That second one is a Muller-esque goal. Very fine indeed but my own impression was that Zico could shoot better under pressure, tighter angles, closer towards the corners. It is impossible to sort this out but I think Zico was apart from a fine playmaker also the most striker-ish footballer of all names (except Ronaldo).
Thanks, good video. I'd seen some of the clips but not all of them. He was certainly using the outside of the boot a lot. It wasn't Tottenham I don't think, no. Against Ajax (I'm pretty sure by the kit) great vision/awareness and pass at 2:13 !
We must have seen different players! Yes, Zico was virtually a forward that could play the midfield creator position. But he was no Rivelino, who was the conductor, leader and playmaker within the selecao during the mid to late 70s -- while Zico played upfront. During the early part of the 80s, Socrates and Falcao were primarily the conductors or inganche as we call them in South America for Brazil, and Eder mostly took the corner kicks. And in contrast to a Cruyff and Maradona, Zico rarely operated on the wings, but mostly through the middle and this explained why he has a higher goal ratio than the other two. In other words, Zico was the recipient of what suppliers like Cruyff and Maradona were able to provide, and this is well evident in most of Brazil matches with Zico and Cruyff with the dutch and Diego with the Albiceleste. Zico also rarely took corner kicks, but instead waited inside the 18-yard box or right on the edge waiting to strike. Diego for example, mostly always took this responsibility. Putting Zico in the midfield took away his greatest strength: the gol! Because as you mentioned, he was one of the finest strikers of the ball. Cruyff could play in any position and was more assertive from the wings and Maradona was the Rivelino of the 80s, a conductor from midfield, a supplier of an infinite of crosses from the wings and obviously the most feared dribbler in his time. Now, my suggestions to you, if you have any doubt, would be to obtain footage of all of Brazil’s matches featuring Zico, and Cruyff and Diego with the NT’s and compare their roles and the roles of their teammates, and you will see that Zico primarily stuck to the centre of the field, where as both Cruyff and Maradona moved in every offensive position. Of course you will have to take into account many factors such as time of events, circumstances; the opponent and stage that was at stake, etc. Since for example, Zico would rarely play a deep lying midfield maestro role as long as Rivelino was in force, or Diego was used in Spain ’82 as a forward because Menotti preferred to give the role of creator to Kempes (a bad move). Only when Kempes would be substituted is when Diego dropped deep to assert more influence, but by then it was too late. Something similar occurred with Brazil in the 1970 WC with Rivelino, he was used as a winger but only because Zagalo wanted to fit in all these guys in one team. So the conductor role was handed to Gerson, but after this, Rivelino went back to his normal natural position. In any case, Zico always gave me the impression that he was naturally a forward. People obsess over who was the best free-kick taker, but some of you youngsters that are just hooked on political choices will dismiss and forget about guys like Dirceu, Ruben Paz or Bengoechea. Dirceu not only could bend the ball, but he would smack it with tremendous power with the outside of his foot that caused a swerve that left goalkeepers helpless. When he was at Serie A, he could score 5 or 6 free-kicks in one season, higher than any other player. Ruben Paz would go celebrating to the stands right when he released the shot because he knew it was going in. And Bengoechea could dip and curl the ball as well as anyone. Recent generation players remain embedded in our minds fresher than previous generation of players. So this gives them the edge, and it’s understandable. Besides, footage of the past is lacking in comparison with recent times, and how many people do you think on this forum are over the age of 35 ?
2- Relalistic list out there (by many): Exactly, many list put Ronaldo above Zico just becuase he performed and won 2WC's (in title), 1 WC final, 2copa, 1 confedcup - more so than Zico had done with Brazil. Plus, Ronaldo was the ONLY player who was in action for 4 most rivals and famous clubs (Real-Barca, and then Milan-Inter) whilst Zico spent most his life inside Brazil league! However in "pure ball skills" I rated Zico slightly better than Cruiff and Ronaldo. next ... explanation .. 1- Ball skills: (not "skillful" literally) Let me repeat, in this category "ball skills" = feet, body, & mind + the ball" ! Maradona was the BEST EVER - Having said that, (read well the term as condition) alone, Zico edged Crujiff in some areas of maneouver of the ball: Freekicks, PK, shooting precision, corner kick, and short passing. Long passing they were equally good. Now in dribble, Cruiff edged out Zico just for his acceleration and speed (same with Ronaldo) but in tight pace and close control, Zico was at least on part with Cruijfff. So in this category, Zico >= Cruijff (slightly) However overall (as all categories combined for a player in ranling) of course Cruijff was (always) above Zico (and Ronaldo) - What made Cruijff so "SPECIAL" among the TOP10 all time was his "ability of reading games as a strategic, or 2nd coach on pitch. For this alone, no Pele, Maradona got that as a "gifted" or don ... This don is NOT a "ball skills" perse ... understood?
