I wanted to start the thread for the next season. This first thing I want to do is make is clear what the timeline is for this season and what competitions are are being looked at. The seasons will run from roughly August to August, in this season August of 67 to August of 68. There is a little wiggle room around the cut off dates in order to not truncate the beginning or ends of competitions. Most of Europe: This is the standard timeline for all of Western Europe and much of Eastern Europe. No competitions are truncated. Some Eastern Europe (Specifically Hungary and the Soviet Union) will have their league competitions split in half. There is a mid season August break which is the splitting point. The second half of the 67 season and the first half of the 68 season are used. Major European competitions that are part of this season: All domestic and cup competitions on the 1967-68 schedule. The second half of the 1967 domestic competitions and first half of the 1968 domestic competitions in Hungary and the Soviet Union. All European competitions (EC, CWC, FC) on the 1967-68 schedule. The 1967 Intercontinental Cup. For international matches the cut off in Europe will be: season begins in August 5th of 1967 and ends July 31st of 1968. In South America things are slight more complicated using this timeline but I will try to make it perfectly clear. This is an awkward season for Brazil, as the order of competitions is in flux. The Taca Brasil is on its way out. The edition that will be part of this season (67) is the second to last one played and the last of importance. The competition was usually played at the end of the year, from August to December. The 1968 edition started in August of 1968 but did finish until September of 1969. The competitions prolonged conclusion caused to to run past the start of the libertadores and have no impact on qualification. Therefore the top teams in the later rounds pulled all of their best players. For Botafogo, the winners, none of Jairzinho, Gerson, or Caju played in the semifinals of finals. Same thing for Cruziera etc. The Taca Brasil was on its way out and the TRGP, which would soon morph into the Brazilian Championship, was going to take over as the new national competition of record. The first TRGP in 1967 was a replacement for the Rio-Sau Paulo tournament which was always played at the beginning of the year. The 1967 edition was played in May and June of 1967. The TRGP replaced the Rio-Sau Paulo because of Cruziero's success in the 1966 Taca Brasil, proving that a competition for only Rio and Sau Paulo teams was not relevant. Officials quickly realize the TRGP is a better format to decide a national champion than the Taca Brasil. Therefore the 1968 edition is moved into the Taca Brasil's old time slot at the end of the year, being played from August to December of 1968. Because of this neither the 67 or 68 editions of the TRGP will be part of this season. State leagues had traditionally been played at the end of the year. This was true in 1967 with the editions being played from August to Dec of 67. This would change going forward. In 1968 state competitions were moved to the beginning of the year to not conflict with the more robust and important TRGP (soon to be Brazilian Championship) which had been moved to the end of the year. This season two state championships will be part of the season. Major competitions in Brazil that are part of this season: All 1967 state competitions, which ran roughly August 67 to December 67. The 1967 Taca Brasil, which ran from July 30th to December 29th. This is won by Palmieras and qualified for the libertadores. All 1968 state competitions, which ran roughly March to June of 68 (Carioca) or January to June (Paulista). Major Competitions in Argentina that are part of the season The 1967 Nacional, played from September to December 67. The 1968 Metropolitano, played from March to early August of 68. Domestic Competitions in other SA Countries that are part of this season The 1967 Uruguay domestic league, which ran from July to December of 67. 16 of the 18 rounds fall within the time period so I think it is fine to consider all of the 67 domestic season and none of the 68 domestic season. In Chile and Peru seasons run from March to December, so the second half of the 67 domestic season and first half of the 68 domestic seasons will be counted. Libertadores and Internationals The entire 1968 Libertadores will be part of this season, which ran from January to May of 68. The 1967 Intercontinental Cup. All internationals played between August 1 of 67 to August 12 of 68, making the matches between Brazil and Argentina and the end of Brazil's world tour the culmination of the season.
I will start accumulating nominees shortly and start summarizing major accomplishments. Please everyone feel free to jump in and nominate players.
