I don't know much more about other publications, but I found two more ratings -- incredibly inconsistent -- from Mundo Deportivo (Spain) and La Repubblica (Italy). Mundo Deportivo had rated Zidane as the joint-worst player of Juventus alongside Sergio Porrini. La Repubblica had rated Zidane as the joint-best player of Juventus alongside Mark Iuliano, Vladimir Jugovic, and Christian Vieri. I think that I will have to watch this match myself to make 'ultimate judgement' about his performance. This inconsistent rating is absurd. Here are the ratings from each publication: La Stampa (Italy): 6.5/10 (above-average) La Repubblica (Italy): 6.5/10 (above average) Corriere della Sera (Italy): 5/10 (poor) La Gazzetta (Italy): 6.5/10 (above average) Kicker (Germany): 2/6 (good) Mundo Deportivo (Spain): 1/4 (mediocre) I can't find any other publications that provide match ratings. In the spoiler I will give links to each publication's ratings: Spoiler (Move your mouse to the spoiler area to reveal the content) Show Spoiler Hide Spoiler La Stampa: http://www.archiviolastampa.it/comp...e,2/articleid,0598_01_1997_0146_0002_8177286/ La Repubblica: http://ricerca.repubblica.it/repubb...ero-immobili-zidane-ultimo-ad.html?ref=search Corriere della Sera: http://archiviostorico.corriere.it/...a_notte_lacrime_rabbia_co_0_97052910006.shtml La Gazzetta: http://archiviostorico.gazzetta.it/1997/maggio/29/Juve_stregata_ga_0_9705298165.shtml Kicker: http://mediadb.kicker.de/download/spielberichte/6.pdf Mundo Deportivo: http://hemeroteca-paginas.mundodeportivo.com/EMD03/HEM/1997/05/29/MD19970529-021.pdf Something worth noting -- as I was trawling newspaper archives for match ratings, I see that some of them offer actual formation graphics rather than just the list of names. Kicker and ABC specifically showed the nominal formation of Juventus in the final, which corroborates with my prior statements of Juve's 4-4-2 turning into a 'diamond' shape. Here is ABC's rendition of the formations for the 1997 Champions League final: Spoiler (Move your mouse to the spoiler area to reveal the content) Show Spoiler Hide Spoiler Just some food for thought. Note: I made an error in my last post. It was actually Corriere della Sera who gave Zidane a rating of 5/10, not La Repubblica. The formatting of their websites are similar and it confused me. My apologies.
Thanks. Your effort in finding videos has been very helpful as well! I'm going to hold off the 'end-of-season review' until after I re-watch the final. I want to make accurate judgements and this match is widely recognised as one of the big matches that Zidane performed poorly in. I will take the time to watch the match and make my own personal judgement, hopefully you can join as well.
So I have just watched the final. All in all, I am more inclined to agree with a combined rating of Corriere della Sera who gave Zidane a rating of 5/10, and La Stampa who gave Zidane a 6.5/10. Personally, I think it was just an average performance, given the context a below-average one. Zidane was barely touching the ball, he was almost useless in open play for the first 35 minutes of the match. He had a couple of good moments from set pieces and hit the post on a shot near the 45th minute. He did very little defensively in the first half and it barely improved in the second half even though Juventus needed to press forward. He got away with several fouls as well, in my opinion he deserved a yellow card in the match. I have made some .gifs just to highlight what I found were notable moments. FIRST HALF First attempt on goal, blocked Dribbling through the centre of the pitch, playing short passes with Deschamps. Deschamps plays the ball wide to Di Livio, nothing happens from there Flicks on the header from the set-piece to Jugovic in an awkward position Hits the post with his second attempt on goal Poor first touch to receive a cross from Vieri in dangerous position Corner from Zidane finds a wide open Iuliano who misses the header completely SECOND HALF Another shot blocked following a great cross from Vieri Zidane plays the ball to Del Piero who might have been fouled inside the box Del Piero's goal -- Zidane plays the through-ball after receiving it from Boksic Uncalled foul by Zidane allows Juve to get a scoring chance from the cross I apologise in advance for the poor resolution, the quality of the video was not that great so I had to make it as serviceable as possible! Maybe it is just me being very harsh on Zidane, but I think it was simply a below-average performance. Considering the relatively high standards he was playing to throughout the Champions League knock-out rounds, this was underwhelming. Del Piero's introduction made Juventus a much better threat offensively and he raised the tempo of Juve's attack. But about 15 minutes after his goal to make it 2-1, Lars Ricken came on and scored that 30-yard chip to make it 3-1 for Borussia Dortmund and that killed off any momentum Juventus had. Zidane had small moments of good play but nothing too special. Considering how much of his aura has come from dominating big matches on the biggest stages, this was a stark disappointment. I remember watching the semifinal against Ajax, he was ever-present throughout both legs but in the final against Dortmund, he rarely had an influence in open play. It didn't even seem like Zidane was being man-marked by Paul Lambert, more the fact that he was given little space to operate most of the match. Juve were playing quite direct so that might be one of the key reasons why Zidane saw relatively little of the ball. In conclusion, I give Zidane a rating of 5.5/10.
