The rating of best and worst performances for new acquisitions of 1984-85 season 1. Maradona 9 rating 2. Junior 8,5 rating 3. Briegel 8 rating Briaschi 8 rating
Gazzetta dello Sport final ratings of the new foreigners for 1984-85 1. Maradona 6,88 2. Junior 6,71 3. Souness 6,65 Socrates was a failure with a 5,90 and this would lead to his departure from Italian football.
And so some final reflections from the 1984-85 season. Rummenigge had a optimal start but faded over the course of the campaign. Nevertheless it was viewed as a success. Maradona started slow the first 3 weeks or so but then boom, kept getting better to the point that he became the best player in the campaign. Junior had an impressive start and steady season as one of the best performers. Platini declined in comparison to the previous campaign but still was solid, and to a lesser extent Boniek. Hateley was magnificent throughout until he tailed off towards the end. Briegel was excellent and Garella immense to their successful championship winning season. Elkjear was approved without having a great individual campaign. Solid seasons for Souness and Wilkins. The worst was without a doubt Socrates, a famous player that never lived up to his reputation. He would move back to Brazil. Zico struggled through injuries and sadly parted ways with Udinese to say farewell to Italian football. The same with Falcao, who ended his career in Italy after being arguably the best performer of the first half of the decade in Italian league football. Francis struggled again with injuries. Barbadillo again sustained a productive season and undoubtedly was the best Peruvian that set foot on Italian soil. Cerezo was good without being great. Dirceu fluctuated with good and average performances, ditto with Passarella. Brady struggled and was not the same as the previous year. Laudrup was again a disappointment, as with Schachner. Bertoni and Diaz still continued down the path of mediocrity. Stromberg struggled with injuries but had good games but overall was not a success.
A recap of the top 3 best rated players through the first half of the decade from 1980-81 to 1985 (GS average of 4 sources combined). 1980-81 1. Krol 2. Falcao 3. Colomba 1981-82 1. Causio 2. Castellini 3. Krol 1982-83 1. Vierchowod 2. Falcao 3. Martina Francis 1983-84 1. Platini 2. Zico 3. Falcao 1984-85 1. Maradona 2. Junior 3. Garella Top 3 best foreigners 1980-81 1. Krol 2. Falcao 3. Neumann 1981-82 1. Krol 2. Falcao 3. Vandereycken 1982-83 1. Falcao 2. Francis (half amount of games) 3. Brady 1983-84 1. Platini 2. Zico 3. Falcao 1984-85 1. Maradona 2. Junior 3. Hateley Gazzetta dello Sport top 3 average foreigner ratings 1980-81 1. Krol 2. Neumann 3. Falcao 1981-82 1. Krol 2. Falcao 3. Orlando 1982-83 1. Falcao 2. Francis 3. Peters 1983-84 1. Platini 2. Brady 3. Francis 1984-85 1. Maradona 2. Junior (Uncertain the rest. Maybe Souness ?)
Yes, in 83/84 Platini also had CWC games like against Manchester United to add significantly to his resume I suppose.
Yes, and as Puck showed with the link, Gazzetta Dello Sport had him several times among their top rated players between late 80s and mid 90s. I think his forte and emphasis was perhaps even more on the attacking/creative side as a young player. This video for Milan vs Juventus from 83/84 maybe helps show that a bit even too: Looking at those highlights, makes Platini's 7 seem a bit conservative from GS, but I seem to recall a video of Platini vs Milan with his touches and it was a game I think where he had those key moments of quality without doing a great deal else of note, so maybe a 7 is understandable enough.
From 1982 on each team could have two foreigners. From 1988 on each team could have three. That is precisely the moment Italian football became all-conquering (together with some modernization that took place, as a result of foreign influxes). As said, someone like Krol (or Brady for that matter) just faces a double handicap (and is a defender). It is not like in-form Garella, Junior and Hateley form awesome competition for 1985. I also sense that in some instances they just want to have another one or top, or that the exception becomes the new normal, thus a decline in ratings.
In a thread you once opened you wanted to discuss which was the strongest league in Europe during each decade. How strong was the Italian league compared to others during the highest rated seasons of Krol ? According to that thread of yours, Serie A was not in the top 5 in those years or I’m mistaken ? The heights of Rummenigge’s or Kevin Keegan’s successful campaigns in earning individual prizes coincided in what was considered perhaps the best league (Bundesliga) in Europe or not ? Does that have some significance in determining why Krol ranked much lower than them in the whole scheme of things ? And apart from being a defender ? Or was there more to it ? Because here we have a guy (Krol) that basically didn’t have a bad game in those first two seasons at Napoli, according to the ratings. And do you know which was the strongest league in South America over the course of each decade ?
Marketing. English clubs won between 1976 and 1985 fourteen of the seventeen direct ties. Between 1976 and 1982 they won eleven of the twelve encounters. As you had already seen, I agree that Serie A peaked (in results) later. Finally, look at how often he features in this, from a more neutral point of view: https://www.bigsoccer.com/threads/unofficial-european-ideal-teams-1971-1980.1985633/
So the 1985-86 season will kick off and 3 Brazilians are no longer in Italy (Falcao, Zico and Socrates). Will Maradona retain his crown ? Around this period the league and world started to seriously view the game as Platini vs Maradona - unquestionably the world’s two greatest players.