Revlino retired in 1978. Zico debuted in 1976. They played only one big tournament together and that was 1978. In that tournament Zico wasn't even a starting player in some matches. Socrates and Falcao were of course more of a midfielder type of player, although Socrates stood almost on the same height on the pitch as Zico. I think Zico was in that tournament a playmaker too, he wasn't certainly the most advanced player in the field (that was Serginho). This is a good point and correct indeed. But I didn't say Zico could operate on the wings. I said he could operate as a 'inside-winger' and that is what he did in some of the matches in 1982 (against Argentina for example). Maradona was the only one of all names isn't it? Indeed but he was also a fine passer of the ball. I agree though that putting him in central midfield wasn't a smart idea. His best position varies between a attacking midfielder (playmaker, to distribute the ball towards the other fowards and then to join the attack afterwards), second striker or a striker. Don't you think Rivelino was a better midfielder? Maradona was primarily a second striker, in almost every game. The young Maradona provided indeed numerous crosses but the older Maradona did that less and less. Zico wasn't a crosser, I agree. But what he could do is standing on the outer skirts of the penalty box and give an incisive pass. If I'm right Gerson was more of a central midfielder with passing duties. Italians call that a regista, in the Netherlands we don't have a specific word for it but Cruyff once called it the 'Jan Wouters-role'. But Maradona, Cruyff and Pelé were it too! Don't you think Zico was naturally the most gifted playmaker of them all? Of course, Cruyff sometimes dropped deep to distribute the ball but his starting position was always as a forward (with dropping deep he hoped to shrug of his marker or to make space for other attackers, or to make sure the opponent has 3 vs 3 at the back; sometimes he drifted to the left wing with similar ideas in mind although such a move was meant to provide a extra man in midfield with Cruyff creating a hole in the middle which was left open to exploit). Maradona did that sometimes too for Napoli but I had the impression that this move negated his main strengths somehow (his explosiveness and ability to control the ball in tight spaces). Maradona was still a fine passer of the ball but I think it suited the opponent well if you kept him far away from your goal. I didn't know the reputation of Ruben Paz honestly. These kinds of players are not well known in Europe. Personally I did know the reputation of Dirceu and Bengoechea is even a bit famous for his free kick in the Copa America final.
Looked this up in the books. At white hart lane Cruyff insisted that he was the marker of Glenn Hoddle. A disastrous move because Tottenham scored four goals before this was changed. After the tactical change Feyenoord scored two goals in the match of which this one was the finest: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=SSoaKXbiHvM#t=141s
That was a pretty good goal for a 36 year old - maybe he should've tried to outplay Hoddle throughout rather than marking him at the start. This Pele video has quite a few different goals, maybe some of which are a bit rare: [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8QEmnP48PEc"]Best of Pele - YouTube[/ame]
I’m aware of that. But did you see those matches ? I watched them live in Buenos Aires. Rivelino also missed several games, since he did more talking than playing on the pitch. Apart from that cup, they still did get to play in a good amount of games together in friendlies. From the list of names that the thread was opened with, the only other guy would be Cruyff. Otherwise, I would add Rivelino to that list. I don’t know, since I saw Rivelino in the twilight of his career, but he did have Maradona traits. Wow! You must have seen every game that he played in. Please provide the specifics. Diego was utilized sparingly at AJ and Barcelona as a second striker, but at Boca, Napoli, Sevilla and his brief stint at Newell's, he was primarily a midfielder. It depends what you mean by the older Maradona, since the Diego of 87/88 to 92/93 grasped most of his assists with crosses, and it was far more than in previous seasons. Of course having Careca, Zola and then Suker as the beneficiary to his crosses helped to establish this routine. Yeah, he sure did like to fire those 40-yard passes from deep! I don’t think so, but that’s a very personal point of view. Perhaps there are several ways to determine this: 1. Count the number of assists. 2. Count the number of second hand assists. 3. Count the number of chances created. 4. Assess the quality of opponent and stage that led to the chance created. 5. Examine the difficulty of the creation of the play. 6. Assess if the player can be proficient in creating chances in any offensive area on the field that can result in an ideal scoring opportunity. Now, with the exception of choice number 1, the rest is difficult to determine, but I have gathered some information from my archives and came to the conclusion that Zico had roughly 2-4 assists in Serie A with Udinese, and with the NT he amassed around 13 direct assists in official matches for Brazil but around 20 assists including unofficial games. I can send you a detailed list if you are interested. I have no way to know about his information with Flamengo, since the list is too extensive. Cruyff could do it all. These types of players were a danger even from far away from goal.
