The best XI by decade

How the era filter works

Before you draft, you can narrow the pool of club-seasons the wheel will land on. The presets — all-time, 2000s onward, 2010s onward and modern — let you skip straight to a window you know, and the season range slider lets you draw an even tighter band, right down to a couple of campaigns. Restricting the era is a self-imposed challenge: you are deliberately giving up the all-time pool in exchange for a side that belongs to one moment in the league's history.

A tighter era means a smaller pool, so spins repeat clubs more often. Narrow the range only as far as you are confident you still know the players.

The 1990s: the connoisseur's draft

The early Premier League years are the purist's challenge. The pool is shallower than later decades and the overall rating baseline sits a touch lower, so a 90s-only side rarely posts the monster numbers a modern one can. What you get instead is character: commanding goalkeepers, uncompromising defenders, midfield enforcers and a handful of genuinely iconic forwards and creators. Win an unbeaten season here and it means something, precisely because the raw quality is harder to come by.

The 2000s: depth in every position

This is where the league's strength-in-depth really arrives. The 2000s offer elite options across the whole pitch — world-class goalkeepers, defensive partnerships that won titles, complete central midfielders and a long list of prolific forwards. For a player who wants a strong, balanced side without leaning on the all-time pool, a 2000s-onward filter is arguably the sweet spot: deep enough to fill every position well, broad enough to keep the wheel interesting.

The 2010s: the deepest pool of all

Tactically the richest decade, and probably the strongest draft window in the game. The 2010s gave the league elite full-backs, dominant holding midfielders, creative number tens and a generation of forwards who routinely cleared high goal tallies. The depth is such that you can build a near-complete side and still leave great players on the wheel. If your goal is the highest possible team rating short of going all-time, this is the era to mine.

The 2020s: high ceilings, narrow window

The most recent seasons bring modern athleticism and some of the highest individual ceilings in the database — the goalscoring, the pressing, the technical full-backs are all here. The catch is the window itself: fewer seasons means a smaller pool, so a 2020s-only draft can feel repetitive and may leave you short in a position or two. Used with the modern preset, though, it produces a fearsomely strong top end.

Which decade is easiest to win with?

If you simply want the best chance of a title or an unbeaten run, the 2000s and 2010s are the most forgiving, because their depth lets you satisfy the balance principle in every position. The 1990s is the hardest single-decade challenge, the 2020s the most boom-or-bust. And if you want raw strength above all, nothing beats lifting the era filter entirely and drafting all-time — the merged pool will always out-rate any one decade.

Decade challenge or all-time power?

There is no wrong answer — it depends on what you want from the run. A single-decade draft is a knowledge test and a nostalgia trip; the all-time draft is the strength test. Many players do both: chase the trophy with an all-time side, then set themselves the tougher task of going unbeaten with a single decade. For the method behind either, the 38-0 guide and the all-time club guide are the natural next reads.