The contemporary history of the world's favourite game spans more than 100 years. But which decade do you think is the golden era of football? What's your opinion?
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Experts of last DAILY TOPIC: Why do so few English footballers play overseas?
Well,this really came at the right time,because I've always wondered while more players from maybe Spain or Italy or France regularly make their way to the EPL,and they do very well too,the likes of ozil, Zlatan and Sanchez being good examples, why not vice versa too?why do the English guys yearly prefer to stay indoors,at the EPL and are scared to pay a visit to other regions of the world?
To start with,my first bet would be the issue of "Family".English players,over time,have really formed the habit,or let's say,taken to the idea of settling down very early.most English players get married in their early twenties, and before we can say jack,their families get 100% attached to the inarguably, rich culture of England which in the long run,affects their career decisions, as the players were naturally the creators of the families in the first place.
Another theory of mine to the reason while the EPL guys are reluctant to step foot outside their lovely English kingdom,lies in their dogmatic premonition, that the EPL is the best league in the world.and why we they want to leave?,when truly the beautiful game of football was said to have originated from England?, but yet,one can't waste precious time envying this rich history of theirs,as they are,on the international and arguably on European platform, yet to prove their metal and giving Italy or Spain a good spanking in their bottoms.
Another of my favorite thoughts,without much ado,I guess,lies in their individuality,which is at the same time linked to "Lady luck".a perfect example of this particular thought of mine,is the Morrison-Pogba Comparison. Morrison was often seen as the more noticeable midfielder in that Manchester United youth side. Morrison left Manchester United for West Ham in January 2012, just two days short of his 20th birthday. Pogba, who is still only 22 years old, left United the following summer, when also aged 19.but at the moment, the contrast is so remarkable, seeing as Pogba,who left later,has made it to Limelight while Morrison at the moment is still trying to get a starting shirt in the first eleven.
other reasons include lack of willingness to rise to the top in foreign lands in terms of performance and also,the ability to just seat down for once and take the pain to learn Spanish, German,French or Italian and before we know it,they are off packing their belongings,ready to come back to their safety zone,Which is the English Premier League.
English players rarely play outside EPL because of many reasons:
1- They're overrated . Apart from Kane, none of their players would be a starter at a top club outside England
2- They don't fit other leagues. They're used to EPL and it's physical style of play.
3- As we all know, EPL is the richest league in the world. Good for players who love money ( In short, most footballers)
4- They're overpriced. Per example, Tottenham wanted about 200 million euros for Kane. Do English clubs really think someone will buy players for more than their true value?
Few Englishmen play overseas because of a number of reasons of which I'm going to discuss below.
Firstly, English players don't play overseas because they're not talented enough! A fringe Barcelona player like Sanchez who barely saw first team action in Barca is now the top player at Arsenal. Juan Mata and David Silva spent seasons coming third with Valencia yet now they're top dogs at the elite Manchester clubs. The Bundesliga has such gifted players like Goetze, Reus, Kroos, etc. English players with similar ability are just not there! Today, ask for a top Englishman in any of Europe's top 5 leagues (with the exception of EPL) and you'll get none. The talent is just not there!
Secondly, Englishmen aren't wanted by top teams in mainland Europe! The Premier League is probably the only top European league that prioritizes pace and physicality over ability on the ball, possession or good defending. That is why, in leagues like the Serie A, La Liga and the Bundesliga, where attributes like possession, on-ball ability or defence are prized, Englishmen will fail. Therefore top clubs elsewhere usually don't like English players and they end up staying home.
Again, English boys are grossly overrated, overhyped, overhyped and pampered! Since 1992, there has been crazy money in the Premier League, which has inflated the transfer fees of English players manyfold. For any foreign club to buy an Englishman, they'd have to fork out 3-4 times more than his true worth. An example in the Premiership would be how Liverpool were massively conned when buying Carroll, Adam, Downing and Henderson. £100m spent on that lot! When the likes of Cesc Fabregas are bought for just £24m! This is why Arsene Wenger and Sir Alex preferred to either get an Englishman only from the academy or buy them as teens, and turn to foreigners in the main transfer market. Foreigners have better technical ability, and are value for money. If clubs start charging £150m for players like Dele Alli, which top foreign club's gonna want any Englishman, let alone the Harry Kane's of the land?
