In my opinion this was the best possible starting eleven of the 1990's. Each of the players position was taken into consideration as to balance the team as much as possible. I used a popular 90's formation: The 4-4-2 Some of these players continued or even surpassed their success in the early 2000's, however, I still included them in the 90's team because during this decade they were already top class. My question : 1. Are they really the best of the 1990's ? 2. Would these players balence each other in the starting lineup ? ------------------------------------------------------------------- Goalkeeper: 1. Peter Schmeicel (Captain) Left Back: 3. Roberto Carlos Center Back: 4. Ronald Koeman Center Back: 5. Paulo Maldini (played both left back and center back) Right Back: 2. Lilian Thuran Defensive Midfielder: 6. Matthias Sammer (Vice Captain) Right Midfielder: 7. Luis Figo Left Midfielder: 11. Ryan Giggs Central Midfielder: 21. Zinedine Zidane (Vice Captain) Forward: 9. Ronaldo Forward: 18. Jürgen Klinsmann
Maldini was mostly a left in the 90s wasnt he? also Batistuta or Romario instead of Klinsman Baggio needs to be in there somewhere, also Laudrup
-Maldini was a left in the 90's (before a CB later in his playing days) but I wanted to include R.Carlos and moved Paulo to the center, as he also did play there. - Bati-goal and Romario were quality, I would place them both on the bench..... Klinsi would fit well with Ronaldo I think. And he was deadly in the 90's at each major tournament for Germany, winning two of them. M.Laudrup would be a back up to Zidane.
I agree on Klinnsman ahead of Batistuta and Romario. May not be flashy, but was deadly and clinical. Could be a great match-up between him and Ronaldo.
Matthäus was better than Sammer, but his best years were in the late 80s/early 90s so it's debatable whether he merits consideration or not. Same concerns with Rivaldo or Raul as their primes came in a decade transition.
You have a good point. It was difficult to choose between Sammer, Matthaus and.... Rijjakard for the D-MF position. But I could only select one, so I decided on Sammer becasue Matthaus merit runs deeply into the 1980's, same as Rijjkard's.
Klinsman was not better than Bati or Romario and if anyone is a good fit to pair with Ronaldo that man would be Romario also Laudrup over Zidane Baggio really has to be somewhere in a 90's team
Goalkeeper: 1. Peter Schmeichel (Denmark) Left Back: 3. Paolo Maldini (Italy) Center Back: 4. Jürgen Kohler (Germany) Center Back: 5. Marcel Desailly (France) Right Back: 2. Cafu (Brazil) Defensive Midfielder: 6. Lothar Matthäus(Germany) Left Midfielder: 7. Hristo Stoichkov (Bulgaria) Right Midfielder: 8. Overmars (Netherlands) Attacking Midfielder: 10. Zinedine Zidane (France) Forward: 9. Ronaldo (Brazil) Forward: 11.Romario (Brazil)
Very Interesting. I always considered H. Stoichkov as a striker, but yes he also played left-wing, so its actually possible to include him. As for J.Kohler....maybe. Desaily is also a very good choice. Good lineup
Well for me Kohler is not just one of the best defender in the 90´s, but of all time. In an all time lineup Kohler would be one out of 4 players from that 90´s lineup I would include.
J.Kohler was a fantastic defender. Its tough competition in the 90's as they were many very good Italian and French teams that with amazing defenders (also Baresi).... Wasn't Kohler more of a late 80's player??? I know he had lots of later success in the 90's as well. Also, I may have omitted Kohler because there was something about his style of play. I don't remember exactly, but it may have been based on disciplinary records. Well, its very difficult to seperate between guys like Kohler, Koeman, Baresi or Maldini.....
Line up 4 2 2 2 ----------- Ronaldo(9) ---- Romario(11) --------- ---Baggio(8)-------------------- Stoichkov (7)--- ----------Laudrup(10) ----- Mathaus(6) ---------- Maldini(5) -------------------------------- Cafu (2) --------- J.Stam(4) --------- Desailly(3) ---------- --------------- Scmeichel (1)------------------ SUB: 11: Bergkamp 10: Zidane 9: Batistuta 8: Overmars 7: Cantona 6: Sammer 5: Brehme 4: Baresi 3: Albertini 2: Thuram 1: Taffarel
Kohler definitely belongs in a 90´s lineup. Koeman is more 80 than him btw. Also Koeman was a better free kick taker than defender... Wouldn´t have him even in an top ten CB list. Also I can not remember Kohler being sent off that often. The only sending off I remember was in his last match in the UEFA-Cup final in 2002 and there he was 36 years old and way past his prime.
No Jurgen Klinsman, not even on the bench??? Come on man.... you can't be serious. As great as R.Baggio was, he wasn't as consitent and prolific at major tournaments as Klinsi....
