In my very personal and non-European opinion, most flicks and tricks are only great to watch on Youtube highlight reels :P. Haven't been watching for 20-30 years but even in my 4K TV/monitor, Neymar's showboating is not as impressive without the commentator pointing it out or in close-up replay. Imagine how field play footage from even 15 years ago would look like to a casual today.

What's nice to watch even in bird's-eye wide-field view are great dribblers (like Messi) and great team tactics (if you know what to watch out for).

> Is it possible that football clubs are optimizing for the wrong things?

Man, tactical philosophy is another religous war to get into. Mourinho vs. Guardiola could be an ideological debate to rival our beloved tabs vs. spaces.

If you're trying to get into this, I'd say find a team whose narrative you like and start with them.

> Would there be a way to change the game so that artistry is stimulated

I think this depends on team tactics. The tactic dictates the behavior of individual players.

I haven't followed football as closely in the last two years but I think your best bet for teams like this is either Paris St-Germain or try to watch games in the South American leagues. After all it's the South American (Brazil, in particular) players who are well known for this.

(As for PSG, they paid a king's ransom to get Neymar in their team, and Neymar loves to play like he's still in the streets of Brazil. So I assume they built a team and tactics that allows him to do what he loves.)