I think it has to be understood though that certainly that season with Udinese Zico was playing as a forward/striker. Although Platini could do that job at times with success, he was mainly a midfield player (albeit one which had the team set up around him we could say at Juventus - so he was fairly free to play his game and not worry about the defensive side too much it's probably fair to say; however he was still operating from midfield). Platini in France also tended to play deeper than Zico at Flamengo I'm sure (even if it can be said Zico was as the number 10 an AM rather than support striker). I'm never sure what you have seen and what you haven't, and understandably your views can move as you see more so I'll add a few videos - some impressive short-ish passes can be seen among these and some other good skills; I have been thinking it might be fair to say Zico was better as a 'slide-rule' passer though but partly that can be a choice i.e Platini might more often go with a slightly more clipped/chipped pass in the same situation but sometimes/often with similar success:
I'll try to explain my idea. If there are questions on certain things, I'm open for questions/discussion. Both Zico and Platini are probably among the top five players in their generation, but I do think there is a marked difference in Platini's favor. Platini was a player with a high international profile before Zico was, I think, and also after Zico left his peak (admittedly, Zico is more than 2 years and 3 months older, which benefits Platini for the 1983 - 1986 years). Or to say it less diplomatic: Platini was around 1977 more famous in South America than Zico was in Europe. After Cruijff (and Beckenbauer) had left Europe the Frenchman was slightly higher on the radar for taking on the unofficial 'best player in Europe/world' tag than the Zico was - thanks to an ankle break and St Etienne faltering a bit, plus a 'black cash' affair, this took longer to fully materialize. Consequently, all-time lists tended to be in Platini's favor for a long time, and even in his case there are some who say he tends to be underrated in them. While football is a team sport, it must be said Zico never won against Platini in any of the ten encounters they had. Not for his national team and not for his two clubs - and not more goals or assists either. As far as 'rivalries' are concerned (Pele - Eusebio; Meazza - Sindelar; Zidane vs whoever; Messi - Ronaldo) that is a truly unique record. Platini his uplifting effect on his national team and on Juventus (in Europe) surpasses in my view what Zico accomplished for his clubs and for an already strong Brazil. It's for me not a surprise Platini's GoalImpact rating (as imperfect as it is) is a big 25+ points higher as Zico's. The peak the Frenchmen had with the national team was ultimately higher as Zico's peak. With 14 goals vs 7 goals in tournaments, three semi finals vs zero semi finals, it is also more regular. If you then consider where French football team came from (it was not great/strong until Platini was 25) there is to me little discussion. It is not like Brazil being #1 in Elo before the 1974 World Cup and remaining that until the semis. Same applies for the club career to me. More continental achievements (with less controversy or luck), better and more consistent league results. Zico did score more league goals, but as PDG says, he had only 1 assist in 1983-84 while Platini had 10. There is also a difference in scoring them against amateurs (in Brazil) or against full-professionals (France). Overall I think Platini beats Zico at all levels, from all possible angles. PDG1978 has a good summary/ideas about the 'skills' so no need to repeat it I guess.
In my view (which is supported by stats) Platini was a more accurate shooter and his passes had more danger. Zico was more elegant, a better dribbler perhaps, more acrobatic finishes. He does have more free kicks (also in Serie A, relatively speaking) but indeed Platini tended to do it against better goalkeepers in Serie A. Has also more free kicks at national team level IIRC. Not easy to say, even with all the 'modern' facts and data at hand.