I am going to get things started with England. English football had another strong season with two different clubs winning major European trophies. The league was not overly stratified like many other leagues at the time, with top international spread throughout the top half of the table teams. Manchester City won the league on the final day of the season surpassing rivals United. City had a number of players that would become important internationals for England leading into the 1970 World Cup. Manchester United narrowly missing the European Cup and League double. They beat a strong group of opponents to become the first English team to win the European Cup. Liverpool finished third in the league only 4 points back, this was the last strong season for the great generation of players that won two titles in the 60s. Fourth place Leeds who had a strong league season also won the League Cup and the Fairs Cup. Leeds defeated three Scottish opponents in the Fairs Cup and beat Ferencvaros for the title. City and United had by far the two highest scoring teams in the league. City, Liverpool, Leeds, and Everton had very strong defensive records. The England national team had strong season, but results were a little more mixed than in previous years. The team was 6-2-2 in this season. The highlights were Drawing 1-1 in Glasgow to advance from their Euro Qualifying group, defeating Spain home and away in the Euro quarterfinals, and defeating the Soviets 2-0 in the Euro third place game. The disappointments were the two lackluster 1-0 losses to Yugoslavia and West Germany. Both games England failed to create any real threat. My nominees for English based players are: Colin Bell (Manchester City, England) Attacking-mid, Center-mid: League winner 35(14). Broke into the national team getting his first two caps. Francis Lee (Manchester City, England) Center-forward: League winner 31(16) for City, 40(24) total as he transferred to city after 9 games with Bolton. Was not capped this season but would be in late 1968. Mike Summerbee (Manchester City, England) Right-wing, Inside-forward: League winner 41(14). Earned three caps for England playing in crucial Euro qualifiers vs Scotland and Spain. Bobby Charlton (Manchester United, England) Attacking-mid: League Runner up 41(15). Won the European Cup and scored twice in the final. Played in 9 of the 10 games for England scoring four goals including vs Spain and the Soviet Union. Second in the Ballon d'Or. George Best (Manchester United, Northern Ireland) Right-wing, Left-wing: League Runner up 41(28). Co top scorer in the league. Player of the year in England. Won the European Cup scoring three goals in 9 games. Won the BalLon d'Or. Pat Crerand (Manchester United) Center-mid: League runner up, European Cup winner. Alex Stepney (Manchester United, England) Goalkeeper: League runner up, European Cup winner. Won a cap for England despite great competition for spots at goalkeeper after some European Cup heroics. Roger Hunt (Liverpool, England) Inside-forward: Third Place 40(25). Part of the crushing 8-0 defeat of 1860 Munich in the Fairs Cup. Played 8 times for England scoring once. Peter Thompson (Liverpool, England) Left-wing Third Place 41(2). Part of the crushing 8-0 defeat of 1860 Munich in the Fairs Cup. Played twice for England. Eddie Gray (Leeds United) Left-wing: Break out season for a very underrated player in my opinion. Fourth in league 32(6). Won league Cup 7(1). Won Fairs Cup 8(2). Scored the winning goals in the semifinals of both cup competitions Leeds won. Had some excellent performances in Europe. Johnny Giles (Leeds United, Republic of Ireland) Attacking-mid: Fourth in league 20(7). Won league Cup 7(2). Won Fairs Cup 10(2). Peter Lorimer (Leeds United) Inside-forward, Right-wing, Attacking-mid. Fourth in league 37(16). Won league Cup. Won Fairs Cup 10(8). Norman Hunter (Leeds United, England) Center-back: Fourth in league 40(2). Won league Cup. Won Fairs Cup. Played five times for England including Euro final stage. Scored in the away win vs Spain. Lineups show him as an inside forward or a wing for England... Does anyone know where he actually was playing? Billy Bremner (Leeds United, Scotland) Center-mid: Fourth in league 36(2). Won league Cup 6(1). Won Fairs Cup 10(0). Played twice for Scotland. Jack Charlton (Leeds United, England) Center-back: Fourth in league 34(5). Won league Cup . Won Fairs Cup 11(1). Played twice for England. Alan Ball (Everton, England) Attacking-mid, Right-wing: 5th in league 34(20). Made the FA Cup Final. Played 7 times for England. Brian Labone (Everton, England) Center-back: 5th in league 40(0). Made the FA Cup Final. Played 6 times for England and displaces Charlton as first choice next to Moore. Jeff Astle (West Brom) Center-forward: 8th in league 41(26), FA Cup winner. Scored in both replays to beat Liverpool in the 6th round, Scored the winner in the semifinal and final. Ron Davies (Southampton, Wales) Center-forward: Co top scorer with best. Second consecutive season as top scorer 40(28). Played three times for Wales scoring once vs Scotland. Martin Peters (West Ham, England) Attacking-mid, Left-wing. Played 9 times for England scoring 5 goals. Maybe England's best player this season. 40(14) for midtable West Ham. Bobby Moore (West Ham, England) Center-back: Only player to play all 10 games for England.
