Ranking Club Sides of the Decade

Discussion in 'The Beautiful Game' started by PrimoCalcio, Dec 23, 2019.

  1. PrimoCalcio

    PrimoCalcio Member

    Milan/Napoli
    Italy
    Oct 14, 2019
    Recently B/R came out with a top 10 club sides of the '10s which I thought was fairly well done (for B/R).

    I'd be interested to see everybody's rankings on who the best teams were in this decade.
    Each side is confined to one season, so for example, you would have differentiate between Real Madrid 2016/17 and Real Madrid 2017/18. In general, be as specific as possible.

    My Top 10

    1. Pep's Barcelona 10/11
    2. Jupp's Bayern 12/13
    3. MSN Barcelona 14/15
    4. Real Madrid 16/17
    5. Internazionale 2010
    6. Liverpool 18/19
    7. Manchester City 17/18
    8. Juventus 14/15
    9. Atletico Madrid 13/14
    10. Manchester United 10/11

    The top 6 pretty much pick themselves for me, but 7-10 proved hard to choose.

    Honourable mentions:

    Real Mardid 13/14
    Klopp's Dortmund
    Pep's Bayern
    Juventus 16/17
    Monaco 16/17
    Sarri's Napoli
    AC Milan 10/11
    Manchester City 11/12
    Manchester City 18/19
    Ajax 18/19

    Am I right? Wrong?
    Might revise my ranking or do a top 20 after seeing the rankings and reasoning of others.
     
  2. unclesox

    unclesox BigSoccer Supporter

    Mar 8, 2003
    209, California
    Club:
    FC Barcelona
    Tite's Corinthians
     
  3. Edhardy

    Edhardy Member+

    Sep 4, 2013
    Nairobi, Kenya
    Club:
    Juventus FC
    1. Barcelona 2010-11
    2. Barcelona 2014-15
    3. Bayern 2012-13
    4. Real Madrid 2016-17
    5. Manchester City 2018-19
    6. Inter Milan 2009-10
    7. Juventus 2016-17
    8. Liverpool 2018-19
    9. Atletico Madrid 2013-14
    10. Monaco 2016-17
     
  4. PrimoCalcio

    PrimoCalcio Member

    Milan/Napoli
    Italy
    Oct 14, 2019
    Thanks for the reply, @Edhardy !

    Looks like a pretty similar list but with some key differences.

    As a Juventus fan, why do rate the 16/17 team higher than the 14/15?
    Personally I always liked the MVP midfield with BBC backline and Buffon near peak powers + Carlito Tevez upfront.

    Also, how do you figure City 18/19 > Liverpool 18/19? B/R did this as well.
    City beat 'Pool in the league (barely) but Liverpool proved their quaity and mentality in the UCL where City came up short once again.
     
  5. Tropeiro

    Tropeiro Member+

    Jun 1, 2018
    For me Real Madrid 2011-2012 and 2013-2014 were better than the one of 2016-2017.
     
  6. poetgooner

    poetgooner Member+

    Arsenal
    Nov 20, 2014
    Club:
    Arsenal FC
    I think 16/17 was picked because they won the double, and won they dominated the UCL final
     
  7. PDG1978

    PDG1978 Member+

    Mar 8, 2009
    Club:
    Nottingham Forest FC
    It's possibly hard to decide when using seasons where to cut the decades off?

    If we're doing it now it probably has to be 09/10 to 18/19, but if we waited 6 months maybe 10/11 to 19/20 would seem suitable?

    It's possible I think that Liverpool 19/20 will be a better option than Liverpool 18/19, as the team seems to be developing and maturing and a few of the players getting better and/or more experienced. Although on the other hand early this season they weren't scoring a lot of goals, but just always managing to win by a narrow scoreline, and it's far from certain they'll win the CL even if they do get to the Final it's very conceivable they'd play far better than last season in it.

