messi and ronaldo no longer holding the game to such a high standard...we shall see where it will go for them.
@MilesMorales288 Easily. The revisionism his career is gonna get later on cuz of being in Messi/CR7’s shadow is about to be nasty as hell. A lot of Vini stans were already doin victory laps when they thought he was gettin the Ballon D’or
@@mandafrombk fr hes easily the 3rd best of the messi ronaldo era, stats aside hes more talented than everyone else bruh. them vini glazers were about to have a field day forgetting vini's "ballon dor season" was an off season for prime ney (bear in mind ney's the most injury prone of the 3 so he almost always play less games and still clears vini stat wise)
Without Ronaldo and Messi they would be viewed differently. They where all just overshadowed. In longterm and in peak quality. The old superstars did not have so many great years at all.
a lot of great points were made here. I hope you are right about the next Gen being better at handling social media but I'm not optimistic like look at Garnacho for example. its true that people need to stop hating and look at players as people BUT its always gonna be hard for the average dude to chill when someone like Rashford or Pogba clearly has all the talent in the world but is week in, week out killing your favorite team while making like a million a month. Too many games, too much distraction, too much physicality from modern pressing techniques so I feel for the boys but overall this has been a really good season so far in the big leagues and the champions league.
Interesting takes from this section. One thing that should also be considered is the career moves these guys are making. Some of them are just awful. Hazard, Neymar and Coutinho left their clubs when they had the support to continue performing at a high level. Let’s even add players like Ousmane dembele and Griezmann to Barca. Another example is how United have absolutely killed so many talents(Pogba, Rashford, Martial, Sancho, Lukaku, Lingard etc). A lot of players take unnecessary gambles based on money and fame rather than places where they can continue developing/performing and are appreciated.
Hazard and Neymar were literally let go because they were too much of a liability to their clubs due to the injuries, it wasn't a matter of them being blinded by money lol. Hazard literally just retired after Madrid.
@@WilliWil. Carlo is known for allowing the players to show their ability and not follow a rigid structure. But since u have preconceived hate, so I don't think you would even care
@ carlos sytem is extremly rigid the only relationism in his system is between the attackers which becomes even more clear in big matches where they stay back and only counter attack
They are entertainers. Just like singers or DJs they are going to be used by the industry to please people, squeezed to the very last drop. They get paid very well after all, and professional sports have always been short careers.
For me it's really simple. If you let certain players in your league (who you know's better than everyone else btw) be the face of that league, they probably will expose the game fr what it is, you know. Soulless, ruthless, loveless...with the wear and tear to boot.
Modern footballers are the maestros of mediocrity. Their understanding of composure and consistent accuracy is as mythical as unicorns. Why bother with technique, like a deft chip over the goalie or an elegant dribble around, when you can simply bulldoze forward, right? Ball control? Vision? Precision? They must’ve missed those lessons while perfecting the art of looking perplexed on the field. Calling them "professionals" is a masterstroke of irony, like crowning a jester king.
I just think its more difficult to be a great individual player now. Teams are set up to deploy multiple systems and nulify threats. It will take a real special player to consistently make the difference. Plus every player is an athlete now with good stamnia, strength and pace.
@@yni3240 Saka gettin hurt was the last straw but I held out hope cuz Nwaneri was ballin, then he got hurt too. After today if we don’t sign any attacker I’m done til Saka come back 😭 pitiful performance bruh
@@mandafrombk There are some good young players, but they have more speed than skill. Also, Once they get that giant contract shoved in their faces, motivation to keep balling out goes out the window.
Another thing that contributed: A lot of these players hit their supposed prime age right in the middle of the pandemic empty games as well. Sure it’s an excuse that’s convenient for the players, but I do believe the motivation of the top players wasn’t as high for 2-3 years.
Yes. Also new coaches and clubs wanta over complcate things tactically. They want to score in specific ways only by passing the ball into the goal. This is why we hardly see any long range efforts or solo runs. Wingers are told to play it safe by passing backwards. It's frustrating to see. Now we have false wings backs.
@@j7sportvideo24 Yeah,this goes back a long way. I remember watching Barca with MSN trio lose some games and thinking they should have mixed tici taca passing with a few long balls and try and get a result. All wins count in the end even ugly ones(can you tell I support Northern Ireland?).
Is in production more important than being a good footballer only without scoring goals scor8ng goals has become underrated people have different preference
As an anime nerd I was about to spaz out on bro for saying “Iniesta went to China“ but TH-cam did that thing where it shows people in the comments who left a comment at the timestamp LoL.🤷🏿😅I’m joking but anyway, I’ve never seen this channel before! Hope you reach 7.5K soon!
