This is a discussion I had with a friend, which first started off as one of those "imagine if X and Y played together at their peak." This led to us talking about how good the 4Rs (Ronaldinho, Rivaldo, Ronaldo, and Romario) of Brazil would be together at their peak. We both agreed that it would be the single most talented international front 4 of all time. This naturally led to Ronaldinho-Henry-Messi (arguably, the most talented club football frontline ever?). This then prompted him to say that 2007-2008 Barcelona, if the players were all at their peak, would be the best team of all time. I haven't thought enough about it to agree, but it's easy to see why it would certainly be in contention. I wonder what other teams would be in this conversation? The Madrid Galacticos certainly come to mind, but I still think they have too many obvious weaknesses, especially at the back. The 12-13 Madrid is perhaps a better example.
One that comes for mind to me is AC Milan 2003-4. Had Shevchenko, Kaka, Rivaldo, Maldini, Cafu, Nesta, Rui Costa, Pirlo, Gattuso, Redondo, Seedorf, Costacurta, Inzaghi plus a host of next tier players.
Maybe Brazil 1966. Pelé (1960-1965), Garrincha (1957-1962), Jairzinho (1968-1972), Bellini (1958-1962), Djalma Santos (1956-1962), Gilmar (1958-1962), Gerson (1968-1972), Zito (1958-1962), Tostão (1966-1970) among others. --------------- Tostão ----------------- Jarzinho --- Pelé ---- Garrincha ---------- Zito -- Gerson ----------- Altair--Orlando--Bellini -Djalma Santos -------------- Gilmar -----------------
Barca 07-08 was incredibly stacked. Ronaldinho, Henry, Messi, Eto'o, Gudjohnsen plus Bojan and Gio dos Santos Deco, Xavi, Iniesta, Yaya Toure, Edmilson Thuram, Puyol, Abidal, Marquez, Milito, Sylvinho, Zambrotta. If all these guys were playing at their peak it would be ridiculous. @comme Milan 03-04, especially if you include Rivaldo who was on loan then would be a scary prospect too. Inter Milan 98-99 had Ronaldo, Baggio, Recoba, Djorkaeff, Simeone, Zanetti, Bergomi among others. AC Milan 95-96 Weah, Baggio, Savicevic, Boban, Donadoni, Albertini, Patrick Vieira, Paulo Futre, Marcel Desailly, Maldini
Would this really be better than 1962? You'd lose Tostao, Jairzinho, and Gerson but gain the santos trio of Pele, Pepe, and Countinho, while Didi and Nilton Santos are also arguably upgrades.
This is arguably the most complete team out of all the ones mentioned so far I don't see any weakness here Even if their front 3 wasn't particularly prolific Weah/baggio/savecivic never individually scoring more than 20 non pen goals in a single season The galacticos first project 2000-2006 (roughly) you could argue was a failure One could argue however that they never played together at their best When Zidane arrived Figo was still world class but had already past the apex of his career Ronaldo too was more restricted due to injury Fernando hierro was old Beckham was a purely a financial move and he was already past his best(its odd to think the Madrid board had the option to sign Ronaldinho gaucho and opted for Beckham-one of the worse moves they've possibly ever made)
Gerson was comparable to Didi at his best imo. Nilton Santos is a upgrade yes. But losing Tostão that is way better and more all rounded to Coutinho or Vava, a elite playmaker and goalscoring and Jairzinho circa 1970 (8 dribbles completed, 2.2 key passes and 1.36 G+A per 90 minutes in the WC70) to Zagallo or Pepe is def a down move.
In fact Pelé, Garrincha, Jairzinho and Tostão all playing together in their peaks would be pretty much unplayable. In fact just with Garrincha and Pelé together, Brazil never lost in 50 matches (45W, 5D). Zito and Gerson could offer a pretty balanced midfield too. Bellini is considered as the best Brazilian defender of all time, Djalma as the best RB and Gilmar the best GK.
France 2006 With Ribery (2012-13) it would be a near perfect squad --------------- Henry ----------------- Malouda --- Zidane ---- Ribery ---------- Vieira -- Makelele ----------- Abidal--Gallas--Thuram -Sagnol -------------- Barthez -----------------
Ajax of 1983 Koeman, Rijkaard, Cruyff, van Basten, soren lerby, jesper olsen, jan molby, schrijvers, vanenburg. If all in there prime... Would be quite a good team... Especially midfield and attack would be high class
Holland of 1974... 2 huge changes. First in goal would be van Beveren he was way way way better then jongbloed. Secondly haan and Rijsbergen would not be central defenders but Israël who in his prime was the best central defender Holland has ever had.. Also that wc Rensenbrink was not in shape.
Rare video here of an indoor tournament where they play against Milan, for some the future team. Milan was then a Serie B team and Baresi just appointed captain. La Stampa and Gazzetta dello Sport. (the match is much shorter than the video, from 13:40 until 39:00 and then from 43:45 to 1:09:00) Goals can be seen at 5:05 (the previous game), then at 17:10, 19:05 (own goal), 19:54, 20:39, 25:19 (penalty), 26:08 etc... for the first half. For the second half a Baresi free kick at 46:25, followed by Ajax goals at 50:46 and this one making it 6-3.