End-of-Season Review Zidane's average ratings: Serie A [29 matches]: 6.03 Coppa Italia [1 match]: 5.5 Champions League [10 matches]: 6.6 Other cup competitions [3 matches]: 6.83 OVERALL AVERAGE [43 matches]: 6.2 Serie A (home) [13 matches]: 6.03 Serie A (away) [16 matches]: 6.03 Serie A (top 6 teams) [8 matches]: 5.87 Serie A (middle 6 teams) [9 matches]: 6.27 Serie A (bottom 6 teams) [12 matches]: 5.95 Champions League (home) [5 matches]: 6.9 Champions League (away) [4 matches]: 6.5 Champions League (neutral) [1 match]: 5.5 Champions League (group stages) [5 matches]: 6.6 Champions League (knockout stages) [5 matches]: 6.6 UEFA Super Cup [2 matches]: 6.75 Intercontinental Cup [1 match]: 7 7+ ratings: 13 times 6-6.5 Ratings: 14 times 5.5- ratings: 16 times -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= As you can see, whereas Zidane had relatively inconsistent performances in the domestic league and cup, he was outstanding in the Champions League and was one of the best performers of the tournament. Like most players, he was better against the weaker teams in the domestic league compared to the stronger teams. However, Zidane's best league performance came against Inter Milan, the 3rd best team in the division. Zidane was abysmal in both matches against Juve's closest title-challenger, Parma. Zidane had more poor games than great matches as can be showed by the individual match ratings. His poor league performances were almost equally shared amongst home and away matches (46% vs 43%). -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= La Stampa gave an overall rating for each Juventus player that season. They rated each player out of 5 stars. Here is the list. 5 stars Peruzzi, Ferrara, Montero, Deschamps, Vieri 4 stars Porrini, Di Livio, Jugovic, Zidane, Boksic, Del Piero, Padovano, Amoruso 3 stars Rampulla, Iuliano, Torricelli, Pessotto, Tacchinardi 2 stars Dimas, Lombardo NO MARK Conte, Ametrano http://www.archiviolastampa.it/comp...,33/articleid,0598_01_1997_0141_0037_8168935/ -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Serie A: Champion Coppa Italia: Quarterfinalist Champions League: Runners-up UEFA Super Cup: Champion Intercontinental Cup: Champion
1997-98 : Pre-season Discussion Spoiler (Move your mouse to the spoiler area to reveal the content) Show Spoiler Hide Spoiler 25 July, 1997 http://www.archiviolastampa.it/comp...,29/articleid,0606_01_1997_0203_0031_8285743/ Lippi unveils his new plan for the 1997-98 season. He tried the "trident" in early 1996-97, but it did not suit his new group of players. So instead he reverted to a 4-4-2. This season, he wants to play Zidane permanently as the trequartista in a consistent 4-4-2 diamond. And to accomodate new signing Daniel Fonseca, an alternate formation could be played, the 4-3-3 with Zidane playing in central midfield. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 27 July, 1997 http://www.archiviolastampa.it/comp...,27/articleid,0606_01_1997_0205_0031_8289464/ The new formation is confirmed. Juventus will be playing this formation in the pre-season and in official matches. