This doesn't change. The top 50 does but I don't think it's worth re-posting that as it was a separate thing to look at and the names will be the same ones - you can see that Campbell (98/99), Adams (98/99), Dyer (00/01) would move down slightly again. It's not a very exact thing anyway but more of a general guide adjusted for ratings-inflation/deflation as an alternative to just looking at the actual ratings when for some years there does seem a clear difference in methods/publications at least.
Coming back to DBS Calcio's Serie A ratings as I said I might, to look at the averages between 1977/78 (when Juventus made the EC semi-final and then Italy got to the WC semi-final) and 2006/07 (the year of the last CL win by an Italian club and a year after Italy became World Champions) which is a period during which the league was one of the very best and for most of it Italian clubs were in the market for the top world stars. As an aside I did scan through the results for other years though to see the trends: I think before 77/78 there aren't any big outliers - Juliano did score over 7 in the opening year, but the top ratings in general were about as high as ever; then the next top rated player, a couple of seasons later due to the gap, Rivera had a less high number but the ratings were slightly less in general too for example. To mention the period after 06/07 too: Higuain's score last season was certainly on the high side while the trend among high ratings was not. Sanchez in 10/11 had a high rating certainly in comparison to the trend being very much on the low side among the top 20 ratings, and a year later the trend was even lower I think so both Ibrahimovic and Pirlo's ratings stand out from the crowd in that respect. So I've calculated (as with the English Premier League) a baseline average rating for the top 20 of each season as follows: 77/78 - 6.70 78/79 - 6.64 79/80 - 6.58 80/81 - 6.64 81/82 - 6.64 82/83 - 6.61 83/84 - 6.68 84/85 - 6.74 85/86 - 6.64 86/87 - 6.58 87/88 - 6.58 88/89 - 6.60 89/90 - 6.47 90/91 - 6.50 91/92 - 6.50 92/93 - 6.55 93/94 - 6.46 94/95 - 6.47 95/96 - 6.46 96/97 - 6.43 97/98 - 6.42 98/99 - 6.51 99/00 - 6.40 00/01 - 6.54 01/02 - 6.41 02/03 - 6.47 03/04 - 6.48 04/05 - 6.40 05/06 - 6.43 06/07 - 6.40 That gives an average over that whole period of 6.53, to be used to adjust ratings to. I'll just copy and paste my previous posts and insert the actual and adjusted ratings, but additionally will note other famous players who did make the top 20 for individual seasons (except probably goalkeepers as in Serie A, even if not quite as much as the Bundesliga, they can easily get into the top 3 it seems - if I note any I'll at least be on the conservative side with who is 'famous' and/or err on the side of them being nearer the top of the top 20) as that'll be good extra info for those who don't look at DBS Calcio themselves - I'll do it in order of average rating among those players each season.
