BigSoccer's Players of the Season: 1968-69

Buchan Football Monthy Reader Poll (Sept. 1969):

England


Scotland

 

I will try to make a summary as clear and close as possible to the reality of some of the most prominent players in Spanish football in the 1968-69 season from the ratings of the main three sports newspapers of the time (As, Marca y Mundo Deportivo).
Guedes: Midfielder of the Unión Deportiva Las Palmas. Combining the three publications, it was the best average obtained. However, he was strongly sanctioned by violent play and could only play 22 of the 30 league games.
Tonono: Fellow of Guedes in Las Palmas, who won a sensational 2nd place in the league. He played all league games with one of the best total averages. I played central defense. With the Spanish team, at a much lower level.
Glaría: His ratings were as high as Tonono's. However, his good campaign did not prevent his team, the historic Spanish, to descend to 2nd division, a big surprise for the good players he had, such as Marcial, José María or the aforementioned Glaría. With the selection made 3 good matches, but the last, in the shameful defeat against Finland, was disastrous.
Gallego: Central defender of Barcelona. In my opinion the most outstanding player of this team and, overall, of Spanish football. He acted with a courage and generosity in the commendable effort. He went to the attack with strength and danger. In league, their averages were among the best in the three Spanish sports publications. He had some injuries throughout the season. The most serious of them was towards the end of the season, something that prevented him from playing the last league matches. He also could not play the final of the Recopa, low very important, because his team received 3 goals and could not get this trophy; while he intervened in the Recopa, his performance was quite good. His situation with the Spanish team was strange: when he played, something he did not do with continuity, he was usually at a higher level than most of his teammates, which was not difficult, due to the general low level of the national team. He was the protagonist of a curious situation, when journalists and coaches got into a long debate for the convenience of placing Gallego in the position of center forward in a major qualifying match of the 1970 World Champion against Belgium. This indicates the important role of this footballer in the national team.
Pirri: As in past seasons, it started in good shape. Unfortunately he was seriously injured and missed half of the season. When he came back, I can not play at the level of before the injury. Real Madrid showed great superiority in the league, which did not miss especially his competition in this competition. In the European Cup he could not get very far when he was eliminated by the Rapid of Vienna; his goals and good performances with the AEL Limassol does not go beyond the anecdote. The mediocre Spanish team was lame without the presence of this player.
Velázquez: Real Madrid player with a lot of class and technique. In the sum of all the competitions was, in my opinion, the most outstanding player of this team. Their averages, close to those of Pirri, but with much greater continuity and presence in the team.
Sadurní: Goalkeeper of Barcelona. He played all the league games, where his team was the least thrashed (only 18 goals). However, not all the merit went to the doorman; in his defense were men as safe as Torres, Eladio or the aforementioned Gallego. His rating in the "Mundo Deportivo" was one of the best in the league, not being so high in the two Madrid newspapers. Despite reaching the final of the Recopa, their averages in this competition and with the Spanish team were not remarkable in any case.
Fusté: One of the best in Barcelona. However, his actions were very irregular. Without doubt, the best of the season was in the semifinals of the Recopa, eliminated the Koln, which scored 3 goals in the 4 - 1 of the second leg. For the rest, I do not think it deserves special attention.
Iríbar: Without doubt the best Spanish goalkeeper for a long time. He had some memorable performances, especially in the Fires Cup matches against Liverpool. However, neither in the league nor with the Spanish National Team was it particularly highlighted.
Amancio: His fame was far above his real performance, as he could illustrate that he is playing against Brazil with the FIFA team. Like all the great players, he had an extraordinary match (such as his debut in the league, where he scored 3 goals), although his overall average in all competitions with Madrid and his interventions with the Spanish team were medium or low, as the average made according to their appearances in league by Ace. By the way, someone was wondering his position this season. It seems that it was mostly the right inside.
After all the indicated, I want to nominate, in order of greater to less probable that it includes them in the Top 23 to three soccer players to be candidates to the Top 23:
Gallego: Although with uncertain possibilities, given above all, by the great competition existing in its position during these years.
Tonono: With little probability, being in a step below Gallego.
Velázquez: More than anything to have a representative of the league champion team.