http://www.rsssf.com/miscellaneous/europa-poy68.html Thoughts on Ballon d’Or voting. I did not remember Charlton being such a close second place. Statistically he is no different than his other top seasons, strong with Man U and England. @PuckVanHeel could you link to your post with the quotes about his observed decline around 1968. On paper he still appears to be a very strong candidate for the 23. @comme i want to find your posts on Euro 68 that you made right after watching the finals and semifinals. Do you remember anything particular about Charlton? Facchetti seems high as well, seems like a token vote for being captain of a winning team. From everything I heard and seen he had serious issues in the Euro final. Maybe he was better vs the Soviets? Riva also seems high. Maybe a hot start to 68-69 is influencing this. In contrast Amancio, Rivera, and Eusebio seem underrated at first glance. Also don’t really understand the votes for Schulz and Greaves or the two Hungarian players ahead of Albert. Does anyone have any info on which players for City were seen as the most responsible for delivering the title? I am assuming that the three I have so far are high up the list. Was one seen as more important than the others? Same question for Leeds, does anyone have any info on the most important players for this season, especially in the Fairs Cup.
I'm having very similar thoughts about Facchetti (literally token left back I noted). But it is not a lock yet. Schulz is the best player of HSV, who represented in Europe. Currently have him with jersey #4. Bercellino and Moore are also in contention for the back line. Perhaps you know Moore about the latter? For Leeds it seems that Morimer had a blow out. Jack in 67, Morimer 68, 69?,Gray 70. I'll check out the Hungarians. @ManiacButcher, who do you think was the best for Palmeiras? César Maluco had all the important local goals. Tupazinho dito for the Libertadores. Ademir and Dudu I find difficult to judge.