(As with Premier League, actual average rating first number in brackets followed by rating adjusted for general ratings inflation/deflation among top 20 that season) 1977/78 - 1) Roberto Filippi (Vicenza/Italy) (7.08, 6.90), 2) Pierluigi Pizzaballa (Atalanta/Italy) (7.02, 6.84), 3) Paolo Rossi (Vicenza/Italy) (6.90, 6.72) (Other famous names in the top 20 - Enrico Albertosi, Marco Tardelli, Dino Zoff) 1978/79 - 1) Ottorino Piotti (Avellino/Italy) (6.88, 6.77), 2) Franco Baresi (AC Milan/Italy) (6.86, 6.75), 3) Roberto Filippi (Napoli/Italy) (6.77, 6.66) (Other famous names in the top 20 - Dino Zoff, Bruno Giordano) 1979/80 - 1) Salvatore Di Somma (Avellino/Italy) (6.82, 6.77), 2) Lucianno Castellini (Napoli/Italy) (6.79, 6.74), 3) Fulvio Collavati (AC Milan/Italy) (6.72, 6.67) (Other famous names in the top 20 - Giancarlo Antognoni, Francesco Graziani) 1980/81 - 1) Ruud Krol (Napoli/Netherlands) (7.00, 6.88), 2) Paulo Roberto Falcao (Roma/Brazil) (6.75, 6.64), 3) Franco Columba (Bologna/Italy) (6.71, 6.60) (Other famous names in the top 20 - Antonio Cabrini, Marco Tardelli) 1981/82 - 1) Franco Causio (Udinese/Italy) (6.94, 6.83), 2) Ruud Krol (Napoli/Netherlands), (6.90, 6.79) 3) Silvano Martina (Genoa/Italy) (6.73, 6.62) (Other famous names in the top 20 - Paulo Roberto Falcao, Gaetano Scirea) 1982/83 - 1) Roberto Tricella (Verona/Italy) (6.73, 6.65), 2) Dirceu (Verona/Brazil) (6.72, 6.64), 3) Pietro Vierchowod (Fiorentina/Italy) (6.67, 6.59) * Platini 4th (6.67, 6.59) (Other famous names in the top 20 - Salvatore Bagni, Liam Brady, Herbert Prohaska, Paulo Roberto Falcao, Carlo Ancelotti, Edinho) 1983/84 - 1) Zico (Udinese/Brazil) (7.08, 6.92), 2) Claudio Garella (Verona/Italy) (6.82, 6.67), 3) Antonio Cabrini (Juventus/Italy) (6.81, 6.66) (Other famous names in the top 20 - Michel Platini, Liam Brady, Paulo Roberto Falcao, Pietro Vierchowod, Giancarlo Antognoni) 1984/85 - 1) Junior (Torino/Brazil) (7.08, 6.86), 2) Diego Maradona (Napoli/Argentina) (7.03, 6.81), 3) Hans-Peter Briegel (Verona/W.Germany) (6.89, 6.68) (Other famous names in the top 20 - Mark Hateley, Fernando De Napoli, Toninho Cerezo, Salvatore Bagni, Graeme Souness, Gianluca Vialli, Zico, Michel Platini) 1985/86 - 1) Roberto Donadoni (Atalanta/Italy) (6.88, 6.77), 2) Salvatore Bagni (Napoli/Italy) (6.83, 6.72), 3) Diego Maradona (Napoli/Argentina) (6.72, 6.61) (Other famous names in the top 20 - Carlo Ancelotti, Fernando De Napoli, Zbigniew Boniek, Daniel Passarella, Junior, Antonio Cabrini, Michel Platini, Franco Baresi, Dirceu, Karl-Heinz Rummenigge)
1986/87 - 1) Walter Zenga (Inter Milan/Italy) (6.83, 6.78), 2) Roberto Mancini (Sampdoria/Italy) (6.73, 6.68), 3) Luigi De Agostini (Verona/Italy) (6.7, 6.65) (Other famous names in the top 20 - Diego Maradona, Ciro Ferrara, Salvatore Bagni, Antonio Cabrini, Franco Baresi, Hans-Peter Briegel, Gianluca Vialli, Daniel Passarella) 1987/88 - 1) Ruud Gullit (AC Milan/Netherlands) (6.81, 6.76), 2) Roberto Mancini (Sampdoria/Italy) (6.75, 6.70), 3) Paolo Maldini (AC Milan/Italy) (6.73, 6.68) (Other famous names in the top 20 - Franco Baresi, Gianluca Vialli, Diego Maradona, Dunga, Walter Zenga, Carlo Ancelotti, Junior, Careca) 