There’s tons of amazing talent at the moment but they’re massively underperforming due to poor management, and very little game time due to overload of players, ferran, mudryk, Joao Félix, mount, Rodrygo, richardlison, Antony, foden, mbappe himself, havertz, leao , darwin Núñez, vlahovic, musiala, chiesa and loads and loads of other players who are in their prime like dembele, nkunku, Werner jovic, Asensio, Gabriel Jesús , grealish , rashford sterling, sane paqueta and others that I can’t think of
(11:32) I mean, sure, it might have been a novelty, the whole uprise of social media and all… But if we take it into consideration that Messi is only about 5 years older than Neymar, we see some crippling differences in behavior, especially towards social media. Neymar started playing professionally in 2009 at 17 years-old, as a promise wonder boy. In 2010, he won the Brazilian Cup and, in 2011, he won the Libertadores (the South American correspondent to the Champions League). By that time, social media was really booming with Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, TH-cam and all of those… Messi was about 23 or 24, so I guess we can say that he, too, was a rising star. It’s fair to say it could have had some impact on his mental health as well. However, when we look at it today, Neymar spends ridiculous amounts of time arguing online with so-called “haters”. Instead of spending so much time, attention and energy to debate with stranger who don’t want to debate, but rather offend, he could dedicate himself to preserving his image and focusing on his training. (Although I took Neymar and Messi as examples, this can easily extend to many young talents from that era, such as CR7, and many future promises from the 2010s, such as Pogba, as mentioned in the video)
To be fair, 5 years in football makes all the difference Messi is an exception cause of how he handled the limelight compared to his peers Even CR7 with all his perceived pride at the time But the truth is the start of the social media era changed the way football worked, and the likes of Neymar literally exploded at the same time as some of these platforms (Twitter, TH-cam, and even the growth of already established platforms like Facebook) Neymar, Pogba, James Rodrigues, etc. These were new breeds of public figures in an era where they were not just experiencing praise and scrutiny from the press and the general public from the very launch of their careers. Imagine if the likes of David Beckham had to deal with social media from the very start of his career, considering how the general press alone got to his head while at Man Utd. That's why that generation struggled more than anything. They built their careers at the heart of the digital ages, I mean watch the Neymar documentary, he literally became one of the most famous players in the world cause of social media at 17, even people who didn't watch the Brazilian football league knew who he was the cause of platforms like TH-cam back in 2010/ 2011, whereby the likes of Messi had already established a sense of self before they established a digital presence. So I think the social media aspect being a problem for that generation is a fair argument.
*Iniesta went to Japan not China, I tweaked my bad 😭 Thanks to the ones who pointed it out
Bro don't want no racist Allegations
one thing i noticed is ppl are never happy- there are plenty of amazing talents in football today but cos of the messi and ronaldo goal inflation, they're not good enough because they don't bag 60 goals a year.
Not just that as well. People always say they miss the flair and skills moves but when players do that they say just pass the ball and complain that there’s no flair
@@Noel.4tk and you took the words out my mouth but yeah player either just don't or don't have the freedom to play their football which is what made the sport entertaining so its not really about 60 goals per year I mean we have haaland for that😂 but its not entertaining anymore haaland for instance a striker back in the day of his stature wouldn't be just standing in the box whole game waiting for tap ins they would drop back pick up the ball and either finesse or blast one from far or take on 2-3 players and score a solo
@@amarecudjoe9501 yeah this is why I rate Neymar so highly and players like haaland not so much. Neymar could do everything and he was too skillful as well as effective. Haaland is good but put haaland in the 90s and 00s and he would be a disgrace to them strikers
@Noel.4tk Sad to see neymar really might be finished its actually crazy😔
@ yeah he is. His ability is still there but his body just can’t handle it anymore
Maybe they burnouts, I think..
Back then, usually players reached their peak at the age of 26-27, compare it to today, players who are not even 23 yet, have become superstars and the backbone of their clubs, they play full time every week, until they get injured. So it is not surprising that many young stars are 'finished' when they reach the age of 28 or 29.
And playing bunch of matches on intermational and club level helps to that aswell. And a lot of this olayers were rly good but ronaldo and messi dominated so hard that now some of this players are not vonsidered great bcs this 2 were levels above for so long
Players like lamine, a freaking 17 year old, carrying a whole team that's meant to be one of the top clubs in the world.
@stevetheiii477 lamine he became injury prone or finished when he's 27 because he playing too much games age 16 17
@@RangeshMutama-p9di really hope he doesnt.
Pogba and social media was crazy. He could go to sleep at 10 and pundits and Graeme Souness would be on MNF the next day saying he should’ve went to sleep at 9.
@@lastWilla literally bruh, some of the articles and think pieces they wrote about him doin the simplest things were actually baffling 😭😭
@@mandafrombk deffo RM
In an alternate timeline Pogba replaces Iniesta and helps Messi win another CL trophy. He should've never went to Man Utd.
@@robs9237 I agree, but he could have also won a CL with Juve also because him and Dybala were such a great duo.
wheres pogba now. you clowns shouldve learned souness was spot on
i think 1 factor that is missing here is the fact that ronaldo and messi (to a lesser extent real and barca), twisted our view of how good you have to be before you are "world class" or a "superstar"
also a lot of them accumulated HUGE minutes before they turned 23. it’s always linked to injuries later in your career or an early drop off in and around late 20s early 30s
You made an excellent point. Because of the last generations young bulls not becoming longlasting superstars, the new young bulls right now are young bulls and superstar at the same time. Current era of football is literally run by youngsters. Biggest stars right now are Vinicius, Bellingham, Pedri, Yamal etc
I feel like the levels Messi and Ronaldo reached kinda blunted our sensibilities to these players. I remember many times that even before watching a player, they would simply get discounted as not on the level of the two. Isco balled out from 15/16-17/18 basically their threepeat team, dybala was operating at the highest echelons before Ronaldo but still managed a seriea A MVP in 19/20 but even now when Messi's 36/37 he's not called up to the NT. I feel like player's away from their sphere of influence did well. Think premier league and Bundesliga. The again there are players like Reus who were just plain unlucky.
I wish Dybala could’ve gotten the chance to really shine he got stuck under Ronaldo at Juve and Messi for the national team not saying he’s better than Messi at all but just not the environment for him to really get to the next level
what happened is unlike previous generations, these stars never got to experience the very top, Messi and Ronaldo robbed them of that experience by being the best for so long, these guys knew they couldn't outdo them and pretty much gave up, in 10 years time we'll go back to normal with the regular generation shifts, because i doubt we'll get 2 other unfathomable players anytime soon if ever
beware of lamine.