True, at first glance around 20 official matches, perhaps 30 if you add the controversial ones (against club sides for example). Yes, I did see some of those matches of 1978. Brazil of before 1990 is always a good watch (since 1990 they often disappoint in terms of play; notable exceptions are the late 90s Copa Americas though). As far as I know Cruyff wasn't the primary free kick and corner kick taker either. Example: the 1972 European Cup final. In Italy teams often play with two strikers or, even more traditional, a tridente (three attackers). One of those three is a second-striker (or trequartista), the other two are both centre-forwards. I'm really curious why you're saying that he was a midfielder at Napoli. Do you have numbers? I'm indeed interested how you find those number and the numbers itself. Well not everything but yeah, people call him sometimes 'the European Pelé' but he is perhaps the 'European Di Stefano'. While Maradona's passing was certainly top notch and for example better than Messi's abilities, I think you do you a good job as defenders if you can force Maradona in the libero role and keep hem away from the goal.
First, I don;t quite get your claim that Zico was a "virtual forward" ? - Of course he was a great forward (like Pele, Cruijff , Puskas ... all were) - However (if to imply he was more of a forward than a AM/playmaker is not true! Zico was a "playmaker" (operating from midfield) most of his life in Brazil league. ONLY 2 occasions he was playing as a "forward" was with Brazil NT (since Rivelino and Socrates were a major force in midfield) and ONE season with Unidese (he palyed like Totti, Baggio - just behind the striker. I would say both Pele and Cruijff were more (playing) of a "forward" than a playmaker/attacking midfielder than Zico. ================================================= About Rivelino, I totally agree with you that Rivelino was close to a "Maradona" while Zico was closer to a "Pele" type/style. In other words, - Maradona, and Rivelino were at best found in middle field to provide rythm, attacking scheme, visionary passes and score goals when needed. - Zico, Cruijff, and Pele were more enjoyable to be closer to goals (even they did play deep) lastly, agree that Pele/Maradona/Cruijff/Zico/Garrincha / Rivelino/ Platini ... were all DANGEROUS even at anywhere from midfield - as they could make deadly long pass/cross (Platini, Maradona, Garrincha) or surging up field to score (Maradona/Pele/Zico/Cruijff) or by long shot (Rivelino, Pele, Maradona...) In this pool of names: Cruijff was the weakest link in term of set pieces and PK (he some how never did) ================================================= Overall, in term of a "pure play maker" operating from midfield: Maradona was the best ever seen. while I agree with your list of criteria (for playmaking evaluation) I am afraid we con;t have enough games info to analyse and justify properly.
I don't see why you categorise Maradona as a midfielder. I checked some youtube compilations (to see if I was wrong) but almost every time when he received the ball, not necessarily when he sent the ball, he stood in front of his own midfielders. For sure.
Interestingly though that all great names seem not to fall in within the category of either a playmaker (in the Hoddle mould) or pure striker. The greatest pure, though versatile, strikers of all time like Müller, Van Basten, Puskas and Eusebio aren't put in the same league, in most lists at least. However, it should be noted that ideal-type playmakers in the 'railway turntable' mould have always been a rarity, certainly at the European top level.
His biography mentions that he did not like taking a PK. But during his career he still took 24 penalties and only missed once. Not bad. Furthermore, he wasn't a great direct free kick taker. He was able though to swerve the ball into the penalty-box but he and his coach Michels thought that his response was a too valuable asset to waste.
