This article won't be about the performance of English teams across Europe, nor the quality of football. But more of a neutral perspective about the little things that made the Premier League much better in the 90's than the present.
Personally I prefered the Premier League in the 90s for a lot of reasons:
Characters - Sure we had Balotelli and still have a few nutters, but back then I don't think you could lay a finger on the likes of Di Canio, the crazy gang, Yorke and Cole, Ginola and model sportsman like Beckham. These days I feel footballers are all the same, flashy lifestyles with no personality.
Diving - Yes Klinsman and Ginola where prime examples of diving in the game, however the extent to how it has evolved is crazy. To quote Neville "it is an epidemic". This isn't so much focused on diving, but more that players are now going down alot easier. Back then clipping someones toe nail didnt constitute as a foul. As of which I don't think you will ever find a Keane or Viera ever again in the Premier League. Sure we still have Cattermole, but compare him to back then, he is just your average player. (That is probabaly a good thing though!)
Money & Advertising - I for one appretiate how football is now available to the global masses via TV. But the money and the amount of advertising that is in football these days is no joke. As of which it has made a big impact on the cost of watching your team. Probabaly the biggest issue with modern football.
Media - This is something that personally annoys me. I think looking at it, it is more of the evolvement of Journalism more than football, however it is due to the popularity of the game. Some of the stories and the depths of which journalists will go to print something slanderus is appauling. Remember when Rooney cheated on (her name excapes me)? It was the main story of every football website and sports pages. This isn't football, this isn't even a story! WHO CARES!? The arise of the Television pudit is something that is equally anoying. Just a popular retired football/pretty boy (rednapp) makes you a 'football expert'. This however, is something I think will change in the future.
Homegrown players - Whilst I think these days foreign players are much better and of which has made the quality of the premier league better. I do miss the household names of English players, when teams were made up of mostly English players. I am not being xenophobic, it just makes your own league a bit more British and authentic.
Rivalries - I just think more was at stake back then, maybe it was becuase of homegrown players, more vocal fans. Man Utd V Arsenal was one I personally loved. You can't really find any personall battles like Keane v Viera anymore. And if there are, it is just a bunch of hairpulling and handbags.
There are alot of other reasons that I feel make the 90s a better era, there are some that I can't even describe. This rant all came about as I lay in me bed reminising of football back in the day and looking at you tube clips of classic games.
Anyway, for you, what is the best english football era?
Is the 90s the best era of English Football
posted on 29/3/13
Agree to disagree, I actually think teams were more reliant on one player back then than they are now!
posted on 29/3/13
haha theres only one read, your including walcott and michu and lennon and dembele etc...all good players but what a joke compared to the players from the 90s
posted on 29/3/13
Look at his list - I named players as good or better.
posted on 29/3/13
no you did not...not by a million miles
posted on 29/3/13
i mean youve got johnson in there...if thats andy, adam or glen, there all not very good
posted on 29/3/13
Yes I did. For an example every single player named is better than Anderton, Iverson, fox, Armstrong, Ekoko, Gayle, Earle, Goldsworth, Hutchinson and Ferguson.
posted on 29/3/13
Nicka - wind your neck in weirdo.
posted on 29/3/13
Pointless debating the 70s with younger fans who wernt even born. For me the 90's was boring only 2 clubs could win the league year after year, although there were some great individual players. The 60s,70s & 80s pre heysel were far more honest times, working class folk could afford to actually go to games, the atmosphere was awsome, & 6/7 clubs had a chance of winning the league. The uefa cup,Cup winners cup, FA cup , Home internationals, & League cup all actually ment something cause the champs league wasnt around. semi finals at Villa park & Hillsboro, Sportsnight, match of the day, the big match, terraces, even the punch ups. Great days. Those youngsters who rate Viera & Keane as soccer hard men know nothing, Tommy Smith, Peter Story,Chopper Harris, Norman Hunter, Kenny Burns would have destroyed them in 10 secs. No prima donnas, 100% effort mud bath pitches ect ect ect great great days
posted on 29/3/13
clapham, actually the tough guys in the 60's were also the players, who could cope with characters like those you mention such as Tommy Smith and Chopper Harris. I am thinking of players such as Best, Greaves and Osgood,who are noted for their flair. Also teams could win the league and finish mid table the next as it was so competetive. I think this happened to Man City after 68 and Everton after 70.
posted on 29/3/13
For me there is nothing special about the 90's. The Sixties and Seventies were far more exciting, where as previous posters have mentioned all the teams had flair players, characters and hatchet men. Whether the reason that I find it more exciting back then was because I was just discovering Football back then and was like a kid in a sweetshop I don't know, but what I do know is that if I look back to the 90's and then I look back to the 60's and 70's I know which I still find far more fascinating.