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 29 July, 1997 http://www.archiviolastampa.it/comp...,28/articleid,0606_01_1997_0207_0028_8291669/ Zidane says that he will now be taking the role of a leader. Now he is playing permanently in such a pivotal role for Lippi's Juventus, he needs to score more goals and be more aggressive. Zidane says that this position suits him and allows him to participate effectively in team-play. However, Zidane currently is suffering from an injury to the rectus abdominis muscle. He is having an individually-focused pre-season to help him battle this injury to get fit for the next season. Tacchinardi, who was being listed for transfer prior to this date, has now been removed -- Lippi says that Tacchinardi is Deschamps' "deputy" and that he will play when Deschamps is not fully fit. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 13 August, 1997 http://www.archiviolastampa.it/comp...,27/articleid,0608_01_1997_0222_0027_8299052/ Del Piero and Inzaghi, the two starting forwards, are compared to see how they will play together and how they can improve. I won't bother translating this part, it has little to do with Zidane but if you're interested you can see it for relevance. They call Ale and Pippo twins. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 17 August, 1997 http://www.archiviolastampa.it/comp...,27/articleid,0608_01_1997_0225_0029_8303682/ A great interview with the Frenchman. Michel Platini called Zidane an absolute phenomenon, saying: "If Roberto Baggio is Raffaelo [the Italian artist], then Zidane must be Delacroix [the French artist]." Zidane knows that he is being complimented for his abilities by many people, with the coaches referring to his skill -- he also mentions that Corriere dello Sport called him the second-best foreign player in the Serie A, after Ronaldo. The fanaticism around Zidane is being called "Zizoumania" at this time. Zidane says that he does not deserve the Ballon d'Or yet at this point in his career since he has not done many major things, he says that if he wins with Juventus and if he wins the World Cup, then we will talk. Zidane knows he should score more, and since he has more freedom to play, he will score more goals. Surprisingly, he has nothing to say about the 1997 Champions League final against Dortmund. Zidane mentions that he has struck immediate chemistry with Inzaghi, like Inzaghi had been playing with him last season [he didn't]. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 18 August, 1997 http://www.archiviolastampa.it/comp...,28/articleid,0609_01_1997_0226_0028_8305261/ A simple interview with Cesare Maldini. On the subject of "tactical innovations", he refers to an 'almost trident' -- playing with two strikers, but with a trequartista right behind. He refers to Udinese, and how Juventus play with Zidane as the #10. He refers back to the Djorkaeff-Zidane debates...saying "a year ago I was in love with Djorkaeff, but at the end of the season I was struck by Zidane". Maldini calls Zidane a blessed talent. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 31 August, 1997 http://www.archiviolastampa.it/comp...,29/articleid,0610_01_1997_0239_0031_8324421/ Zidane promises to score 10 goals in the league, and 5 goals in European competition. PS: He only scores 7 league goals, and 3 goals in European competitions.
