How would the treble winning team fare in this season?

golden_blunder

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Would they be as good as they were back then; or are the teams stronger across the board now?

the thought occurred during one of those “Beckham wouldn’t cope in the modern game” comments
 
They would do the same as they did in 1999.
Because they had strength in depth,world class talent and a world class manager.
They would also fare well because the team actually suited modern day football.
High pressing,hard tackling and wingers like becks and giggs who could not only create but score.
 
Schmeichel, Stam, Gary Neville, Irwin, Keane, Scholes, Giggs and Yorke would all walk into the team and we’d win the league. I think Beckham would be a right sided central midfielder in todays game and thrive pinging balls from deep whilst Cole would be a great alternative to Yorke up top.
 
07/08 was stronger, I'd back them to win it over 98/99.

As for prime Beckham, he would thrive and be one of the best players in the world in any era.
 
The only difference between then and now is modern fitness and bigger squads. I’d say when it came to talent there was a lot more around then than there is in the current game with it’s fascination with athleticism.
 
With modern fitness and sports science, they'd be fantastic in today's game. It's not as if they were pub players back then either!

It's like when people ask how Maradona would fare in the modern game. What, without hatchet men trying to break his legs every time the ball went near him and on pitches that are like carpets? He would destroy teams if he were playing today (provided he kept the weight off of course)!
 
Fifth or sixth in the league maybe? With modern tactics and diet/training techniques, they would probably 'struggle' in todays football.
 
tentan said:
Fifth or sixth in the league maybe? With modern tactics and diet/training techniques, they would probably 'struggle' in todays football.
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Interesting: do you think players from that era are incapable of understanding modern tactics?

this was a team that won it all
 
If you literally transported them as they were from '99 into now, without changing them at all tactically or in terms of preparation, then they would obviously do much, much worse.

If you gave them all the benefits of how football has changed over the last 25 years then they'd still be superb, because it was a superb group of players.
 
tentan said:
Fifth or sixth in the league maybe? With modern tactics and diet/training techniques, they would probably 'struggle' in todays football.
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They would have access to those things if they were playing today.
 
sullydnl said:
If you literally transported them as they were from '99 into now, without changing them at all tactically or in terms of preparation, then they would obviously do much, much worse.

If you gave them all the benefits of how football has changed over the last 25 years then they'd still be superb, because it was a superb group of players.
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No let’s say that group of players were playing now and had the same coaching, fitness etc. how would they do?
 
golden_blunder said:
No let’s say that group of players were playing now and had the same coaching, fitness etc. how would they do?
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It would be hard to fit them into a modern tactic. The 'iconic' XI of that season (I'm not sure if that XI ever actually started a game but let's give it the benefit of the doubt) is a very classic old school 4-4-2, something that is practically dead. Could you turn Yorke or Cole into a wide forward? Maybe, or you could, I guess, play Solskjaer out wide as he has the most experience of doing that. Then there's the Beckham issue: where do you put him? Maybe as a sort of wide playmaker in a 4-2-3-1?

Stam's ball-playing skills were pretty good for that era of CBs but in the modern game, are they enough? We probably wouldn't be too great at playing out from the back. Unless by modern coaching you mean... our defenders would be different players with different skillsets.

I don't know, really. The question is very hard to answer. I think even if all those players were magically brought 'up to speed' in the modern game, the team would still need signings to compete with the best. Apart from anything else, the squad was smaller than what we're accustomed to nowadays. We had five players starting more than 50 games that season; in 16/17 when we played a shitload of games in three competitions, only three players started more than 40 (De Gea, Pogba, and Herrera, if anyone's interested).
 
golden_blunder said:
No let’s say that group of players were playing now and had the same coaching, fitness etc. how would they do?
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The main issue for them would be that if you adjust them tactically, playing a shape/system/style more suited to the current game, then you'd probably need to change the composition of the squad. For example if you're only using one CF then having the four strikers we had then is overkill, while you might be short in other areas. And there might be some positions where you'd then prefer a different profile of player because the style of football wouldn't be the same.

Realistically you just wouldn't build a squad in the same shape as the '99 one now. So for that reason alone they'd be relatively worse now than they were then.

But you'd still fundamentally have a brilliant group of players who would all to varying extents be better than they were then in general terms. Fitter, faster, better coached, better tactically, living healthier lifestyles off the pitch, etc. So still the core of a great team, just in need of some tweaks.
 
Let me ask, 442 is defunct now but with the group of players that we had, could they not make it work now? Leicester won the league with 442
 
Say you fit the '99 team into a more current shape, something like.....

Schmeichel
Beckham - Johnson - Stam - Irwin
Butt
Keane - Scholes
Solskjaer - CF - Giggs
​
It isn't perfect, but you're not that far away from something that would really work.
 
We overcomplicate football these days. Look at what Leicester did. That United team had a lot of mental strength and resilience, fought for each other. I don’t see many teams with that these days other than Real Madrid in the CL.

There may be too many games for the treble, it was a rare achievement and you need a bit of luck in competitions, but they’d challenge for league and CL.

The biggest problem would be how many red cards Keane and Scholes would get in the modern game.
 
Both United and Arsenal from that season would be easily in the top 4 and probably push for the title.

They were all world class because they responded to the era they were playing in. If those players were playing today, they would do the same.
 
golden_blunder said:
Would they be as good as they were back then; or are the teams stronger across the board now?

the thought occurred during one of those “Beckham wouldn’t cope in the modern game” comments
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I reckon the team would be set up a bit differently, more 433/4231, but Christ, the squad.

Imagine playing Beckham, Scholes and Keane in the a midfield three in today's game. Absolutely dominant in my opinion, can sub in Butt if you want too.