Neymar still is an absolute legend, Pogba too and De Bruyne… but the German National Team suffered massively from this generation’s failure. The young stars of 2014 - Draxler, Götze especially - just didn’t turn out for various reasons. Then the age group just after them who broke onto the scene around 2015-2017 with Kimmich, Goretzka, Gnabry, Sané, Werner, Brandt, Weigl, Max Meyer (forgotten name by now), Eggestein, Stark, Süle… the rate of success there was like 1/8, with only Kimmich having a genuinely strong career, Sané still immensely talented but showing up at a very inconsistent rate, and Goretzka and Gnabry peaking around the age of 24-25 then just falling off devastatingly. Keep in mind this was an age group that had essentially sent two separate U21 teams to win both the U21 Euro and Confederations Cup (against actual senior national teams that were good), and even the second string of the 1996-born players (the second string where Sané, Brandt and Werner might be the top options) made a U21 Euro final before losing to Spain. By 2020, 60% of them had just dropped off such as Stark, and by 2021-2022, only Kimmich was consistently good.
@@schnitzelfilmmaker1130
I think it has a lot to deal with the fact that the Bundesliga is trying to become the premier league, their youth systems and integrating them into bundesliga football is honestly terrible. They only have these really good young players from overseas but no academy home grown ballers. It’s not like the talent isn’t there, they just aren’t given a chance like the French does with ligue one. Making young players shine on the scene and putting a name around them
This means they can play at the highest level consistently which Germans just aren’t doing with their young talent, prime example why in the world is Manuel neuer at 39 still Bayerns #1, countless academy youngsters who have won trophies like hulzmann,schenk,Schmitt have the potential to replace him but crickets
@ tbf being a Bayern standard keeper is beyond what some of these can do, but I do think the Bundesliga probably has a bias against homegrown players sometimes, aside from a few clubs. But also the generation this video is talking about did actually have enough German talent in the Bundesliga and doing well, but they just failed badly just like most of the entire generation of football born in those years.
@@schnitzelfilmmaker1130
True the whole 90s generation kinda failed miserably, ngl. But as of for the Bayern #1 nah ion think so, could’ve easily replace neuer with even nubel or one of the young guys instead they send them on numerous loans and they never get a chance to shine
@ only Kimmich has had the career he should’ve, but tbf at least Gnabry, Goretzka and Süle won UCL before they fell off and Goretzka is still somewhat useful…
But I don’t think Nübel or Schenk or any of them have the ability to replace Neuer, you saw against Man City that Sommer made some cool saves but overall the team’s trust broke down because he’s just not good enough. Only Seimen or Urbig among those of a reasonable age have the potential to replace Neuer I think.
Just a huge horrible combination of injures, tactical & style changes, social media influence and of course the surprising longevity of the rising stars from the mid to late 2000s. Great video and the fact you mentioned no Ballon d’Or winner being born 2000 onward is kinda wild. Shout out 2020 Lewandowski cause we all agree on that but the fact that we are halfway through the decade and the player with the most Ballon d’Ors won in this time started his career during the PS2 & GameCube era is wild. Hopefully in the next 5 years the new era guys have killer seasons and win it. Vini, Wirtz, Haaland, Jude and the ninja turtle.
the players born in the 1980s were uniquely gifted, most gifted generation ever, they were around to benefit from modern tactics, modern science but also grew up in the last real tough era and last street football era. A unique generation.
Just too many matches and players lose juice faster. Look at pedri. Barca and Spain drained life out of him few seasons ago
Nice video pretty underrated channel
Too many games and systems, burnout and not allowing players to be themselves is whats killing them but in the long run the sport as well, thank FIFA for one of the reasons
Exactly, there’s no way players are having fun on the pitch like they would’ve been 20 years ago when they could play the game to express themselves
I've always thought and talked about how unjust the abuse sports players receive is, absolutely ridiculous how people treat them as if they owe them something. They're just sports players for god's sake, just people who want to play at something they love. These kind of vitriol and demands should be directed at CEO's and politicians, people whose acts actually affect us, people who actually should answer to the public, not to people who just try to entertain us by juggling a ball.
Messi and Ronaldo's longevity is to blame. The gamification of the sport is also a function of the widening of the median ability of footballers today, i.e there are more median ability players today than previous generation.
The "lost generation"--Neymar, KDB, Pogba, Salah, Hazard, Isco, James, Bale, Dybala, Griezmann...Basically the early 90's boys, victims of the longevity of Messi and Ronaldo, obviously there are exceptions(Neymar and KDB) who are amongst the best players ever, their peers just can't say the same.
The legacy those two have left behind is ridiculous. Neymar with his cultural impact as we all wanted to copy his style of play. KDB and his passing will be mythological by the time he hangs it up. Just imagine 20 years from now the comps that will be recycled from those 2...
Salah is an exception as well
Salah an Hazard are exceptions
@@TyredyihsSuper Maybe
Salah is playing better than ever
@@brokegymrat8354 Covering up stinkers with G/A lol
Players are also tired. Jude Bellingham looked absolutely fried at the beginning of the season.. wayyy too many games
Indeed. Many players who come out of Brazil nowadays play so many games as youngsters. Neymar had 177 appearances for Santos by age 21. That’s a lot of strain for a youngster.
Add to that the increased match load players are under and it’s no surprise he suffered with injuries so much.
I’m not sure why but many stars with Neymar like flair have often been injury prone and the increased match load can’t be good for those players.
More games will mean more physical players will rise to the top over talented but less physical players.
