never 'got' del piero, have never really been convinced by him. freely admit that italian football isn't a huge area of knowledge tho.
Van nistelrooy scored goals for a living like arguably no other player on this list, he's in.
totti makes it vieri doesn't, raul i can live without tbh
― DarraghmacKwacz (darraghmac), Thursday, 18 March 2010 10:43 (fourteen years ago) link
My favourite player who'd never make a list like this is Fernando Redondo.
― Ismael Klata, Thursday, 18 March 2010 10:49 (fourteen years ago) link
Mine's is Henrik Larsson (obviously)
― The Oort Locker (Tom D.), Thursday, 18 March 2010 10:53 (fourteen years ago) link
btw rivaldo's hat-trick against valencia- single most amazing football performance/achievement of the decade
― DarraghmacKwacz (darraghmac), Thursday, 18 March 2010 11:12 (fourteen years ago) link
true
― nakhchivan, Thursday, 18 March 2010 11:17 (fourteen years ago) link
i mean, specifically for unnamed persons this, it was EVEN BETTER THAN ARSHAVIN VS LIVERPOOL!
― DarraghmacKwacz (darraghmac), Thursday, 18 March 2010 11:22 (fourteen years ago) link
fie upon thee
― ilxor lookin' boy (acoleuthic), Thursday, 18 March 2010 11:43 (fourteen years ago) link
imo there's something a mite distasteful about an ilx thread celebrating such an already-celebrated footballer. it's very much in the style of the american sport boards. the bullard and kitson threads had something this can never have. football is always bigger than one man
ICE COLD
― max, Thursday, 18 March 2010 11:48 (fourteen years ago) link
didn't even have to check who wrote that
― mdskltr (blueski), Thursday, 18 March 2010 11:49 (fourteen years ago) link
tiger_woods_press_conference.wav
― ilxor lookin' boy (acoleuthic), Thursday, 18 March 2010 11:57 (fourteen years ago) link
it's ok to celebrate footballers as long as they're workmanlike and english. ok, whatever.
― DJ Get Up Kids (jim in glasgow), Thursday, 18 March 2010 12:04 (fourteen years ago) link
they don't have to be either! i just think it's way easier to say funnier and more interesting things about little-known or cult players, or at least ones who are seemingly flawed. messi is brilliant at what he does, and there's no real debate about him unless we're talking about boring things like absolutes
― ilxor lookin' boy (acoleuthic), Thursday, 18 March 2010 12:07 (fourteen years ago) link
we shouldnt have threads about brilliant people
― max, Thursday, 18 March 2010 12:09 (fourteen years ago) link
this thread started as just a celebration and devolved into boring discussion because someone challopsed that Messi was comparable to le tissier, most likely trolling.
― DJ Get Up Kids (jim in glasgow), Thursday, 18 March 2010 12:10 (fourteen years ago) link
tbf maybe this thread really is better off just compiling his best moments and being all 'whoa' rather than attempting to rank footballers
― ilxor lookin' boy (acoleuthic), Thursday, 18 March 2010 12:11 (fourteen years ago) link
i've either never seen messi play or never seen him play well because i've been to barcelona games 3 or 4 times in recent years but don't remember seeing him do his magic irl :(
― DJ Get Up Kids (jim in glasgow), Thursday, 18 March 2010 12:13 (fourteen years ago) link
― the pity party of tiny feet (onimo), Thursday, 18 March 2010 12:15 (fourteen years ago) link
it's not about messi anymore, and we are now trying to rank footballers.
happy?
it stands maradona, hoddle, le tiss, messi, modric, anderton fwiw
― DarraghmacKwacz (darraghmac), Thursday, 18 March 2010 12:15 (fourteen years ago) link
le tiss > ian woan > messi
― mdskltr (blueski), Thursday, 18 March 2010 12:17 (fourteen years ago) link
I feel like messi's main talent is barrelling straight down the middle and somehow eluding everyone - it shouldn't work - but the things he does to actually accomplish this are done so subtly it's difficult to pick up except in slo mo, like a fencer or something
― Tracer Hand, Thursday, 18 March 2010 12:18 (fourteen years ago) link
I just think he looks like a Lemming.
― tomofthenest, Thursday, 18 March 2010 12:20 (fourteen years ago) link
he keeps putting the ball where the defender can't get it, repeatedly, and in the direction he wants to go. pretty rare skill.
― DarraghmacKwacz (darraghmac), Thursday, 18 March 2010 12:21 (fourteen years ago) link
I was making a "these other guys are rank" jk. Never mind :(
― the pity party of tiny feet (onimo), Thursday, 18 March 2010 12:22 (fourteen years ago) link
*Andy Ritchie > Chic Charnley > Messi
(*the Morton one)
― The Oort Locker (Tom D.), Thursday, 18 March 2010 12:22 (fourteen years ago) link
nah that was to LJ's fussiness onimo
― DarraghmacKwacz (darraghmac), Thursday, 18 March 2010 12:24 (fourteen years ago) link
oh right soz
― the pity party of tiny feet (onimo), Thursday, 18 March 2010 12:25 (fourteen years ago) link
honestly forgot about ian woan but he's obviously gotta be in there, up there with ruel fox and andy impey
― DarraghmacKwacz (darraghmac), Thursday, 18 March 2010 12:25 (fourteen years ago) link
I mean, come on ...
http://www.gravelstudios.com/articles/tengames/lemmings1.jpg
― tomofthenest, Thursday, 18 March 2010 12:26 (fourteen years ago) link
can't believe no mention of sami hyypia or dietmar hamann here. or titi camara.
