Whenever I think of how different football seems to me now than it did when I started watching I start wondering about that change and how it must have started. Well, football is always changing as a sport, but there are definitive moments to reference. To me, I think the 2011-2012 season is one where you can reference to explain most of the changes made in football.
I am going to break this down major tournament after another, as well as explore outside the top leagues.
Premier League
In the summer of 2011, Manchester City purchased Sergio Aguero. Aguero went on to be a legend in both club and league history. The Premier League itself was pretty intense, the most intense in my opinion because it was really left until the last minute of extra time.
A quick breakdown: By the 32nd round Man United was 8 points ahead of City. Seemed like a done deal, better luck next season Cash City, right? No.
On the 33rd round and with Omani keeper Ali al-Habsi in Wigan Athletic goal, Wigan shock Man U with a 1-0 win. Man United got back on their horse and won round 34, but the 35th round saw a legendary performance by Marouane Fellaini turning Man United 4-2 lead at 83rd minute into a 4-4 with 2 assists. The following round saw City beat United 1-0 with a Kompany header. From there on City was ahead of United on goal difference before Aguero scores the winner in the 93rd minute against QPR after Balotelli's only assist that season.
That league win solidified City as a project and sped up its growth. City after that turned into a project that is perfect all-around with a business that grew more than three times the size. That win also stabilized the club and made it more focused rather than just random purchases. It was also the season where Sir Alex felt the pressure and saw that as he grew older, it was time to retire after the next season.
Also worth noting: City that season ended the top 4 phenomena in the league and started what was known for a while as top 6.
Chelsea Winning the Champions League
Much like with City's win of the Premier League, this win solidified the Chelsea project. After Abramovic got his desired title, he turned Chelsea from stars studded team into a talents-hunting club. Chelsea's whole strategy changed after, they started what became known as talents/loan farm. It was that season by the way that Chelsea bought Lukaku from Anderlecht, also Hazard from Lille as Hazard chose Chelsea because they had won the Champions League. Add to that, players like Kevin De Bruyne, Salah, and all different players they bought as part of their project and how those players affected the Premier League in specific and the rest of Europe.
La Liga
Real Madrid winning the league that season came off as a shock, while they had a great start in the first 3 games by winning all of them, they also lost and stuttered that Mourinho's job was on the line. They lost a Classico at home but were aiming to avenge that away at Barcelona in the 33rd round as they were 4 points ahead.
That match cost both sides their following Champions League matches in the semi-final as it was built up intensely, too much on the line, it exhausted both sides ahead of their matches. That was also the match where Cristiano Ronaldo silenced the Camp Nou as he grabbed the 2-1 winner after a beautiful assist from Ozil
Real Madrid that season broke the record by reaching 100 points before Barcelona reached it the season after. That season turned Messi into a scoring beast as he finished the year of 2012 with a record 91 goals. That season also marked the end of Pep Guardiola as manager of Barcelona. The changes in Barcelona, Messi, Pep, and Real Madrid gained self-confidence as they were the team that beat the best team in the world to the league title. The traces of changes that happened in that season can be seen today.
To go full circle, for the price of Aguero, Atletico Madrid bought Arda Turan, Falcao, and Diego along with a loan of Thibaut Courtois. It was the season that started Atletico Madrid's revolution to become a top team in La Liga and Europe. Also, Valencia had reached a breaking point that season which resulted in new ownership. Many things about Spain football were changed that season.
Serie A
It is the Muntari goal season, simply put. A simple google search of "Muntari goal" would show how much controversy this unfairly disallowed goal had caused. It was also the season that Juventus hired ex-player and captain Antonio Conte to lead Juventus into a revolution that led to the complete domination of Serie A by Juventus.
AC Milan still feels a burn from their disallowed goal that season. Also, Inter Milan's decline was confirmed that season and the search for new ownership began. The decline of the two Milan clubs, the rise of Juventus, and the shape of the Serie A for many years were created that season. That season also marked Del Piero's last season with Juventus.
Bundesliga
After a normal season before, Lewandowski went into the 2011-12 season as a goal machine that led Borussia Dortmund into their second league title in a row. It may not be exactly in the Bundesliga at the time, but that was the season that saw Ralf Rangnick, current interim manager of Manchester United, to RB Leipzig as director of football and laid the strategy that led them into the current force we see today.
That season wasn't a joke in the Bundesliga, Bayern Munich got furious after losing out on the league and Champions League title. They kept Jupp Heynckes, brought in new players, and went on to win the treble the season after and dominate the Bundesliga ever since. Also, it was the season Marco Reus joined Borussia Dortmund to become captain and club legend later on.
Ligue 1
A big-money purchase was started in PSG by QSI (Qatar Sports Investments). It was in 2011 that the takeover occurred, that was the season that PSG became the richest and most powerful club where currently the two most expensive players in the world and one of the time great players play currently.
This also relates to the Serie A season as Leonardo Araújo used his connections in Italy to get many Serie A stars including Ibrahimovic, Thiago Silva, etc...
Also, Giroud joined Arsenal from Montpellier that season along with the aforementioned Hazard. That season marked the relegation of AJ Auxerre, a club well-known to those who followed Ligue 1 during the 80s and 90s.
The FC Anzhi Saga
While this one seems small but to me, it was the start of the most important change in football. Russian Club FC Anzhi Makhachkala saw Suleyman Kerimov take over it in 2011. A man with a controversial history said that he wanted to make Anzhi the greatest football club in the world. While we had seen Real Madrid and other big clubs pay an extravagant amount for players, Anzhi took it to a whole new level. While big clubs were paying big money for proven players, Anzhi were paying those amounts for players who weren't proven or were at the end of their career.
Anzhi's actions under the new owner were the start of what we see now in Chinese clubs. Why pay 10 million for someone when you can pay thirty? That seemed to be the mantra under which the club operated. Samuel Eto'o who was approaching his 30s was getting paid 20 million as salary, Roberto Carlo who was 37 years old at the time made a total of 10 million in two years and a half contract.
Anzhi broke common sense with their deals. And the subsequent budget cuts saw Eto'o and Willian go to Chelsea and many players scattered around the globe. The club's actions were a big reason why we have the Financial Fair Play rules.
In Conclusion
Despite how long this post is, it was shortened. The 2011-2012 season shaped football as we know it today in a big way. That season's transfer market alone saw Bayern Munich sign Manuel Neuer, Manchester United signing De Gea, and Liverpool signing their current captain and leader Jordan Henderson. Malaga also had new ownership that collapsed but made big purchases such as Santi Cazorla and Jérémy Toulalan, they went on to play the round of 8 in the Champions League. It was the end of that season that saw the Financial Fair Play rules being announced.
Overall, I don't think we ever had or will have a season that shaped football as much as that 2011-2012 season did. It is also the season that showed football to be a great business.