strongest/best all time team

My all-time Brazil XI:

Gilmar
Djalma Santos-Carlos Alberto-Edinho-Nilton Santos
Toninho Cerezo-Falcao-Didi-Pele
Garrincha-Romario

 

both failed to defend Rossi already LOL

 

Rocheteau was a fine player but there are a dozen of strikers of forwards that I would rank ahead of him. And I agree France don't have as much depth as other nations at the GK position but still, you can't reasonably say someone like Barthez was 'average'. The guy has a close to perfect record with France and a great club carreer but unfortunately people only remember his couple of bad years with Manchester and always forget that at his best in the late 90's - early 00's he was as good as anyone. It's a bit unfair IMHO.

Darui, Bats, Martini, Lama etc. were also excellent GK, even if they don't they don't meet the 'ATG' criteria.

 

That's a nice team for sure. I would pick Bossis instead of Lizarazu probably. And between Tresor and Blanc it's a toss-up.

 

What hurts Barthez's status is that he declined quickly after 2002. But looking only at his peak years he doesn't look inferior to many names that are considered 'ATG'. He was oustanding with Monaco and he was -by a country mile- the most consistent France NT's GK ever.
The problem with Rocheteau is that had a peripheral role with France -like Lacombe and Six- because Platini did everything on the pitch so that they had to sacrifice themselves for him. And I'm fan of him too but it's hard to argue against Fontaine's and Papin's records. Piantoni and Vincent certainly should be ranked ahead of him too IMHO as well as Djorkaeff. I rank him on par with Wiltord (who always played quite well for France and was often clutch).

 

Bossis was pure-class. He had greater skills than both of them so I'll disagree a bit here, even if you can't be wrong with going with Liza or Amoros in your team.
I don't know if you can pick a better combination than Blanc and Desailly to be honest . Tresor was physically more intimidating, better in a 1 vs 1 and overall a better athlete but Blanc had a unique sense of positioning and greater skills with the ball in his feet. He was also one of the best goalscoring defender ever. It's really a matter of taste really. You can't be wrong with going with any of them.

 

Sorry but your opinion might be off ...
Amoros was better than Lizarazu
Tresor was never better than Blanc in sweeper position period - he was NOT even the best DM for France

In his best day, Blanc was labeled as a French Kaiser ( a la Beckenbauer)

 

Tresor was perhaps the best libero of his time base on pure defensive abilities. He was so good that Bayern Munich wanted to sign him in 1979 but Marseille refused to let him go. He was also quite good at going forward. Blanc was great in his own way but it's hard to argue he was better than Tresor. For me it's a tie.

 

In his best, Cruyfff did everything to court Blanc to his Barca's dream team ... and he even said Blanc reminded him of the old Beckenbauer ... (which is a great compliment for his libero and sweeper skills)

I agree Tresor might be a bit better in Centerback defensively. But here we talk of a bigger picture:
Libero/Sweeper= defensive + vision + reading games + positioning ... besides the tacklikng/stopping balls

So if a team required a pure CB, then eitehr choice Tresor or Blanc is fine. But if a team needs a good libero to command the defensive line and also participate in atatck then Blanc SHINING
==========================================
For example Tresor might be a Canavaro, a great center back and also great sweeper (if needed) but Blanc was more like a Scirea type, more thorough in vision, leading the back four and can go up attack if needed!\\

 

But I can't see how Tresor was inferior to command the defensive line though. He was not a Desailly or Cannavaro kind of player whose main job was to destroy, even if he was more than able to do that.
Also, besides his defensive skills Tresor was quite famous for his fast and powerful runs forward and he did them frequently, at least as much as Blanc. The comparison with Cannavaro is quite fallacious here. He was much closer to Scirea or Blanc in his style and position, even if he relied more on his formidable athleticism than them. Watch this for example, which is something Tresor did in every game :

http://www.ina.fr/video/I00001538

Or this :
http://www.ina.fr/video/I00001561/tir-sur-le-poteau-de-marius-tresor-video.html

The 1/2 final vs West-Germany in 1982 is another example of how Tresor was quite an offensive defender.

Naturally, Blanc was a natural goalscorer, whereas Tresor was not.

 

First Canavaro was not just the destroyer ... sorry .. he was great too in sweeping (like WC2006 in the absence of Nesta)

But anyhow, all I said was that Blanc was more of a better all rounded DF ( at least more so than Tresor).
Like Maicon or Dani Alves are both very offensive on the flank as well .. but they are no Cafu (look similar but not quite)

 

This is one example from bleacherRP
(I did not say it's correct 100%, none list are, buttoshow how people appreciate Blanc as much as Thuram Zidane)

Tres Bien: The Top 10 French Players of All Time
1- Zidane
2- Platini
3- Juste Fontaine
4- Henry
5- Kopa
6- Blanc
7- Veira
8- Deschamps
9- Tigana
10 Thuram

 

Cannavaro created 0 chance in 2006 and had a ugly 45% of passing accuracy in opposite half vs 88.5 % for Tresor in 1982 (2nd best record in that WC). Tresor was also more involved in the game (274 passes vs 211 for Cannavaro) and, of course, created more chances (and he scored a great goal vs West-Germany).
I still can't see how exactly how Blanc was a better all-rounded defender because Tresor had the whole package too. Blanc was more confortable in the opposite box to score goals, that's all.