Also, much of the crazy money results in inflated salary packages for players, giving them less incentive to want to leave. When you earn so much in the EPL where your pace and physical nature are celebrated and prized, why would you want to risk getting shown up in a foreign league and decrease your value? Top players like Owen started only 15 games in Spain. Beckham was a high profile move and he had some good times in Spain, but Real were able to win the league back from Barcelona only after Capello phased Beckham out of the first team. Players like Kane, Chamberlain, Jack Wilshere and co were made to believe they are the best in the world and on the level of players like Ronaldo, Messi and cos level which is absurd!
It is for these reasons that English players usually prefer staying home over playing abroad.
MRCOOL
63
Era of football has always been there maradona and pele era both are just incredible legends the way they putted football into new height was amazing both played like just beast they scored goals no one ever imagined of there was a ronaldo and ronaldinho era where both were regarded as the best players on the planet players like pirlo,buffon,xavi,iniesta had their own era which was superb to watch but i watched the messi and ronaldo era both are just legends scoring 30 goals in a season no body imagined every where messi and ronaldo poster like where there people all over the place know messi and ronaldo there had been a debate messi is the best or ronaldo is the best similary like maradona is the best or pele is the best but players like lampard,steven gerrad,alonso,pirlo and even more came and left there are now players like neymar,asensio,mbappe,dybala and more era will came football era will never stop
Timz
44
There have been so many uncountable great decades of excellence and beauty in World Football. Ranging from the Pele and Garrinchas, Sir Bobby Charltons, George Best, Di Stefano, Puskas, Gento and Eusebios, Maradonas, Cruyffs, Brazil's golden generation of Ronaldo, Ronaldinho, Romario and Kakas, Germany's Khan, Beckenbauers, Italy's Maldinis, Tottis, all the way to the Messi and Ronaldo's today. Legendary decades of brilliance in football have we witnessed. However, I'm tempted to use the synonymous meaning of decade which is 'decennium' (a period of 10 years) in order to analyse and explain to detail why I think the 2007-2017 period has been the Golden Decade of Football! Below are the reasons this decennium tops all others. In the 2007-2017 golden era of football, we've witnessed amazing talents such as Ricardo Kaka in his prime at AC Milan, great attackers like Ibrahimovic, Luis Suarez, Ronaldinho, Raul, Lewandowski, Wayne Rooney, Drogba, Neymar, Totti and many more! Legendary defenders such as Rio Ferdinand, John Terry, Phil Lahm, Thiago Silva, Sergio Ramos, Dani Alves, Puyol, Cambiasso, Materazzi, etc have also come to the core of football. Again, Midfield Greats like Xavi, Xabi, Lampard, Gerard, Iniesta, Modric, Pirlo, Ballack, Kroos and so on have graced this decade while in the goalkeeping department, we've had Iker Casillas, Peter Cech, Edwin Van Der Sar, Manuel Neuer, Victor Valdes, Gialuingi Buffon, co being witnessed! What makes this particular decennium stand out however is the 2 Gods of Football and All Time Greatest we've witnessed in Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi! Never in the history of football have we seen such a Consistently Competitive Duo such as these 2. They are the Aliens who have redefined football and what it means to be successful with mind-blowing stats between them. Not in the glorified eras of Pele and Maradona did we see this consistent level of phenom! In a 10 year period, they've both won 5 FIFA World's Player Of The Year awards respectively. 5 and 4 Ballon Dors which could soon be 5 apiece as well. They've graced football in a way we never might witness again and are the true Golden Era of a decade in football. 4 Uefa Champions Leagues to 3, 4 Golden Boots apiece, over 100 Goals in UCL apiece and over 600 career goals respectively, we've never had such a high level of true, pure and consistent greatness in a decade of football as this one in history. It is for the above mentioned reasons that the 2007-2017 Ronaldo-Messi Decade is the Golden Era of football!
