Bring Back Kerrea Gilbert wrote:
I remember we just couldn't match up to teams like Depor and Valencia tactically at that time. Continental teams were way ahead of English teams in that regard around then.
Valencia were the best team in Spain during that period though. Two CL finals and two league titles in four years. Mendieta and Baraja are two of the most underrated midfielders in modern history. They were as good if not better than us.
I think Champions League used to be a lot more unpredictable because player movement in Europe wasn't as predictable back then. Added to that the smaller match-day squads made it hard to focus properly on two competitions at once. Money wasn't quite as imbalanced. Everyone had a shot, and it made it easier for teams like Liverpool and Porto, whom people tended to underrate, to go far. There was a bit of that going on during our -06 CL campaign too.
Since 2011 or so all the top players have been gravitating towards a very small number of clubs: Real, Barca, Bayern. City might finally have been able to force their way into that small group under Guardiola, and they look likely to win it this year. PSG for all their money is still on the outside looking in, but they might improve more next year. Those five clubs will dominate pretty much everything going forward.