Not enough people talk about this, more and more money is being made off the game but at the expense of the players
tbh salah, de bruyne, van dijk, griezmann, son, kane and jorginho are all super stars
Something that causes this is our habituation to having both Ronaldo and Messi playing at the same time. It never happened and it probably will take several decades until we have two players who are arguably the best of all time playing at the same time, for such a long time. The fact that both came up at about the same time and just started smashing every record there ever was and absolutely dominated every individual prize there was for like 18 years is insane. It'd be insane for any player in the next generation to reach 8, or even 5 balloon d'ors. It would already be insane if someone even got into the top 3 for 5 or 6 years consistently, and to think that anyone could consistently be the winner or runner-up for 13 years seems impossible. We were so lucky to watch them both, they became absolute legends, the greatest superstars you could think of, and played at that extraterrestrial level for almost 20 years. Football without a similar presence after a long period with CR7 and Messi obviously won't feel the same for a while
I wouldn't say we won't see two great stars at once because we did get the R9 and Zidane and Figo and I think we are going to get that with the new crop of young guys but the longevity of Messi and CR7 did for sure ruin the conception of what a superstar is but as the new Gen will grow with this generation their standards will be also be molded by them maybe not to put them above a Messi or a Ronaldo but to put them in perspective and have them as all time greats. Vinicius, Lamal, Mbappe, Bellingham all could potentially have 2-3 Ballandors not 5 to 8 but still alot and might shift out the Figos, or the Zidanes or the Iniestas out of conversations or just challenge them.
@chillspot331 Yeah we got the likes of R9, Figo and Zidane at the same time but not only didn't they reach such an outstandingly superior level to everyone else but, as you said, their peaks were not as long and they didn't coincide as much - even though they were playing in the same era, there were times where one would be clearly ahead. They had good seasons, bad seasons, etc. Ronaldo and Messi got us used to having two out of this world players playing incredibly well for almost 20 years in a consistent manner. I agree with what you said, I just meant that these two took things to a level that was never seen before and will likely take ages to happen again
@@chillspot331 Mate, you can't be serious.
Messi and Cristiano are so far ahead of R9, Zidane and Figo that it's not even funny. Like there is a chasm between them.
I think you guys still underestimate just how utterly brilliant Messi and Cristiano were. For some perspective, Luis Figo, Zidane and R9 all kind of came into prominence as world class players around the same time (1995-1996). And all three were pretty much dome as world class players at the same time (2006). So that's roughly a ten year period of them being world class.
Messi and Cristiano have at least 10 years of being top 2 in the Ballon D'Or. Not just world class, but THE very best. Their entire careers as the undisputed best players in the world is at least as long as the careers of R9, Figo and Zidane being just world class (not even top 2, but just world class).
There's levels. It doesn't even come close.
@@brianduru3753 i agree with what you said but we gotta factor in culture and technology coming into play in the messi/ronaldo era which allowed them to stay fit which came about because of Arsene wenger when he moved to arsenal enncouraging players to keep fit and be on a diet to be consistent. Heck even messi would have been done by 26 years old if pep didn't correct his diet in the 08-09 season. Point being the other superstar eras prior to the Messi/Ronaldo era did not have the same information and technology available to them at that time, also luck does play a factor.
@@gabriielsc no R9 and Zidane and Figo were levels above everyone else again what is considered better has changed, we are thinking they weren't better as the stats or accolades don't reflect that but no one back then thought a Rivaldo was better than R9 even tho he won a bAllandor during that time, heck growing up you knew the legends because they always got documentaries or spotlight and it's always been that way the only difference is Messi and Ronaldo just stayed good that long and then put up once in a lifetime numbers but, again those guys or anamolies, but if u look at football there is always a down generation that is talented but kinda doesn't become that team of greats as they kinda get caught up with another generation unfortunately, that is kinda what happens, now u think that a Zidane or a R9 are not close to Messi and Ronaldo and you are correct but again Messi and ronaldo are Aliens the same way a Pele was or a Maradonna or a Cruyff was seen this new Gen is going to make their mark but to expect a Ronaldo/Messi type career will be impossible so I said that the players like Zidane, Figo, R9 etc those players that are in the 5-20 range are going to start being pushed aside, or be challenged as their legacies while not Ronaldo/Messi are still legendary, Vini rn has the potential to be the 2nd greatest player in Brazil History if he simply can carry over his club performances to Brazil.and you might not realize how big that is but you also probably didn't grow up seeing the allure of these legends and how they were represented before social media took over, and with the shift of football being taken eventually this next generation will define their own legacies free from the Ronaldo/Messi era as the stats will stay but eventually they will be just stats, if someone is 10 years old this year they've never seen prime Messi and Ronaldo, and when they become a real football head they will only know a vinicus or Yamal or Halaand or a Mbappe as the best player but they've never seen Ronny and Leo so they will only see the stats and while the stats will hangover their head eventually no one will care as they will simply say Ronaldo and Messi were built different and won't be touched but all the other legends are now going to be moved out, Jude might become the greatest English player ever , Vini is already on the way to knock off his Brazilian greats, Mbappe is also half way their as he is a top 5 French player all time already, behind only a Zidane, Platini and Maybe Henry, so its already happening and hopefully us older heads can keep the peace by remembering past stars but respecting the future talent as well.
I don’t know if you watched the super copa Italiana. But I feel like players like pulisic, Rafael leao, and Theo Hernandez were great moments of flare coming back to football. I often see this narrative but I think it’s because people only watch the top 3 leagues and not serie A. Even kvicha khvaratshkelia and Osimhen (when he was at Napoli) were great examples of ENTERTAINING football . Watching mid table teams in serie A is great too.
And to mention Lautaro Martínez was super flashy and cool too. I just feel like we should be open minded to watching other leagues besides premier league, Laliga, or bundesliga.