1997-98 : Notable Club Friendlies Spoiler (Move your mouse to the spoiler area to reveal the content) Show Spoiler Hide Spoiler 4 August, 1997 http://www.archiviolastampa.it/comp...,27/articleid,0607_01_1997_0213_0033_8139378/ Juventus beat Newcastle 3-2. The match is notable as Pippo Inzaghi scores 2 goals in his first match for Juventus. Zidane played, and according to the report he played quite well at the tip of the diamond. Zidane played a free kick in, Ferrara deflected it to Inzaghi who scored his first goal. The report makes sure to note that Di Livio is playing more central now in midfield, as he, Conte and Deschamps play behind Zidane. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 12 August, 1997 http://www.archiviolastampa.it/comp...,27/articleid,0608_01_1997_0221_0029_8162883/ Juventus beat Bayern 1-0. Again, it is a 4-4-2 diamond played by Lippi, but the only difference is that he switched the central midfielders to play on their opposite foot. Pippo Inzaghi scored the winner in an entertaining spectacle. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 18 August, 1997 http://www.archiviolastampa.it/comp...,27/articleid,0609_01_1997_0226_0027_8305249/ Juventus beat Sparta 8-0. Zidane scores 1 goal in this match, in the 8th minute. He is substituted in the 2nd half with most of Juve's other first team players. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 20 August, 1997 http://www.archiviolastampa.it/comp...,27/articleid,0609_01_1997_0228_0027_8307365/ Juventus lose to AC Milan 1-3 in the Berlusconi Cup. Zidane played poorly, the general quickness of his game was too slow and his play was cumbersome. His passes to Inzaghi were inaccurate and he could not leave his stamp on the match.
I'll be going through the 1997-98 season over the next two weeks. Zidane plays 48 matches this season so it's a lot of work for me!
1997-98 Serie A [Round 1] 31 August, 1997 Juventus 2-0 Lecce Stadio delle Alpi: 5,041 spectators Referee: Borriello Two late goals from Juventus -- Pippo Inzaghi in the 84', Antonio Conte in the 90' -- seal the win for Juve in their first league match of the season. Peruzzi was Juve's star, making 'miraculous saves' to keep the match at 0-0 before Juve finally scored. After the match, Lippi talks about how there must be a change in Juve's style. With the departures of Christian Vieri (185cm) and Alen Boksic (187cm) and arrivals of Pippo Inzaghi (181cm) and the forward-play of Ale Del Piero (173cm), there has to be fewer long balls being played. As Lippi puts it, 'the focus is on speed'. Lippi says that 'more than ever, Zidane will have the keys to the team'. Zidane played an ok game. La Gazzetta had nothing but good words to say, but La Stampa were a bit harsh. La Stampa mentioned in Zidane's rating that 'Juve played well when Zidane played out of his stupor [...] he did too little.' Zidane assisted the second goal, Antonio Conte's goal in the 90'. Full highlights are available, Zidane's assist is at the very end of the video: RATINGS (La Stampa) Peruzzi [7.5]; Birindelli [6] - Ferrara [6.5] - Montero [5] - Dimas [5]; Conte [7] - Deschamps [6] - Zidane [6] - Di Livio [5.5]; Del Piero [5] - Inzaghi [6.5] Substitutes: Pessotto [6] - Pecchia [6] - Amoruso [6] RATINGS (La Gazzetta) Peruzzi [7]; Birindelli [5] - Ferrara [6] - Montero [5] - Dimas [5.5]; Conte [6] - Deschamps [6] - Zidane [6.5] - Di Livio [5.5]; Del Piero [5.5] - Inzaghi [6.5] Substitutes: Pessotto [5.5] - Pecchia [6] - Amoruso [6] Yellow card: Dimas http://www.archiviolastampa.it/comp...27/articleid,0011_01_1997_0240_0027_15814970/ http://archiviostorico.gazzetta.it/...e_cammina_Inzaghi_corre_ga_0_9709018834.shtml
Note: I will be using the ratings of both La Gazzetta and La Stampa for this season onwards. La Gazzetta did not have their archives go as far back as 1996, so I only used La Stampa for the 1996-97 season. Note: The 'man of the match' (player with the highest rating) will be highlighted in pink font from now on. La Gazzetta is an incredible source, they are far more detailed than La Stampa in my opinion. The only problem is that they don't show any nice graphics like La Stampa does.