1988/89 - 1) Andreas Brehme (Inter Milan/W.Germany) (6.84, 6.77), 2) Nicola Berti (Inter Milan/Italy) (6.77, 6.70), 3) Dunga (Fiorentina/Brazil) (6.75, 6.68) (Other famous names in the top 20 - Lothar Matthaus, Andrea Carnevale, Diego Maradona, Aldo Serena, Rui Barros, Ramon Diaz, Junior, Careca, Walter Zenga, Franco Baresi, Rudi Voller) 1989/90 - 1) Lothar Matthaus (Inter Milan/W.Germany) (6.71, 6.77), 2) Franco Baresi (AC Milan/Italy) (6.58, 6.64), 3) Joao Paulo (Bari/Brazil) (6.58, 6.64) (Other famous names in the top 20 - Andreas Brehme, Alemao, Diego Maradona, Frank Rijkaard, Toto Schillaci, Toninho Cerezo, Pietro Vierchowod, Marco van Basten, Rudi Voller, Carlo Ancelotti) 1990/91 - 1) Roberto Mancini (Sampdoria/Italy) (6.88, 6.91), 2) Glenn Stromberg (Atalanta/Sweden) (6.55, 6.58), 3) Gianluca Pagliuca (Sampdoria/Italy) (6.53, 6.56) (Other famous names in the top 20 - Frank Rijkaard, Alessandro Melli, Walter Zenga, Moreno Mannini, Tomas Skuhravy, Franco Baresi, Julio Cesar, Lothar Matthaus, Ciro Ferrara, Claudio Caniggia, Pietro Vierchowod) 1991/92 - 1) Franco Baresi (AC Milan/Italy) (6.64, 6.67), 2) Igor Shalimov (Foggia/CIS) (6.61, 6.64), 3) Frank Rijkaard (AC Milan/Netherlands) (6.58, 6.61) (Other famous names in the top 20 - Ruud Gullit, Gianfranco Zola, Paolo Maldini, Enzo Scifo, Jurgen Kohler, Marco van Basten, Enzo Francescoli, Thomas Doll) 1992/93 - 1) Stefano Borgonovo (Pescara/Italy)* (6.80, 6.77, 2) Francesco Dell'Anno (Udinese/Italy) (6.67, 6.64), Ruud Gullit (6.67, 6.64), 3) Giussepe Signori (Lazio/Italy) (6.66, 6.63) (Other famous names in the top 20 - Ruben Sosa, Aron Winter, Faustino Asprilla, Abel Balbo, Paolo Maldini, Walter Zenga, Marco van Basten, Enzo Francescoli) * Borgonovo shown as apparently 19th centre-forward so not sure if that is wrong or his rating is but thought I should list as he is potentially/provisionally top (Gullit and Van Basten both with less than 50% of games played) 1993/94 - 1) Ruud Gullit (Sampdoria/Netherlands) (6.90, 6.97), 2) Stefano Tacconi (Genoa/Italy) (6.57, 6.64), 3) Franco Baresi (AC Milan/Italy) (6.50, 6.57) (Other famous names in the top 20 - Ciro Ferrara, Jonas Thern, Giussepe Signori, Paolo Maldini, Pietro Vierchowod, Roberto Donadoni, Luis Oliveira, Roberto Di Matteo)
1994/95 - 1) Dejan Savicevic (AC Milan/Yugoslavia) (6.66, 6.72), 2) Luigi Turgi (Cremonese/Italy) (6.65, 6.71), 3) Gianluca Vialli (Juventus/Italy) (6.57, 6.63) (Other famous names in the top 20 - Paulo Sousa, Enrico Chiesa, Abedi Pele, Roberto Di Matteo, Rui Costa, Gianluca Pagliuca, Paolo Maldini, Daniel Fonseca) 1995/96 - 1) George Weah (AC Milan/Liberia) (6.79, 6.86), 2) Enrico Chiesa (Sampdoria/Italy) (6.59, 6.66), 3) Javier Zanetti (Inter Milan/Argentina) (6.53, 6.60) (Other famous names in the top 20 - Aron Winter, Benito Carbone, Paolo Maldini, Nestor Sensini, Paolo Montero, Fabio Cannavaro, Aldair, Marcel Desailly, Roberto Donadoni, Jonas Thern) 1996/97 - 1) Lilian Thuram (Parma/France) (6.71, 6.81), 2) Gianluca Pagliuca (Inter Milan/Italy) (6.57,6.67) 3) Massimo Taibi (Piacenza/Italy) (6.48, 6.58) (Other famous names in the top 20 - Oliver Bierhoff, Gianluigi Buffon, Angelo Peruzzi, Roberto