First, you have to establish a clear definition of the term "play maker"! Maradona from Barca, to Napoli and Argentina shirt was everything a "true playmaker" could have done - This is a notion of "modern football" mindset. In the older days 60s or before, the term play maker was not as popular (or ever existed?) Most often, the "best players" of the team would be placed and played in a forward position (remember 2 3 5 and then 4 2 4?) as attacking was emphasized to the max! At times, football was so simple with 3 layers DF, MF and FW - now aday, football was playing with minimum 4 layers (4 2 3 1, 3 4 1 2 or 4 2 2 2 , or 5 in some cases (a 4 3 3 is more likely 4 2 1 2 1) Didi, Pele (at Santos 66-72) , Rivelino were among the very first "play maker" in today's formation. Meazza, Rivera and even Di stefano were more of a "complete forward or great attacking midfielder" rather than "pure playmaker" ! It's rather ODD that you categorized "Glenn Hoddle" as a pure playmaker. Well, he could have been one, or was one! But in reality, English football had RARELY employed a "play making" system to control the rythm, distribution of balls, and visionary passes (again back to the definition) as their style do not rate "possession in midfield" that high - at least not up to early 90's) As talented as Cruijff was, of course he could do very very well in PK and freekicks, but hsurely he was NOT among the TOP RATED in such category, or if against those names! Well, I did not mean Cruijff had "never take PK" literally - He did in his early years, and later years in MLS, but NOT in his best years at Ajax and Holland. I remembered during an interview, a commentator asked about how come as the "best attacker" of the squad and also a "soul" of the team, like he was, he "never" take a pk? Cruijff answered: "why me? It's so easy, no?" .. LOL what a character ... Among the ALL TIMES GREATS, Cruijff was the most self-center type (much more than Romario, Pele, Maradona ...) and in contrast either Zico, Zidane or Rivelino was the most "humble" character!
The first time I saw Cruyff was when he was in the NASL and for those clubs I remember him taking corner kicks, but it could be that my memory has failed me, since it was a very long time ago. Perhaps because I saw him play there. In any event, Maradona was given the liberty to express his talents on any part of the field while at Naples. He was never restricted to just one role. This is why you should not rely just on Youtube compilations, since you cannot see the entire movements of the player throughout a match. It’s like denying Platini was a midfielder, just because when you see his goals, you’ll notice that he more often than not obtained them inside the 18-yard box. Yes, I do. 87/88 10 assists Napoli 2-1 Ascoli 1 assist Napoli 1-1 Roma 1 assist Napoli 1-4 AC Milan 1 assist Napoli 4-0 Fiorentina 2 assists Napoli 2-0 Cesena 1 assist Napoli 2-1 Pisa 1 assist Napoli 1-2 Roma 1 assist Napoli 3-0 Como 1 assist Napoli 1-3 Juventus 1 assist 88/89 13 assists Napoli 1-0 Atalanta 1 assist Napoli 8-2 Pescara 3 assists Napoli 1-0 Cesena 1 assist Napoli 5-3 Juventus 1 assist Napoli 4-1 AC Milan 1 assist Napoli 4-0 Lecce 3 assists Napoli 1-0 Cesena 1 assist Napoli 1-1 Roma 1 assist Napoli 4-1 Torino 1 assist 89/90 16 assists Napoli 3-2 Fiorentina 1 assist Napoli 3-0 AC Milan 2 assists Napoli 3-2 Lecce 3 assists Napoli 1-1 Bari 1 assist Napoli 2-0 Bologna 2 assists Napoli 1-0 Ascoli 1 assist Napoli 1-0 Cesena 1 assist Napoli 2-0 Verona 1 assist Napoli 3-1 Juventus 1 assist Napoli 3-0 Bari 1 assist Napoli 4-2 Bologna 1 assist Napoli 1-0 Lazio 1 assist 90/91 2 assists Napoli 2-1 Pisa 1 assist Napoli 1-0 Bari 1 assist 91/92 Banned from football 92/93 11 assists Sevilla 1-1 Oviedo 1 assist Sevilla 3-2 Rayo Vallecano 1 assist Sevilla 2-1 Celta 1 assist Sevilla 2-0 Burgos 2 assists Sevilla 2-1 Albacete1 assist Sevilla 2-2 Valencia 2 assists Sevilla 3-1 Athletic de Bilbao 1 assist Sevilla 1-1 Espanol 1 assist Sevilla 3-1 Real