Well, I think Tupãzinho had the higher peak. But if we take only consistency it's easily Ademir. 67 - Taça Brasil: Ademir's absence in the first half of the final's second game against Náutico is still talked as the main reason for the loss. (Ademir was getting married, his wife was from Chile, plus papers, signatures, travels... Mario Travaglini decided to spare him). In the third and decisive match he even scored a goal. 68 - Copa Libertadores: Here Tupãzinho had more flashy exhibitions (beautiful goals, great games...). But some old timers say that Bilardo (Faced Palmeiras with Estudiantes) said that the brazilians that most impressed him while he played were Pelé, Ademir da Guia and Tupãzinho (crooked legs like Garrinha he also said). https://tardesdepacaembu.wordpress.com/2013/03/01/tupazinho-perna-torta-como-garrincha/ http://3vv.com.br/2007/06/josmariano-barrella/ Interesting anectode: Palmeiras lost the Libertadores final to Estudiantes in the third game (played in Uruguay - neutral field) but before they beated twice this Penarol with great names in the semifinals: Palmeiras 1 x 0 Peñarol-URU Pacaembu (São Paulo) Goal: Tupãzinho 25 do 2° Tempo. Palmeiras: Valdir, Djalma Santos, Baldochi, Osmar e Ferrari; Dudu e Ademir da Guia; Servílio, Suingue, Tupãzinho e Rinaldo. Técnico: Alfredo González. Peñarol: Mazurkiewicz, Méndez, Figueroa, González e Caetano; Gonçalves e Cortés; Bertocchi (Abbadie, 20 do 2°), Pedro Rocha, Spencer e Joya. Técnico: Rafael Milans. Peñarol-URU 1 x 2 Palmeiras Centenário (Montevidéu-URU) Goals: Héctor Silva 39 e Tupãzinho 47 do 1° Tempo; Tupãzinho 10 do 2° Tempo. Peñarol: Mazurkiewicz, Méndez, Figueroa, González e Caetano; Gonçalves (Roberto Gil, 15 do 1°) e Pedro Rocha; Abbadie, Héctor Silva, Spencer e Joya. Técnico: Rafael Milans. Palmeiras: Valdir, Geraldo Scalera (Djalma Santos, intervalo), Baldochi, Osmar e Ferrari; Dudu e Ademir da Guia; Servílio, Suingue, Tupãzinho e Rinaldo. Técnico: Alfredo González.
After making an earlier start to research and consideration myself this time I have a few ideas already (am maybe not far away from a 23 either but will leave that until Tom has posted all nominations at least). I mentioned Nene of Cagliari on the main thread for example (top rated Serie A player according to DBS Calcio, though Rivera seems to be Italian Player of the Year after actual voting). I've seen some mega assists from him now anyway in big Serie A games, so maybe he does enter my thoughts for a place in the 23! I noticed via Gunter Netzer's Wikipedia page that seemingly German Teams of the Season available. http://www.kicker.de/news/fussball/bundesliga/bl50/196768/startseite.html Do those numbers relate to amount of nominations from within a group of journalists @Gregoriak ? I wondered if Gregoriak or @PuckVanHeel had assist data for the Bundesliga too, with Netzer a prime candidate for asking about on that basis too. I'm wondering if he could be a slightly under the radar candidate, not because he's not an all-timer but because he didn't have the worldwide fame at this point. I think you referred to some assist stats for the previous season Puck, from Germany? Yes, I think the Ballon d'Or will reflect both calendar years concerned, so the 1967 one isn't completely irrelevant by any means, and that seems evident in a few cases. Likewise the 1968 one can give some clues for 1968/69 I think in some cases too. Maybe someone has the breakdown of votes with descriptions again for the 1968 Ballon d'Or anyway?
For Italy, my conclusions so far are: -Rivera lock @10, omnipresent -Mazzola lock, Euro and Serie A -Prati lock, not sure about his Euro substitution. Injury or bad play? -Bercellino lock, best defender in Serie A by DBS. Juventus lost 1st round in the Coppa without him, reached EC1 semifinals with him. Then the group of top candidates for further representation: De Sisti/Facchetti/Riva/Domenghi/Nene I took out Zoff, whom I had @1 initially. He only has 4 caps, 4 games in Europe and rates 4th in Serie A. German goalkeeper Wolter seems a stronger alternative, going by Gregoriak's Kicker listshttps://www.bigsoccer.com/threads/kicker-rangliste-1955-to-2015.2017640/page-3. He was the top player for Braunschweig's Bundesliga win the previous year and rates even higher for this year. Braunschweig eventually lost 1-0 in the quarter final replay against Juventus in EC1. Of the candidates above, I'm looking at Facchetti, Euro nominee, 5th left back in Serie A, despite his goals, mostly because of his position for the XI. Cooper and Dunne are other options but more research/feedback is required.