Where is the evidence for ligue 1 teams of the late 70s being of a higher quality compared to the Campeonato Brasileiro (where infact zico averaged less goals per game than he did in Italy) This is not an individual a sport as tennis for example So Head to heads comparisons are flawed and nonsensical in a team sport where many factors outside of your control can contribute to your teams performance Platini winning 10/10 duels really isn’t as amazing as it sounds Pelé wiped the floor with benfica totally He completely destroyed that team in the intercontinental cup and platini did not do that to zico or any other opponent in his whole career The sad fact is as vegan showed many times Pre WC82 platini wasn’t on the radar as one of the very best players That was maradona/KHR/zico Platini and his legacy became over inflated with Euro 84 With maradona as an eligible contender platini would have 1 ballon dor at best 84/85 belonged to maradona no doubt who had an incredible individual performance at domestic level (even if the level of his team was really atrocious) Platini never had even one completely dominant domestic campaign in his career In 1983 he was overshadowed by falcao in the league Even His best 1984 he was arguably overshadowed by zico in the league(at least according to DBS calcio) 1985 overshadowed by maradona in the league(no contest) zico in 1981 copa libertadores and 1982 domestically beats out any year of platini and by a considerable margin 11 goals+4 assists in 14 games beats out any EC performance of platini
I will watch later when time permits And give you my feedback (As you correctly pointed out my opinions can be amended with the discovery of performances and facts that were unknown to me previously-so I will see and get back to you)
It is very imperfect because Zico's GI is incomplete and don't calcule his GI in Brazil and the Udinese overall GI is much lower than the Juventus one (12º Italian club vs 1º Italian club) making this type of comparison more than unfair, dishonest. Why many people don't talk about the subpar GI Platini had in Nancy? Platini was maybe not all of this before 1980* while Zico was elect the Best Player of Campeonato Brasileiro in the year of 1974 and in the next year the National Top Scorer, member of the Brazilian Team of the Campeonato Brasileiro and the best player in the Campeonato Carioca by a large margin, but but French league/football is superior than the Brazilian league/football, but no. Club achivements are comparable but Platini had better and more dominant teams (in their respective scenary) in his hands wth Saint Ettiene and specially with Juventus. Zico in the early had a poor and at most average Flamengo in his hands, a team that once were at best mediocre and he lead them to be the World Champion, being MVP of that match vs Liverpool (remember that the comparison in the Intercontinental cups tilt to South America in 80's https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intercontinental_Cup_(football)). I bet Platini couldn't do kind of thing Zico did for Flamengo while the Brazilian can play in Europe just as fine: * Also, save mistake, Vegan said Zico had 3 or 4 assists in Serie A (not only 1) and it is only in Serie A 83-84, nothing about Copa Italia. Question to review. He plays more upfront in the Udinese but still likely he wasn't the most advanced player on the pitch, it was Virdis. One point Zico had more winning goals in 83/84 Serie A too (4): https://www.thefinalball.com/editio...v1=j&v2=t&v3=1&ord=d&o=GVIT&pos=0&pais=0&sc=0 Including a beautiful and decisive goal against the 82/83 champion Roma: About NTs, Platini had advantage on Zico, but it is not like Zico was a chocker in the Messi proportion with Argentina, while Zico was eliminated in the most important matches with Brazilian NT (vs Argentina 78, vs Italy 82, vs Argentina 82, vs France 86) he had average to good perfomances and had 80% involvement in Brazil's goals in these matches (assists, pre-assists, goals 4 out of 5) and he won 1, lost 1 with 2 ties and he improved more the Brazilian team than Lionel, but while Messi is not criticized for his bad/unlucky/indiferent performances with Argentina, except in a comparison against Pele, Zico is execrated by this. Double-standards? And no mistake there is no way to beat Italy in 1982 with that Brazilian defense, Brazil had luck to just for only having conceded 3 goals, could have been a 5 easily. Its like talk that Madrid with Cristiano Ronaldo lost 7 leagues from 9 he played, without the mention that Real Madrid had the exactly same goal average for than Barcelona in the total. PD: Puck based his affirmations of Platini being a more accurate finisher and passer in the OPTA stats of World Cup just very very FEW matches and while it is true that in this sample Platini was a more accurate finisher in terms of SoT (but well.. shooting more on target doesn't mean you are exceeding your expected goals, actual example with Vinicius Junior), but it is also shows that Zico was a better and a more accurate passer including in the opponent side and lead his teammates to a shot.