I agree with you, but it is sad that Serie A is not among the 3 most watched leagues. In the 1990s and early 2000s it was the best league in the world
Serie A just different
The messi-ronaldo rivalry and its consequences on society have been disastarous
Yes it's symbolic of the isolation our modern society experiences living in a postmodern consumer driven capitalistic economy
The rivalry was fine. The rape apologia from Ronaldo fans is a major problem though
In 2018 I thought Isco was gonna become the world's best midfielder
It’s because of how systemized the game has become
Game needed it to a certain extent, you can go watch a game of 2 of the best teams in the early-mid 2000s and despite the technical ability on the field every one is jus whacking the ball all Willy nilly as if you can score the ball by giving it to the other team every 10 seconds
@@Boonil22 I kind of agree tbh, older football was entertaining asf but there was a lot of ping pong ball and it was probably frustrating asf for certain managers, it was only a matter of time before someone revolutionized the sport and popularized the more controlled (and admittedly more robotic) football we see today.
As a fan ofc we’d love to see entertainment prioritized again but from a manager’s perspective, the current best way to win is to follow the trend
@@mandafrombk yep, it jus take players willing to go for it even if it’s against the coaches wishes. No manager in history could’ve tied Messi down no matter how hard they tried.
I really like this. You articulated it well. 👍🏽
Dybala I feel is an odd one out Juve kept chasing superstar to superstar he wasn’t given the opportunity to be their sole 9 kept playing in a front 2 or pushed to the left.
Personally i feel tactics have bridged the gap between average and world class players or at least made it harder for players to shine cuz now you gotta have almost everything in your game to stand out rn
And there's a lot more criticism and scrutiny now more than ever
Now if you're mid defenses will expose it and you're gonna feel it from the media
Also there's a lot preference on athleticsm than before with pressing and all that shit
Defending is more team oriented than individually like before
It was incredible and so rare that this generation of 10 was able to switch role during the tactical shift. Fabregas for example was able to shift to a holding midfielder and grizemann was able to establish himself as a second striker or even at a deeper role with france
Honestly that burnout pandemic is actually spot on
When people started disrespecting Neymar Pogba and Hazard is what made the shift
sick video man! you presented a situation and reasons for it really clearly and in a rlly engaging way👍🏽 watching this before my first day of my second semester and as silly as it sounds, it’s refreshing to hear an american person chatting about footie-feels a little bit like yapping about soccer with friends (none of my friends like football so thanks for that haha)
The game changing from a tactical perspective makes a whole lot of sense when you specifically look at James. Look how different international football is to club football. When he plays for Colombia, he can play as a classic number 10 without the need to endlessly press or track back. As a result, he’s usually the best player on the field. Meanwhile at his club, he can’t even break into Rayo Vallecano’s starting XI.
I was thinking about this today actually. How there are many things that would point to the "sport reviving", like the explosion of flair players like Lamine, Writz, Musiala, etc. i think it will be interesting to see how this current generation develops, kids are being trained more efficiently than 20 years ago. Which is the only way to explain 16 and 17 year olds debuting and racking up 50 games before the age of 18 (Cubarsi and Lamine). Does this mean player careers are gonna be shorter? Or will this generation sustain itself because they were raised with that early career and the increasing intensity of the sport in mind? Making it so the loss generation was just, yet again, a transitional period where stars were rising up as training standards for young players was shifting.
Messi and Ronaldo having absurd longevity changed alot of persons perceptions of a successfull prime, most players would maybe have a good 3 or maybe a 5 year peak. Messi and CR7 balled out to supernatural levels for a decade plus. Look at the vini campaign last year, some people with this warped perception expect messi/cr7 levels
But at the same time tho vini is nowhere near the level of Messi and cr7 so he can’t produce those numbers and performances anyway
Nothing happened.
Messi and Ronaldo just warped everyone's expectations of how long a superstar can stay at the top.
It's quite normal for top players to fall off from their early 30s. Of course, you have some truly remarkable players exhibiting outrageous longevity (especially the Italians), but history is full of top players declining sharply once they are the wrong side of 30.
For instance, Ronaldo Nazario? He was a fat tub of lard at 31. Kaka was cooked at 31 too. Ronaldinho was also pretty much done at the highest level, Thierry Henry and Beckham were in the MLS in their early 30s, Shevchenko was done too, Cannavaro wasn't anywhere near the player he once was, Wayne Rooney, Cesc Fabregas.....I could go on.
It's nothing new.
If anything that should be motivation for young superstars🤷♂️
@@Notusingaccount-e1p No but he's saying the expectation is almost unrealistic. But I get your point as well.
@Notusingaccount-e1p motivation can only take you so far
You either have it or you dont
@@lllllllll772 that makes 0 sense
Ronaldo, Kaka, Ronaldinho, Rooney would all make it in a "top 5 list" for players who are known for having their peak years cut short by injury/disease/lack of motivation. Not the best examples.
yeah it was always kinda odd to me how the top players of today aren't ones who you would consider to be in prime ages, just old guys or young guys, the in between, not so much. it's such a weird period, it's difficult to explain. like how many players aged 28-33, a player's prime, would you consider superstars? rodri, kane, salah? then you start scraping like maybe lookman, griezmann, carvajal, rüdiger. even kdb's body been failing him the past year
Pulisic
Awesome vid as always.
Love your work fam. Big fan
@@faithfulelenwo9356 appreciate you brodie 🙏🏿🙏🏿
You even have players like Sterling who basically attacked 24/7 by the sun, for literally doing anything. (e.g getting mad at him for buying his mum a car.)
When Foden (white) does it, it's good! 😁
When Sterling (Black) does it, it's bad 😡
@@ninjalectualx no one cares about sterling anymore, when he was englands top player he got the scrutiny that comes with it. you obviously weren't around in the rooney or beckham era because they got far worse.
