Mancini with the rare grade of 9 from multiple sources. At this stage Schillachi has been receiving lots of flak for his inadequacy to score and his substandard play overall. It’s viewed as critical at the moment. Roberto Baggio has tailed off and has been struggling heavily lately. Van Basten continues with his issues and Maradona has few games left as a Napoli player. Lothar Matthaus continues to impress for Inter Milan and Sampdoria are fighting neck to neck with Inter for the Scudetto.
Gazzetta illustrates how Roberto Baggio has declined over the course of the campaign to the point of being considered “unrecognizable”:
On a side note, Napoli defeated first placed Sampdoria in the first leg of the Coppa Italia semifinal. The relevance is that this was Maradona’s last great match for the club and his last open play goal. It was also his last Copa match and only a few games remained on Italian fields for him.
Unbeknown to everyone at the time, but round 26 would be Maradona’s last match for Napoli. A drug test had came in after round 25, which tested positive for cocaine. Maradona’s reign as the top player in world football and classified generally as the top player on Italian fields, was officially over. The world wouldn’t see him play again for nearly 2 years.
@Vegan10 Maradona his grades are continuously low this season, in that he is by round 14 or so (a significant amount of games) not on the Gazzetta chart (post #1972). Is that deserved? Was he suddenly playing at a much lower level indeed, are graders now 'hostile' against him or do they look with different standards? He played with (supposed) physical issues before at times. I've written something about MvB before and that based on the games he didn't play (while the other stars did) and decisive interventions (like the Intercontinental Cup, the only goal vs Inter, EC vs Brugge from a top 5 league) I'd still have him among the 50 best for 1990-91 to be honest.
There’s no doubt it was Maradona’s weakest season in Italy. Reviews point to a player that runs less, but maintains the distinctive touch that can transform a game in any moment with his class. However, Maradona is throughout at odds with management and the board. He rarely trains and seems out of shape. It appears after Napoli are knocked out of Europe, he no longer seems interested in the domestic campaign and literally misses games at times on purpose. His contribution is limited to penalty kicks and set pieces and is criticized for laboring through matches. He’s allegedly accused (or found positive for drug abuse and no longer protected by Italian officials) but it’s uncertain how that has affected his performances. In any event, it seems his best games came at the European level and in the domestic cups, tournaments that were still up for the taken — the Scudetto out of reach from the very beginning. In regards to Van Basten, still some games remain but he’s also at odds with Arrigo Sacchi and there’s even talk that he may be swapped in a trade with Roberto Baggio, who has been severely criticized with shockingly low grades that reach the #4 mark in various games (more on that later).
I wanted to mention that I found I had further years of Guerin Sportivo that had been stashed away for years. For example, 1978 and 1979. I also think I may have some others that follow like 1992 and 1993 (it should surface once I get everything in order). So I can continue adding to this thread. In addition, some months of Corriere dello Sport have surfaced from the 1987-88 season that I will add to the thread once I’ve concluded with the 1990-91 season. Also, the 1990-91 season does produce an all-star first and second team after the campaign concluded. Will post everything that’s available. What is unfortunate is that I can no longer find anymore Gazzetta newspapers in my collection (I thought I had more). In any event, it’s possible to add anything that surfaces in the future. Cheers to all that have enjoyed the thread so far.
At this stage, Roberto Baggio, deemed to be the star of the 1990s decade, has been severely criticized and has not convinced at Juventus in his first season from being transferred from Fiorentina. There’s speculation that Baggio played better when the spotlight was off of him or when the club sides were underdogs, but for a traditional big team he’s struggled thus far. Articles about the departure of Maradona and the issues of Baggio and Arrigo Sacchi.
Decisive encounter between Sampdoria and Inter, with Sampdoria now on their way to the Scudetto title, after Matthaus in an off-day, lost at home to their opponents.