https://thesefootballtimes.co/2017/08/25/dragan-dzajic-the-serb-lauded-by-the-games-biggest-legends/ http://www.pesmitidelcalcio.com/viewtopic.php?f=18&t=523 He possessed arguably the greatest skillset a winger ever had Maybe others like garrincha/best could dribble better but weren’t comparable in playmaking while Beckham was just as effective picking out a man with a cross but could hardly beat his marker There is literally 0% footage of his club performance but he did lead his country to a final in what has been described as the best ever Euro performance( only matched by Michel platini) If his international form was in any way representative of his club season than he should’ve been a runaway winner of the BD Maybe the most underrated player ever(in history) I don’t think a player of his skillset has ever been downplayed or hardly mentioned in top 50 all time lists as he has
I still had Gemmell in mind as a possibility, and for my initial sketch I'm pretty torn between him and Facchetti (whereas last time I favoured Gemmell for sure). No harm going ahead and listing that I suppose actually, but obviously can be subject to change even if not due to complete lack of additional research or changing the calendar considered etc this time....: (Listing by area of the world played in at the moment) Best B.Charlton Bell McNeill Lennox/(Prati?) Gemmell/(Facchetti?) Cruyff Beckenbauer Netzer Rivera Mazzola Zoff Nene Pirri Amancio Eusebio Dzajic Lubanski Veron Pele Carlos Alberto Gerson Figueroa With feasibly these 13 honourable mentions in mind to list with my vote theoretically (but I'm not submitting such a list of course, and it wouldn't be exhaustive with all names I'd include I guess): Peters Johnstone (Jairzinho?) Bosquier Van Hanegem Vogts Facchetti Prati Albert Chislenko Byshovets Ademir Rivelino Tostao So, as you can see I was thinking of including Zoff myself. I knew he'd made a mark at Napoli (although hard to pinpoint highlight save footage etc to the opening season I guess) and in effect he was regarded as the best goalie in Italy (whatever the DBS rankings say, and for goalies it can be a bit dependant on how busy they are etc - his ratings are good to very good I suppose anyway) by late 67/68, and then had a good Euros I think. I know Kicker ratings often award goalies very well, but not meaning to rule them out by default based on that of course.
Mainly - apart from my own observations on his defense work etc. - it is Arthur Hopcraft his work (as already linked), which is generally seen as one of the truly great books on football, with him known as a sharp and accurate observer of what was happening. There he clearly says by 1967-68 there was "less ease in his game" and is at the very least physically declining. By 1968-69 (down to 8 goals for club and country in 57 games) and 1970 he was certainly rapidly over the hill, with rapidly declining value - no doubt about this I think. Then there is also, as @Ariaga II commented on, that World Soccer itself commented on his inconsistency (already at the peak of his fame in 1966), by the less 'controversial' writers. Which also Hopcraft wrote about. Personally I think it's well possible a better season as the previous one. In 1966-67 he has really only two goals against teams that you can call 'top' (top nine sides in the league, plus international top teams). In 1967-68 this is up to 12 goals (Best was the penalty taker if I'm not mistaken). Including two goals in the European Cup final - even though it's known as Best who won it - and a goal in the 3rd place match against USSR in the euros. Also two goals against champions Manchester City while United finished 2nd (with 5 more team goals scored as the previous season). Yes I know George Best was a big help, but on the other hand Denis Law had major injury problems just as Herd and Stiles. So from my limited perspective Charlton might well end up in the top category for me this time, if not top three.
Kicker rated Wolter 1st and 2nd for the respective season halves. But his overall contribution to the liga was massive. Zoff only played the last games of the euro, replacing Albertosi, who got reinstated straight after the euro. From your list atm: Best, lock B.Charlton, lock, omnipresent Bell McNeill Lennox/(Prati?) had him on the radar from last season, will investigate Gemmell/(Facchetti?) will investigate Cruyff, touchy Beckenbauer, lock, probably @6 Netzer, didn't see him in Gregoriak's team of the year Rivera, lock Mazzola, lock Zoff, not @1 Nene, strong mitropa performance and serie A. How did he do against big teams? Pirri, with Amancio already, maybe a Valencia player is preferred, feedback welcome. Amancio, lock Eusebio, lock Dzajic, no idea about his club season, almost lock. Lubanski, lock Veron, lock Pele, him and César could battle for the local competition. I rate the Libertadores higher. Carlos Alberto, also didn't play Libertadores. Gerson, Figueroa, the SA leagues are somewhat equal, perhaps Argentina is slightly stronger.