A wonderful editorial of Zidane from La Gazzetta. I'm only going to point out some bits but I really recommend that you read it, in either the original Italian or translate it and make sense of it. - When Zidane arrived, he was not rated highly. Most people saw him perform very poorly at EURO 1996 - Agnelli and Platini were praising him, calling ZZ a phenomenon, but his performances never backed up the praise - ZZ admitted that he was shy and timid during the height of the frustrating period - Deschamps (captain of the French NT) helped ZZ adapt to the country and helped him learn the language - ZZ struggled a lot when he first came, mostly due to physical problems (he was at the 'June level' of fitness) - Lippi knew that ZZ needed to be protected and sheltered from the media, that he needed to be pampered and that he would repay the faith - At age 18, ZZ scored the winning goal (his first goal) against Nantes. The President promised him a secondhand car if he scored his first goal, but after ZZ scored, the President bought him a brand new Renault - About Enzo Francescoli: "I had his poster above my bed, Francescoli made me dream" - ZZ has few friends in Italy, he is a more introverted personality than Platini was - ZZ is asked whether he would rather win the World Cup with France or the Scudetto with Italy. His response? "Why not both?" http://archiviostorico.gazzetta.it/1997/agosto/31/Zinedine_Zidane_gm_0_9708312027.shtml
1997-98 Serie A [Round 2] 14 September, 1997 Roma 0-0 Juventus Stadio Olimpico: 34,201 spectators Referee: Treossi A dreadful performance for all the attackers, but both goalkeepers were the stars. Peruzzi especially made remarkable saves that had him compared to Lev Yashin! Juventus overall were not very convincing with their performance and left a lot to be desired. Zidane was very poor. He was drifting all over the pitch in a free role, trying to find a spot to make an impact. He did very little all match; Lippi was desperate for Juve to score a goal so mid-way through the second half he told ZZ to play even more advanced, like a striker. He was dire in that role and was promptly substituted in the 60th minute. He was criticised heavily by both La Stampa and La Gazzetta. La Stampa said "he disappeared", La Gazzetta said "he was swallowed by the fog". RATINGS (La Stampa) Peruzzi [8]; Birindelli [6] - Ferrara [6] - Montero [6] - Dimas [6]; Conte [6.5] - Deschamps [6] - Zidane [5] - Di Livio [6]; Inzaghi [6] - Padovano [5] Substitutes: Pecchia [n/a] - Tacchinardi [n/a] - Amoruso [n/a] RATINGS (La Gazzetta) Peruzzi [8]; Birindelli [6] - Ferrara [6.5] - Montero [6.5] - Dimas [6]; Conte [6] - Zidane [5] - Deschamps [6] - Di Livio [6]; Inzaghi [6.5] - Padovano [6.5] Substitutes: Pecchia [6] - Tacchinardi [n/a] - Amoruso [n/a] Yellow cards: Ferrara, Amoruso http://www.archiviolastampa.it/comp...,27/articleid,0611_01_1997_0254_0031_8339299/ http://archiviostorico.gazzetta.it/..._tiene_sulla_corda_Juve_ga_0_9709154476.shtml http://archiviostorico.gazzetta.it/...zi_normalmente_fenomeno_ga_0_9709164509.shtml
A bit of an update on Zidane's positional status, courtesy of La Gazzetta. - Last year, apart from the opening part of the season, ZZ played behind the strikers and played more advanced whenever Boksic/Del Piero/Vieri moved out wide - This year, ZZ is playing drifting more to the wings than he used to - Because Pippo Inzaghi is a central player, Ale Del Piero is naturally a left sided player (so he moves into left-centre positions), ZZ works the right-centre channel - ZZ and Del Piero frequently swap positions - When the opponents have the ball, Juve play a 4-4-2 with ZZ in line with the other midfielders - When Juve are attacking, it is a 4-3-1-2 with ZZ as the #10 - This type of system is being regarded as an "elastic trident" by La Gazzetta http://archiviostorico.gazzetta.it/1997/settembre/21/Juve_contro_caos_Brescia_ga_0_9709216324.shtml @Estel Some more clarity about Zidane's position, from last year and this year so far. Just to confirm the notion that Juve were playing ZZ as a #10 for the second half of his first season.
