20: Declan Rice, England, M&S Eat Well Play Well, Official England Sticker Collection

In this post Mat Jolin-Beech takes a brave step for any nostalgia based football blogger and points out that modern football is rubbish compared to the good old days. Similar arguments abounded when we were growing up and older generations were upset by players having snazzy hair or colourful boots. No doubt there were some in the 1890s complaining about footballers not having moustaches or having attended a suitably respectable public school. Time for an old man to yell at a cloud. Over to Mat.

There was a post the other week on Twitter-was-X that was probably just pure click-and-rage bait:

“The level of the Premier League is the best in history.
Haaland is better than Henry
Isak is better than Rooney
Van Dijk is better than Vidic
Alisson is better than Cech
Salah is better than Giggs
Rice is better than Gerrard”



WELL. Just no on so many levels. The only one of those I’d even entertain being true is Declan Rice, the sticker for this post, being better than Steven “don’t let it slip” Gerrard. Rice is good but what has he actually achieved? And as much as I could, and believe me I really want to, just say Gerrard was rubbish, he wasn’t. He could win games as well as lose titles. The Scouser’s trophy cabinet is bigger and better stocked than Rice’s.

On the wider point, the Premier League isn’t actually that good at the moment. It wasn’t last season either. Liverpool were decent last season. Everyone else was rubbish. Arsenal the perennial bottle jobs. Chelsea being, well, modern day Chelsea. Manchester City having a Pep meltdown season. And Manchester United… Yes. Exactly.

Even the football isn’t as good. And, yes, this is a bit of a “things were better in the olden days” rant. If you don’t like it get over it. Who cares about xG? Or xAG? Football, and I fully blame Pep Guardiola for this, is dull. Boring. Safe. Why try to beat a man when you may lose the ball, when you can turn inside and pass it back to your centre back? Possession is better than goals right? 

I grew up on players like Gianfranco Zola, Paolo Di Canio and Eric Cantona. Thierry Henry, Wayne Rooney, Ryan Giggs, and Gerrard tore this league apart. Nemanja Vidic could stop anyone, including Haaland, if not Fernando Torres. And prime Petr Cech was one of the top three keepers in Premier League history. For me Edwin Van der Sar and Peter Schmeichel are the other two. Would Rice get into any team in the 90s? Maybe Wimbledon. Would Mohamed Salah really depose either 90s speed runner Ryan Giggs, or 2000s cultured winger Ryan Giggs? No. And No.

Things have got better. Fitness. Tactical awareness. Pitches - look back at how bad they used to be not all that long ago. But is the entertainment value of the football better? How many people smash the ball off a crossbar or bury a volley and shout Calvert-Lewin or Solanke?

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