Akekala
40
Which decade do you think is the golden era of football? First of, the term ‘Golden Era’ in sports, and in particular here soccer, is used to describe a period bombarded with an exceptionally gifted group of players of a similar age who all emerge and literary break and over exceed their normal expectations and abilities than normally what we are accustomed to. So Wow! with that out of the way, where do I even begin. With so much history in this sport I guess I will stick to what I know and understand best and that is the period from 2000 to 2010. Its inevitable that some will disagree but lets be honest here, which decade has ever boasted a raw list of world class players such as Luis Figo, Zidane, Raul, Puyol, Deco, Thierry Henry, Ronaldinho, Ronaldo El Fenomeno, Iker Casillas, Oliver Kahn, Cafu, Roberto Carlos, Maldini, Rio Ferdinand, Javier Zanetti, Andrea Pirlo, Dennis Bergkamp, Cannavaro, Rino Gattuso, Xavi, Iniesta, Patrick Vieira, Steven Gerrard, Rooney, Michael Owen, Pavel Nedved, Francesco Totti, Jay Jay Okocha, Kanu, Desailly, Cristiano Ronaldo, Ruud Van Nistelrooy, Andriy Shevchenko, Samuel Eto'o, Lionel Messi and so many more and I can't list here all bundled up in a single decade of exciting high and lows of a sport we all love football. Forget the past decades of when Hungary and Sweden would dominant in the 1950's, or Hollands and Brazils domination of the 1970's or Colombias controversial dominace of the 80's to the 90's...the 2000 decade era has produced and hosted more in quality & quantity exceptionally talented footballers who have broken records after after records and more football rivalries that will live on for many generations before they can ever be broken again. This Golden era has had more activities which continue to shape footballing landscapes even today so to help me argue my case I will be listing my points as follows starting with the year 2001 going upwards. would have include activites that happened in 2000 but have decided to skip it. 1. Fiorentina Perez infamous 2001 megalomaniac "Los Galactico Project", which gathered the world's best footballers (individuality, but not as a collective), forever shifted the boundaries of football financial spending. 2. In 2002, We witnessed the rise of Olympic Lyons as French league Champions and dominanted it for a record 7 consecutive successful title defences. A feat no club in Europes top 5 leagues has ever managed to achieve. In case you are still doubting the significance of this, in their period of dominance they produced world class players such as Benzema, Essien, Malouda, M. Diarra and Abidal. 3. In the same year of 2002, we witnessed the resurgency of Brazil, led by a fascinating attacking trio, popularly called "the three R" (Ronaldo,Ronaldinho & Rivaldo), who stormed the world cup in Japan and Korea becoming the world champion for the fifth time and also confirming their status of the best National team of all time. 4. 2003, Russian multibillionaire Roman Abramovich arrived in London. In years that will follow, with his money he lifted Chelsea on football map pioneering a trend which can now be atrributed to the likes of Europes super elites of both Manchester clubs, Paris St Germain, and Monaco who are owned by corporate billionaires. 5. In 2003-2004 Arsenal went unbeaten throughout the league season - a rare feat not achieved even by the likes of Pep Guardiolas mighty Barcelona. Some of the goals and plays from that season are simply breath taking to watch even upto now. The team was called the "Invincibles" and consisted of Arsenals football greats like Henry, Viera, Bergkamp,Toure, Kanu and Robert Pires. 6. 2004, The world was introduced by eloquent, often arrogant, but highly successful coach by the name of Jose Mourinho and the rest was history. 7. 2004, Perhaps one of the biggest upsets in the history of the European tournament shook the world at large when the lowly ranked team of Greece took down a star studded Portugal and crowned European champions. 8. 2005, Champions League final in Istanbul was one of the most exciting in the history of the competition. Liverpool was down 3 nil at half time, what is clear is that we do not know what Carlo Ancelotti told his AC Milan players because Raphael Benitez Liverpool led by a Steven Gerard overturned an almost impossible goal difference, levelling it and eventually beating Milan on the penalty shootouts. 9. 2006, Italy triumph at the World Cup on Germany soil. Zidanes farewell on unexpected way - losing his temper on a Marco Materazzi provocation by hitting him in the chest with an infamous headbutt which earned him a straight red in overtime with the eventual tournament winners Italy taking advantage of a man short France who were favorites to go through. 10. 2007. The Barclays premier league may boast the most exciting and competitive teams in Europe but that did not stop the England national team from failing for the first time after 24 years to qualify for Euro 2008. It was a shock on the island, whose football league is perhaps the best in the world, but is also full of foreigners. 