Mancini, Youri Djorkaeff, Didier Deschamps, Giussepe Bergomi, Antonio Benarrivo) 1997/98 - 1) Francesco Totti (Roma/Italy) (6.63, 6.73), 2) Roberto Baggio (Bologna/Italy) (6.60, 6.70), 3) Pavel Nedved (Lazio/Czech Republic) (6.58, 6.68) (Other famous names in the top 20 - Oliver Bierhoff, Ronaldo, Alessandro Del Piero, Gabriel Batistuta, Aron Winter, Edgar Davids, Rui Costa, Kennet Andersson, Alessandro Nesta, Vladimir Jugovic) 1998/99 - 1) Matias Almeyda (Lazio/Argentina) (6.80, 6.82), 2) Christian Vieri (Lazio/Italy) (6.74, 6.76), 3) Francesco Totti (Roma/Italy) (6.60, 6.62) (Other famous names in the top 20 - George Weah, Rui Costa, Alessandro Nesta, Sinisa Mihajlovic, Francesco Toldo, Gabriel Batistuta, Edgar Davids, Lilian Thuram, Zvonimir Boban) 1999/00 - 1) Pavel Nedved (Lazio/Czech Republic) (6.54, 6.67), 2) Edgar Davids (Juventus/Netherlands) (6.52, 6.65), 3) Sebastien Frey (Verona/France) (6.50, 6.63) (Other famous names in the top 20 - Stefano Fiore, Christian Vieri, Diego Simeone, Juan Sebastien Veron, Francesco Toldo, Vincent Candela, Alvaro Recoba, Paolo Montero, Nestor Sensini, Cafu, Marco Delvecchio, Laurent Blanc) 2000/01 - 1) Roberto Baggio (Brescia/Italy) (6.81, 6.80), 2) Damiano Tomassi (Roma/Italy) (6.75, 6.74), 3) Pavel Nedved (Lazio/Czech Republic) (6.71, 6.70) (Other famous names in the top 20 - Rui Costa, Vincenzo Montella, Enrico Chiesa, Francesco Totti, Giussepe Signori, Cafu, Zinedine Zidane, Gianluigi Buffon, Alessandro Nesta, Walter Samuel, Paolo Montero, Stefano Fiore)
Interesting to note actually that the current sources for Serie A are the same as the ones traditionally used for the Guerin d'Oro, but there must have been differences in the past: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guerin_d'Oro Educated guesswork, but perhaps La Stampa was included at times: http://football-ratings.blogspot.co.uk/2012/07/memory-lane-serie-199495.html http://football-ratings.blogspot.co.uk/2012/11/memory-lane-serie-199394.html I don't know whether that was the source for these 95/96 Juventus CL ratings too for example (maybe not, but not specified and on the same website) - Del Piero not surprisingly, although marginally, topping those: http://football-ratings.blogspot.co.uk/2012/11/memory-lane-juventus-in-199596-european.html This page is also useful of course, but sources not given, if anything goalies being in the top few more likely than with DBS Calcio, and straight ratings might not be comparable between years if the trend is the same (not to say Platini and Maradona receiving the highest literal ratings for example, over the period, seems surprising....but even looking at the top 3 it seems that the trend became to start rating players a little less generously over time just as with DBS Calcio's sources - which will have varied too in their case of course). http://football-ratings.blogspot.co.uk/2014/05/serie-top-rated-players-1981-2014.html
Perhaps La Repubblica were involved too even, in earlier years for DBS Calcio (we've seen that they used to be prominent in rating Intl tournament games too): http://football-ratings.blogspot.co.uk/2011/12/memory-lane-serie-1989-90.html Guesswork again though.