Yeah, I'll wait to see what Gregoriak comes back with. I looked previously at average ratings for many German seasons and often one or two keepers are right at the top - I think this season maybe not actually (the Kicker ratings are linked in one of the boxes on the screen I posted earlier with the ToTs for Bundesliga (or Germany in general) - Netzer and Vogts were joint 2nd though). As they are still in my recent YouTube viewing history I can quickly provide some notable Nene contributions for Cagliari in the big Serie A games: (Cross for the final goal) (the 2-1 goal and assist for the next one too)
Correction, Netzer does feature: 1967-68 -----Köppel 8-------Held 7------Strehl 6------Cebinac 9 -------------Overath 6-------------Netzer 13 ---Vogts 12------Fichtel 10------Beckenbauer 8----Jusufi 9 -------------------------Radenkovic 5
Ah, yeah, so that is confirmation that Gregoriak posted the same team shown on my link before, and that it is indeed the number of selections shown by the name I think.
Well, it is based on the same data - I guess Gregoriak chose the appropriate selections to include in the XI, rather than copying the choices/diagram of Kicker (if it was online at the time). But yeah, 13 inclusions for Netzer, 12 for Vogts, 9 for Cebinac, 8 for Beckenbauer, 6 for Overath etc....
The numbers show how often a player was featured in the "Team of the Day" over the course of the season and after the end of the season for each of the 11 positions they choose one player that was featured most often. Thus they arrive at a "Team of the season".
And what Kicker publishes on their website is not necessarily what was published at the time in the magazine. That's something I have noticed for several years. For example the link you found in Netzer's wiki biography gets major positions wrong (Right winger Cebinac on the left wing, Beckenbauer as right back, Jusufi as center back, Netzer on the left, that should be Overath's position). The Kicker authors at the time would never have made such mistakes in positioning.
Regarding "Kicker" grades I did compile them on my website for 1967-68 https://www.historical-lineups.com/.../09/Top-Rated-Players-Team-of-the-Season6.pdf And based on those grades the "Team of the Season" would look different than the "Team of the Season" based on "Team of the Day" selections (no Beckenbauer in there as Joachim Bäse was the highest-ranked sweeper and Vogts was mostly deployed as stopper instead of full back in that season).