 

The simple fact Zidane is ahead of Platini makes this list stupid .

Blanc was also voted 4th best French player of the 20th century by France football in 2000 and Tresor was 8th in the list I think.

 

Marius Tresor was also a great zouk singer :



He beats confortably any other libero in the history of the game here .
Sacré Marius !

 

amoros beats both lizerazu and bossis. lizerazu didn't have amoros skill and bossis simply lacked the engine.
blanc or tresor is a tie. tresor had the physical advantage but was sometimes caught out of position.

the bleacher report is a terrible source. i can only be jealous of those bloggers actually getting paid.

 

I would not call it stupid but rather it's too much ... media biased or popular votes ...

For me TOP20 French players all time (did I miss any?)
1- Platini
2- Zidane
3- Kopa
4- Juste Fontaine
5- Henry
6- Cantona
7- Tigana
8- Dechamps
9- Thuram
10- Giresse
11- Blanc
12- Papin
13- Vieira
14- Tresor
15- Amoros
16- Pires
17- Barthez
18- Makelele
19 - Desailly
20- Djorkaef

 

Here's a nice video which sums up well Bossis's greatness I think :



When young -before he moved to the libero position- Bossis didn't lack the engine at all and above all he had skills (ball-control, dribbling, passing, crossing) the other two didn't have.
I think Amoros was a bit better at his natural right-back position.

 

As much as I like him, I think Cantona is way too high and I think Makelele shouldn't be here at all. Roger Piantoni and Jean Vincent might be included instead.

 

amoros was 2-footed and played equally on both sides.
bossis in 82 was 26-27. at that age one should be able to push up and down the flank, if ever.
you clearly haven't watched wc 82 if you claim bossis to have a comparable engine to lizerazu and amoros.

the only things bossis had over amoros are ballcontrol, positioning and heading.

 

Bossis also played on both sides. He spent two years on the right side at Nantes with great success and he played the semi-final vs West-Germany at that position on 1982, and he was arguably the best player on the field that night.

You told me he wasn't able to push up and down the flank in 1982, seriously ? Rewatch the 1/2 final game then. He hardly lost any ball behind and pushed forward as often as he could. His performance that night as a full-back was outstanding and would have been comparable to Thuram's games vs Croatia and Brazil in 1998 had he not missed his PK. Bossis has always been considered an offensive-minded full-back in addition to being one of the most consistent and cleanest defender of his era. That implies he had an engine -perhaps not comparable to Liza's and Amoros's but that's not what I said- in addition to his other offensive skills. Speed and acceleration were not his main strenghts but he was not at all a 'slow' player if that's what you mean.

He was definitely a better dribbler than Amoros. He had the ability to beat players in short perimeters at slow pace using only his dribbling and ball-retention skills.The video I posted is a good evidence of that. Amoros relied more on his pace and athletism and he needed more space to shine. Lastly, Amoros was an excellent crosser of the ball -but so was Bossis- but I think Bossis excelled more at short passing, 1-2's etc with the midfielders.

A bit off-subject but Battiston could be a serious contender for the right-back spot, behind Thuram.

 

Here's what Bossis said about Bats, Tresor, Desailly, Amoros and Battiston when asked about the best players he played with :

- Bats : I don't want to be harsh with the French GK who played before him but he was the first great French goalkeeper at the international level. Apart from his outstanding skills on the line he was also great with his precise passes and he was not afraid of going away from his penalty box. Joël Bats would not be lost in modern football. He made clean saves and he gave us confidence. In addition, he is quite a nice guy.

- Tresor : he was my idol when I was young. At the time, he was the most impressive libero in the world. I also played a lot with him with France. Marcel Desailly and Marius Tresor were the two most physically intimidating players I played with.

- Desailly : I played one year with him in Nantes. It was the beginning of his career and the end of mine. He raised his level in big games. He had unusual physical qualities. Marcel had complete confidence in himself and his opponents were scared of him.

- Battiston : We don't see each other as much as before but we're still the best friends in the world. He's a quiet guy but he had many qualities as a footballer. He was very fast and he had a very powerful shot. Sometimes he had doubts before matches but on the field he was always up and he handled the pressure well. Patrick has changed the full-back role in France with Amoros, Ayache, Janvion or myself : he could defend but he could push forward as well.

- Amoros : Manuel was a phenomenal fullback, like Battiston. He was quick and technical. The complete player.

http://www.sofoot.com/le-onze-de-reve-de-maxime-bossis-154304.html

 

well, then i guess we are agreed.
bossis more technical and amoros more physical.
the only difference is our preference on that.
i actually prefered bossis at first until i started watching full matches. lizerazu can't match up with either player.