Francesco Totti really is an amazing player and has deserved all the credit he has recieved. I think he should recieve more credit actually.
Again you don't get my point. The fact that we don't particularly rate the English style of defending does not automatically imply that we think our defenders fit into the category of defenders we do rate. The specific football qualities the English rate are different from what the Dutch rate or indeed the Brazilians. Only the genuinely world class footballer is rated universally.
Well that comment kind of makes me laugh as it indicates to me that you're not very up to date with Holland's defensive record of the past three years. We do have defensive problems but that's because our defenders are sadly lacking in the creativity and build-up play department. Purely defensively they're doing perfectly all right but as I've tried to make clear in my previous posts, we don't think that's enough and we expect more from our defenders.
These no doubting that he has a temper but if you watch him play for Roma in the Serie A, he is world-class. He isn't that good in some big matches for Roma and for the NT, he has underachieved. The events of WC 02 and Euro 2004 don't help his image. Good post. In Rooney's case, I want to see him live up to the image that the English media has made of him. We have seen what has happened with Owen. There were high expectations of him after France 98 and look at him now. Moving to Real didn't help him. Rooney isn't a dud but I don't think he will be a superstar that he was made out to be after Euro 2004. If England qualify for the Euro and reach the quarter-finals, I want to see if he can live up to the hype or if he does an Henry or Del Piero and fails in the big matches. Ferdinand is good in going forward and I'll give him credit for that. His mental lapses though do put me off though.
He has already lived up to his billing for Man Utd and if you honestly wish to judge players based on whether they live up to the expectation of the media then the vast majority of players are underrated. Most notably would be South American's and their billing of any young player as being the next Pele/Maradona/etc.
In Spain they're already saying that Sneijder is the next Di Stefano. After two games for Real Madrid! It's ridiculous the way the media big up players these days, it creates unrealistic expectations.
Then name me a "genuinely world class" central defender of the last ten years then. Nesta aside there simply hasn't been one according to the attributes you look for.
Did you read the criteria she posted? Thinking about it, even Nesta isn't good enough on the ball to be a real attacking force.
Personally I would agree and would consider all of those to be or have been world class, but if Johan claims the Dutch wouldn't want Rio Ferdinand because of a lack of ability on the ball then only Hierro could possibly qualify.
I've seem him (Tevez) play in South America. If you read my post I said "a LITTLE bit overrated. He had one half of a season where he has really shone at the top level. I am not saying He isn't a very gifted player but he is not YET one of the best players in the world. Oh and Teso you have a typical ManU bias towards Rooney. He is not a world beater. Period. Not Yet. Supremly talented yes. The english national teams Talisman? No. Best player for England? No. Altho the Media over there seem to worship at his metatarsal and agonize that the national team will morph into a pub league side without him. I am not saying he is not a very important player in the world game. He is and will be for a long time if his feet hold up. Hopefully that makes my view on the matter clear.
Well, there are not many second strikers as good as Rooney in the game today. (of the same generation)
Certainly not, but by the nature of the complexity/nuance of the position I would think that calling any 21 year old second striker world class is a bit premature, IMO, as he's simply not able to put in the same consistency as older, more experienced SS's like Totti. Similar to CB, in that being a very good young CB, even the best in one's age group isn't necessarily an indication of being world class due to how key experience is to the position.
That's actually a very good shout, as aside from Liverpool fans he's not really mentioned much. I think it may have to do with the fact that unlike other youngsters he didn't really 'burst onto the scene' but rather just slowly replaced Hyppia in the Liverpool backline.
Rooney was overrated when United first bought him, however, I think he has lived up to many expectations. It's normally correct that a 21 yr. old is neither accomplished nor experienced enough to merit "world-class", however, considering the scarcity of top-level second strikers and considering Rooney's performances for United he does deserve honors. I would say Rooney is overrated because other SS haven't recieved the same plaudits from fans worldwide, such as Rivaldo, Del Piero and Totti, who IMO have never gotten the credit they deserve outside of Italy or Spain, whereas Rooney by age 19 finds his way into "Top 10 players in the world" lists compiled by all sorts of fans. Even at the height of Del Piero's career fans unfamiliar with the Italian game would rarely put Del Piero as one of the world's best players. I doubt Rooney will become as good as say Rivaldo or Roberto Baggio But that's due to the ignorance of game by many fans. However his performances and production over the last three years have really put him as one of the best SS in the world.
agree. he is overrated now, back in his prime he was underrated. After the injury he lost something in terms of speed and agility turning him from being a contender of the "best of the decade" title to being just a world class player. Evidence [youtube]7MT9bF1Be8A[/youtube] Look at his debut season (he was 19). p.s. Now it's time to retire, at least from the NT.
My god, watching that injury to Alex is really painful. Before he was injured he was amazing. That video compilation was nice that it showed all his greatest goals. However, what I thought was most exciting about the pre-injury Del Piero is that teams could not mark him with even two men. It was incredible how he would be able to go around players like nothing. Nonetheless, despite the massive injury, ADP has still managed to have a phenomenal career winning everything there is to win and being the symbol of one the world's greatest clubs for over a decade. He always goes down as one of the all-time greats in my book.
I agree. One of my favorite players of all time. People need to stop saying he's overrated. Yes the man is past his prime but he's not overrated. He's lost a step or 2 and i'm sure he knows he won't be the ADP of 10 years ago but he still has class and at least another 2 years left.
An old player isn't overrated, he's just past his prime. Only an ignorant fan would call a 32 year old overrated.