There is no direct evidence, even more so because football was less homogenized back then. Therefore we have to look at the international performances which (in my view) are in Platini's favor. Higher peak, higher percentage of good games against strong opponents, higher absolute number of good performances. Also the team achievements for club and country are in his favor. As an example: Zico has more or less 6 goals against 'elite' opponents (3 of them vs Argentina). Platini has about 11 of them for his national team. Note here Platini ranking much better as well in the 'big game scorers' lists. That is right though his (non-penalty) ratio in his best couple Flamengo seasons is higher as his best Udinese season. What is often overlooked here is Udinese actually achieved one point less as the season before him, next to that he had only one assist. Of course it is not tennis but Zico not winning one of them is a telling statistic. It is something we won't find at other 'rivalries' (unless I'm mistaken). The more so since it was in many of those encounters Platini playing for the 'underdog team' and not Zico (Zico's injury troubles in Serie A limited those match-ups to three). This was arguably the case around 1980 - 1982, with the troubles surrounding St Etienne, not qualifying for euro 1980 and the ankle break. But before that period Platini had already almost won the Ballon d'Or, only prevented by the French voter not including him... Even in that period we had reigning EpotY Keegan saying Platini was the best in the world (next to Cruijff) in July 1980, and when Rummenigge was the holder he also placed Platini among the five best in Europe. Around 1977 it was Platini with the bigger profile, helped by that he actually impressed against a few top teams which Zico (with Italy 1976 as main exception) just did to a lesser extent. With Maradona finishing 8th in his league, not playing for the national team and 0 goals and 0 assists against international opponents of any type. Really? Platini did not only win the EC and IC, he also won the highly televised match-up against South American champs Uruguay. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Artemio_Franchi_Trophy He had a slow start but I don't think so, even though Falcao won the league. Not according to Guerin Sportivo and Gazzetta dello Sport. Both of them. It's not better than Platini his 7 goals in 1984-85. It is in fact inflated by playing against semi-amateurs and two games where the opponent received three red cards or more. He did not play a team as strong as Liverpool or Bordeaux either.
Where do you get this from? I also asked that here: https://www.bigsoccer.com/threads/pelé-is-way-overrated-as-a-scorer.2028357/page-16#post-37603070 Because it is the nature of the algorithm. Well, I disagree. First of all, Zico played in fact for the regime team. This has been argued and demonstrated many times before. He played for the best team with usually the most Brazil NT starters from late 70s on. 'World Soccer' (and then coach Carlos Alberto) in fact compared them to Real Madrid and Juventus. Second, they won the Carioca, the first in seven years (third in eighteen years), a season before he became a starter (Zico played two games). Sadly, the latin circle always flipflops between the importance of the Brasileiro vs the state leagues. When it was about Romario in the 1980s (also a Carioca based player) it was claimed the state league was always more important. It can't be emphasized enough how intellectually dishonest this tends to be and the mental gymnastics that is continuously applied (Ariaga knows). If the Carioca is the bread and butter, as it was for Romario, then that automatically means Flamengo was not poor when Zico arrived. People should also wonder about how it can be that the Brazilian poster boy ends up at Udinese, and not a more fancied team. Except that we have also the conversion rate, and the euro statistics. Platini has a 35% conversion rate in the euros.
Flamengo was indeed poor in the whole Brazilian scenary: https://pt.wikipedia.org/wiki/Estatísticas_do_Clube_de_Regatas_do_Flamengo#Década_de_1970 Since Zico's explosion in 1974 the club has evolved into its best phase until the early 1980s (I would say 1982, 1983 was indeed not Zico in his best form) - the highest peak in the Flamengo's history, with Zico as their best player (Campeonato Carioca and Brasileiro), their best passer and finisher (it was portrayed in the Jornal dos Sports among others); Just compare the % of wins and specially the Average Goal For in the 74-82 period with the rest of Flamengo's history: https://www.thefinalball.com/team_season.php?id=2240 Mind-blowing!
