Hi everybody! I was reading many of the discussions under the "Players and Legends" section of the forum, most of them are really interesting -however, I found that one thing which is missing is a thread on Del Piero (and generally speaking, Italian players are a bit underrepresented). I think a couple of members even mentioned that in some posts So, before going into details, what do other members think about Del Piero in this forum? What do non-Italians think of him? I have always been biased towards him because he's always been my true great idol, but I swear I'll be as objective as possible. I'll go much more in detail in the next posts, but first I want to see what some of you think about him. I'll only say now that in terms of natural talent and technique he was vastly talented -and his shot was something else (not particularly strong, but in terms of accuracy and beauty it was really really great). However, it's absolutely true that he often couldn't perform under pressure and that he disappointed in many occasions at the greatest tournaments (I mean with the national team). And I suppose you all know about the severe injury he suffered in 1998 (he was 24), after which he only rarely reached his peak potential. For these reasons, great as I honestly think he was, he loses many positions in an ideal all-time ranking. But again, in terms of skills I have few doubts he was one of the very best in Europe of his generation.
As a foreigner (English) I can say that he was among my favourites when he was a youngster, first breaking through for Juventus. Some of his goals were exquisite both in technique, and in the way he manipulated the ball into the right position while weaving away from defenders. His accuracy with shots into the far corner was great but he was also very good on the volley. With such a good touch, and often particularly at the start of his career in a supporting role, I think he was a good creative/link player too. For me, he didn't quite match Roberto Baggio overall but he was a very good replacement for him nevertheless. Maybe had things been different (circumstances, formations) they could have played a few more games in the same team for Italy and/or Juventus.
Exactly! And bear in mind that when he scored those amazing goals he was 20 to 23 years old. His natural talent was just absolutely world class. Look what he did against THAT Manchester United in the Champions League 1997-98 (the first goal) And against Borussia Dortmund in the 1996-97 Champions' League FINAL (it must be one of the best goals I've ever seen in a final): There are many others, but these two were scored in such important matches...!
After 1998 he reached that level only occasionally or very occasionally (well, he was actually amazing in the first half of the 2002-03 season, before getting injured again), but when he did, he was spectacular. Here's a perfect assist he made for Trezeguet with an overhead kick (!!), which resulted in the goal which assigned the 2004-05 championship to Juventus against Milan. He was 31.
Del Piero could have been top five of his generation based on the pace he had set pre-injury. He was the best forward in the Champions League during that period. After his injury he had his moments but also was a bit unlucky with coaches. Capello mostly used him off the bench and Italy's managers rarely played him and Totti at the same time. One of the greatest Serie A and CL forwards of all time.
I am also a huge Del Piero fan, Serie A was unrvialled in the late 80s to mid to late 90's and he was a key player in Juventus Scudetto team of 95 and the team that won CL in 96 and were in three finals in a row. His start to 95-96 season in the CL was pretty spectacular and his club season in 97-98 was exceptional. He and Juve were unlucky not to win another CL and came very close, I thought they deserved it in 2003 and missed Nedved in the final massively. The 2000's saw Serie A was not as strong as it was an Juve were relegated but for him to be top scoer in 06-07 Serie B and then Serie A the next season is some achievement. Not sure if Italians rate him as high as Baggio as despite winning the World Cup he did not have a stand out competion like Baggio in 94 but he had in my view a more successful club career was more consitent for a longer period of time. Interesting where he would rank in all time Italian list, maybe top ten. They had some pretty big names, Meazza, V Mazzola, River, Riva, Baresi, Maldini, Baggio........ Bascially I think he is a flipping legend !
I agree with pretty much everything you wrote. And in the first half of the 2002-03 season he was really spectacular. I think he's definitely in the all-time top 10 Italian list of forward / striker, not sure about a top 10 which include all positions, though. As you say, Italy has a lot of great players through history... PS: check this other couple of goals... I just love them
Yeah could make the top 10 of offensive players. Meazza, Baggio, G. Rivera, V. Mazzola, Sandro Mazzola, Francesco Totti, G. Riva, Del Piero, G. Zola, G. Signori, R. Mancini, P. Rossi... he's definitely in the discussion.
I wouldn't say 'crap' ... apart from the misses against France in 2000 he was good but just not Juventus level. He was also occasionally played out of position and had to share time with Totti/Baggio just because Italian managers didn't believe in 2 fantasisti I remember the first half vs Sweden in Euro2004, Del Piero and Cassano started and its probably the best 45 minutes I've seen Italy play.
There have always been rumors about that Juventus team being on steroids, didn't an Italian judge find them guilty at some point? @Edhardy
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/w...me-of-juves-team-of-the-nineties-6156776.html This is a fairly objective report IMO. I don't know what you'll make of it, as a Juve fan, I don't think we did anything wrong/different to other clubs at the time. If you can find some of Fernando Couto's interviews they are quite revealing, but Zdenek Zeman has always been anti Juve and with Zidane and Del Piero involved there wad more publicity. I don't think for example Del Piero benefitted more than someone like Ronaldo at Psv/Barcelona. With that said, I haven't read much on drugs in football.
This is right. In 2004 a judge from Turin convicted them guilty for what happened between 1994 and 1998, under the guidance of team doctor Riccardo Agricola. Agricola was banned for two years. The reason why Juve never tested positive was because the samples never got tested. The 'Juve machine' took care of that. For very important (even European!) matches the Juve powers managed to arrange that the samples were transferred to a lab in Rome. The phone taps directly confirm this. There the samples ended up directly in the garbage bin. The former director of this lab has confessed that this happened. This lab was later closed in the 00s for their fraudulent practices.
Prime Del Piero 95-99 is the best Italian player since baggio at the least and probably the best serie a player of the last 20 years For what he did when juve made the final 3 consecutive times he is surely above ibrahimovic,totti,shevchenco,batistuta,zidane,Rui Costa etc (maybe only kaka can challenge him peak for peak in Italy) Others like figo and CR7 went to Italy after their peak so aren’t in contention
Electrifying A phenomenon level performance @Edhardy There is a case in skill set/effectiveness ADP was primed to be the greatest european player of his generation( before injury) Figo,zidane,andriy shevchenco,raul etc i dont think had the all round game like him A complete forward in the truest sense of the word
For sure man. I would have seen it that way too, watching matches from that time. Bergkamp, if considered to be from that era was also very complete, though Del Piero was developing to be a better dribbler, or more frequent dribbler. If him and R9 didn't get injured in 98, we might have had a tasty rivalry. And there's no telling how far they both would have developed. In 1997/98 both were incredible. PS: If Del Piero was fit for the 97 and 98 CL finals and Nedved wasn't suspended in 2003, his own ranking might be very high - potentially 4 CL titles as a protagonist would have had a ring to it.
I dont consider DB to be of his era even though he was a cross generational player(his prime was competiting against baggio,romario,laudrup)even if his longevity as a world class player did extend to playing with TH14( who was of the same generation as ADP) Pes stats has some validity when it comes to overall skillset and he is ranked very high in important areas of dribbling,shot technique and overall technique His playmaking abilities are ranked at roughly the same level as kaka(and i agree) All things considered im not sure robby baggio was like a definite upgrade on alex(in certain areas such as dribbling accuracy probably but not in effectivness,athleticism and not in finishing)