i have to severly disagree with you about ballack, he is complete as it gets, attacking, defending, creativity, passing, and has a good aerial game as well. Also, nedved started his career as a winger, but moved to a central role, and has been better than any midfielder in the world for a 2-3 year run, culminating in his euro footballer award. i agree about viera though.
I'd have to agree. Michael Ballack is the most complete midfielder both ways as he can play both defensive and attacking midfielder flawlessly! Pavel Nedved is more attack minded but certainly not as great as other defensively not that he is a slouch either!
there was plenty top class players who didn't have a very good euro 2004 , greece a footballing minnow won it ,I still wouldn't say they are the best team in europe or that they have better individual players than the likes of england ,italy ,spain etc. Gerrard was phenomenal for liverpool last season and don't take it from me take it from the other premiership managers, if you had seen his performances in the latter part of the season theres now way you could lampard is better.
take off your own blinkers ,the player of the year nominations had to handed in before christmas when lampard was playing particualry well ,gerrard's best performances came after christmas theres no surprise that lampard was above him ,if the nominations had to be handed in at the end of the season ,gerrard would have been above lampard.
I have Gerrard on my fantasy team with Lampard and Wright-Phillips.What I have seen of Lampard of late? He is amazingly steadfast and accurate. He has to be hands down the best Middie this year. He has done everything anyone could ever want from the MId. spot. He passes well from all three sides of his foot, scores works all over inspires others. Gerrard has just come back from injury right? lets wait and see. He is the man I must say and thats why England should Win something soon, if not for Errickson.
When your team finishes fourth you are never going to get the Player of the Year award!!! I don't care how good you are.
not as good? the guy singlehandedly lead an average german side to the world cup final, in which they fell apart when he couldnt play the final game. i have much much respect for gerrard, he is amazing, and id love for him to be in our side anyday, but i think ballack is a more complete player, of course it is hard for you to see this being a pool fan.
Charges of bias are cheap. Ballack did not "single-handedly" take the German side anywhere. For one,their route to the final was facile beyond belief. For a second, Ballack's impact on the games he played was only made possible by the work Didi Hamann did in the shielding role int he centre of midfield. Additionally, they had Ziege out wide to put the crosses in for carthorses like Janker and Klose to finish. It's no coincidence that Ziege had more assists in that campaign than any other player, Ballack included. And finally, there is a reason why Oliver Kahn was voted the Goalkeeper of the Tournament. So enough with the hyperbole. Ballack is a fine player and you're right, he is an incredibly balanced talent, being effective in both a defensive and an offensive role. But he is not as talented as Gerrard in either of those skill sets.
Well, but look what happened for the one game where Ballack was out - Germany looked a shade of their former selves. I think Ballack and Gerrard are very comparable players; Ballack is better at actually scoring, whereas I think Gerrard's passing is a bit better. Neither is a true defensive midfielder, as Bayern discovered when they foolishly tried to play Ballack there. Due to that mistake and the German national team's general ineptness the last several years, Ballack's gone missing a bit. I don't recall who brought up Nedved, but he's not a winger; he definitely plays in the center now. While I actually think he's been the best player in Europe over the past 3 seasons, he's not a "complete" midfielder if we're going to take attacking and defending into account. He doesn't really defend well, he's not asked to do it, and while I don't think it hurts his game, comparing him to Gerrard is foolish. As for the current argument - it depends on whom you like. I've always thought Vieira lacked the offensive game that any of Keane, Lampard or Gerrard have; he doesn't create anything. He will take his chances well, but nearly all of his goals come from runs into the box and passes being played to him. In that sense, he's a true defensive midfielder who will occasionally burst into the box. And really, when was the last time he scored off a shot from the edge of the box? I don't recall ever seeing him do that (not that I'm saying he's never done it ). Also, for someone so imposing and powerful, why he scores so few goals off set pieces is strange, to say the least. I do think Gerrard and Lampard are the two best players in the EPL now; I think its very hard for me as a Chelsea fan to separate them. I might say that Gerrard has a bit more natural talent, but I think Lampard is a smarter player at this point in their careers. He (much like Robben) is a player that will rarely do anything extra that's not necessary. He plays within himself, a skill that I wish Joe Cole would learn at some point in his career.
shut up chav bastard, have you seen him in the last few game AV U FCUK. He was crap for Ingurland. When Paul Scholes is on his game there is no one better.
He certainly excites me the most, I would say that Gerrard and Vierra at their very best would be too hard to call, I would love to see them both in a U.S. shirt thats for sure!
Yea that part is laugable. If I had to choose umm would be hard I like Lampard, but I think maybe Gerrard is more maveric. Scholes is awesome at shooting and popping up at the right time.
Excellent point, Pavel Nedved is a dominating player but he isn't as much as a box-to-box player as Ballack, Lampard, Gerrard, etc! Pavel nedved isn't as good defensively as the rest, but he is the best of the bunch going forward! Again i vote FRANK LAMPARD, Steven Gerrard comes a close second now (DID U SEE THAT GOAL TODAY!) and Michael Ballack! Daniele De Rossi is an up and comer though!
"Liverpool's winner was a very good goal scored by a quality player who is one of the best players around Europe at the moment. " Olympiacos boss Dusan Bajevic gerrard great again for us ,put liverpool to the last 16 ,I would argue every day of the week that he is a better overall player than lampard .
No offense man, but what do you really expect a losing coach to say? "We lost today to a bunch of no hopers and crappy players"? Almost every losing coach talks up the winning team because it makes his own sound better.
Ballack continues to get little respect on the bigsoccer boards because of the obvious anti-German bias of most English soccer fans. Ballack is far better than Gerrard, and better than Lampard. Surrounded by mediocre players, and marked closely wherever he has played, he was still the main reason Leverkusen went to the Champions League final and should have won the Bundesliga in 2000, and along with Kahn he single handedly carried a mediocre German side to the finals of the 2002 World Cup. Everywhere he has gone, the team has turned into a winner, even without huge talent, definitely not the case with Gerrard, and Lampard is not the reason Chelsea is as strong as it is now. Ironically now that he's with Bayern he hasnt reached the same heights as in his Leverkusen days, mainly because not as much is asked of him, but he continues to be the best midfielder in the Bundesliga. Put him at Chelsea and it would be scary what he could achieve with the space he'd get.