    I heard on the radio that John Barnes had been asked if the current team was better than the 87/88 team, and he'd said put each team in the other's era and they'd lose (citing the rules on fouls). Maybe it's not that simple IMO (maybe in his it is, or it might have been somewhat of a convenient or even tongue-in-cheek answer?), but that was an iconic season for Liverpool to be fair (unable to play in Europe of course) and while I'm not usually in the 'modernist' camp lol I guess, I could see the argument the current side has a bit extra (and yes if not 'equalising' the fitness aspects or discounting them then that goes in their favour too). I did try a combined XI and ended up with 6 from the current squad to 5 from 87/88 (verging on a 7th for the current squad if slotting Mane in as a central forward rather than specialist striker Aldridge, though perhaps Nicol was in consideration at right back even if more of a utility player that season and not with Alexander-Arnold's delivery or athleticism, though clearly useful going forwards as well as defensively himself):
    ---------------------------Allison---------------------------

    A-Arnold------Van Dijk-----Hansen----------Robertson

    ---------------Wijnaldum----Whelan---------------

    ---Salah---------------Beardsley------------Barnes---
    ----------------------------Aldridge----------------------
    (Trying to base it on 87/88 specifically as much as possible, using vague memories, and glances at line-ups and videos like the one below to help)

    I think for 7 subs I'd go with this to end up with 9 from each squad in the 18: Grobelaar, Gillespie (considering Gomez for sure though now), Nicol, Henderson, Keita (I think he has something that he's starting to show when he can, but of course McMahon was integral in 87/88 so is in consideration too), Houghton, Mane.

    I think if they did go on to get another CL as well as the PL then the case would improve and then it'd be hard to put Man City 18/19 ahead maybe? I think just comparing 18/19 teams Man City ahead seems an option since they did ultimately get ahead in England and they won the crucial game between the sides I think didn't they IIRC (while Liverpool didn't play great vs Tottenham in the CL Final).
     
  8. poetgooner

    poetgooner Member+

    Arsenal
    Nov 20, 2014
    Club:
    Arsenal FC
    I personally prefer this as it starts with a zero and ends with a zero, so yes, I consider this season the last of this decade. If they win the league/UCL double, then they'd have an argument for being the best EPL side of this decade, which would put them quite high up among world's team of the decade (maybe top 5?)
     
    PDG1978 repped this.
  9. Edhardy

    Edhardy Member+

    Sep 4, 2013
    Nairobi, Kenya
    Club:
    Juventus FC
    I think the 14/15 team was flawed in some ways - Pirlo was coming to the end, if not totally past it. Vidal never truly recovered from the injury he played through at the world cup and Pogba, while impressive for the first half of the season, had the injury against Dortmund in the 1st leg that he never shook off. The defence and Buffon were immense for sure but the attack was all Tevez. 16/17 had less impressive names but overcame two really good teams in Serie A that both scored 90+ goals, and the wins against Barca (home) and Monaco (away) were more impressive than the one against a completely finished Dortmund and Madrid with Ramos in midfield (Juve also had to play Sturaro tbf).
    Basically, I feel Juve 16/17 faced greater challenges and achieved the exact same as Juve 14/15.

    Liverpool and Man City 18/19 both entered 4 tournaments, 3 of which were won by Man City. And if not for Mahrez missing his penalty they would have done the double over Liverpool.
     
  10. PrimoCalcio

    PrimoCalcio Member

    Milan/Napoli
    Italy
    Oct 14, 2019
    That's a great point. The competition in Serie A was of a higher caliber in 16/17 than in 14/15 and that 3-0 win over Barca was something special.
     
    Edhardy repped this.
  11. Milan05

    Milan05 Member

    Dec 2, 2015
    Club:
    AC Milan
    1. Barca 2011
    2. Barca 2015
    3. Bayern 2013
    4. Real 2017
    5. Inter 2010
    6. Real 2014
    7. City 2019
    8. Liverpool 2019
    9. City 2018
    10. Atletico 2014
     
    Edhardy repped this.
  12. Sexy Beast

    Sexy Beast Member+

    Dinamo Zagreb
    Croatia
    Aug 11, 2016
    Zagreb
    Club:
    --other--
    Nat'l Team:
    Croatia
    Why inter 2010 for gods sake? Okay i get it, treble, but there have been much more impressive teams over the decade.

    2012 Real is seriously good, and will probably be under the most peoples radar.

    City has 2 seasons worthy of top 10 (18, 19)
     

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