1997-98 Serie A [Round 3] 21 September, 1997 Juventus 4-0 Brescia Stadio delle Alpi: 2,353 spectators Referee: De Santis Juve were completely dominant. It wasn't even close. A saved ADP penalty stopped Juve from winning 5-0. The system functioned perfectly and all of the players performed well. Zidane was absolutely world-class. He "created" the first goal -- an own goal from Brescia -- with a free kick. He then had a pre-assist for Pippo Inzaghi's goal to make it 3-0. And to put the cherry on top, he assisted Ale Del Piero's goal to make it 4-0. Zidane initially started out on the left side of midfield but he had a lot of freedom to roam across the pitch. This was a stark difference to how he has played this season (as per La Stampa), where he normally transitioned the play from a 4-3-3 to a 4-4-2. La Stampa said that Zidane played "the perfect game", and that "Brescia could never stop Juve with Zidane playing this way". La Gazzetta said that Zidane played "a gorgeous game". Huge praise for the Frenchie. RATINGS (La Stampa) Peruzzi [n/a]; Birindelli [7] - Ferrara [6.5] - Montero [6.5] - Dimas [6.5]; Di Livio [7] - Deschamps [7] - Conte [7.5] - Zidane [8]; Inzaghi [7] - Del Piero [6.5] Substitute: Tacchinardi [n/a] RATINGS (La Gazzetta) Peruzzi [n/a]; Birindelli [6.5] - Ferrara [6] - Montero [6] - Dimas [5.5]; Di Livio [7] - Deschamps [7] - Conte [7] - Zidane [7.5]; Inzaghi [6.5] - Del Piero [6] Substitutes: Tacchinardi [6] Yellow card: Dimas http://archiviostorico.gazzetta.it/...sfonda_una_porta_aperta_ga_0_9709226228.shtml http://www.archiviolastampa.it/comp...,27/articleid,0612_01_1997_0261_0031_8839522/
1997-98 Serie A [Round 4] 27 September, 1997 Sampdoria 1-1 Juventus Stadio Luigi Ferraris: 16,502 spectators Referee: Boggi Juve were dominated but they still managed to pick up a point. A fluke goal from Pippo Inzaghi in the 92' saved the day for a very, very poor Juventus team. There was a bit of controversy at the end as a penalty could have been awarded to Sampdoria in the last minute but the referee did not give it. Zidane was poor. Apart from a great header that brought an acrobatic save from Ferron, he was not involved enough in the match. La Gazzetta said that the only scene they could remember was Zidane's header, that's how poor he was. Highlights are available here: RATINGS (La Stampa) Peruzzi [6.5]; Birindelli [6] - Ferrara [5.5] - Montero [4] - Dimas [5]; Di Livio [5.5] - Zidane [5.5] - Deschamps [6] - Conte [5]; Inzaghi [6.5] - Del Piero [4.5] Substitutes: Fonseca [5.5] - Tacchinardi [5.5] - Pessotto [n/a] RATINGS (La Gazzetta) Peruzzi [6.5]; Birindelli [6.5] - Ferrara [6] - Montero [4] - Dimas [5.5]; Di Livio [6] - Deschamps [6] - Zidane [5.5] - Conte [5.5]; Inzaghi [6.5] - Del Piero [5] Substitutes: Fonseca [6] - Tacchinardi [6] - Pessotto [n/a] Yellow card: Montero, Del Piero, Inzaghi, Tacchinardi, Montero x2 Red card: Montero http://www.archiviolastampa.it/comp...,29/articleid,0613_01_1997_0267_0033_8387482/ http://archiviostorico.gazzetta.it/1997/settembre/28/Juve_bocciata_Marassi_ga_0_9709286015.shtml
1997-98 Serie A [Round 5] 5 October, 1997 Juventus 2-1 Fiorentina Stadio delle Alpi: spectators Referee: Bazzoli Juve grinded out the victory with two quick goals from Pippo Inzaghi and Ale Del Piero, after giving up an own goal early in the match. Zidane had an average performance, nothing that distinguished him from the others. He was not involved in any of the goals, but he showed a great work-rate as he covered a lot of ground. He was substituted in the 70th minute for Pecchia. Not his best display. RATINGS (La Stampa) Peruzzi [6]; Birindelli [7] - Ferrara [7] - Iuliano [7] - Pessotto [6.5]; Di Livio [6] - Deschamps [7] - Tacchinardi [6] - Zidane [6]; Inzaghi [7] - Del Piero [7] Substitutes: Dimas [n/a] - Zamboni [n/a] - Pecchia [6.5] RATINGS (La Gazzetta) Peruzzi [6]; Birindelli [6.5] - Ferrara [7] - Iuliano [6.5] - Pessotto [6]; Di Livio [6] - Zidane [6] - Deschamps [7] - Tacchinardi [5.5]; Inzaghi [7] - Del Piero [6.5] Substitutes: Dimas [n/a] - Zamboni [n/a] - Pecchia [n/a] Yellow card: Birindelli http://archiviostorico.gazzetta.it/...catta_quando_vede_viola_ga_0_9710063331.shtml http://www.archiviolastampa.it/comp...d,0614_01_1997_0275_0031_12444049/anews,true/
I've read this whole thread and I can't help but notice that Zidane's performances remind me of Ozil.
