Well i tend to disagree i think the 2002 team was imperial maybe lacking a redondo beside Makalele only and Del Bosque still had the freedom to do what he want
he had freedom on paper, but in reality the freedom wasn't that great because of the makeup of the team.
either way it'd be great fun. I'd love to see Busi battle with Zizou.
I disagree about the A teams now.. show me any A team outside Real and Barca ? who is the superstar ? i mean that's the easiest thing to do to judge by that.. you know who will be the top 4 every year in the WPOY award.. the trio of Barca + CR..
this season? well compared to Barça and Real there are none, but that's exactly my point. Barça are A+, Real are A, which at the very least downgrades everyone else to A-. so right off the bat things look worse, but that's only because of Barça and Real!
there was no Barça and Real (like this) at the start of the decade. if there was, you'd have seen those A teams get knocked down a few pegs just like the current lot have been. those Juve teams, Bayern teams, they could shine alongside Barça and Real because it was a level playing field (more or less).
these teams haven't gotten worse (well, some have, like Juve & Valencia), it's just that Barça & Real have gotten better.
and the WPOY thing doesn't fuck with my theory. like I said, Barça distort everything. and so do Cristiano's gaudy numbers. would Sheva, Nedved or Owen have come near the Ballon d'Or with Messi around? fuck no!
We didn't know who will win it back than, yes the CL played the same role but you had Nedved,Henry,Rivaldo,Zidane,Figo,Ronaldo,Sheva?
Do you see Cavani winning it in the next 5-10 years ? or being a Ruud ? or even a Sheva ?
Cavani could, for sure. the only thing stood in his way is that Barça, Real, Bayern, Milan & City don't need a striker. and while United could use him, it's unlikely they'll move for him as they have loyalties to their current forwards. the best thing for him would be for Juve to win Serie A and then buy him. they're crying out for a proper goalscorer and he could be just what they need.
and it's funny you should bring up Zidane, Figo and Ronaldo because guess where they all ended up? same place Cristiano, Benzema, Kaka and Xabi did. and, apart from in Kaka's case, all those teams had to adjust to losing a really special player. only United spent that money well, just like only Juve recycled the Zidane money back in the day (us & Inter blew it all, really).
But i can point out to 8 A's back in the time .. you had players to fear in every team , i can't even point to a single massive star outside Real & Barca the same way i would say about Ruud about Nedved , About Sheva,Rivaldo
again, every star is being outshone by Barça and Madrid.
there are plenty of great players to be feared outside of the Big Two. they lack the reputation because how can they possibly be hyped to the hills when Messi is around? you can't fawn all over, say, Schweinsteiger, because he's still vastly inferior to Xavi & Iniesta. you can't really big up Nani too much because he's not on Cristiano's level. etc. but there are players to fear everywhere and if you don't respect them they will fuck you up. City didn't respect Cavani & Napoli and look what happened to them.
