That puts virtually a close to the end of the year (I think there’s one more game before the end) but how things stand, Napoli are in the lead and are now the favorites to win the league. Roberto Baggio leads the way as top 10 GS weekly performer. Van Basten has been voted again European footballer of the year and World player of the year by the IFFHS: https://iffhs.de/history-iffhs-awards-1989/ This time there’s no information of Gazzetta’s Ballon d’Or but Guerin Sportivo has conducted a poll chosen by athletes of who was the best athlete of the 1980s decade and Maradona is the defining football player of the epoch:
In fact the calendar year ends in 1991 (I think). The interesting thing of the 1990-91 campaign is GS started to include every grade from the top 4 major sports papers, so you will be able to compare the 4 sources.
We enter 1990... Now GS have introduced a team of the week with the turn of the the new year. GS round 17
And strangely but positively GS started to add grades from round 17 onwards with the turn of the new year. However, I suspect they had been giving out grades in the first half of the season but didn’t print them.
As the first half of the season passed, Gazzetta asked players and coaches to choose the best under-23 player of the season thus far, the revelation and the best foreigner.
So rather than listing out all the grades game by game (some of them being unavailable anyway - the ones that are shown are on pages 70 and 71 though for reference) I will just use the above post to add in the 1989/90 Gazzetta averages for these players in calendar year 1989 too. Brehme: 6.86 over 22 games in 88/89 from GS. 6.5 over 17 games in 89/90 from Gazzetta. Combined Serie A average for 1989 = 6.71. Matthaus: 6.82 over 22 games in 88/89 from GS. 6.59 over 11 games in 89/90 from Gazzetta. Combined Serie A average for 1989 = 6.74. So in theory they both seem to slot in just behind Maradona's 1988 average and just ahead of Careca's.
I notice here that Careca has the same average with Gazzetta as with GS for 1988 calendar year Uefa Cup games. Maradona's is slightly higher with Gazzetta than with GS, but not a lot. I'll probably have a look at both sets of grades for Baresi and Van Basten too, for the 1989 part of the 88/89 European Cup. But initially I'll again incorporate the GS ones since that's the source I'll use for league games in that season.
Baresi's 1989 European Cup games average from GS (88/89) = 7.6 over 5 games Van Basten = 6.5 over 5 games Rijkaard (makes sense to include him too given the results even if I think his Serie A ratings don't really put him in the mix at the top of the averages) = 7.3 over 5 games Van Basten's are significantly higher from Gazzetta though, at 6.9, so it might be at least worth looking at that (as the most positive interpretation). I've not studied yet whether his 1988/89 Serie A average seems to be similarly higher from Gazzetta compared to GS. Rijkaard's are the same overall (half a point different in two games, in either direction) with Gazzetta in 1989 calendar year EC games. Baresi's very slightly lower overall with Gazzetta - the average would have been 7.5 instead of 7.6 but that's very high either way of course!
If anything though I wonder whether GS are rating Van Basten better than Gazzetta since his return in 89/90. About 4 times in the hit parade top 10 (more than anyone in that period I think), while Gazzetta's 6.33 average is not mega high. Anyway, yes, it'll be interesting to see multi-sources for 1990/91 Vegan definitely!
I think I'll leave the Milan players aside for now though, as Vegan might well be able to show 1989/90 European Cup ratings too and I could also incorporate those for the 1989 part. More Real Madrid games included of course. So I can do the Sampdoria pair before that, but first here are the results for Baggio in Serie A in 1989: Roberto Baggio 1989 Guerin Sportivo grades - 1988/89 (January to end of season) Lazio (h) - 7 Juventus (h) - 6.5 Lecce (a) - 5.5 Roma (h) - 7 Inter (h) - 7.5 Milan (h) - 6.5 Ascoli (a) - 6.5 Cesena (h) - 8 Torino (a) - 6 Atalanta (a) - 7 Sampdoria (a) - 6.5 Napoli (h) - 6 Pescara (a) - 6 Como (h) - 7 Verona (h) - 7 Lazio (a) - 6 Juventus (a) - 6 Bologna (h) - 6 Inter (a) - 4
So that is an average of 6.42 over 19 games. His Gazzetta average for 1989 games in Serie A during 89/90 is 6.24, given that he scored 6.5 for the 18th game and after that his average was 6.25 (this link confirms he played all 17 games in the first half of the season: assist data not reliable I'm pretty sure though: https://www.transfermarkt.com/roberto-baggio/leistungsdatendetails/spieler/4153/plus/0?saison=1989&verein=430&liga=&wettbewerb=IT1&pos=&trainer_id=) So combined the 1989 average would be 6.33 over 36 games for Baggio. It's not one of the top ones but about equals Vialli from 1988, as he followed in his path as breakthrough Italian star!
That round 18 game vs Bari is immediately an example of a big difference in a player grade again: a 5 for Baggio with GS compared to the 6.5 from Gazzetta! But his final average in 88/89 from Gazzetta wasn't extremely high, so I'm doubting he was scoring substantially better with that publication compared to GS in the 1989 part. Sometimes things just vary one way quite a lot, and in another game it goes the other way and the player gets the better grade from the other publication it seems. There are obviously some notable differences in final average grades too though as we've discussed.
Wow thats great. Cant wait to see the 4 sources together in 91. Hope to see grades from Maradona game in Coppa Campioni Vs Ujpest...i know he got 10 from La Stampa.
Gianluca Vialli 1989 Guerin Sportivo ratings - 1988/89 (January to end of season) Atalanta (h) - 6.5 Pescara (a) - 6.5 Napoli (h) - 6.5 Verona (a) - 7 Lazio (h) - 7 Cesena (a) - 6.5 Torino (h) - 8 Como (a) - 6 Pisa (h) - 7.5 Ascoli (a) - 6.5 Inter (h) - 6.5 Bologna (a) - 6 Fiorentina (h) - 6.5 Roma (a) - 6 Pescara (h) - 7 Napoli (a) - 5.5 Verona (h) - 6 Lazio (a) - 6.5 Cesena (h) - 6 Average = 6.53 over 19 games Gazzetta average for 1989 part of 89/90 = 6.17 over 17 games https://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/gia...plus/0/saison/1989/wettbewerb/IT1/verein/1038 Combined 1989 Serie A average = 6.36 over 36 games Toninho Cerezo 1989 Guerin Sportivo ratings - 1988/89 (January to end of season) Atalanta (h) - 5 Pescara (a) - 6.5 Napoli (h) - 6 Verona (a) - 6 Lazio (h) - 6.5 Cesena (a) - 6.5 Como (a) - 5 Pisa (h) - 6.5 Inter (h) - 6.5 Bologna (a) - 6.5 Fiorentina (h) - 6.5 Roma (a) - 6.5 Juventus (h) - 6.5 Lecce (a) - 7 Milan (h) - 6.5 Atalanta (a) - 6.5 Pescara (h) - 6.5 Napoli (a) - 6.5 Verona (h) - 6.5 Cesena (h) - 7.5 Average = 6.375 exactly over 20 games Gazzetta average for 1989 part of 89/90 = 6.53 over 13 games Combined 1989 Serie A average = 6.44 over 33 games