Completing the look at ratings for Serie A, in the 30 years between 77/78 and 06/07: 2001/02 - 1) Eugenio Corini (Chievo/Italy) (6.52, 6.64), 2) Ciro Ferrara (Juventus/Italy) (6.50, 6.62), 3) Cristiano Doni (Atalanta/Italy) (6.47, 6.59) (Other famous names in the top 20 - Christian Vieri, Adrian Mutu, Luca Toni, Vincenzo Montella, Francesco Totti) 2002/03 - 1) Pavel Nedved (Juventus/Czech Republic) (6.74, 6.80), 2) Adrian Mutu (Parma/Romania) (6.63, 6.69), 3) Stephan Appiah (Brescia/Ghana) (6.58, 6.64) (Other famous names in the top 20 - Francesco Totti, Antonio Di Natale, Dejan Stankovic, Alessandro Del Piero, Adriano, Nestor Sensini, Claudio Lopez, David Pizarro, Edgar Davids, Emerson, Diego Simeone) 2003/04 - 1) Francesco Totti (Roma/Italy) (6.63, 6.68), 2) Roberto Baggio (Brescia/Italy) (6.62, 6.67), 3) Andriy Shevchenko (AC Milan/Ukraine) (6.61, 6.66) (Other famous names in the top 20 - Alessandro Nesta, Kaka, Andrea Pirlo, Alberto Gilardino, Walter Samuel, Jaap Stam, Gennaro Gattuso, Emerson, Simone Perrotta) 2004/05 - 1) Esteban Cambiasso (Inter Milan/Argentina) (6.55, 6.68), 2) Gianluca Pagliuca (Bologna/Italy) (6.53, 6.66), 3) Juan Sebastian Veron (Inter Milan/Argentina) (6.52, 6.65) (Other famous names in the top 20 - Luca Toni, Adriano, Gianfranco Zola, Enrico Chiesa, Andriy Shevchenko, Emerson, David Pizarro) 2005/06 - 1) Luca Toni (Fiorentina/Italy) (6.71, 6.81), 2) Francesco Totti (Roma/Italy) (6.70, 6.80), 3) Kaka (AC Milan/Brazil) (6.48, 6.58) (Other famous names in the top 20 - Emerson, Filippo Inzaghi, David Trezeguet, Esteban Cambiasso, Andriy Shevchenko, Daniele De Rossi, Clarence Seedorf, Simone Perrotta) 2006/07 - 1) Adrian Mutu (Fiorentina/Romania) (6.56, 6.69), 2) Marco Materazzi (Inter Milan/Italy) (6.54, 6.67), 3) Cristiano Doni (Atalanta/Italy) (6.48, 6.61) (Other famous names in the top 20 - Daniele De Rossi, Luca Toni, Esteban Cambiasso, Dejan Stankovic, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Javier Zanetti, Hernan Crespo, Antonio Di Natale, Simone Perrotta)
It's a whole ago that I watched them all now to be honest, so I'll think about it and refresh my memory a bit even if necessary. Which ones did you like best (if you are more sure at the moment!)?
I didn't see all of them but; I liked the one on George Best, Eusebio, Laudrup, Zidane from memory. I especially liked the one on Ronaldo and MvB, but their career trajectory also lends to an interesting short film. Those two I liked the most, I clearly remember. The one on Bergkamp and Henry was also good. I don't think the one on Cruijff was remarkable but thought he comes across rather well there. Certainly a bit different than most other footballers covered (if they happen to comment on their own career; Ronaldo didn't do it).