Substitute Rashford, then. There's always a Black player the media is unfair to
Yk what, this is the same thing you'll hear, I truly blame the way football is today, there are no longer "superstars" cause a lot of teams don't allow that growth of players, like when I watch highlights I'm like "damn, this looks way more fun then the formulated football we have today" but at the end of the day it's just how it is
If only Coutinho survived, he was so magical.
Imo the messi ronaldo generation of players have played for so long the generation after them has been outshined still. No one expected messi and ronaldos generation to still be playing football.
NBA has the same problem
@ yea man mbappe was 18 now hes 25 and ronadlo is still playing 🤣
i also feel like for a lot of these players the dopamine is so easy to come by so they all opted for laziness and subpar careers as opposed to putting the work to build themselves
it would happen in the past too, but in the present it's a lot easier for something like this to happen due to the availability of dopamine
I been said this bro. Players are tired. People always down player when they don’t perform aka Mbappe at Madrid
I personally I don’t think it’s because of Messi and Ronaldo ruining our expectations of “superstars “. The only reason is simply no current superstar is as gifted as Messi or Ronaldo, or even Neymar. If players like Neymar , Hazard were young in today’s game they would put up Messi , cr7 numbers. Neymar in 17/18 had like 32 g/a in 20 games which is why I think he would do damage if he was a youngster today.
Neymar was close to Ronaldo and Messi in terms of talent.
You can't cite him as a comparison for superstars.
Hazard is more apt, a tier below those 3
Check out Morgan Rogers obviously he is not as talented as the ones you’ve mentioned but he has some magic in his game
@@josuebarboza9809 but stats is low
When Neymar left Barca it was the time when he was really close to Ronaldo and Messi talent wise but also stats wise. Before he left I thought he could become the main man at Barca. He was that good. Injuries in the following years at crucial times prevented this. But I think a fully fit Neymar could have provided numbers over a whole season like these guys. Shame that his career is over basically, I miss seeing him play. I don't think any player today has his talent
The burnouts happening now too. EG Barcas pedri and gavi or foden. Physical or mental pressure being put on them even in stacked teams is immense. Would somone be shocked if fede valverde level drops as he ages? Doubt theyll be able to last as much as modric or kross or casemiro
I agree. The problem isn't that players today aren't talented... there's generally more quality in every team today, across the whole pitch. That combined with this over coached era, makes it more difficult than ever for any players to stand out above the rest.
wrong, they are less talented as far as skill, the naked eye can see that this generation has no neymars, messi's, iniestas, ronaldinhos etc
@SI-cd7xs erm... is the video not talking about the big talents that didn't go on to reach those levels or deliver as consistently?
The over coached aspect is real. That's why we aren't seeing playmakers like Ronaldinho anymore. Although Dinho wasn't just a generational talent. If he'd been a little more devoted to training and partied less, he would be in the conversation about the greatest player ever, full stop.
Today’s players are severely lacking when it comes to talent and skill as compared to the greats of yesteryears. It's almost amusing how they lack even the most basic composure in front of a keeper, resorting instead to mindless, brute force tactics in hopes that the ball might land in the goal by sheer chance. Why even attempt at displaying the refined artistry involved in maneuvering around an opposing keeper or execute the graceful finesse of a skillful chip, when you can simply aimlessly send a powerful shot praying it might hit the target?
And don’t even get me started on these so-called footballers' misguided attempts at dribbling, which only serve as flashy step-overs, devoid of any technique or artistic playing style. They are completely oblivious to the significance of composure, consistent accuracy and vision as they flail ineptly on the field, unable to comprehend the basics of playing football.
@Zagirus there are some players who have found themselves in the top leagues, and even the top clubs, by mistake. But you're taking it too far. There are good young players
@@Zagirusyep. There’s a lack of elegance and smoothness nowadays. Football isn’t beautiful in the modern era. If I was a kid watching this stuff I would’ve NEVER fallen in love with football
You missed the biggest flop of that generation. Balotelli! But I will say, along with all of your points, the longevity of the old guard hampered the growth of that generation. Messi and Ronaldo are STILL playing along with other players pushing 40. Older players still playing at that level didn't allow the focus to fully shift towards the younger players. And now that generation (my generation actually..35) has been sacrificed for this new generation of amazing talent to flourish. You see this in the NBA with players like Lebron still playing and, not coincidentally, the workplace of average people.
I agree but Balotteli had alr failed to unlock his potential by the 15/16 szn which is around the era he’s using as a starting point
I think Balotelli’s failure is mostly on himself and his poor attitude
I think a large part of the problem is that football became too tactical, which is not a bad thing but it created a large pool for physically capable players.
Speed and offensive awareness for forwards
Stamina and defensive awareness for midfielders
Speed and strength for defenders
This is a good thing for fundamentals but it should not come at the cost of creativity.
Technical awareness is a rare thing in football these days.
Coaches rely on systems to combact other systems instead of creative flair to break said systems
Teams like Madrid continue to succeed because they always have such players, who can break systems
Technically aware players offer a level of output that diminish their faults because they are aware of more then what the coach wants them to do
If u can create a place for such players ,u will likely succeed
It is funny how you dont talk about Germany and German players here, while they are the epitome of this problem. 2013/2014 was a peak to German football that the newer generation couldnt come close to. People like Kimmich already talk about how they dont want to be a part of the generation that couldnt achieve anything, even though he and people like Goretzka, Gnabry and Sane are fundamentally responsible for the last triple season. However the Bundesliga seems to finally wake up, which is atleast partially due to a mixture of young and old stars and finally some adversary for Bayern.
Bro so many of the stars that was supposed to lead the German national team just disappeared, Gotze, Schurrle, Draxler
@@matthewmartin7391 yeah exactly. Götze is basically the last one that is actively playing of this generation. And he had to go through alot. Hopefully he can achieve another title with his elder statesman play in Frankfurt.