Zico was the best Serie A player in 1983/1984 according to Guerin, but not in the summation they make of 4 sources ((I think make a media of some publications) including Gazzetta Dello Sport where Platini was the best, in the average the result was 6.84 vs 6.77 for the French. In comparison, DBS Calcio should include ratings from other publications or some other combination. According DBS Calcio the average grade of Zico in relation to his team average higher than Platini (6.75 x 6.23)showing a lower score drop (-0.10 to Platini). http://www.dbscalcio.it/sn-schedaSq...edaSquadra=1983/84&provieneSchedaCalciatore=Y http://www.dbscalcio.it/sn-schedaSq...edaSquadra=1983/84&provieneSchedaCalciatore=Y Anyway, an interesting thing about Zico in Serie A that few have noticed is that Guerin Sportivo did a subjective evaluation of the players before the season started and while Zico gained a 9 in technique before his first season (the same rating of Platini and some others) in his next season (83/84), his rating on techinique was rectified and he won a 10 while Platini continued with 9, although both continued with the same subjective score (41). Platini and his 38 listing in his first season with Juve (82/83): Zico, Platini with their 41 listing (1983/1984) Zico 1984-1985 Position Zico with a 10 in technique in 1984/1985 Platini with 9 in 1984-1985
I would say that a 10 for technical abilities for Zico seems a fair call to me, and 9 for Platini all things considered probably too. I think Carlito you were under the impression Stojkovic was quite a lot better technically than Platini - actually my take despite suggesting Stojkovic for top 10 ever on that basis (so seeing it similar to you) would be that Platini is largely in the same ballpark (but a better, more decisive and influential player overall) as I think from a technical point of view he could be doing most of the impressive things Stojkovic could to a similar degree. Indeed, going back to Rivaldo (not meaning to be too negative about him though by any means in these comparisons to other greats!), I think I'd rate Platini over him technically speaking overall (more complete, more reliable), even if Rivaldo on a good/great day could pull out some astonishing skills and finishes.
You ignore my question on where's the info from above. Of course they got better over time with also Carpeggiani and later folks as Junior joining in, but they weren't poor when they won the Carioica with Zico only playing in 4 games (2 as starter). They won 14 of the 20 games, and if one excludes the intermediate phase (one that didn't matter to Flamengo because they were already qualified for the final round) then they won 11 of the 13 games. They became a contender in the Brasileiro later (a competition that started in 1971 and included many amateur and lower division teams in 1979 for instance), but sadly the importance of the state leagues vis-a-vis Brasileiro is always flipflopped around (as @Ariaga II II knows). To say they were poor before Zico is inaccurate imho. Of course the team average of Juventus with various national team stars is higher. That difference is though not so big. The team average of Juventus is 6.43 while Udinese is 6.34 in DBScalcio. Second, fact remains the two most reputable publications (GS and GdS, plus CdS) rated Platini higher. No word twisting takes that away. At the same time, both are top five players of their generation. Indeed, this is very subjective. Objective is Zico never winning a game against Platini. Also objective is Udinese not improving while there were no significant departures or so. Objective too: twelve more non-penalty goals and assists in the 1983-84 league. @wm442433 said it well, papers were generally not too harsh: "I think that Maradona would have won only one in career. In 1986, no more (if another year, can only see '85 and even...but not before anyway). Zico was a superb player, no doubt, but today he would be more easily labelled as a choker by the medias. Back then maybe it was more subtle, but we can read it between the lines at times I think. But he was a star though and was respected for his talent, so he had not a too severe treatment (if you want to sale your papers, to sale dreams you need stars too so no question to be too harsh on him). Also when I watch Santana's Brazil, before seing Zico, I first see Socrates. And at the World Cup Zico doesn't even come second (btw in 78 he was really described as a deception as he was really poor, here it could not be denied that he was not at the level of the players who perform in the real big games, he was still not and he'll never be)." This was perhaps the case in 1984-85, where his scoring and form was down enormously. It is not right to imply the same for 1983-84. That he had only 1 or 2 assists that whole season testifies.