11. EURO 2008 in Austria and Switzerland the winner became Spain for the first time after 44 years. Spain led by Luis Aragones took over the domination of world football something that Brazil had globally presented. The best EURO 2008 Team of the tournament had 9 Spanish players mostly from Barcelonas famous La Masia academy. This EURO will specially be remembered by dramatic quarter finals match between Turkey and Croatia. 12. 2008: The Sheikhs Arrival slowly surely turned took over Manchester City. It is this very foundation under the supervision of the Arab sheiks that has turned the noisy neighbors of Manchester City into a powerful European club challenging for trophies both domestic and continental ones. 13. 2009: Not one but two "Los Galacticos" Era Began in one decade with the re-election of Fiorentina Perez who went on to break the transfer records twice with the signings of Cristiano Ronaldo and Ricardo Kaka in attempt to dethrone the Pep Guardiolas tiki taking jagonault of Barcelona. 14. 2009: This is a decade that saw FC Barcelona win everything there is to win for a European club to become perhaps the games disputed Greatest Team of all time (it dearly pains me to even write this). 15. Controversy and excitement was not far though, 2009 also saw Thierry Henry literally giving a 'Hand' to score against a helpless Ireland and help France qualify for the World Cup 2010 which was hosted by an African country for the first time since its inception. 16. 2010: Internationale Finally Wins the Champions League. Inter didn't win the Champions League since 1965, but it all changed in 2010 when they finally won the major title in club football. They also won the triple in 2009/2010 season. 17. 2010. Exactly ten years after France, Spain managed to combine the European and world crown. The backbone of Spain was ofcourse the team from Catalunya...Barcelona. 18. 2010. For the first time we witnessed a team spend a billion dollars in transfer fees. Real Madrid in the last ten years spent an incredible 1 billion euros. A total of 48 players arrived at the Santiago Bernabeu and the three most expensive were Cristiano Ronaldo, Kaka and Zinedine Zidane. So to answer your question again I say the decade between 2000 to 2010 because it simply shaped footballing landscapes on and off the pitch. Financial limits and records literary shattered all in the name of football. Controversies over match fixing to infamous headbutts, to players scoring with hands, legendary footballing rivalries were born featuring the likes of Lionel Messi vs Ronaldo to Mourinho vs Guardiola showdowns the last decade never ceased to amaze.
Rutkos_2
33
This is a tricky one. I think that it depends when the person was most active and what are his club prefences. For my opinion the present era starting from 2000s is the best. Football was in a way transformed and many great events took place. ➡️ AMAZING TRANSFERS. Football witnessed some amazing transfers. Figo broke the hearts of Barça fans, best player on ManU was snatched by Real and PSG showed that money can buy anything. ➡️ COMEBACKS TO REMEMBER. Liverpool put up one of the Greatest performances in their history to down mighty Milan in 2005 UCL final. More recently, Barça did the impossible to win UCL tie against PSG. After being 4-0 down after 1st leg, they proved everyone who dismissed them wrong and won 6-1 in return fixture. ➡️ GREATEST MANAGERS and PLAYERS. Some Managers made a mark which was never seen before. Like, Pep Guardiola made Barça played best football ever, Benitez became immortal at Liverpool, to spice things up we had Mourinho too and Zidane showed a seamless transition from player to manager winning back to back UCL for first time in the modern game. Also, Great Players like Gerrard, Xavi, Iniesta, Kaka, Bonucci, Zidane,Figo,Pirlo,Henry... the list won't end, made an everlasting impression on the game. ➡️ MESSI and RONALDO. A separate point to mention the 2 legends of the game. They both showcased the greatest rivalry world had ever witnessed. A duopoly over the Ballon D'or was established by them which has continued for past 10 years. Who is better, is not to be discussed. Two G.O.A.T.s of Football are to be enjoyed by watching their game. There maybe more events worth a mention but these were the important ones according to me. #EratoRemember
xasaasi17
32
I don't think so. Soccer is popular and growing because the next generation seems to be more exciting than the previous one, and more and more people always wait for the next world cup, the next stars. But the 2000 is special for producing 2 top players in Ronaldo and Messi at the same time, not counting Top 10 players at the end of their career like Ronaldo1, Zidane, Henry etc.. Until recently, the list of football's greatest players has been lengthy, linear and comprehensive. In other words, the world's most popular game has witnessed its share of greatness at all points throughout its history, with the geographically and stylistically disparate dots forming a straight line in time—from Alfredo Di Stefano to Pele, from Pele to Johan Cruyff and from Cruyff to Diego Maradona. In the current day, however, a number of transcendent talents have emerged simultaneously, suggesting a new golden era is dawning in football. Two players—Lionel Messi of Barcelona and Argentina, andCristiano Ronaldo of Real Madrid and Portugal—have already risen to greatness