Sociedad 1 assist Those stats cover the league matches, not international competitions or domestic cups. His assists in the previous seasons at Napoli were lower, due primarily because there was no Careca. I found these numbers because they are in my video archive of historical footage. In Zico's case I have gathered the following: Zico played a total of 88 matches for the Brazilian NT (including unofficial matches) The following matches included his assists: 28/05/76 Seattle USA League XI 2-0 (unofficial) in this match he was fouled in the box. You can count it as an assist if you like since it resulted in a gol from the spot kick. 28/ 4/76 Rio de Janeiro Uruguay 2-1 1 assist 03/03/77 Rio de Janeiro Vasco-Botafogo Merged Team 6-1 (unofficial) 2 assists 9/3/77 Rio de Janeiro Colombia 6-0 World Cup Qualifier 1 assist 14/ 7/77 Cali Bolivia 8-0 World Cup Qualifier 2 assists 2/8/79 Rio de Janeiro Argentina 2-1 Copa America 1 assist 02/04/80 Rio de Janeiro Brazilian Youth Team 7-1 (unofficial) 3 assists 14/ 2/81 Quito Ecuador 6-0 1 assist 15/ 5/81 Paris France 3-1 1 assist 28/10/81 Porto Alegre Bulgaria 3-0 1 assist 23/ 6/82 Sevilla New Zealand 4-0 World Cup 2 assists 2/ 7/82 Barcelona Argentina 3-1 World Cup 1 assist 5/ 7/82 Barcelona Italy 2-3 World Cup 1 assist 12/ 6/86 Guadalajara N. Ireland 3-0 World Cup 1 assist 16/ 6/86 Guadalajara Poland 4-0 World Cup (in this match he was fouled in the box. You can count it as an assist if you like since it resulted in a gol from the spot kick). I think the total reaches 20. Now, I’m missing some information on some matches, particularly the unofficial games, but overall, I’ve covered most of his matches and came to that conclusion. If someone has further information, I’ll gladly appreciate it. Zico’s first season at Udinese was excellent. He scored 19 goals (6 from free-kicks, around 5 from the PK and the rest in open play) and dished out 1 assist. Udinese had some very good players in Virdis, Edinho and Causio. They were in a good position to fight for a UEFA Cup birth, but Zico started to miss some key games towards the end of the season. In any event, Zico is still remembered as a grand jugador in Calcio football, and an idol for the Udine fans. The lonely assist in the 83/84 season came in the match that Udinese beat Napoli 4-1; Miani was the recipient. In his second season he was plagued by injuries, but I have been able to confirm at least 2 assists in the following matches: Udinese 2-2 AC Milan and Udinese 2-2 Napoli. I am missing information on a few Udinese games of 84/85 so I don’t know for sure how those gols were converted. Nevertheless, I counted 3 total assists in two seasons. I’m not denying his ability to perform as an AM, but don’t you think when a player scores the amount of goals that Zico did, it’s not too hard to understand that he was playing mostly upfront in his career. If he stayed in a deep lying inganche role he would never have scored as many goals. And since he was used mostly as a forward at Udinese and the NT this indicates to me that he was used to this role at Flamengo as well. Remember, falling back to shrug off defenders and build up plays from deep does not mean that he was primarily an AM playmaker. In any event, visual information on Zico at Flamengo is lacking in my archives (he played so many games there and I did not have access to the Brazilian league when I was younger), so there’s really no way that I can assess his entire career in Brazil. But his gol ratio in Brazil is very high (similar to his first season in Italy where he was a forward) for an AM, which tells me that he was mostly operating upfront throughout most of his career.
Information that I have regarding Cruyff in official, by the FIFA recognised, matches. He took 14 penalties and missed 2. Took this from a book, including remarks of the author (in italics my own remark to clarify). Source: a book called 'Cruijff from A to Z' (150 pages with info, statistics and his own opinion on a various things).