Those players suffered from the pepfication of football
Manda you got the strength to upload especially after tonight man, fair enough 😭😭😭
@@kovius564 I uploaded it at exactly 3 and then turned on the game. After Gordon’s goal I went to get food man I didn’t even bother torturing myself wit the rest 😭
@@mandafrombkeverything abt that game was rancid-I’ve defended Arteta but Martinelli and Havertz as they have for most of the season has played like they’d never seen a football in their lives and he left Sterling freezing on the bench
A week into the new year and we’ve basically cost ourselves two trophies it’s actually depressing watching this team
@mikeoxlong442Defend Arteta? All of our attackers bar Saka have regressed under him.
Basically the late millennial players (88-95) that largely failed to keep up expectations, I won't lie though...even the early gen z players (96 or 97-02) haven't really have been all that great despite messi and ronaldo no longer holding the game to such a high standard...we shall see where it will go for them.
Mbappe is our only hope for Ballon d or as gen z and it does not look it will happen hahaaa
There are lots like palmer and musialle etc@@Mossaab-kg3cj5hc5s
@αστρονI was gonna say palmer is the only player itw right now who reminds me of an old school silky smooth footballer and not a tactical robot
dont forget all the former players becoming pundits and over criticising young players and teams eg troy deeney and carragher to name a few
I said that for years. Thanks for the videooo
if you copy and pasted neymars career even 5 years later i promise he'd have 3 ballon d'ors.
@MilesMorales288 Easily. The revisionism his career is gonna get later on cuz of being in Messi/CR7’s shadow is about to be nasty as hell. A lot of Vini stans were already doin victory laps when they thought he was gettin the Ballon D’or
@@mandafrombk fr hes easily the 3rd best of the messi ronaldo era, stats aside hes more talented than everyone else bruh. them vini glazers were about to have a field day forgetting vini's "ballon dor season" was an off season for prime ney (bear in mind ney's the most injury prone of the 3 so he almost always play less games and still clears vini stat wise)
@@mandafrombk Messi and Ronaldo really ruined a lot of players chances of the spotlight
@MilesMorales288 Iniesta did more during prime Messi-Ronaldo era imo, he was by far the best
@MilesMorales288 Neymar statswise was close to Messi and Ronaldo level when he was fit. That's how crazy Neymar was
Nice video dude
Without Ronaldo and Messi they would be viewed differently. They where all just overshadowed. In longterm and in peak quality. The old superstars did not have so many great years at all.
3:09 Iniesta went to Japan
@@johna5229 you’re correct, thanks
@@mandafrombk no problem, good vid styll
a lot of great points were made here. I hope you are right about the next Gen being better at handling social media but I'm not optimistic like look at Garnacho for example. its true that people need to stop hating and look at players as people BUT its always gonna be hard for the average dude to chill when someone like Rashford or Pogba clearly has all the talent in the world but is week in, week out killing your favorite team while making like a million a month. Too many games, too much distraction, too much physicality from modern pressing techniques so I feel for the boys but overall this has been a really good season so far in the big leagues and the champions league.
The avarage player has gotten better so theres less superstars
physically yes skill wise? absolutely not.
The average player has gotten worse
@ 0 ball knowledge
Interesting takes from this section. One thing that should also be considered is the career moves these guys are making. Some of them are just awful. Hazard, Neymar and Coutinho left their clubs when they had the support to continue performing at a high level. Let’s even add players like Ousmane dembele and Griezmann to Barca. Another example is how United have absolutely killed so many talents(Pogba, Rashford, Martial, Sancho, Lukaku, Lingard etc). A lot of players take unnecessary gambles based on money and fame rather than places where they can continue developing/performing and are appreciated.
Hazard and Neymar were literally let go because they were too much of a liability to their clubs due to the injuries, it wasn't a matter of them being blinded by money lol. Hazard literally just retired after Madrid.
Every football player these days feels like a random NPC character that you know is about to become irrelevant in a few seasons smh
Watch a real madrid game, leaving the hate behind (if u have hate in the first place). U will change ur mind
@@Dependentabsiccareal madrid? U mean The npc club
@@WilliWil.
Carlo is known for allowing the players to show their ability and not follow a rigid structure.
But since u have preconceived hate, so I don't think you would even care
@@Dependentabsicca madrid?
The same club that relys from transfers than developing their youth academy, clearly a soulless club.
@ carlos sytem is extremly rigid the only relationism in his system is between the attackers which becomes even more clear in big matches where they stay back and only counter attack
They are entertainers. Just like singers or DJs they are going to be used by the industry to please people, squeezed to the very last drop. They get paid very well after all, and professional sports have always been short careers.
For me it's really simple. If you let certain players in your league (who you know's better than everyone else btw) be the face of that league, they probably will expose the game fr what it is, you know. Soulless, ruthless, loveless...with the wear and tear to boot.
that quote at the end hit hard
World class players are very rare now a days
They have always been rare
brilliant analysis
Some good players in their early 20s: Duran, Palmer, Musiala, Wirtz, Rogers, Bellingham, Rodrygo, Gordon, Pedri (even though he is injury prone)
What a joke, there is no way Anthony Gordon is world class, in fact players like him are the highlight of today's problem, average and over hyped.
@@abutalairsolutions5546 he's actually underrated
Literally no one calls him world class
Icl in a years time Cherki will be in those convos
@@abutalairsolutions5546 he said good not world class
Ik you from have hope’s channel
Modern footballers are the maestros of mediocrity. Their understanding of composure and consistent accuracy is as mythical as unicorns. Why bother with technique, like a deft chip over the goalie or an elegant dribble around, when you can simply bulldoze forward, right? Ball control? Vision? Precision? They must’ve missed those lessons while perfecting the art of looking perplexed on the field. Calling them "professionals" is a masterstroke of irony, like crowning a jester king.
nothing more to say, great analysis.