Nick Holt has made an interesting table. https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/1110007/the-periodic-table-of-football/ There's a preview available on google books. https://books.google.nl/books?id=K2...le football&hl=nl&pg=PT19#v=onepage&q&f=false
I should say that when I hinted I'd watched all of them I was thinking of the original 25 (plus the 'contenders' episode featuring 25 more with short clips) that I saw on the website. The newer ones I haven't seen all of although have seen them appearing on TV and seen at least some of some of them (I know there are episodes for Messi, CR7, Iniesta, I guess Xavi too, Bergkamp, Shearer, Henry, Giggs.....). Yes, the segments with MvB's Dad were good I remember - there was a good 'back story' with that episode. I was interested to see all of them to be honest. Another one that comes to mind you didn't list might be Rivelino (or Rivellino as it was being spelt on some T-shirts or something IIRC?). Yes, the thoughts by Cruyff himself were good I agree, and some comments by Johnny Rep too in that one.
I suppose we all have our favorites but I really did like him. He was never player of the year in his own country, but in the 50 years anniversary book he has a longish profile among the handful 'best players who never became player of the year'. That book summed him up well: "Luc Nilis could kick delightfully from a standstill position. On the one moment with a heavy curve, the other moment very flat, but always fast and precise. Especially his curved free kicks surprised many good goalkeepers. Nilis was technically quite gifted and possessed an excellent cutback move, with which he pulled his opponents in the wind. He could drop a far away ball on his foot, but equally to kick the ball directly in flight on goal. Nilis missed some speed and some power, but with his good trapping he was the stylist made for Anderlecht of the first half of the 1990s." I also liked his enthusiasm and presence on the field. You cannot say he lived for his profession but at the same time he was 6 of 7 working days an hour before training present. Just because he loved his job (this is not apocryphal but actually true). The national team wasn't a happy place for him, and as he himself said a few times he wasn't particularly useful when deployed far away from goal or within a very defensive formation. What didn't help him either was his media communication. Yet, at club level he scored some terrific goals against e.g. Barcelona and Bayern Munich. On the internet and on youtube videos you can see many Belgians (french and dutch speaking alike) saying that he was intrinsically the best technician they've seen the past 40 years. Better, more varied, than Scifo or Hazard. At hindsight, and knowing that he was better used at PSV, they like him more. His youth idols were cyclist Roger de Vlaeminck and Johan Cruijff (already back at Anderlecht). I don't object to the idea of including a young Ronaldo necessarily (with also other youngsters included) and certainly he's on the list of 'great teenagers'. But I was just saying that there might have been a team mate equally good/better than him that year. https://elastica10.wordpress.com/20...as-lucky-luc-nilis-finalmente-no-tuvo-suerte/ Ronaldo himself speaking: This was with Ronaldo playing, so understandable that R9Godmagic focuses on this one but in the other leg he was probably better (per The Independent report). http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/nilis-shatters-leeds-hopes-of-progress-1578253.html http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/cocu-crushes-leeds-1536834.html Matthew Syed of the The Times had recently an OK-ish column about collective memories; in general terms the 2nd half of the 1990s are remembered fondly over here. It's remembered as a time of 'unlimited' prosperity and optimism, of new creative industries too. Might be different in the UK. Of course that plays inevitably a role too and Syed was right that it cannot be cancelled out. The 'Golden Age' ended around 2002, as symbolized by this video.
I was thinking how such table might look from an Italian or Spanish perspective (as far as I can tell), but then thought and checked that John Foot's work on Italian football has a few clues and pointers, including people who never played there like Gianni Brera, Bearzot and indeed also Cruijff or Matthews (or Beckenbauer -> Scirea, Baresi). Some of those already included guys might end up in a different column too (which Holt himself is hinting at; Paolo Rossi perhaps).
