Before the 80s, we saw the number 10 role given to specific players. It wasn't a role many resorted to. After the 80s, it was a different case as we saw many players because it became the new football trend. Bear in mind, a trend in the 80s isn't like today as it took several years to manifest itself.
After that, we saw players like Roberto Baggio, Dennis Bergkamp, Michael Laudrup, and Michel Platini who were actually one of the best to occupy the role. And let's not forget the biggest name during that era at least, Diego Maradona.
The Antitrend
You see it everywhere in the world, a trend arises, then a counter-trend follows to go against it, football is no different. As the World Cup finals since 1990 had only one side playing without it (Germany 1990) until 2006. Brazil had two players occupying that role in their 4-2-2-2 formation on two occasions (1994 and 1998).
When a role like that goes strong, managers start getting weary of it, therefore creating ways to stop it. They do that while having one of their own, thus we had the "destroyer" role. We will discuss what changes occurred as a result of that change later. But now, we will focus on what that change meant for the classic number 10.
The Destroyer
The destroyer is a role with one goal in mind, obviously, to destroy opponents' attacks. The positioning of that player is right in front of the defense line. Gattuso and Makélélé are the best examples going into the 2000s.
After that, the antitrend caught with players like Javier Mascherano, Yaya Toure, Esteban Cambiasso, Daniele De Rossi, Alex Song, Michael Essien, Arturo Vidal, and Nigel De Jong who literally attempted to destroy Xabi Alonso in the 2010 World Cup final.
The role is based on physicality and stamina. Players in that role had a high defensive work rate.
The Lockdown Of Zone 14
As times went on and managers like Mourinho, Rafa Benitez, Jupp Heynckes, Conte, and even Arsène Wenger. Managers with different styles started using players with that role as it became the new trend. Worth noting that even Klopp had Georginio Wijnaldum in that role but in a completely different way that will be discussed at length later.
Changes To The Classic Number 10 Role
After that, we saw really only one team with that specific role in a World Cup final with Wesley Sneijder who had the work rate to make it work as we saw earlier during the UEFA Champions League with Inter as he also provided defensive cover.
We started seeing the changes to the role in the World Cup final following as Messi occupied it but in a more free-roaming capacity, on the other side we had Ozil and Muller but they were playing more on the wings.
The End
As time went by, the role started to slowly die as everything making it special was being countered with destroyers in zone 14, and cracks in players themselves started to be highlighted.
All the names we mentioned, plus a few more like Mesut Özil and Kaká had one glaring problem that was highlighted as teams became more compacted. All the classic number 10 players had a low defensive work rate. In fact, Kaká is the greatest example as we saw his career practically end in Real Madrid as he couldn't meet the physical demands of Mourinho.
If you don't have the ball, the low rate defensive work becomes a liability and with the compactness of opponent teams, the space for the classic number 10 is smaller. Couple that with the existence of the destroyer in most teams in general and especially in top teams, the classic number 10 had nowhere to exist.
In Conclusion
The changes in football and their trends have ruined one of the most magical roles and players we used to see occupying that area. We watched slowly as the role turned from being the difference-maker in a World Cup final to becoming a liability in a league game. So much so that I doubt Maradona, Baggio, Platini, and Bergkamp would look half as good in today's climate and physical demands.