I just think its more difficult to be a great individual player now. Teams are set up to deploy multiple systems and nulify threats. It will take a real special player to consistently make the difference. Plus every player is an athlete now with good stamnia, strength and pace.
Manda we lost to Newcastle 😭😭😭😭😭😭
@@yni3240 Saka gettin hurt was the last straw but I held out hope cuz Nwaneri was ballin, then he got hurt too. After today if we don’t sign any attacker I’m done til Saka come back 😭 pitiful performance bruh
@@mandafrombk There are some good young players, but they have more speed than skill. Also, Once they get that giant contract shoved in their faces, motivation to keep balling out goes out the window.
"dipped off to china" LOL I think he went to Japan
Another thing that contributed: A lot of these players hit their supposed prime age right in the middle of the pandemic empty games as well.
Sure it’s an excuse that’s convenient for the players, but I do believe the motivation of the top players wasn’t as high for 2-3 years.
you don't miss
Good video but left out the fact that players are now coached just to be cogs in a machine, just look at Mouriniho or Saint Pep.
Yes. Also new coaches and clubs wanta over complcate things tactically. They want to score in specific ways only by passing the ball into the goal. This is why we hardly see any long range efforts or solo runs. Wingers are told to play it safe by passing backwards. It's frustrating to see. Now we have false wings backs.
Very true
@@j7sportvideo24 Yeah,this goes back a long way. I remember watching Barca with MSN trio lose some games and thinking they should have mixed tici taca passing with a few long balls and try and get a result. All wins count in the end even ugly ones(can you tell I support Northern Ireland?).
@@j7sportvideo24 Sorry meant to type reply to you but did to comment below but applies to both, cheers.
@@j7sportvideo24 Sorry read reply below( It's been a long day).
10:24 that is wild i was never aware of that , and it is a bit ironic coming from that piece of crap ofa human called Giggs
Is in production more important than being a good footballer only without scoring goals scor8ng goals has become underrated people have different preference
As an anime nerd I was about to spaz out on bro for saying “Iniesta went to China“ but TH-cam did that thing where it shows people in the comments who left a comment at the timestamp LoL.🤷🏿😅I’m joking but anyway, I’ve never seen this channel before! Hope you reach 7.5K soon!
Just finished it, glad to see another American who is into world football!
God bless you ❤
Iniesta headed to japan
There’s tons of amazing talent at the moment but they’re massively underperforming due to poor management, and very little game time due to overload of players, ferran, mudryk, Joao Félix, mount, Rodrygo, richardlison, Antony, foden, mbappe himself, havertz, leao , darwin Núñez, vlahovic, musiala, chiesa and loads and loads of other players who are in their prime like dembele, nkunku, Werner jovic, Asensio, Gabriel Jesús , grealish , rashford sterling, sane paqueta and others that I can’t think of
Bro you are so fucking well articulated and funny and basically I’m going to come kiss you I mean solid video
Bro what the hell😭🧌
?
Khavaradona is the exception
He is a legend already
(11:32) I mean, sure, it might have been a novelty, the whole uprise of social media and all…
But if we take it into consideration that Messi is only about 5 years older than Neymar, we see some crippling differences in behavior, especially towards social media.
Neymar started playing professionally in 2009 at 17 years-old, as a promise wonder boy. In 2010, he won the Brazilian Cup and, in 2011, he won the Libertadores (the South American correspondent to the Champions League).
By that time, social media was really booming with Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, TH-cam and all of those…
Messi was about 23 or 24, so I guess we can say that he, too, was a rising star. It’s fair to say it could have had some impact on his mental health as well.
However, when we look at it today, Neymar spends ridiculous amounts of time arguing online with so-called “haters”. Instead of spending so much time, attention and energy to debate with stranger who don’t want to debate, but rather offend, he could dedicate himself to preserving his image and focusing on his training.
(Although I took Neymar and Messi as examples, this can easily extend to many young talents from that era, such as CR7, and many future promises from the 2010s, such as Pogba, as mentioned in the video)
To be fair, 5 years in football makes all the difference
Messi is an exception cause of how he handled the limelight compared to his peers
Even CR7 with all his perceived pride at the time
But the truth is the start of the social media era changed the way football worked, and the likes of Neymar literally exploded at the same time as some of these platforms (Twitter, TH-cam, and even the growth of already established platforms like Facebook)
Neymar, Pogba, James Rodrigues, etc. These were new breeds of public figures in an era where they were not just experiencing praise and scrutiny from the press and the general public from the very launch of their careers. Imagine if the likes of David Beckham had to deal with social media from the very start of his career, considering how the general press alone got to his head while at Man Utd.
That's why that generation struggled more than anything.
They built their careers at the heart of the digital ages, I mean watch the Neymar documentary, he literally became one of the most famous players in the world cause of social media at 17, even people who didn't watch the Brazilian football league knew who he was the cause of platforms like TH-cam back in 2010/ 2011, whereby the likes of Messi had already established a sense of self before they established a digital presence.
So I think the social media aspect being a problem for that generation is a fair argument.
Of course the millennial generation couldn’t live upto its expectations
Top 10 midfielders 2024?
Lol put respect on Isco he still did his own thing fr
Isco was definitely meant for more tho
The Guardiolification of football. That's your answer.
Unc take
Over Exploitation...
Short❌️
Medium❌️
Long❌️
Really long✅️✅️✅️✅️
Who s rodry?
They got complacent, that's what happened. I suppose that is always a possibility if middle of the pack players get paid 300k a week.
I blame United
Brother drink some water