The 'Barclaysmen' phenomenon that captured the imagination of so many football fans during the international break was not just a reflection of the usual frustration provoked by the interruption of the club season. It also pointed to a growing sense of dissatisfaction with the modern game.
Football has changed a lot over the past decade - and not always for the better. The traditional trequartista and fantasista are a thing of the past while we see fewer long-range goals these days - the group stage of Euro 2024 was a thrilling anomaly - and some football fans blame Pep Guardiola for the sad decline of the 'screamer'.
Even though the Catalan's Manchester City side are, statistically speaking, more adept than most at scoring from distance, Guardiola's success with patient and repetitive possession football has unquestionably influenced the new generation of coaches, who stand accused of being obsessed with 'walking the ball into the net'.
It's also noteworthy that few sides these days play with two up top, meaning old-school strike partnerships, like Alan Shearer & Chris Sutton, Thierry Henry and Dennis Bergkamp or Luis Suarez & Daniel Sturridge, have become a dying breed, with the few remaining orthodox No.9s (like Erling Haaland) now flanked by wingers or inside-forwards.
However, dynamic duos haven't disappeared completely. Indeed, at the Etihad on Wednesday, City will host Inter, the one team in this season's Champions League in possession of a genuinely world-class pairing in attack in Lautaro Martinez and Marcus Thuram.
