Soccer fans are susceptible to nostalgia when they consider how much they enjoy the modern iteration of the game. Supporters love to reminisce about a better time of soccer. It was one where games were not disturbed by seemingly needless uses of VAR. Rivalries felt more intense as the colossal god-like figures of its era clashed in the tunnel and on the pitch. Overall, the product felt less predictable.
In recent weeks, there has been a trend among UK-based social media users, particularly popular with those in their 20s and 30s, of nostalgically re-sharing goals, montages and iconic clips of Premier League players between 2001 and 2016.
The early part of the 21st century is an era of the Premier League rife with cult hero figures. They do not exist in the same way today. These players would seemingly show more flair, personality and creativity than the system-based players of today.
The term used to describe such players: ‘Barclaysmen’. Some of the most widely reminisced Barclaysmen, Jimmy Bullard, Jay-Jay Okocha, and Morten Gamst Pedersen, all of whom, whether relating to their playing style or off-field personality, had an attribute that encapsulated something missing from the Premier League in 2024.
Tactical standardization clouds the Premier League
Many believe there was a certain individuality about players and teams of this Premier League era. The sledgehammer style of soccer deployed by Tony Pullis’ Stoke City teams between 2008 and 2013 was distinctively different from Roberto Martinez’s FA Cup-winning possession-based style at Wigan Athletic between 2009 and 2013.
There’s a popular rhetoric that the Premier League teams of today are clone-like, all attempting to emulate the success of Pep Guardiola‘s tactical innovations, such as positional fluidity, most notably the creation of the inverted full-back and more progressive approaches to build-up play.
The narrative of tactical standardization escalated into…
Source link : https://worldsoccertalk.com/news/nostalgia-playing-tricks-on-the-minds-of-modern-soccer-fans/
Author : Euan Walsh
Publish date : 2024-10-27 16:00:00
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