I always see people saying "if Lamine, Mbappe, etc. played in Neymar's era or Ronaldo's era they would be terrible or would struggle," but I just don't think that's true. They would be among the best players in the world, probably better than everyone with the exception of Ronaldo and Messi (but they are anomalies). While we may lack the stars we had 10 years ago, the reason for that is it has become more difficult to stand out. Players are so good, both physically and technically, that you have to be extremely special to stand out. If Rayan Cherki, for example, played 10-15 years ago, I truly believe he would be among the best players in the world, or at least considered to be world class. Players like Jude Bellingham, Pedri, Rodri ARE on the level of Gerrard, Busquets, etc., however, the players they are competing against are also great. It is just like the Pele/Maradona eras. Footballers get better and they always will. We will be saying this again in 15 years.   submitted by   /u/This_Username_Great [link]   [comments]