Scotland: The national team had disappointing season, failing to advance in Euro qualifying despite the away win vs England last season. Celtic won the league again in a close race with Rangers. Celtic disappointingly lost in the first round of the European Cup to Dynamo Kiev and lost in the violent Intercontinental Cup vs Racing. They did win a high profile vs Penarol in preparation for the Intercontinental Cup. Rangers, Dundee and Hibs all had some good victories in Fairs Cup but all eventually fell to Leeds. Bobby Lennox (Celtic, Scotland) Left-wing: League winner 28(32). League top scorer. League Cup winner: 9(7). Played twice for Scotland. Jimmy Johnstone (Celtic, Scotland) Right-wing: League winner 29(5). League Cup winner 8(5). Played once for Scotland. 24th place Ballon d'Or. Germany: The national team disappointingly failed to move past their group in Euro qualifying. They had an impressive 3-1 victory over Yugoslavia this season putting them in position to qualify if they beat Albania, but were held to a 0-0 draw. Other disappointments were a loss to Romania and draws vs Switzerland and Wales. There were high points, specifically a 1-0 Win vs England and a 2-1 win vs Brazil. Bayern Made the CWC semifinal and Hamburg made the final of the same competition. Fairs Cup results were disappointing. I listed a lot of candidates, more so because I do not know who to list, as oppose to lots of strong performances. Franz Brungs (Nurnberg) Center forward: League winner 34(25), #2 scorer in the league. Not Capped. Ludwig Muller (Nurnberg, West Germany) Center-back: League winner 33(1). Played twice for W. Germany in the wins over England and Brazil. Georg Volkert (Nurnberg, West Germany) Left-wing: League winner 33(9). Played three times for W. Germany and scored one goal in the 3-1 win at Belgium. Zvezdan Čebinac (Nurnberg) Right-wing: League winner 33(3). Received one Ballon d'Or vote in the 1967 that was attributed to the beginning of this season. Bundesliga team of the season. Horst-Dieter Hottges (Werder Bremen, West Germany) Left-back: League runners up 33(9). Played six times for W. Germany. Berti Vogts (Borussia Monchengladbach, West Germany) Left-back, Center-back: Third place in league 34(6). Bundesliga team of the season. Tied for second highest rated player in the league. Played six times for W. Germany. Gunter Netzer (Borussia Monchengladbach, West Germany) Attacking-mid: Third place in league 34(13). Bundesliga team of the season (most selections). Tied for second highest rated player in the league. Played six times for W. Germany. Played four times for W. Germany. Wolfgang Weber (Koln, West Germany) Center-back: Fourth place league 31(2). Won the domestic Cup. Wolfgang Overath (Koln, West Germany) Attacking-mid, Left-wing: Fourth place league 29(9). Won the domestic Cup. Bundesliga team of the season. Capped seven times scored two goals. Franz Beckenbauer (Bayern Munich, West Germany) Center-back, Center-mid: 5th in league 28(4). CWC semifinal 7(1). Capped six times and scored the winner on a deflected shot vs England. Fourth place Ballon d'Or. German footballer of the year in 1968. Not sure why he was footballer of the year or was so high in Ballon d'Or voting. Willi Schulz (Hamburg, West Germany) Center-back: 13th in league. CWC finalist. Six caps. 12th in Ballon d'Or voting.
Ah, yes, your posts on the forum are coming back to me now I remember the Team of the Day thing. Thanks for clearing everything up. Around 10 inclusions in Matchday XI's (if we call it that to use modern speak lol!) is pretty good I suppose, which is reflected in the results. I suppose it's not a typical way to pick Team of the Year (it ignores every other game they don't receive the accolade in) but when we already have the Kicker ratings, it is another nice addition to compare to them. The Fussballdaten website seemed to suggest about 12 assists for Netzer this season, I'm thinking (if the boot icon represents that), but curiously where Kicker have assist data (game by game) like for 1989/90 (Littbarski with 11 for example) the Fussballdaten site doesn't appear to. Anyway, maybe that is where Puck spotted the lack of assists for 66/67 from Beckenbauer apparently - he has a few more in 67/68 if so, but on the other hand mid-way through the season his rating drops to International class as opposed to being World Class during 1966/67 as you said before didn't you....? Vogts could be a left-back option for first choice selections even potentially I guess, but I don't believe there is much Monchengladbach footage available from this era? On the face of it, things seem to be in Netzer's favour in various ways anyway though - he did score quite a few goals for example, which wasn't his main forte or job I suppose.
Hunter played the same position as Bobby Moore for his club. When both played for England, Hunter went into midfield. He was one of the hard men of the time, nicknamed "Bites Yer Legs", and very left-footed. Lorimer had the hardest shot in British football.
Oh, sorry, I missed what was said about Vogts playing mostly as stopper when I made that reply! Good info again anyway, thanks.
Yeah, that one I was pretty sure about - they just listed them in order of Team of the Week inclusions maybe even, rather than trying to put them in their proper slots? I've seen that happen before elsewhere I think for teams like this shown online.