 

I think you do an excellent job with all the research and info you find Puck, and I think your votes would be valued certainly so I'd suggest carrying on providing them would be a good call. It's easy to get frustrated I know - when it comes to mid 80s you already know that I'll be proposing/including Van Basten of course! I think we should all try to do a fair job when casting votes, but I know that you cast real votes yourself and just genuinely feel that there are occasions where your countrymen get under-valued (as I said I can see it with cases like the MvB mid 80s one as a good example - in other words I agree), but the best contribution I suppose is to make a good case as to why you feel that is the case and of course also to add a vote (as your genuine takes will give more credit to such players - it would not be any type of tactical voting). I could kind of see the Maradona 1979/1980 to early Cruyff comparisons too - as you saw I put Cruyff first for 66/67 which I can understand seems a big call to other voters. Maybe every call is different and maybe a case can be made Maradona was an even more impressive prodigy (hard to really make a good assessment though about this probably) at that sort of age, but yeah I can sympathise with your viewpoint on that kind of thing. I don't believe anyone is setting out to discriminate myself though.

On the Rivera topic: maybe you can confirm whether he got one or two assists in the Malmo home game too? The first one is clear, but for the second I think it is him (with his armband obscured from view) but couldn't be sure. Like you say Italy played games without him which is interesting - maybe the fact he missed the Euros Final played a part and there was already a 'pick one out of Rivera and Mazzola' idea developing....? In the brief highlights for the East Germany away game he seems good and he makes a nice assist to Riva, but yeah true they won the other game without him against the same opponents, albeit at home. I guess I said all I can think of on him now, but yeah it can still be (although I'm not 100% yet) that I don't select Cruyff as number 1 this time (albeit ahead of Rivera, on the podium ultimately) and you do but that's fine I think, and if you do think Cruyff should be first then I say it is much better you cast your vote as such. We know there will be seasons to come when he is being assessed very positively in general too don't we....

I suppose one thing with Rivera is that because AC Milan received a bye, he went out injured vs Man Utd at home, and even maybe because the Celtic home game was played on a very 'wintery' pitch (not sure if maybe Ajax/Benfica in Amsterdam was similar or maybe not such a bad condition pitch but just with snow present...but anyway I'm still due to look back at that again even though I saw some long-ish highlights for one of the other matches in that 3-game quarter-final tie), that his European Cup campaign had less games than a typical finalist would play.

As general info for everyone, not just Puck even though I'm basically including it in a reply to him, in case it had escaped the attention of people, I saw that on a Leeds fan site, it was said that Bene had a wonderful game against Leeds, winning a penalty and then scoring a solo goal:
http://www.mightyleeds.co.uk/seasons/196869part2.htm
I didn't find as much on him in general as I thought I might, but assuming his ratings will be good to very good in Hungary (schwuppe may have something for that again that he'll post later), I felt sure about including him in the end. Zoff was more borderline so I'm almost wavering when I see him in the second tier of goalies according to that post schwuppe made today for Serie A, but it's in some respects the opposite of last season as his DBS Calcio rating is particularly good, and that is a combination of sources of course. I think I retain him still!

 

Copa de Oro Final Table:

1.Boca Juniors 6 5 0 1 12- 6 10
2.Palmeiras 6 3 1 2 10- 4 7
3.Slovan Bratislava 6 2 3 1 8- 7 7
4.Estudiantes 6 2 1 3 13- 8 5
5.MTK Budapest 6 2 1 3 8- 9 5
6.SK Rapid Wien 6 2 1 3 8-16 5
7.Mar del Plata XI 6

 

For clarity: I'm leaning to Pelé as #1 though if you look at him against the teams also the other legends played against around this time one starts to wonder. For me Rivera, Tostao is just an absurd idea (this will never happen to a Ronaldo Fenomeno for example) - btw, how many goals and assists did free roaming Best actually have in the 1967-68 EC campaign, how does that compare? More annoying is though certain obvious points (e.g. the low goals amount of Rivera, him not impressing in the NT games he was allowed to play in) go un-addressed. Not that it is surprising, this current year (2019) will undoubtedly also see a massive snub exercise incoming whatever happens in may and june.

