2000 - 2009,IMO Totti is the player of the decade Totti won in this decade: - Serie A Italian player of the year 5 times - Serie A Overall player of the year twice - Top 10 scorer in history of serie a - Best goal for season 04 - 05 and 05 - 06 ( lob vs inter, volley vs doria) - top scorer once - european golden boot - Guerin d'Oro once You check this achievements coupled with the fact his team finished 6 times second, plus won the scudetto once. IMO he is by far serie a player of the decade. Who would you choose?
I can name every good player, and the poll will be very big.( Nesta, Maldini ...) I made the list, based on oscal del calcio.Buffon never won Serie A Italian player of the year let alone Overall player of the year. Everyone else in the list, Managed to get those individual prizes. Totti(2000,2003) overall player of the year. Plus 5 times Serie A Italian player of the year. Zlatan (2008,2009) overall player of the year Kaka (2007,2004) overall player of the year Nedved(2003) overall player of the year Also kaka, nedved, zlatan, shevachenko all won Serie A foreign player of the year. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Italian_Footballer_of_the_Year http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serie_A_Footballer_of_the_Year http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serie_A_Foreign_Footballer_of_the_Year
We have to let our biases aside. Obviously, you cant pick a player of the decade if he hasnt won golden ball. Same here in serie a. You cant pick a player of the decade, when del piero never won serie a overall player of the year award.And only has one serie a italian player of the year award.
I think some of us think these "awards" are mostly BS. Hard to argue that guys like ADP and Buffon are not 2 of the best 5 in the entire decade.
Its usually difficult for defenders and GK's to be judged especially during their careers. Also, offensive players get more recognition. Dino Zoff never really won anything individually although his teams did. Paolo Maldini in 22 years of greatness only won Serie A Defender of the Year once in 2004 at the age of 34 and 2 years after his blunder against Ahn in WC 2002. Franco Baresi won many trophies too but never won anything individually other than maybe silver trophies for being 2nd best.
Buffon, by a huge margin. UEFA Champions League Most Valuable Player: 2003 UEFA Club Football Awards Best Goalkeeper: 2003 FIFA 100 Yashin Award: 2006 2006 FIFA World Cup All-Star Team European Footballer of the Year (Silver Ball): 2006 Serie A Goalkeeper of the Year: 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2008 Onze d'Or (Best Goalkeeper): 2003, 2006 UEFA Team of the Year: 2003, 2004, 2006 FIFPro World XI: 2006, 2007 IFFHS Best Goalkeeper: 2003, 2004, 2006, 2007 UEFA Euro 2008 Team of the Tournament
Francesco Totti may well be the best on the list but its criminal to not have Buffon, Maldini, Pirlo, Del Piero and have Shevchenko and Ibrahimovic there. Shevchenko has not been relevant in Serie A for the last 4 seasons plus 1 season injured. Zlatan Ibrahimovic did not even play in Serie A for 5 seasons (2000-2004 & 2009-2010). The best player over a decade need not have ever won Serie A player of the year, consistency over a decade could mean being the 2nd best for all 10! That said Totti or Buffon would be the top choices!
Paolo Maldini. I don't think I really need to expand on that one much. Too often attacking players are given way too much credit, and those who do most of the dirty work aren't. Maldini exemplifies club loyalty, integrity and leadership... as well as being one of the best left/center backs of his time. He played over 900 matches with Milan, and a man who has honors and trophies spanning over two decades. People talk about laurels and such, but I think this man's laurels speak for themselves. 7 Serie A titles, 1 Coppa Italia, 5 Supercoppas, 5 EC/CL Titles, 2 Inter Continental Cups and 1 Club World Cup. Lets face it, attacking players mostly win individual honors like Balon D'Or.. but players like this one aren't recognized enough. Then I'll realize... Serie A player of the decade... well he certainly played most of the last decade until 2009... and then some.
I loved Maldini and he was voted the best defender of the year in 2004 but as a rule this decade, I'm not so sure. I think his blunder in the 2002 WC against Korea when Ahn outjumped him and scored didn't help either. Also, defenders aren't really judged as being great. I mean he was a great one and next to Baresi probably the best ever, but the best player awards usually go to offensive players. Like it or not, the whole world over, attacking players like Inzaghi, Vieri, Del Piero, Baggio and Totti are the guys who score goals and help you win games and they should get the accolades.
Who was? Nesta I think was close... but certainly not Kaladze... I think you're out of line. Maldini was the best defender of Milan, beyond Nesta and even Baresi... How is it stupid? I actually watch Milan by the way throughout all the years. Just because someone has a different opinion then you, doesn't mean you can go around calling their opinion stupid. And some will talk about that mistake in 2002... but lets not forget all the good he has done for Milan throughout the years. It would be wrong of me not to name him. Yes, I said that best ever awards do go to attacking players, but I think more attention should be paid to defenders. And seriously, how as Vieri in that 2002 match? Lets not even go there. I'm sure the attacking players in this very poll made mistakes before that seriously cost their teams. However, Maldini has done way more great things then mistakes for Milan... and his record speaks for itself. So no sir, that statement is stupid.
But attacking players are always measured by how many goals they score and plays they make while defenders are not. Oherwise, Gentile, Collovati, Vierchowod ,Baresi , Scirea not to mention Bergomi would have also have won such an award but they never did. Also, preventing forwards from scoring for defenders, is a lot easier than forwards scoring a goal because more ofthen than not, a forward will miss his chance and will make the defender look much better than he really is or was...no one really cares about defenders during a match until he makes a blunder....its always been and will always be like that....
