Yea, true. Game is much more tactical than 20 years ago. Losing the ball is a criminal offence today. Hatem as a no 10 behind the striker would still work for many teams. Of course you have to do something without the ball, if you are not Messi.
I just happened to watch Arsenal-ManU "premier league classic" game from maybe 2004 or 2005. What a team both had, but dear lord the amount of long punts to nowhere, defenders just heading the ball away, straight back to opposition etc. It seemed like pure chaos compared today. Then occasionally someone like Henry goes past 2-3 players and creates a chance out of nowhere. I mean the number of easy passes to teammate must have been fraction what it is today.
Didn't remember it being like that when I watched it live