03 Jan 2026 14:11:40
So reading into a few things now, so like ed says not many good coaches/ managers out there.
Tactics and over coaching of players = some of the worst football we've all seen for long time and it's rife throughout the football pyramid. Then we have the players, im sorry but in my eyes there aren't many world class players out there like there use to be.
20 years ago there were lots, now we have a load of bang average over coached crap.
Football needs to change somewere or somehow soon as it's really not that much fun anymore.
Sorry rant over chaps.
03 Jan 2026 14:28:34
Yet football's never been so popular. Strange one.
{Ed001's Note - in large part, oddly, due to the popularity of the video game version. It has enabled football to break countries like USA, people play the video games and then want to watch the real thing. But they don't know what it used to be like, so can't be disappointed by what they see.}
03 Jan 2026 14:47:10
Football should be played off the cuff so to speak!
Today's game is like painting by numbers. That's one reason I loved Klop he gave players their head and they in turn gave fantastic entertainment in return. It's one reason the way we play now is hard to watch or enjoy. Take your point about the gaming world Edd. Sad state tho.
03 Jan 2026 14:58:12
I did the FA course for coaching kids years ago,
I remember the guy who was doing the course was a youth coach at Burnley or Barnsley or somewhere
He said, the main problem he foresaw with coaching (especially young players) was the freedom, natural instinct and flair being coached out of them, mentioned a lot of coaches teach kids to go to ground with the slightest contact to draw free kicks etc rather than trying to be strong and skilful.
With regard video games, the video game was giving the kids that opportunity to pretend to be their idols, make their own rules up etc without leaving the house instead of if they were playing out in the park with their mates and actually playing real football.
03 Jan 2026 15:00:16
I agree with most of your post but football is still enjoyable for me, watching us right now isn't but I watch football from different leagues when time permits and it helps me enjoy the game still.
If I was watching only PL games, I'd be bored out of my head because for the past couple of seasons the majority of games aren't really enjoyable to watch.
It'll never be how it was in the 80s and 90s, those days are well gone, players were more passionate then. Today? There's too much money in it.
03 Jan 2026 15:11:25
Thinking about it the only games I've enjoyed were Inter and Real. Partly because we win, but it was the intensity and passion. I still look forward to us playing, and watching us, but I don't have as much interest in watching other teams as I once did.
The other thing that's worsened it for me is VAR. The delays before confirming goals particularly kills the enjoyment.
03 Jan 2026 15:17:43
Agred Ed, was about to make a similar point. The amount of plastic fans the whole Messi v Ronaldo era of FIFA brought about was insane, the whole thing was very strange. Football is as popular as it ever was in the countries and to the people that matter. Not to mention the fact that the ever-increasing population, quality of life and accessibility will always result in the growth of popular sports.
madmax - completely agree, all you have to do is look at the incredible lack of world class strikers out there, its not some conspiracy theory or old fart "back in my day" drivel its a mainstream opinion. The influence of heavily popularised inverted winger coupled with overcoaching of youth teams as all but wiped the.
03 Jan 2026 15:26:12
Th3 football is rubbish today . too many teams just seeing out games, no flair, get free kicks etc but the best game by far this season iv watched was Sunderland v Bournemouth. end to end stuff, players giving their all, not much skill but had me watching it in awe . reminded me of the good old days.
03 Jan 2026 15:27:11
Footballs popularity partly comes from the Sky success. Again love them or loathe them their promotion of the game has been very good, also there's been a few golden eras of competitiveness. Ferguson v Wenger, and Klopp v Pep, also the Mourinho era. It was real box office stuff and it's built a huge fan base nationally and internationally.
There was a lot of great football before that but it didn't get the same level of coverage, and it was more of a working class game rather than something for everyone so tickets were slightly easier to come by.
Last few seasons are hopefully just a dip in entertainment terms, other than for the teams that win things of course. Society and politics are full of strong characters so football will no doubt have a few big personalities back in the dug outs soon enough.
03 Jan 2026 16:03:01
It think it was THE Cruyff who said that he was coached football for 2 hours a week- and the rest of the time he spent kicking a ball around with his mates- and posed the question " where do you think I learned to play football? "
I go and visit my parents and think about the time me and my mates would be kicking a ball (tennis) about in the street - you wouldn't now as you'd get mown down by a car.
It means that youngsters are getting pushed into "formal" sessions a lot younger than before and having intuition, flair, freedom, coached out of them.
03 Jan 2026 16:07:59
Just my opinion on things. While football is more popular nowadays, I think there are less true supporters of teams as well. Most of the younger generation, or at least those I've seen online, seem to support the individuals more than the teams they are playing for. On top of that, they are more interested in clowning on other teams who are doing poorly and making memes than they are supporting their own team.
It's all just a way for people to say that they are better than other people because their team is doing well rather than truly supporting the team. Bar this website, I don't see any intelligent or in depth discussions about football online anymore.
{Ed001's Note - I am not so sure about this website being any different at times!}
03 Jan 2026 16:44:19
I watched liverpool v Chelsea dec 87, full match on YouTube, was an enjoyable game both teams going forward as soon as they get the ball back.
03 Jan 2026 16:55:52
It was Roy Keane who said the prawn sandwich supporters n he's right . also someone mentioned its more popular now because of sky . but years back it was full house most games with 60k plus fans packed into stadiums, atmosphere amazing, remember getting kicked out trying to bunk into the Kop from the boys pen v Dynamo Dresden n then bunking back in ., I know what era I'd prefer.
{Ed001's Note - to be fair, ahead of Sly stepping in, the English league was facing lowering attendances. Fans were being treated as criminals by the authorities and the game was dying slowly and painfully.}
03 Jan 2026 17:50:10
Strom, you're forgetting the dark days of the 80s, when our gate was sometimes 35 thousand. Crowds are bigger now than they've ever been.
03 Jan 2026 18:22:21
ED001 I thought because of the hooligan element the attendances were going down, I remember the darts getting thrown at people . ev3n I was thinking bit iffy this, the fans have always been an afterthought in football.
{Ed001's Note - the hooligan element was always there mate, long before then. It was just being highlighted and used to criminalise the fans in the 80s.}
03 Jan 2026 18:24:54
Rome, correct but it wasnt like today were you can get a ticket from a website . you had to get down the ground to get them, but id prefer that Rome . today any day trippers seem to get tickets and the atmosphere isn't the same.
03 Jan 2026 19:43:10
Strom, I'm with you, mate. I used to love queueing hours before kick off, to get a position in front of a barrier on the Kop. Been going since the 70s and I've noticed a decline in atmosphere over the years. Like you say, far too many day trippers, but they spend the money on stuff, I don't. Things will never change back now, sadly.
03 Jan 2026 19:54:54
Indeed, Ed. Can't miss what you never had, right?
03 Jan 2026 23:22:24
Rome . queuing was part of the fun sometimes the gates shut before you got a ticket, then had to scramble to get one, n if you never got one you'd got in on the last 15/ 20 mins when the gates opened, the young ones mightn't even know what im on about ha .
but yea the daytrippers spend in the shop on merchandise, im the same as you i don't either.
04 Jan 2026 04:59:58
For me the '02 '06 and '10 World Cups was peak football as still a more "raw" talent with a good balance of free flow and good coaching.
Some players and top football in those generations, man! There will never be anything like it.