1970 – 1979
Total football and the greatest team ever
Brazil 1970 is still the benchmark for a football team, the Netherlands showed that positions are suggestions, and West Germany proved that organisation could beat flair. Liverpool and Nottingham Forest built dynasties that lasted a decade.
Four defining moments
- 1970Brazil win a third World Cup with Pelé, Jairzinho and Carlos Alberto’s goal.
- 1974The Netherlands’ total football reaches the final; West Germany win it.
- 1977Liverpool win their first European Cup in Rome.
- 1979Nottingham Forest, promoted two years earlier, win the European Cup.
Why this decade matters
Total football’s lasting gift is the idea of the interchangeable player. Every pressing system since — from Sacchi to Klopp — is a descendant of the 1974 Dutch model.