What are the assist stats for platini in the EC and uefa Cup Haven’t calculated all for piksi but he did accumulate a fair amount( perhaps in the 20-25 range) I think Rivaldo was slightly more deadly in finishing especially from distance(compared to platini) But he was strictly 1 footed and i can never imagine him scoring a hattrick as Michel against Belgium In playmaking platini was surely ahead(especially in decision making Rivaldo like Neymar could hold the ball too long unnecessarily) In dribbling(close control,mazy runs,speed,tricks,first touch) Rivaldo was definitively better than platini Obviously platini will or should receive a much higher historical ranking for a more decorated career and some technical advantages I’ve listed but it’s not like platini at his very best was MUCH better than Rivaldo in 1998/99+copa America 99 I just don’t see it even from the comps you posted (some of which I’ve viewed-will finish watching at some point today)
Ok mate, no problem - those comps were specifically with impressive short passes in mind (like the curved one vs Ireland from just outside the box, or the flick to Laudrup vs Torino) but yeah let me know what you think of course. I just felt/feel when thinking about it that Piksi's skillset was in essence quite similar to Platini's, technical competence wise, with if anything the edge in manipulating the ball when dribbling and turning, and maybe even with things like sweetly struck long range volleys (but maybe I lean too much to a rare example or two there). As an aside, if I gave Platini a 9 on the technical side, I might also do that for peak Van Basten to be honest, but yeah maybe Stojkovic would get a 10 from me like Zico. EDIT - Sorry, I don't have assist data to hand, but for Juve era especially it could be that videos would give the answer. I can think easily of some examples, like to Boniek vs Aston Villa away (1982/83) with an outside of the boot pass which was fairly short range too, to Boniek vs Bordeaux at home (1984/85) with a trademark long pass etc, but would be missing some if I tried to estimate things accurately right now I'm sure.
When saying "and he'll never be" (so, he's Zico) please note the trace of some regrets about the game against Italy. But Italy won. in 82.
After much deliberation, this is my 2018 Preliminary List: ST AGÜERO, Sergio (Argentina & Manchester City) ST CAVANI, Edinson (Uruguay & Paris Saint-Germain) WF COUTINHO, Philippe (Brazil & Liverpool | Barcelona) FW CRISTIANO RONALDO (Portugal & Real Madrid) AM DE BRUYNE, Kevin (Belgium & Manchester City) FW FIRMINO, Roberto (Brazil & Liverpool) FW GRIEZMANN, Antoine (France & Atlético de Madrid) WF HAZARD, Eden (Belgium & Chelsea) ST IMMOBILE, Ciro (Italy & Lazio) ST KANE, Harry (England & Tottenham Hotspur) CM KROOS, Toni (Germany & Real Madrid) ST LEWANDOWSKI, Robert (Poland & Bayern Munich) WF MANÉ, Sadio (Senegal & Liverpool) SB MARCELO (Brazil & Real Madrid) WF MBAPPÉ, Kylian (France & Paris Saint-Germain) FW MESSI, Lionel (Argentina & Barcelona) CM MODRIC, Luka (Croatia & Real Madrid) WF NEYMAR (Brazil & Paris Saint-Germain) CB RAMOS, Sergio (Spain & Real Madrid) WF SALAH, Mohamed (Egypt & Liverpool) AM SILVA, David (Spain & Manchester City) ST SUÁREZ, Luis (Uruguay & Barcelona) CB VARANE, Raphaël (France & Real Madrid) Top 3 1° MESSI, Lionel 2° SALAH, Mohamed 3° DE BRUYNE, Kevin or MODRIC, Luka Honorable Mentions GK ALISSON (Brazil & AS Roma) GK ARMANI, Franco (Argentina & River Plate) GK COURTOIS, Thibaut (Belgium & Chelsea) GK DE GEA, David (Spain & Manchester United) GK EDERSON (Brazil & Manchester City) GK LLORIS, Hugo (France & Tottenham Hotspur) GK NAVAS, Keylor (Costa Rica & Real Madrid) GK OBLAK, Jan (Slovenia & Atlético de Madrid) GK PICKFORD, Jordan (England & Everton) GK TER STEGEN, Marc-André (Germany & Barcelona) CB CHIELLINI, Giorgio (Italy & Juventus) CB DE VRIJ, Stefan (Netherlands & Lazio) CB GODÍN, Diego (Uruguay & Atlético de Madrid) CB HUMMELS, Mats (Germany & Bayern Munich) CB KOULIBALY, Kalidou (Senegal & Napoli) CB MANOLAS, Kostas (Greece & AS Roma) CB NALDO (Brazil & Schalke 04) CB OTAMENDI, Nicolás (Argentina & Manchester City) CB PIQUÉ, Gerard (Spain & Barcelona) CB SKRINIAR, Milan (Slovakia & Inter Milan) CB TARKOWSKI, James (England & Burnley) CB UMTITI, Samuel (France & Barcelona) CB VAN DIJK, Virgil (Netherlands & Southampton | Liverpool) CB VERTONGHEN, Jan (Belgium & Tottenham Hotspur) SB ALBA, Jordi (Spain & Barcelona) SB ALEX SANDRO (Brazil & Juventus) SB BENDER, Lars (Germany & Bayer Leverkusen) SB DANI ALVES (Brazil & Paris Saint-Germain) SB KIMMICH, Joshua (Germany & Bayern Munich) SB KOLAROV, Aleksandar (Serbia & AS Roma) SB ROBERTSON, Andrew (Scotland & Liverpool) SB TRIPPIER, Kieran (England & Tottenham Hotspur) SB WALKER, Kyle (England & Manchester City) DM BUSQUETS, Sergio (Spain & Barcelona) DM CASEMIRO (Brazil & Real Madrid) DM FERNANDINHO (Brazil & Manchester City) DM KANTÉ, N'Golo (France & Chelsea) DM KONDOGBIA, Geoffrey (Central African Republic & Valencia) DM LUIZ GUSTAVO (Brazil & Olympique de Marseille) DM TORREIRA, Lucas (Uruguay & Sampdoria) CM ALLAN (Brazil & Napoli) CM BANEGA, Éver (Argentina & Sevilla) CM KEÏTA, Naby (Guinea & RB Leipzig) CM MILINKOVIC-SAVIC, Sergej (Serbia & Lazio) CM MILNER, James (England & Liverpool) CM NAINGGOLAN, Radja (Belgium & AS Roma) CM PAREJO, Dani (Spain & Valencia) CM PJANIC, Miralem (Bosnia and Herzegovina & Juventus) CM POGBA, Paul (France & Manchester United) CM RAKITIC, Ivan (Croatia & Barcelona) CM SAÚL (Spain & Atlético de Madrid) AM ERIKSEN, Christian (Denmark & Tottenham Hotspur) AM FEKIR, Nabil (France & Olympique Lyonnais) AM FERNANDES, Bruno (Portugal & Sporting CP) AM INIESTA, Andrés (Spain & Barcelona) AM ISCO (Spain & Real Madrid) AM JAMES Rodríguez (Colombia & Bayern Munich) AM LUIS ALBERTO (Spain & Lazio) AM MARTÍNEZ, Gonzalo (Argentina & River Plate) AM MÜLLER, Thomas (Germany & Bayern Munich) AM PAYET, Dimitri (France & Olympique de Marseille) AM QUINTERO, Juan Fernando (Colombia & River Plate) AM ZIYECH, Hakim (Morocco & Ajax) WF BAILEY, Leon (Jamaica & Bayer Leverkusen) WF BALE, Gareth (Wales & Real Madrid) WF BERGHUIS, Steven (Netherlands & Feyenoord) WF DEPAY, Memphis (Netherlands & Olympique Lyonnais) WF DOUGLAS COSTA (Brazil & Juventus) WF DUDU (Brazil & Palmeiras) WF GUEDES, Gonçalo (Portugal & Valencia) WF INSIGNE, Lorenzo (Italy & Napoli) WF JOAQUÍN (Spain & Real Betis) WF MAHREZ, Riyad (Algeria & Leicester City) WF MANDZUKIC, Mario (Croatia & Juventus) WF PERISIC, Ivan (Croatia & Inter Milan) WF SANÉ, Leroy (Germany & Manchester City) WF SON Heung-min (South Korea & Tottenham Hotspur) WF STERLING, Raheem (England & Manchester City) WF THAUVIN, Florian (France & Olympique de Marseille) FW BEN YEDDER, Wissam (France & Sevilla) FW DYBALA, Paulo (Argentina & Juventus) ST ASPAS, Iago (Spain & Celta de Vigo) ST AUBAMEYANG, Pierre-Emerick (Bosnia and Herzegovina & Borussia Dortmund | Arsenal) ST DZEKO, Edin (Bosnia and Herzegovina & AS Roma) ST ICARDI, Mauro (Argentina & Inter Milan) ST JONAS (Brazil & Benfica) ST LUKAKU, Romelu (Belgium & Manchester United) ST MERTENS, Dries (Belgium & Napoli) ST STUANI, Cristhian (Uruguay & Girona) Thoughts will be appreciated.