number of missed assists that scorers shoul've scored should be split from 3. For example, Maradona assist to Valdano vs Belgium in 1986
Also interesting for this subject: His remarks about other greats: Pele: Cruyff could enjoy his superb technique but he was defensively vulnerable and wasn't involved in the game of the whole team. His youth idol: Faas Wilkes. In may 1968: On Di Stefano: Cruyff was a ball boy in the European Cup final of 1962. He saw Di Stefano and began to admire his vision, covering of the field, helping his defence, setting up attacks and even being a goal-threat. It inspires Cruyff in what he wants to accomplish. In 1977 in a match against the English national team, he began to play as a right-back. Cruyff enjoyed the confusion at the opponent, which he had learned from Di Stefano. Interviewer: "who was better than Cruyff?" Cruyff: "It is not a matter of being better or worse. You had better defenders than I was and better right-wingers than me. Football consists of multiple qualities. You can say though that I could do many different things. I could pass, make a goal, being responsible for the organisation on the pitch and watching and steering everyone's movement ['position-game' if you translate it literally]. A few can unite those qualities. Besides, I could do something what most cannot: total focus/concentration. On every second I was involved. It is not necessary to have the ball. Actually, the ball is only a small part of the total. When you estimate it in time, you have the ball for just 5 minutes. The other 85 minutes make the difference, and then it is about total focus in a match." Interviewer: "were you the most complete footballer in the world?" Cruyff: "Could be. Henk Groot was a better header and Piet Kiezer could curve the ball better. But they had deficiencies elsewhere. There is one part where I was probably indeed the best of them all and that was awareness, vision. That also means leading the team as well. Vision is also that you optimise the qualities of your team-mates. Only then a team comes to a certain efficiency/return/yield [again, the Dutch word, 'rendement', has multiple meanings in this context]." Source: "Cruijff from A to Z"
Not really, he was a pundit for Dutch public television at the 1986 World Cup. He confirmed that Maradona's performance on the biggest stage was the most paramount since the introduction of colour broadcasts (i.e. the late 60s). He also said that Maradona did a very good job in converting efficiently his superior one-on-one skills, which was according to Cruyff often a problem with good one-on-one 'street-footballer' types.
Perhaps not jealous but just flatout wrong in his statements. One-dimensional players don’t lead leagues in goals and assists.
As[FONT="]JamesBH11 pointed out elsewhere: a player like Zidane didn't get many assists but many pre-assists. I you play a little bit farther away from goal, then that is reasonable to expect. In fact, especially the aggressive one-dimenional players are expected to dominate these rankings (by the way: I don't think Maradona fits in this ideal type, due to the nature of the Italian game he was often forced to play relatively far away from the opponent penalty box; when on the counter-attack for example; Napoli was no Barcelona). [/FONT][FONT="]By the way: did Maradona indeed lead the assist ladders? Can you somewhere find these stats? You had some number about his assists? [/FONT][FONT="]Where are these published?[/FONT]
Maradona was not just a one-on-one street type, his football encompassed all the characteristics of the previous Argentine greats: Moreno, DiStefano, Sivori.
Again, just compare the relative (relative to his team-mates, that is) position of them when receiving the ball and/or making the move towards the ball. Also look at the nature of the game; what is their natural instinct to do with the ball when they receive it? Is their instinct to look for a pass or look for the dribble (during the turn, with your face towards the goal)? Here Di Stefano, covers the whole length of the pitch and is relative to his team-mates everywhere. On top of that, he is almost involved with every part of the game. [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1bDKTahWvRY"]Di Stefano vs Benfica By Zouzinho - YouTube[/ame] Here Maradona: [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dIKlFGMrglc"]89/90 Home Maradona vs Juventus - YouTube[/ame] Relative to his team-mates, he is often on the front. Also, he is less involved with the rhythm of the game and tends to be positioned in the centre of the pitch, with occasional drifts to the outside. Cruyff: [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DpmwhF0syu4"]Cruijff vs Panathinaikos By Zouzinho - YouTube[/ame] Is a bit a mixture between the aforementioned two (on the other hand, position-wise Maradona is the mixture between Cruyff and Di Stefano!). Although it has to be stressed that Cruyff is still not a playmaker/midfielder. What you can see though, is his continuous pointing and directing of the play with his gestures and talking (but again, that does not make him a playmaker, he was a leader).
[FONT="]So did Platini and Maradona. [/FONT] Assists were never documented and published in the 80s and 90s like in the current game. The only way to know was to watch the matches or highlights of the weekend giornata and take note. This is what I used to do when the program called 90 minuto was aired in NY on the Italian network of RAI. And yes, Maradona led the Italian league in assists in at least 3 seasons (88, 89, 90) and Platini in at least two (84 and 87). What I can do, if you are interested is upload the video of assists on some file like megaupload and you can see for yourself. It will take me a little time to do it though since I have to organize everything.