I just thought that it was something of a logical fallacy to say that "Zidane was worth building a team around" when the clear cut simple fact is that Zidane, at every one of his teams, proved that he could contribute positively only when playing one specific type of system or when playing very similar variations of the aforementioned specific type of system. That makes him a "system player", just like Riquelme, Hagi, and a few other high profile players. Again, I will post the raw stats success-wise for Zidane's last two club teams, Juventus' five years before Zidane: UEFA Cup 1992/1993, Serie A 1994/1995, Coppa Italia 1994/1995, Supercoppa Italiana 1995, Champions League 1995/1996. Juventus' five years with Zidane: Serie A 1996/1997, Serie A 1997/1998, Supercoppa Italiana 1997. Real Madrid's five years before Zidane: La Liga 1996/1997, Champions League 1997/1998, Intercontinental Cup 1998, Champions League 1999/2000, La Liga 2000/2001. Real Madrid's five years with Zidane: Champions League 2001/2002, Intercontinental Cup 2002, La Liga 2002/2003. Both Juventus and Real Madrid were winning teams in the five years before Zidane joined, in fact, both teams won the Champions League not long before Zidane joined; for example, Juventus won the Champions League in 1996, and Zidane joined Juventus in 1996; Real Madrid won the Champions League in 2000, and Zidane joined Madrid in 2001. And yet, Zidane fans want to pretend that Zidane was a difference maker at both teams when in fact both teams actually did better without Zidane. As the stats show, Zidane was made the focal point of his last two teams even when it resulted in winning less trophies. On that basis, I'm not so sure about how much "it was worth it" to build your team around Zidane. I mean, sure, it was worth it in terms of making money out of Zidane's very profitable marketing machine, but besides that point it's difficult to see what made Zidane more appealing than Riquelme, for example. For instance, I can imagine Real Madrid 2004-2006 doing better with peak Riquelme, than they did with old Zidane. But that never happened, not even after Zidane retired. So again, I must question, just what was so particularly "worth it" about building your team around a player that, on the pitch, offered less success than previously enjoyed? For the record, I consider myself a Zidane fan in the sense that I genuinely enjoy watching him play, but I just greatly dislike how overrated Zidane was at the time, and I dislike it even more how Zidane seems to get a little bit better with each passing year. But anyways, keep up the good work mate, this is a great thread.