Greetings and no hard feelings towards you at all (even if we naturally don't always agree, you explain things well).

 

Wyn Davies's strength was heading. Later Wales would field a "Welsh Air Force" of Wyn and Ron Davies and Toshack. Pop Robson was a good finisher and one of the best volleyers around.

Moncur was an effective defender and inspirational captain, very popular with fans. McFaul was kept out of the Northern Ireland team by Pat Jennings, who was one of the two best goalkeepers in Britain along with Banks.

Another member of this Newcastle side was full-back Frank Clark who went on to win the league and European Cup with Nottingham Forest.

It was a fine team effort by Newcastle. None of their players were world Top 23 material.

 

With more excellent research posted, I am switching Amancio for Velázquez.
As 23rd pick, I replace Sadurní with Cudicini and select Gallego to bench Moncur. This ups the Milan total to 3 and raises more importance towards their defensive record and at the same time lowers their individual impact on the podium.

I'm still anticipating @ManiacButcher for his lowdown on "Brasíw".

Some honorable suggestions are:
Bremner
Chumpitaz
Deyna
Don Rodgers
Figueroa

For the podium, the candidate that ticks all the boxes is Ladislav Kuna.
-Named player of the year
-Champion in 68 and 69
-Tested on the big stage
-Stepped up in the big games (vs Ajax and Hungary)
-Played for the NT
-Qualified for the WC
-Suffered no heavy defeat

 

I do not know if this has been published. It refers to the ideal eleven Metropolitan 1969, published in the magazine Sport of September 1969:
Eleven ideal: Cejas (6.77); Villar (6.62), Perfumo (6.77), Rogel (6.36), Pavoni (6.44); Brindisi (6.83), Zywica (6), A. González (6.21); Marcos (5.80), Daniel Onega (6.50), Oscar "Pinino" Mas (5.54)
Other averages: Meléndez (6,31), Marzolini (6,15), Rattin (5,80)

 

Amancio is another one who I'm just about keeping in my list this time whereas last year he was bordering on a top 10 choice for me. One curious thing I noticed was that his slick play before Pirri's goal against Barcelona (so a pre-assist) seems better and more evident from the angle shown on Footballia, than on YouTube! It's difficult to know how much of that kind of thing he did, but it's evident he is far from an outright goalscorer. His Pichichi total isn't high of course, but with his goal vs Yugoslavia and praise from Albert (just less than for Dzajic) for his game against Brazil indeed, I'm finding I'm not convinced about removing him necessarily so he'll stay in my list.

For Asparuhov footage, outside of impressive NT goals (not only vs England but in Euros qualifying too), this page has a nice video with highlights/goals from a 7-2 away win for Levski Sofia at CSKA Sofia! His first goal is really nice, and he puts an overhead kick onto the crossbar before a team-mate scores from the rebound too, plus he sets up a goal in the second half with a through ball. It helps to illustrate his qualities that led to his legendary reputation I suppose, in the year we are concerned with here. Curious that CSKA not only won the league in the end but comfortably outscored Levski though given that result!
https://en.levskisofia.info/match/14916312-cska-sofia-levski-sofia-2-7/

 

I think I'm going to be settling on Cooper for my left-back so if it's permitted this will be my TOTS XI:
1 - Dino Zoff
2 - Carlos Alberto
3 - Terry Cooper
4 - Franz Beckenbauer
5 - Bobby Moore
6 - Wim van Hanegem
7 - George Best
8 - Gianni Rivera
9 - Johan Cruyff
10 - Pele
11 - Dragan Dzajic

 

If you allow me, I would suggest that we continue to provide data and numbers to clarify the candidates for the nominations and once Tom puts the full list of pre-nominated, start proposing top 23, XI and Top 3. If we venture our lists so soon, surely we are modifying and it is more complicated to accumulate the results, especially for those of us who do not master the English language.