That's a good point about Koeman and his defensive abilities. However, Koeman was a sensation on a historical scale with his hard shot and free-kicks and style of play..... there has never been a player like it since (Roberto Carlos was a left back and had a different style). On the other hand, there has been a few players similar to Kohler's style or abilties.
Many great players during that decade, here's my XI: GK: Schmeichel (I also like Chilavert) RB: Zanetti (or Cafu, both better than Thuram) CB: Koeman CB: Hierro LB: Maldini or Roberto Carlos DM: Redondo (the best in the deepest position of the decade) HM: Veron (or Guardiola) RM: Zidane LM: Rivaldo FW: Ronaldo (or Romario) FW: Stoichkov (or Batistuta)
My 'Modern' All Star XI (applicable for the mid to late 90s IMO): -----------------------------Schmeichel---------------------------- ----------------Thuram----------------------Maldini---------------- -----------------------------Sammer(C)---------------------------- ---Zanetti-------------------------------------------------Carlos--- ------------------------------Redondo------------------------------ -------------------------------Zidane------------------------------ -------Figo--------------------------------------------Giggs------- ------------------------------Ronaldo------------------------------ Subs: Baggio, Laudrup, Cafu, Desailly, Kahn Coach: Louis Van Gaal (employing an unfamiliar to him 3-3-1-3 formation) Things keep on changing for me, so this is more like a 'current' version and not a definitive one.
I would love to see this formation with the exact linup. Its looks very well balanced. The Wings would be soooooo deadly
................... Ronaldo .................................... Baggio (FK taker no. 1) ........ Giggs .......................... Savicevic......... Beckham (FK taker no. 2) ..............................Kean (C) Maldini .................. Turam.......................Stam.................... Zanetti ...........................................Schmeichel
Actually, in true Bielsa fashion, the wingbacks tend to move diagonally towards the center and near the edge of the box to provide support to the lone playmaker. Ofcourse they can also always move to the outside as well, if needed. Only if the wingbacks are versatile enough and have a big enough engine to regularly be available at both ends of the pitch will the formation work. Also, the striker is not ideal IMO but too good to leave out. My ideal striker would be clinical with the head as well. However, the wings sure are deadly since all of the wingforwards, wingbacks and side-center backs can make runs on the outside, whenever they see space. Ohh and btw, I use this formation in all my FIFA games. Works great for me.
Some interesting lineups and opinions here. It's all about people's different preferences. If we use a 4-4-2 formation (classic/flat or diamond) then some very good players would be left out. Same could happen if we use other formations. For a balanced formation/team, I personally prefer Thuram and Maldini as fullbacks over players like Cafu, Carlos or Zanetti, even though they were very good as well. Sammer can only find a place on a team if the formation involves a sweeper, as that is how he was most influential and best used. Similarly, Zidane should be included only if the formation uses an AM (not in a classic/flat 4-4-2). Here is my take: Using 4-4-2 classic/flat: GK - Schmeichel DR - Thuram DL - Maldini DC - Desailly DC - Stam MC - Davids MC - Keane MR - Figo ML - Giggs ST - Romario ST - Ronaldo Using 4-4-2 diamond: GK - Schmeihel DR - Thuram DL - Maldini DC - Desailly DC - Stam DM - Redondo MR - Beckham ML - Davids AM - Zidane ST - Romario ST - Ronaldo Using 3-5-2: GK - Schmeichel SW - Sammer DRC - Thuram DLC - Maldini WBR - Cafu WBL - R.Carlos MC - Redondo MC - Keane AM - Zidane ST - Romario ST - Ronaldo Using 4-3-3: GK - Schmeichel DR - Cafu DL - Maldini DC - Thuram DC - Desailly DM - Redondo MC - Davids MC - Seedorf WFR - Figo WFL - Stoitchkov ST - Ronaldo Using 4-2-3-1: GK - Schmeichel DR - Cafu DL - R.Carlos DC - Thuram DC - Desailly MC - Redondo MC - Keane AMR - Figo AMC - Zidane AML - Giggs ST - Ronaldo
When all-time greats are discussed, players from small nations are often not given the respect they deserve because their national team was not good enough for them to shine more often at the latter stages of ECs or WCs. Gheorghe Hagi, Michael Laudrup and Stoitchkov are such players.
Peter Schmeichel ---- Cafú ---- Jürgen Kohler -- Marcel Desailly -- Paolo Maldini Matthias Sammer --- Luís Figo ------ Zinedine Zidane ---- Roberto Baggio Romário ----- Ronaldo Substitutes - Oliver Kahn - Lilian Thuram - Ronald Koeman - Javier Zanetti - Roberto Carlos - Fernando Redondo - Michael Laudrup - Rivaldo - Ryan Giggs - Dennis Bergkamp - Gabriel Batistuta * Franco Baresi, Frank Rijkaard and Lothar Matthäus weren't only because their highest peak is divided between 80's and 90's.