- Thread starter
- #8,491
miguelfcp
Premier League
- 27 June 2009
I feel your pain, Prosinecki was cut from a different cloth, I find it difficult to think of any equivalents in the modern game. Even players recently retired like a Xavi or your Sneider of Van der Vaart and the like, they dont really compare to the Hagi or Prosenecki type talents. Like yourself I could go on and on about it.
Just looking at the England team from Euro 96 versus the England team from the 2018 World Cup and doing a player by player comparison leaves anyone with no doubt that there has been a clear shift in terms of the types of characters or personalities playing the game. Obviously there is a multitude of different reasons for this reality we are now in, but David Seaman or Jordan Pickford? Tony Adams or Harry Maguire? Paul Ince or Jordan Henderson? Gazza or Deli Ali? Kane or Shearer? To be honest I would even take a Sheringham over Kane. It's not that Kane and the crew are bad players it is more the fact that the game has changed to the point that there is less room for expression in the modern game (I also have more love for the Euro 2000 squad than the 2018 iteration, which speaks even more keenly to my point).
In terms of less room for expression in the modern game, I think it is as true on the field as it is off the field with all of the media training and agents meddling, forcing player moves, robotic interviews and the amounts of money at stake for clubs, players, sponsors etc football has been corporotised to within an inch of its original nature and it is reflected in the type of coporate parlance they use when talking about the sport 'the product'. Its all clean and shiny, the sheen is on point, the modern stadiums almost equivalent in architechtural aesthetic to vacuous modern airport terminals, the sport routinely utilised in order to push whatever political slogan is flavour of the month and keep the sponsors in tow, the idea is to give it the veneer of being clean and wholesome, yet scratch the surface and you see that it is just a big gold plated, diamond encrusted money train that everyone who benefits from does not want to derail.
The on field game itself now bereft of strong tackles, go to ground the referee blows his whistle, and yet still despite the added protcection, we see less skill, less audacity, less mavericks than when two footed challenges were staple hallmarks of the game. Of course two footed challenges are bad and should be punished, but diluting the aggressive elements of the game, elements that (I am in the realm of speculation here) perhaps provided players with a rock face to climb, as a player you had to navigate your way through on field obstacles that were sometimes patently nefarious, pitting yourself against characters of the ilk of a Vinnie Jones or in more refined terms a Roy Keane would provde the opportunity for a player to slay the dragon in a way that modern day footballers are not afforded. Thus a seismic rift has taken hold, even more so currently with no fans at games, the corporatism of football is as glaring as it has ever been.
I truly believe those lucky enough to have been around to wintess the 90's and early 00's witnessed the golden age of the sport when the corporatism had not truly taken hold it was still emerging and the on field game hit just the right note in terms of player safety as well as inherent on field danger, combined with the right level of athleticism so there was still space on the pitch to create moments that are as evocative 20 years down the line as they were at the time, perhaps even more so as time marches on. Even if in terms of popularity the sport has not dwindled, in terms of everything else it seems to be caught in a downward spiral.
Apologies for the rant.
If my English were better, I'd have written that post. Agreed 100%.
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For the first time in many months (excluding a secretive but lonely PES3 matchup weeks ago) I took the PES2 disk out of my PS2, for I remembered to check out on my legendary PES08 ML, 16 seasons in. Played a couple of matches, then on the next day I had an idea for a new ML save and...the unthinkable happened: I saved it over my previous ML save, so...it's the end of that amazing journey. I'd be sadder if I didn't at least feel that closure of having taken the Defaults to worldwide glory, I feel that the job is done nevertheless. 2021 was the virtual, fatal year; here's what the likes of Minanda, Stein, Gutierrez conquered in 15 seasons.
Trophy case:
1 D2 Cup / 2009
1 D2 League / 2010
8 D1 Cups / 2011, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2019, 2020, 2021
5 D1 Leagues / 2014, 2016, 2019, 2020, 2021
1 Masters Cup / 2013
5 WEFA Championships / 2014, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021
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I'm glad I didn't see Stein retiring, what a legend. Defaults' captain for 15 years since 2007, Stein was all about character and grit. He's now undoubtedly my favourite Default of all time - yes, even above Minanda.
On the other hand, Gutierrez was clearly our best player. This team was Gutierrez and 10 more for 15 years; his tremendous goal record confirms it.
I could've shown more players, as despite all the Newgens/PES/WE United players that I acquired over the years, the starting-11 always had at least 9 ML Defaults: Baumann, Jaric, El Moubarki, Ruskin, Stein, Van Der Berg, Hamsun, Ordaz and Gutierrez; all of them have at least more than 300 matches played for the club - and were now close to their retirement, all of them over the age of 35. They'll be forever remembered as legends.