Football is beginning to bore me

[Havocc]

I can’t help but feel that football — especially in the Premier League — has become far less exciting since the 1990s/2000s/2010s. Back then, the game was raw, unpredictable, and full of personality. Matches had real edge. Teams attacked with intent, players took risks, and there was a genuine sense that anything could happen. Now it’s all about structure, patterns of play, and endless possession for the sake of control.

Pep Guardiola’s influence has changed everything — and while there’s no denying his genius, his style has made every team want to be a miniature version of City. Build from the back, recycle the ball, wait for the perfect opening. It’s effective, but it’s also drained some of the soul out of the game. Every side plays safe, every move looks rehearsed, and that raw instinct that defined the Premier League seems to have faded.

Think back to the players who lit up the league back then: Thierry Henry gliding through defences with effortless grace, Wayne Rooney playing on pure emotion and power, Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard thundering in long-range goals because they felt the moment, Cristiano Ronaldo taking on defenders just for the fun of it. Even players like Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholes, and Didier Drogba played with an instinct you can’t coach — a natural flair that came from freedom, not instruction.

Sure, the game is more polished now, but is it better? I miss when football felt alive — when players trusted their gut instead of a tactical system.

Does anyone else think the modern Premier League, for all its precision, has lost that spark of instinct and excitement?

 

[J.spurs]

I can’t help but feel that football — especially in the Premier League — has become far less exciting since the 1990s/2000s/2010s. Back then, the game was raw, unpredictable, and full of personality. Matches had real edge. Teams attacked with intent, players took risks, and there was a genuine sense that anything could happen. Now it’s all about structure, patterns of play, and endless possession for the sake of control.

Pep Guardiola’s influence has changed everything — and while there’s no denying his genius, his style has made every team want to be a miniature version of City. Build from the back, recycle the ball, wait for the perfect opening. It’s effective, but it’s also drained some of the soul out of the game. Every side plays safe, every move looks rehearsed, and that raw instinct that defined the Premier League seems to have faded.

Think back to the players who lit up the league back then: Thierry Henry gliding through defences with effortless grace, Wayne Rooney playing on pure emotion and power, Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard thundering in long-range goals because they felt the moment, Cristiano Ronaldo taking on defenders just for the fun of it. Even players like Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholes, and Didier Drogba played with an instinct you can’t coach — a natural flair that came from freedom, not instruction.

Sure, the game is more polished now, but is it better? I miss when football felt alive — when players trusted their gut instead of a tactical system.

Does anyone else think the modern Premier League, for all its precision, has lost that spark of instinct and excitement?

Agree 100%, a point I was making when Xavi tried that rabona a few weeks back (obviously it was a bad decision and apparently he did it because he's just so one-footed, which kind of detracts from my point).

I do think there are some pretty exciting individual players out there right now, Kudus being one of them. But yeah, it does feel all a bit Italia 90 to me. All about tactics and managers with less emphasis on the creativity you're talking about. Maybe it's because of Pep's influence, and because the general standard of quality is so much higher now? I also think the game has never been more physical. Not in terms of the challenges like in the old days, but just the size, strength, and fitness of the players.

 

[J.spurs]

By the way, while us old men are shaking our fists at the clouds, there's another thing about modern football that's pissing me off. Fucking throw-ins. Probably a third of them nowadays are foul throws.

 

[jaxdermot]

there also seems to be so.much more of it
.. super cup . super super cup.. super super super cup..
banana cup
apple cup..
potato cup

international friendly.
international international
my buddies 5 a side
extra money qualifying championships

 

[Havocc]

Too many stats, too many pundits, too many podcasts, etc.

Too many Rory Jennings, too many Mark Goldbridgea. Fucking sideman, ginge, and those clowns…..

I want Soccer AM, Soccer Saturday, MOTD, Goals On Sunday, Super Sunday MOTD2 and Monday Night Football.

 

[Dave]

Yep....I hear ya.

The game itself has been slowly turning itself from a game about winning trophies to a game about gathering wealth. The characters are gone...Gazza, Vinny Jones, Cantona...and why is that ? Because they're not allowed to be themselves. They have to follow instructions and stick to the tactics.
Its becoming a sport where a good thundering challenge now results in a player rolling around for 5 mins and a yellow card. It used to result in a mutual respect between players...who would shake hands but then continue kicking the shite out of each other.
Yep, too much analysis, too much money, but plenty of moans about the amount of games these multi millionaires have to play...on snooker tables.
I find myself settling in to watch a good championship game now more often than PL games. It's a far better league for the dinosaurs like me who likes his football raw and unspoilt. Stadiums now are like multi event arenas...not purpose football stadiums. You can't tell me the new place has a better atmosphere than the old Lane ??
I dont like change. And even though I hate them, I feel for the true Hammers fan, going to see their beloved club play in a soulless bowl.