I don't agree. I think defenders have the tougher job, especially when put against tough opposition. I remember some notable attacking players missing glorious chances (Vieri in particular in 2002) and being scrutinized for it. And plenty of people care about defenders. I think defensive players deserve more credit. I'm not saying who gets the award or not, I'm simply voicing my opinion. There were other reasons I named Maldini... it just wasn't about his defensive work... but rather his leadership ability.
Defenders were/are the core of the Serie A historically. Its just that defenders aren't judged in the same way as forwards are. I loved Maldini and I think he should have gotten more awards but what about Ferrara, Panucci, Cannavaro or whomever? I mean if Maldini deserves such an award, then so do they becase they were just as important. Still with all the tough defensive play in the years of the catenaccio and all the defenders who have played the game, none of them were ever named player of the decade and the same goes to Maldini.
Well I'm pretty sure this thread was asking people who they think the Serie A player of the decade is. Not anything official. It's what I think. I'm not talking about who or who wasn't given an award. I think you don't seem to accept that part of my argument. I'm simply talking about my opinion.
Interestingly, here is Serie A's best player list voted by the Guerin Sportivo magazine. The last defender chosen for Serie A's best player of the year was Lilian Thuram back in 1996-1997......below are all the lists of different categories I found online.... Albo d'oro Guerin d'Oro 1975-1976 Claudio Sala Torino 1976-1977 Claudio Sala Torino 1977-1978 Roberto Filippi L.R. Vicenza 1978-1979 Roberto Filippi Napoli 1979-1980 Luciano Castellini Napoli 1980-1981 Ruud Krol Napoli 1981-1982 Franco Causio Juventus 1982-1983 Pietro Vierchowod Roma 1983-1984 Michel Platini Juventus 1984-1985 Diego Armando Maradona Napoli 1985-1986 Renato Zaccarelli Torino 1986-1987 Walter Zenga Inter 1987-1988 Roberto Mancini Sampdoria 1988-1989 Andreas Brehme Inter 1989-1990 Franco Baresi Milan 1990-1991 Roberto Mancini Sampdoria 1991-1992 Frank Rijkaard Milan 1992-1993 Giuseppe Signori Lazio 1993-1994 Daniele Massaro Milan 1994-1995 Paulo Sousa Juventus 1995-1996 Enrico Chiesa Sampdoria 1996-1997 Gianluca Pagliuca Inter Angelo Peruzzi Juventus Lilian Thuram Parma 1997-1998 Francesco Totti Roma 1998-1999 Matías Almeyda Lazio 1999-2000 Sébastien Frey Verona 2000-2001 Roberto Baggio Brescia 2001-2002 Christian Vieri Inter 2002-2003 Pavel Nedvěd Juventus 2003-2004 Francesco Totti Roma 2004-2005 Gianluca Pagliuca Bologna 2005-2006 Luca Toni Fiorentina 2006-2007 Adrian Mutu Fiorentina 2007-2008 Mauro Germán Camoranesi Juventus 2008-2009 Diego Milito Genoa Here is the list of the Serie A Defender of the Year 2000 Alessandro Nesta Lazio 2001 Alessandro Nesta Lazio 2002 Alessandro Nesta Lazio 2003 Alessandro Nesta Milan 2004 Paolo Maldini Milan 2005 Fabio Cannavaro Juventus 2006 Fabio Cannavaro Juventus 2007 Marco Materazzi Internazionale 2008 Giorgio Chiellini Juventus 2009 Giorgio Chiellini Juventus Serie A Footballer of the Year Year Player Club 1997 Roberto Mancini Sampdoria 1998 Ronaldo Internazionale 1999 Christian Vieri Lazio 2000 Francesco Totti Roma 2001 Zinedine Zidane Juventus 2002 David Trezeguet Juventus 2003 Pavel Nedvěd Francesco Totti Juventus Roma 2004 Kaká Milan 2005 Alberto Gilardino Parma 2006 Fabio Cannavaro Juventus 2007 Kaká Milan 2008 Zlatan Ibrahimović Internazionale 2009 Zlatan Ibrahimović Internazionale Italian Footballer of the Year 1997 Roberto Mancini Sampdoria 1998 Alessandro Del Piero Juventus 1999 Christian Vieri Lazio 2000 Francesco Totti Roma 2001 Francesco Totti Roma 2002 Christian Vieri Internazionale 2003 Francesco Totti Roma 2004 Francesco Totti Roma 2005 Alberto Gilardino Parma 2006 Fabio Cannavaro Juventus 2007 Francesco Totti Roma 2008 Alessandro Del Piero Juventus 2009 Daniele De Rossi Roma
Nesta was. By quite some margin. Maldini was just a good player the last five years of his career. Nothing more.
Well well.... Being a newbie to the sport I guess we are to expect some dumb shit from you. Just don't make it a habit mmkay. Move along.
I'm a newbie to the sport? I've been posting on football forums for quite a long time (I didn't think that qualifies one as a newbie or not, because many people who love the game don't post on forums). Just because I'm new to the forum, doesn't make me a dumb shit. I'm certainly not new to this sport at all. I've been following Milan my entire life. Don't question my integrity. I also play it unlike many so called fans (glaring at you!).