1997-98 Serie A [Round 6] 19 October, 1997 Bari 0-5 Juventus Stadio san Nicola: 41,481 spectators Referee: Ceccarini Complete dominance from Juve, complete embarrassment from Bari. Juve scored 3 goals in 45 minutes and were helped by 2 own-goals from Bari. Zidane was fantastic. He scored two wonder-goals to make it 2-0 and then 3-0, he then assisted Del Piero's goal to make it 4-0. He was all over the pitch and topped off an all-around superb performance with two beautiful goals. Highlights available here: RATINGS (La Stampa) Peruzzi [7]; Birindelli [6] - Iuliano [7] - Montero [6.5] - Pessotto [6.5]; Di Livio [6.5] - Deschamps [7] - Zidane [7.5] - Conte [6]; Inzaghi [5.5] - Del Piero [6.5] Substitutes: Dimas [n/a] - Pecchia [n/a] - Amoruso [6] RATINGS (La Gazzetta) Peruzzi [7]; Birindelli [6] - Iuliano [6] - Montero [5] - Pessotto [6]; Di Livio [6.5] - Deschamps [6] - Zidane [6.5] - Conte [7]; Inzaghi [5.5] - Del Piero [6.5] Substitutes: Dimas [5.5] - Pecchia [n/a] - Amoruso [6] Yellow card: Montero http://www.archiviolastampa.it/comp...d,0616_01_1997_0289_0031_12516299/anews,true/ http://archiviostorico.gazzetta.it/...illi_Juve_per_avvertire_ga_0_9710204046.shtml
1997-98 Serie A [Round 7] 1 November, 1997 Juventus 4-1 Udinese Stadio delle Alpi: 3,612 spectators Referee: Cesari Another strong win for Juve. They conceded early but scored 4 unanswered goals to defeat Udinese. Juventus got lucky with some poor referee decisions. La Gazzetta gave the referee a dreadful rating, one of the main reasons being the 'unforgiveable error' to not count Oliver Bierhoff's goal which would have dramatically changed the match. Zidane had a good performance. He was involved in the first two goals -- playing the initial corner which led to Conte's header, and the pre-assist to Inzaghi's goal. La Gazzetta mentioned that he was playing well recently. Match highlights (poor quality): RATINGS (La Stampa) n/a - for some reason there is no report of the match at all on the archive RATINGS (La Gazzetta) Rampulla [6.5]; Birindelli [6.5] - Ferrara [7] - Iuliano [6] - Pessotto [5.5]; Conte [6.5] - Deschamps [7.5] - Tacchinardi [5.5] - Zidane [6.5]; Inzaghi [6] - Del Piero [6.5] Substitutes: Pecchia [6.5] - Amoruso [6.5] Yellow card: Deschamps http://archiviostorico.gazzetta.it/1997/novembre/02/Juve_accende_candeline_ga_0_971102301.shtml
1997-98 Serie A [Round 8] 9 November, 1997 Napoli 1-2 Juventus Stadio san Paolo: 19,064 spectators Referee: Braschi Juve stretch their unbeaten start to the season up to 8 matches. They have won 4 consecutive league matches, winning 20 out of a possible 24 points in their first 8 matches. It took a late 87' winner from Daniel Fonseca to win in Naples. Zidane was arguably Juve's best player. He scored the first goal of the match after receiving a through-ball from Del Piero -- his 3rd goal of the season. He missed a good opportunity to score a 2nd goal in the second half. La Gazzetta mentioned that Zidane "fought all over the field", a testament to his growing effort, calling him one of the most decisive players on the team. Match highlights (good quality): RATINGS (La Stampa) Peruzzi [6.5]; Birindelli [6] - Ferrara [6.5] - Iuliano [6.5] - Pessotto [5.5]; Conte [6] - Deschamps [6.5] - Zidane [6.5] - Tacchinardi [6]; Inzaghi [5] - Del Piero [6] Substitutes: Dimas [n/a] - Fonseca [7] - Amoruso [6] RATINGS (La Gazzetta) Peruzzi [6.5]; Birindelli [5.5] - Ferrara [6.5] - Iuliano [6.5] - Pessotto [6]; Conte [6.5] - Deschamps [6] - Zidane [7] - Tacchinardi [6]; Inzaghi [5.5] - Del Piero [6.5] Substitutes: Dimas [n/a] - Fonseca [6.5] - Amoruso [6] Yellow card: Tacchinardi http://www.archiviolastampa.it/comp...,27/articleid,0619_01_1997_0308_0031_8427959/ http://archiviostorico.gazzetta.it/...onseca_tiene_corsa_Juve_ga_0_9711101320.shtml