Turning into? It's already been this way for at least 15 years. I said it back then and I'll say it again, the moment the English style took over football is when it died. Styles matter, it's what gave Brazil, Germany, Netherlands, Argentina, Italy and all major Footballing nations their identity. To me, speed, strength and constant high pressure as the main requisites are already deeply implemented into today's football and it's been for ages.
What makes this worse is that it's all becoming a one brand of football where every team plays very much alike and players are about the same level, its all about being an unit where #9's whose main job was to score goals have to trace back and run just as much as the rest of the team.
In the future players won't get to develop the skills needed for the Maradonas and Ronaldinhos of the world to exist. These will be extremely rare.
That's what happens when you don't fight back, the new status quo takes root, the sickness spreads, and soon it contaminates everything. Add to that sports institutions warped by politics, regional rivalries, greed, envy, and this is the outcome. The classic football built on individuality, prestige, and old glories is gone. As you said, the downfall maybe started 15 years ago, the end of a cycle in European football. Others have struggled to keep up with the PL's rise but Italy is in an even worse spot. Unlike Bayern in Germany or Barça in Spain, we have no pull and no leverage even nationally.
Even in EA FUT, which is their cash cow, the entire meta mirrors the PL, speed, strength, and pay-to-win. Everywhere you look, the old passion is gone, replaced by a glossy illusion that pretends life is better. But it isn't.
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