The 1990 Guerin d'Oro was given to Baresi but DBScalcio shows Matthaus 0.125 points ahead. La Repubblica seems to align with Guerin d'Oro though with regards to top position. Noticeable imho is that strikers (even mobile and involved ones as Careca) had a tough job. They were also the first ones to get cancelled in the typical Serie A tactics of course. While say GI and Shapley Values (for Serie A at the time) seem to indicate that the attacking positions/strikers were among the most effectual positions on the field, with great significance for the outcome. (ofc you have to be wary and whatever backroom dealings or notorious 'fixing' there might have been in Serie A tunes down the effect, as well as home advantage and such)
Yes, this is relevant to what you are thinking about on the Historic 23 player lists thread ofc! Yes, I would think both Careca and Van Basten would probably be very highly valued in summary by the same journalists probably. Maybe the grading traditions (hard to get top marks or close penalises strikers sometimes? and makes their quieter games effect their averages more?) as well as patterns of play (not always many chances to score, or even get on the ball a lot without fouls arriving) makes it less likely they'd get the best averages (not to say impossible if they'd really consistently shined to their best I suppose...but yes maybe their value can not be reflected entirely in comparison to players in other roles). Winners of tight games as quality strikers could be would surely be a very useful commodity in Serie A of that time I think though yes. And attackers with the extra bit of class (used for bringing others into play and assists at times too) very very useful surely. Maybe Van Basten's intermittent fitness issues did play some part even in this season though, leading to variable form and seemingly 'ability' displayed? The awards being handed out with the help of average ratings is insightful in some ways certainly, but a different approach with journalists just voting for players off the tops of their head at/near the end of the season as in England might also be interesting and not necessarily less indicative (especially as each journalist does/did not hand out grades in every game by any means!).
I was very surprised to see Asprilla getting a mention, and not Baggio, for that specific season. Also surprising, how past-his-prime Baggio did a lot better in the rankings. What would be your opinion about that? Do you think that something other than a status of "national treasure" was to credit for Baggio's better ratings (when Baggio was well past his better days)?
That's definitely one of the interesting ones for sure! Baggio's ratings were still 'good' in his pomp (see Van Basten discussion for similar case maybe although taking 89/90 he was in the top 20 still) and Serie A wasn't the only competition he played in of course. I think again if you asked the same journalists about Baggio they'd say he was a top player or even the best in the world around that time indeed (as the awards indicate although yes he didn't receive the Italian Player of the Year according to average ratings by any source did he....). I don't know if taking a calendar year rating would look better for him or not. Maybe as with Van Basten again, some fitness issues (long term source due to previous injury) can affect consistency? I know before WC 94 he wasn't in peak fitness, but that's more relevant to 93/94 than 92/93 ofc. Things like having a big effect in big games (like vs AC Milan, and indeed in the Uefa Cup) might affect positively his general standing too surely. He was also rated as a really great prospect at Fiorentina but without the average ratings to make that obvious I think (Fiorentina fans were furious at his sale though I know - and knew at the time). I think he was a bit of a different player at Bologna/Brescia but no doubt really shined there as the talisman and inspiration of the team. If he had a struggling period it was at AC Milan (and Inter a bit too maybe), despite still showing some glimpses of quality and winning Serie A, but certainly the ratings do reflect that compared to his Juve ones too. Maybe he 'always' played good games for Bologna and Brescia, while being shut out at times for Juve despite being more in his prime physically (when 'fully' fit)? I'm speculating a bit though to be fair!
This is an interesting question. I don't know this to be honest (from the top of my head). Of course we do have a few lists from the early and mid 1990s (also Italians voted in the 1995 FFT list). Or from later like the 'Italian football hall of fame' with Platini as first inductee etc. I also have a special booklet (which was inserted into an issue) about 'Il grandi bomber', as voted and organized by Guerin Sportivo. This was published in early June 1995, but voted and made before MvB's official retirement in case you wonder. The ones with a (brief) Italian past to make it were - in order of preference - Van Basten, Zsengeller, Nordahl, Greaves, Rush and Papin. Think I saved this because for whatever reason they didn't seem to rate their own Italian strikers. I found that funny. That is what springs to mind now with regards to Guerin Sportivo and journalist voting but I'll look what I can find for specific years or period of years.