 

If it helps mate, since I am one who ventures lists early, I can clarify that when I submit my final choices it will always be after when Tom asks for them and always in the form he uses himself (the list of 23 players in alphabetical order with clubs etc, and the top 3 and Team of the Season using the template he provided for us to use).

 

Report on Santos vs Peñarol

Overall, Santos has a slight edge but also has home advantage. Peñarol looking tired along the second half might be attributed to Santos, although it looks like a slow game on film.

Santos players
Best attacking player is Manuel Maria. Constantly dribbles past his opponents but his end product is poor. He, no thanks to Joya, tires out Caetano. Maria's goal was merely a gift from Forlan.
Pelé comes alive in the second half when Peñarol seems tired.
Best defensive player is Rildo. He wins back the most possession. He does give Acuña space and fails to stop him from crossing.
Clodoaldo is decent, nothing more.
Pelé is distant from his WC70 form or his display in the friendly vs England. He does have a handful of defensive interventions. His goal comes from an individual effort. He dribbles past a midfielder and finds himself moving onto goal unmarked.
Disappointing is Carlos Alberto. He wins most of his direct duels but blatantly fails to mark his opponent on multiple occasions, leaving them to shoot on goal. He wastes possession at the back and shows his crossing is just as poor as at the WC (below Cafú level even).

Peñarol players
Best attacking player is Acuña. His dribbling isn't on Manuel Maria's level but he has some success. His end product is better than Maria's. He also has some defensive interventions.
Best defensive player is Forlan. Forlan is omnipresent but Edu manages to reach the touchline on his account at the end of the first half. And ofcourse he gifts a goal to Santos in the end.
Figueroa fails to make a mark. He tries to dribble the ball out of defense but gets halted. He fouls uncharacteristically at one point. His positioning at Pelé's goal is questionable. He does make 2 crucial interventions but almost seems too late.
Spencer is invisible.
Disappointing are Rocha and Joya.
Rocha is slow, static and wasteful but he also doesn't get service from his teammates.
Joya ruined it for Peñarol. Not only does he waste the 2 biggest chances of the whole game, he also lets Caetano take care of the whole left flank by himself (not just in defense), tiring him out. When Peñarol wears down is when Santos strikes. It is really hard to understand why Peñarol didn't feature a left footer on the flank. Spencer and Rocha could have benefitted greatly. Joya could perhaps have served as a speedy outlet when required.

 

Thanks for the rep of this Gregoriak (I guess for the footage from Bulgaria but could be wrong!). It gives me an opportunity to correct something of course so that it's not confusing to anyone: I had meant in UEFA Qualifying for the 1970 World Cup, not Euros qualifying!

 

Tom, I would like to include Fabio Cudicini, the Milan goalkeeper. In his favor his important role in Milan's victory in the European Cup and his league record. He played 29 of the 30 league games and curiously, in the only game that his team did not play he received 3 goals. Therefore, in league, played 29 games and received 9 goals.

 

Excuse Tom. Maybe I'm wrong, but I see Berti Vogts as a serious candidate this season. Play all league matches with Borussia Monchengladbach with 8 goals. Play the 10 games played by the national team of West Germany (4-5-1). Qualified by world-class Kicker in the second half of 1968 and the first of 1969. Chosen third best German footballer, behind only Müller and Beckenbauer.

 

I like the list that you're staying with. It is not very different from mine. One thing Tom, will it be a good idea to finish the thread 1967-68 before opening the voting period for 1968-69?

 

In the year 1967, Mazurkiewicz got injured and in the first half, then keeper was argentinian Nestor Errea.

Next year, 1968, Mazurkiewicz, got his unbeaten record of 987 minutes without conceading goals in the league.

But this year, like previous, the best player award was given to Figueroa