A thread to show how critical the differences are in pre 90s era and post 90s era and how the GOAT debate is almost impossible to decide among 2 players of these 2 different eras.

1. Lighter and rounder/smoother ball
This is a huge factor. The lighter ball is much harder to control and requires a totally different technique. A normal kick with momentum can send it to the stands very easily. Heavy balls arent as aerodynamic and follow a straighter path

Disclaimer!
"Fields are better so modern players have an advantage" is a myth. If the field is bad lighter balls are almost impossible to control. The heavy ball is more usefull in this scenario. If the field is perfect the heavy ball wouldnt allow many of today's game attributes

2. Physical needs
In older times the game was more dirty and physically tainting, therefore more muscle was much more needed. Now attackers bodies are skinnier and mainly built for agility and stamina (there are exceptions). All players adapted their athleticism for their era.

3. Tactical needs
It is very clear that modern footballers have much less space and time to opperate. If your decision making is not good enough, you crumble. Ball IQ and chemistry both offencively and defencively was the most important in the modern era.

This seems to change too as we slowly transition to another era. The athleticism era. This is in my opinion the ronaldo effect. Exceptional players relying on technique are getting very rare nowadays and attacking through the flanks is getting too casual.

In the older times individual talent and brilliance was much more important and usefull. It usually made the difference in winning games, whether it was pele upfront or moore in the back, they defined their games individually, not through team chemistry.

4. Defencive tactics
Totally different approaches. Both eras had their own difficulties.
Pre 90s: Man marking/stop them at all costs (brutal tackles)
Post 90s: Crowd him immediately/Tactical neutralisation, keep him off ball

Its brainless to decide, which is worst to play against. On the one hand you have a spam of many career ending tackles, that would be very dangerous to face continuously. On the other your talent and athleticism may crumble and be rendered useless by the discipline of the team.

5. Prestige
Back in the day talent was well spread out. Great players could be found even on lower leagues, now they exist in a small sample of clubs. League and cup wins were much more important, because they gave you a ticket to european competitions. 1 bad season=0 ucl chances

World cup: This was the greatest competition, where the highest level of football played there. All the greatest players gathered and formed the best teams. Most players stayed in their country, so an italy vs germany was like watching Bundesliga dream XI vs serie A dream XI