Beckham could be in that KDB/TAA role in the inside "half space" on the right. Less winger, tucked in, but like he did at Madrid, when we have the ball. To be honest, I can see him in the modern game at right back, like Trent perhaps.

Front three, just wow. Cole leading the line, Teddy as a #10, Dwight Yorke in any space on the front three.

feck, could play a 442 diamond. I actually think the player who misses out the most is Giggs tbh.
 
sullydnl said:
Say you fit the '99 team into a more current shape, something like.....

Schmeichel
Beckham - Johnson - Stam - Irwin
Butt
Keane - Scholes
Solskjaer - CF - Giggs
​
It isn't perfect, but you're not that far away from something that would really work.
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Yorkie false 9.

Good shout for a system btw.

I reckon though we could play 442 but with Ronnie Johnson in a sort of Stones role who moves to DM in possession making it kind of a 3242. This way we can keep the classic 99 lineup.
 
They would win the league, it's a poor league this season and the players that were in the side back then were brilliant professionals, giggs and Scholes were still winning titles in their late 30's, stam was a beast physically, neville played into his mid 30's, irwin was a great pro, Schmeichel was very much a modern keeper with amazing distribution with his gk throws, Beckham was still playing at the highest level into his mid 30's.
 
We had 4 strikers that would walk into our current starting 11, generational talents like Scholes and Giggs, along with Keane in midfield and Beckham, who could probably play in a midfield 3, out wide or in the 10 role in today's game.

Great back 4 as well and one of the best GK's in PL history. Hard to compare across eras and styles etc but you'd assume we'd be up there.
 
It is unfair to compare older teams to current day without making the necessary assumption of they would have modern diet, nutrition, training and sports science. And that there wouldn't be modern tactical adaptations to the team. The same group of players with those considerations would be competing for every trophy just like City are, but tbh not necessarily clear of City, but definitely not behind either. So they probably wouldn't win the treble as when you have 2 sides like that, they tend to split the trophies and luck determines it.

Schmeichel
Neville Stam Johnsen Irwin
Beckham Keane Scholes
Yorke Cole Giggs​

Would probably look something more like this than a flatter 442. But no reason why it wouldn't work. It'd essentially be like having a midfield of KdB, Casemiro and Kroos, which would dominate in any era.
 
The question needs more detail.

If the question is, if the treble team had the same sports science, tactics, style of play, how would they do then I think the answer is probably not great. However if the question is if that team existed today, all the players in their prime in a squad but they 2023 tactics, science etc then they would do fantastically well.
 
sullydnl said:
If you literally transported them as they were from '99 into now, without changing them at all tactically or in terms of preparation, then they would obviously do much, much worse.

If you gave them all the benefits of how football has changed over the last 25 years then they'd still be superb, because it was a superb group of players.
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Agree with this. That midfield would be very dominant especially if Becks was pushed into a more central role alongside Keane and Scholes and it wasn't such an open 4-4-2. Stam and Johnsen would be very capable of playing out from the back (not sure about big pete though if i'm honest) and neville and Irwin could easily attack just as well as they could defend. Yorke would also be fecking deadly in this era.

On a similar note i compared this current Arsenal side to the one that ran us close in 99 and I think the likes of Vieira and Petit would just wreck most of the midfields in this league, not only in terms of brute strength but technique as well. It really isn't nostalgia, some of the top players in that era were monsters.
 
I think the treble team would of walked this year's league and the years we had Ronaldo, Rio, Rooney, Evra, VDS, Tevez, Park...
 
The treble team barely won the league with 79 points. No chance they could cope with this City team.
 
Keane, Scholes, Beckham and Giggs would have dominated most midfields in the league with relative ease. I think they win it although this City team would certainly give them a challenge.
 
Speed might do them. Giggs would fit in. Beckham Scholes and Keane would be found out I think. Defence would have to play deep. Yorke and Cole would be ok as well, not too far modern strikers like Kane for speed.
 
wolvored said:
Speed might do them. Giggs would fit in. Beckham Scholes and Keane would be found out I think. Defence would have to play deep. Yorke and Cole would be ok as well, not too far modern strikers like Kane for speed.
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Are you saying that modern players are faster?
 
golden_blunder said:
Let me ask, 442 is defunct now but with the group of players that we had, could they not make it work now? Leicester won the league with 442
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In build up it’s not too dissimilar to 3-5-2, especially with Neville/Irwin overlapping, whilst the other stays back.
 
They will challenge for sure, but honestly don't think they'll be able to win it from current City. Guardiola raised the bar of the league way, way higher than how it used to be in Ferguson era.
 
el3mel said:
They will challenge for sure, but honestly don't think they'll be able to win it from current City. Guardiola raised the bar of the league way, way higher than how it used to be in Ferguson era.
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The tactical side of things might have changed too much to say for certain but player for player the 1999 Arsenal side sure beats the current one which gave city a decent run at the title (assuming city win it).
 
Red the Bear said:
The tactical side of things might have changed too much to say for certain but player for player the 1999 Arsenal side sure beats the current one which gave city a decent run at the title (assuming city win it).
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Not arguing about the players quality, but I think the PL works in a different way now than the 90s and early 2000s both regarding tactical set up and expectations from the title winning team. You can get 90 points and fail to win the league now, that would be ridiculous in old times.
 
tentan said:
Fifth or sixth in the league maybe? With modern tactics and diet/training techniques, they would probably 'struggle' in todays football.
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They would have access to modern diet and training techniques. That team had 4 deadly strikers. Two all-time great central midfielders iin Scholes and Keane and two of the greatest wingers ever in Becks and Giggs. Not to talk of of the mature and assured defensive group and then Peter Schmeichel in goal. How would you think that they would struggle when our bunch of players are 4th?
 
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