― I see what this is (Local Garda), Thursday, 18 March 2010 12:26 (fourteen years ago) link
actually sort of serious about hamann, if we're just listing brilliant players.
― I see what this is (Local Garda), Thursday, 18 March 2010 12:27 (fourteen years ago) link
I've seen Messi in the flesh and he was v good but not in his sparkling ZOMG form (only scored twice lol). One thing I repeatedly noticed was his sublime control - people would ping hard fast high passes at him and you'd be thinking "oh good, Celtic throw, ease the pressure" then realise he'd controlled into his path with a single touch and was already past Lee Naylor (that last bit not too impressive tbh).
― the pity party of tiny feet (onimo), Thursday, 18 March 2010 12:28 (fourteen years ago) link
lionel who
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5TNb57ZNuWQ
― ilxor lookin' boy (acoleuthic), Thursday, 18 March 2010 12:30 (fourteen years ago) link
would kill for a hamann at liverpool now..
― I see what this is (Local Garda), Thursday, 18 March 2010 12:34 (fourteen years ago) link
I watched a lot of La Liga in 96/97 when Fat Ron was at Barca and he was hands down the greatest, most exciting, most talented footballer I've seen (on the tele). To this day.
I watched a lot of Football Italia between 99 and 02 when Roma were peaking and won the league (was at uni and this was the only free terrestrial football not on at a stupid time), and Totti was a definite favourite of mine. The fact that he mixed his skill with a touch of Roy Keane-esque aggro elevated him above the likes of Del Piero in my mind; Totti liked a scrap.
Messi I want to see more of, but I can see him eclipsing Fat Ron pretty soon. Fat Ron was already ailing by 22; although his ailing years lasted a decade and included many many many goals, just nowhere near as scintillating as his Barca season. Fucking hell. I think back to that and it flabbergasts me. Despite much longer periods spent at Inter and Madrid I still think of him as a Barca player.
Henry at his peak was sublime, and the best player I think who's graced the premiership. He needed Vieira though.
Zidane while absolutely mercurial was not consistent at all; his career is a series of very important moments of brilliance rather than regular and frequent revelations of greatness. I think he managed to time his peaks brilliantly - World Cup and Champions League finals being good times to pull it out of the bag!
― No, YOU'RE a disgusting savage (Scik Mouthy), Thursday, 18 March 2010 12:35 (fourteen years ago) link
John Sheridan needs mentioning, though. And Carlton Palmer, the proto-Vieira.
i may be misremembering hamann- doens't mascherano basically do his job now?
or, basically- if hamann played under benitez wouldn't he be mascherano (or maybe lucas)
― DarraghmacKwacz (darraghmac), Thursday, 18 March 2010 12:35 (fourteen years ago) link
sadly you have an aquilani and a lucas instead - although last time you tried to sign hamann he turned out to be igor biscan iirc
― ilxor lookin' boy (acoleuthic), Thursday, 18 March 2010 12:36 (fourteen years ago) link
was about to OTM SM (with reservations on his Zidane assessment tbh) until the mention of john fucking sheridan, half of an incredibly journeyman irish midfield with townsend for years. rubbish!
― DarraghmacKwacz (darraghmac), Thursday, 18 March 2010 12:37 (fourteen years ago) link
We ought to chop this thread's discussions into Best Attacker, Best Midfielder, and Best Defnder, though.
Or even just Best Forward and Best Back.
Cos Makelele's as important a player to the teams he was in as Fat Ron or Zidane, but comparing them is wrong.
― No, YOU'RE a disgusting savage (Scik Mouthy), Thursday, 18 March 2010 12:38 (fourteen years ago) link
Sheridan might have been shit for RoI but I blame Townsend for that; with Palmer at Wednesday Sheridan was awesome. remember that free-kick Le Tissier scored where it was rolled to him and he flicked it up and volleyed it? He nicked that off Sheridan.
― No, YOU'RE a disgusting savage (Scik Mouthy), Thursday, 18 March 2010 12:39 (fourteen years ago) link
who can forget the sheridan turn?
― DarraghmacKwacz (darraghmac), Thursday, 18 March 2010 12:40 (fourteen years ago) link
BEST TEAM did we do a team of the decade thing already, or was it just premier league?
― DarraghmacKwacz (darraghmac), Thursday, 18 March 2010 12:41 (fourteen years ago) link
hamann was a better passer than masch and scored more goals, just a better all around player imo. there was some good stats about games won with hamann in that liverpool side vs without.
― I see what this is (Local Garda), Thursday, 18 March 2010 12:42 (fourteen years ago) link
We need a set formation to do best team. 4-3-3?
― No, YOU'RE a disgusting savage (Scik Mouthy), Thursday, 18 March 2010 12:43 (fourteen years ago) link
BuffonCafu - Nesta - Campbell (serious) - ???Vieira - ??? - ???Messi - Rooney - Henry
― No, YOU'RE a disgusting savage (Scik Mouthy), Thursday, 18 March 2010 12:45 (fourteen years ago) link
best team as Rafa would pick it
― Ismael Klata, Thursday, 18 March 2010 12:46 (fourteen years ago) link
Rafa would just go to the nearest hospital and pick one-legged kids given the opportunity.
― No, YOU'RE a disgusting savage (Scik Mouthy), Thursday, 18 March 2010 12:47 (fourteen years ago) link
I'd have loved to Vieira and Fabregas play together properly at Arsenal.
― No, YOU'RE a disgusting savage (Scik Mouthy), Thursday, 18 March 2010 12:48 (fourteen years ago) link
vieira ronaldinho nedved maybe
― DarraghmacKwacz (darraghmac), Thursday, 18 March 2010 12:49 (fourteen years ago) link
hmm maybe not nedved for 00-09.