realEddy
24
well,funny enough, on seeing this,I couldn't, for the life of me, come to an agreement with myself as to which era I feel is the golden era of football because I have, and the world all over has seen extremely talented players and teams deliver great performances during the course of time itself.To begin with,every era of football has both the players and team of that decade.So,which era, can one really point accusing fingers and declare it the golden era of football? In my own opinion, one could,with bias,label a particular decade as the golden era,probably because they witnessed every bit of it thereby forgetting the rest but the one,I think ,without been preferential,the last decade was indeed,the golden era in the game. The last decade has seen two World Cups, two European Championships and a handful of other tournaments and one team has been the brightest.1 World Cup, 2 European Championships, FIFA team of the year for six years running, Laureus Team of the Year 2011, 1 Mediterranean Games, 3 time World Team of the Year and FIFA Fair Play award thrice in the last decade. The Spanish National Football team have left no stone unturned. In the process, they have conquered all there is and put on brilliant performances on the field. It can be safely said that they are the best team of the past decade (2004-2014). After years of underachieving, being labelled as the ‘chokers’, Spain realized that they had their best chance in bringing glory to their nation with the kind of talent at their disposal. While they were enjoying loads of success with their respective clubs, success at international level eluded them for a prolonged period of time with the European Championship victory in 1964 being the only highlight. They had to break free from the shackles they had found themselves in, realising that perhaps the only way they could was to imprint their style in football for ever. Over the years, Spain have been heavily influenced by players from their own backyard. Players from traditional powerhouses Barcelona and Real Madrid have generally filled up the Spanish XI. Real Madrid stalwarts like Iker Casillas who was the captain for Real was also the captain for the national team. He was joined by team mates Xabi Alonso and Sergio Ramos who forged a great partnership with Barcelona captain Carles Puyol. As Puyol’s career neared its end, in came his team mate Gerard Pique. For a while Ramos played as a right back while Pique was partnering his club captain and as soon as Puyol hung up his boots, Ramos moved to the middle. Exponential midfielders Xavi Hernandez, Sergio Busquets and Andres Iniesta completed the jigsaw and with two prolific strikers in the form of David Villa and Fernando Torres who was in red hot form for a good part of the decade, Spain had nothing to worry about, at least about their team. Others like Santi Cazorla, David Silva, Cesc Fabregas and Pedro Rodriguez ensured that the Spaniards had enough backup. The World Cup win of 2010 would surely be on top of the list of their successes. Iniesta’s goal during the passage of play in the dying stages of the game was the only goal in that match but it was enough for the Spaniards to be crowned the World Champions. The only thing that may even come close would be their victory at the European Championships in 2012. More than winning it, it was the way they played. Emphatically winning every match and virtually dismantling every team en route to the title, the Spaniards were miles ahead of the others. The ‘final’ against Italy was a one sided affair with the Spaniards demolishing Italy 4-0. It was Tiki-taka at its best, a virtual river of overflowing football which oozed class. When its comes down to the players,The names Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel messi are enough to wake a vibrant football fan from his sleep.though there are other talented players, these two,seem to be gifts from another world. their achievements are both endless and their rivalry still continues to amaze the planet.these two alone,keeping Spain aside,with great conviction make the last decade,the golden era of football.
LiamMcCara
21
This is possibly one of the hardest questions to awnser.... you see football is always changing and changing and changing, so you never can really pinpoint the 'exact' era of football but if I would have to pick an era I'd say from the 2000s on Is my most favourite style of football from Pirlo to Ronaldinho to Eto'o to Xavi are all outstanding examples of legendary footballers that played during this era which I thought was where all the best players that te game has ever seen have came out and shone like bright stars on a dark night to become some of the best the world has ever seen, if you agree with this I wouldn't blame you