Just thought about it when reading one post on random Croatian forum, about how football has changed and how it was way better back then. Some people say nostalgia is illusion, which can be pretty logical since we find ourselves remembering positive things from past more than hailing ones happening now. This concept is something I can purely agree with. I can't think of Kroos being greater player then Schweinsteiger or Ballack, then I think about it and see how he achieved everything he could in one of greatest club sides ever and great national side. From my objective side, I can accept Kroos as greater player (not necessarily better).

Next day I wake up and somehow I think about this and I can't say Kroos is greater than Schweinsteiger again.

So it may be just from my POV but I think 2000s football was way better than football is right now. Simply there was so much worldclass players and right now I can think of maybe 10-15 players who would be best in world in that era (not point of thread though). But yeah, I'm asking different thing.

What do you miss in football the most?

I think there is plenty to say. I personally miss the coverage of U17 tournaments, especially U17 World Cup. How it was all filled with talents and that clubs would go all in for best players at tournaments. Sadly you won't see that often nowadays because you'll have to pay huge amounts of money for yet unproven players who might not even get enough chance in your club.

Serie A being streamed on national TV, which is right now not available in Croatia (you have to pay for private sport channels). Aswell as whole Serie A when it was best league in world (damn, I miss those times).

Deportivo la Coruna with amazing players such as Djalminha or Bebeto, unbeliveable times, aswell as their comeback against Milan I think. Parma too. Wolfsburg too.

Young Cassano, and youngest attack in Serie A history Cassano-Enyinnaya (17 and 19).

Old brilliant sticker albums from Panini.

Don't make this into discussion who's better or anything similiar please.

So maybe I don't really have a place here since I only got into football in 2014 and more seriously started watching it in 2015, but I thought I would share my opinion with you. What I miss the most as of now is the world cup and the feeling it had to it... I know Word Cup 2018 is coming soon but I can't help feeling its ain't gonna have the same magic to it than some older one had. I also would have loved to see Serie A back when it was such a strong and popular league and seriously hope it will reclaim it lost glory at one point. :(

I always saw Kroos, Bastian and Ballack as 3 different types of players even if they are so similar in practice they were so unique to me personally.

I miss the times when more teams had a star player or a star duo, not just the biggest teams, when anything could happen, when a big player could move to a smaller team and make them happy, those things don't happen anymore.

First startibg watching football around 2010 and back then yeah it was much more exciting. imo last 3 years football has kind of declined..

I also missed Serie A. Missed a lot. I warched a lot of Roma games (almost every game) for 2 years while Nataka was there, Capello was their coach and Totti was their captain. Of course Juve, Milan, Inter Parma, Atalanta... Almost every year i had a couple of different teams i was keen on. Football was awesome.

Can agree with all of you. World Cup (especially in 2002) was magical tournament. I seriously doubt will it continue because Russia 2018 looks like last tournament before it is ruined by money (Qatar) and ridiculous amount of nations (2026 and after). World Cup is imo ruined. 2014 was nice tournament, 2010 wasn't so good by overall football played but some nice goals (Ozil, van Bronckhorst and Forlan), also vuvuzelas made it brighter.

@Golazo, absolutely agree. Ballack, Kroos and Schweini are all different types of players. However in German history they can be considered pretty similiar by their importance and how are they key figures in team. Also for that second thing, Baggio to Brescia is amazing stuff. Loved times when players played football because they loved it, not because of money.

@liomessi, yes, I think overall football was better. Much more exciting Bundesliga race at the top, those fantastic PL seasons, Villareal at the time... also few years after that with Messi's 2011/12 season and Bayern's 2012/13.

@tuan, Lazio in late 1990s and early 2000s was team I loved to watch. Just from 1999/00: Boksic, Nedved, Simone Inzaghi, Veron, Stankovic, Salas, Mihajlovic, Salas, Nesta, Simeone...

Bad happens and good happens. I'm very happy with Sanchez and Messi who are the real boss men for their teams.

Just too much tech though and lower quality of official makes it seem bad, but the game quality and memories is good.