Excuse me, what was so brilliant about Sergio Ramos this season? In the league his club conceded a whopping 44 goals (30 in 26 he played) while his disciplinary record was with 11 yellow cards and 2 reds (in 26 league games) as usual horrendous. In the Champions League they conceded 16 in 13 games. Furthermore, he had not his 'trademark' big goals this season. Goals against APOEL, Levante and Betis, plus penalty goals against Leganes and Sevilla. For the national team two penalty goals against Italy but that's it. In all games for club and country only one assist. Free pass. Including the World Cup there were five better than him.
This brings it back to our main point of contention If this is a seasonal award salah could rank above CR(even though the so “reliable” whoscored still places CR ahead) If this is a calendar year award than ronaldo beats salah and he beats him decisively aswell (In all competitions across the 2018 calendar year) Not to mention salah started 18/19 very poorly and had many pundits wondering if he was a 1 season wonder Seasonal award 17/18+WC 1.)Lionel Messi 2.)Mohammed salah 3.)Cristiano ronaldo 4.)Neymar(Tropeiro will have a panic attack but it’s a fact Neymar only played 50% of the club season. If he played a full season at that level he’d undoubtedly be 2nd) 5.)KDB Calendar year award 2018 1.)Lionel Messi 2.)Cristiano Ronaldo 3.)Eden hazard+WC18( and phenomenal start to 18/19) 4.)Mohammed salah 5.)kylian mbappe PS KDB misses out on the calendar year award because from my observations his best form came in the first half of 2017/18(the same for Neymar JR) Hazard was the best player in England taking a whole calendar year into account especially at the start of 2018/19 where he was imperious
Going forward, we need to just stick to this being a seasonal award. That' been the premise of the entire thread. For 17/18, I'm very reluctant to accept any ranking that puts Salah too far above KDB. I watched at least 30+ games of both last season and I thought they were very close. I can see why Salah was ranked above KDB, but I think the difference is minimal.
No problem at all, in fact for injuries he played less games in 17/18 (12 to 23 less) than Salah, Cristiano and Messi (PG 14: https://instatsport.com/content/31550577674_InStat_Scout_Features.pdf) and yes all things considered I can see Messi as the first one. Salah or Cristiano as the second like you said and then Neymar and then Hazard/De Bruyne. IMO Neymar's first season at PSG was comparable with Cristiano first season at Madrid imo with Cristiano Ronaldo out of TOP3 Ballon d'Or in 2010 and with Messi w/o the CL title and with a average/inconsistent World Cup performance as the Best Player of the season.
I repped before I even watched. The guy was a wizard and before Messi came on the scene the best left foot player since Diego Maradona
Excellent work, now to look forward to the overall and general results. I think Messi prevails as the most dominant player in history. In any case, his performance with the Argentine team is a blot on his record, despite the fact that he reached four finals and is the top scorer in history (a truly enviable mark for any player).
By the way, I remember Toni Kroos had one of the weakest seasons since he came to Madrid. I do not see the reason for his presence on the list.