Clubs are now a play thing for billionaire Americans or others with ,shall we say, questionable connections. The only thing left of the English game is it's geographical location. As an Irish man, the seventies and eighties had countless players all playing for top sides in the league..Mcgrath, Moran, Brady, Giles Keane, "Our Keane", Whelan, and i could name 50 more...now you never or very rarely see players from here get that opportunity because getting a player from anywhere in the world now is so easy.
You see the same regarding players from Scotland and Northern Ireland. Anyway, it is what is....but it's sad imo...The dream a young man from anywhere in Britain or Ireland actually making it at a high level is now very very remote.

Anyway, i agree @Havocc ...the game has got boring. Apologies for going on one...but i enjoy shouting at clouds..

 

[J.spurs]

Clubs are now a play thing for billionaire Americans or others with ,shall we say, questionable connections. The only thing left of the English game is it's geographical location. As an Irish man, the seventies and eighties had countless players all playing for top sides in the league..Mcgrath, Moran, Brady, Giles Keane, "Our Keane", Whelan, and i could name 50 more...now you never or very rarely see players from here get that opportunity because getting a player from anywhere in the world now is so easy.
You see the same regarding players from Scotland and Northern Ireland. Anyway, it is what is....but it's sad imo...The dream a young man from anywhere in Britain or Ireland actually making it at a high level is now very very remote.

The knock-on effect of this is that it's ripped the guts out of almost every other league on the continent, which are only "farmer's leagues" because their talent gets hoovered up before they have a chance to mature.

And in the States, it's flooded the lower leagues and the college game with British, Irish (and to some extent Scandinavian) 23-year olds to the exclusion of local boys. Obviously this is far from the worst thing in our world today, but it is very sad, as are the other things you're talking about.

 

[J.spurs]

I can’t help but feel that football — especially in the Premier League — has become far less exciting since the 1990s/2000s/2010s. Back then, the game was raw, unpredictable, and full of personality. Matches had real edge. Teams attacked with intent, players took risks, and there was a genuine sense that anything could happen. Now it’s all about structure, patterns of play, and endless possession for the sake of control.

Pep Guardiola’s influence has changed everything — and while there’s no denying his genius, his style has made every team want to be a miniature version of City. Build from the back, recycle the ball, wait for the perfect opening. It’s effective, but it’s also drained some of the soul out of the game. Every side plays safe, every move looks rehearsed, and that raw instinct that defined the Premier League seems to have faded.

Think back to the players who lit up the league back then: Thierry Henry gliding through defences with effortless grace, Wayne Rooney playing on pure emotion and power, Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard thundering in long-range goals because they felt the moment, Cristiano Ronaldo taking on defenders just for the fun of it. Even players like Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholes, and Didier Drogba played with an instinct you can’t coach — a natural flair that came from freedom, not instruction.

Sure, the game is more polished now, but is it better? I miss when football felt alive — when players trusted their gut instead of a tactical system.

Does anyone else think the modern Premier League, for all its precision, has lost that spark of instinct and excitement?

Another thing your post has me thinking about--basically because I'm procrastinating at my work--is that these data nerds that used to put such a premium on possession are now turning to set pieces. Nothing wrong with being good at set pieces, or at building from the back, possessing and recycling the ball for that matter. But it's reducing the game to a science and something to "hack" that I find very boring.

 

[spurious]

Another thing your post has me thinking about--basically because I'm procrastinating at my work--is that these data nerds that used to put such a premium on possession are now turning to set pieces. Nothing wrong with being good at set pieces, or at building from the back, possessing and recycling the ball for that matter. But it's reducing the game to a science and something to "hack" that I find very boring.

I don't disagree with any of this, but I kinda dig the focus on set pieces. Not to the exclusion of everything else, but getting the squad together and trying to come up with neat plays, and then drilling until they can be executed makes me think of playing in the park, trying to pull tricks as much as to win.

Nowhere near as exciting as a blistering run up the wing, or a well-worked counterattack - or even the obdurate defence of a slim lead - but I want a squad that does all the things. No reason to discount any of it.

That said, I've always liked sport much more than the talking-and-hype stuff that surrounds it. It's like sex: I like doing it, but not talking about it.

 

[J.spurs]

I don't disagree with any of this, but I kinda dig the focus on set pieces. Not to the exclusion of everything else, but getting the squad together and trying to come up with neat plays, and then drilling until they can be executed makes me think of playing in the park, trying to pull tricks as much as to win.

Nowhere near as exciting as a blistering run up the wing, or a well-worked counterattack - or even the obdurate defence of a slim lead - but I want a squad that does all the things. No reason to discount any of it.

That said, I've always liked sport much more than the talking-and-hype stuff that surrounds it. It's like sex: I like doing it, but not talking about it.

Fair enough, the bolded bit is actually what I like about Frank, who seems to be building that kind of team.