I like Argentina WC 94. ....................Islas Caceres..Sensini..Ruggeri..Chamot ........Redondo...Simeone ................Maradona ..........Balbo..Batistuta......Cannigia With every player in their prime, it's significantly stronger than the 86 WC winners.
Every time someone mentions Argentina and World Cup, I am reminded of how Maradona ruined Argentina 2010 for all of us
Diego is who he is, for better and worse. He didn’t ruin it. AFA - those who put him in charge - ruined it.
Denmark 1984 would be awesome with Allan Simonsen in a better condition. Michael Laudrup was 19. Morten Olsen was 34. Portrugal 2004, 2006: What if CR7 was in his prime with Figo and Rui Costa, playing at home? Deco was there too, right? Of course, Greece was in form and with momentum. They beat a lot of great teams. Portugal already reached the Final. What else can they do? KH Rummenigge also played with Beckenbauer and G.Muller at Bayern Munich. I do not know much about that era. Of course, Argentina in 1958 with Di Stefano and Sivori.... Amadeo Carrizo, Rogelio Dominguez, Nestor Rossi, Omar Oreste Corbatta, José SanFilippo, Ángel Labruna and the rest of Angels of Dirty Faces were all active players in 1958. Then, Zizinho and Julinho were still active in 1958. Imagine them playing with Pele, Didi, Zito, N.Santos and DJ Santos. Netherlands in 1984: Van Basten, Cruyff, Krol, Gullit, R.Koeman, Rijkaard, Hans Van Breukelen, Piet Schrijvers, Willy Van de Kerkhof. Cruyff was the Dutch Player of the Year in 1984. Krol was injured while playing for Napoli. Neeskens and Rep were also active players.
The funny thing is that all the three (eventual) Ballon d'Or winners (Cruijff, MvB, Gullit) were at that particular point not miles removed from their best state. Cruijff was in a much better shape and state of mind as in 1982-83 and his displays, consistent productivity against genuine strong sides are clear to see. Both MvB and Gullit also had strong seasons and not enormously far removed from their best state (maybe/arguably that MvB became more of a 'killer' and influencer in later years, able to produce or win penalties in the biggest matches, and yeah even two minutes before his career ended he almost conjured up a goal in the 1993 final). Gullit had 22 assists in the league (ofc with the help by Cruijff and others) which is still the record since they started recording this in 1972. The national team (manager was Rijvers) started the qualification haphazard but ended it strong with victories to Spain (later finalist) and a on paper decent Ireland team full of Serie A and First Division starters. They missed qualification for the final eight teams on goal difference (the famous Spain vs Malta 12-1 match). I think however Koeman started to get it fully as a 'defender' after this tournament, originally he was a midfielder (1983-1985 was the phase he alternated between midfield and defense). Rijkaard made big strides too; he himself confirmed that a November 1984 match against Bohemians Prague was a turning point for him and after that he became a very consistent and steady player until the end of his career. Rijkaard 'always' had the body feints and defensive skills but applied it consistently from ~1985 on. Cruijff said once (in 1984) that if they had qualified he'd be willing to go and travel to France, but only as a bench player and substitute. Because it isn't fair to the players who qualified them to claim a place as an echo from the past, and it is (for everyone) better to be subbed in than subbed out. N.B. Cruijff also played against Koeman his dad, here he tumbles over. Then when Koeman jr. encountered him, the first thing he did in midfield was nicking the ball from Cruijff 'without respect', a forceful tackle, and later scoring a goal in the match. Plus, played against the father of Laudrup as well. Also famous is the scene of Koeman kicking his brother Erwin from behind, it's on YouTube too.
I actually did a blog team for Netherlands 1984 team. https://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.com/2019/12/netherlands-1984.html Key points Ruud Krol was 35 years old in 1984. He played against Spain in Febuary, 1983 in one of the qualifiers, but he was injured parts of the 1983-1984 season while playing in the Serie A. He returned to action by March, 1984. Napoli parted ways with him that summer, making the way for Diego Maradona to join Napoli. I do not know his fitness around the Spring of 1984. Cruyff won the Dutch league as mentioned earlier. He played with Gullit. Johan Neeskens was only 32 at the time of the European Championship. He was playing for NY Cosmos. That year, NY Cosmos failed to reach the playoff for the first time since Pele joined the club in 1976. He was released by them on October, 1984. His career was not the same before and after Euro 1984. Marco Van Basten was Eredivisie top scorer that year. Johnny Rep was playing with PEC Zwolle in Netherlands, but he was a shadow of himself. I fogot to mention Arnold Muhren, but he was not on my team.
Germany 1994 would be good. Except Augenthaler and Littitbarski, the entire 1990 team would be there. In case, people forgot.... Matthaus, Brehme, Klinsmann, Hassler, Kohler, etc. The new players on the 1994 team were Sammer, Kahn and Effenberg.
Italy 2002 World Cup Team Buffon with Toldo as a backup. Zambrotta (Panucci) Cannavaro-Nesta Maldini Gattuso Di Livio Tommasi Del Piero Totti Vieri (Inzaghi) The criminal omissions of Baggio and Pirlo would have only further stacked that squad.
Holland 1990.... if they were all at the peak of their powers (and Bergkamp was close to making the squad too, was called up a few times but had to wait after the WC for his debut - in 1989 he scored in ten consecutive games, which was then a record)