The last two days, I thought about coming up with a "Best of" Selection of the best players for several World Cups. I think it could be interesting to see what teams the members of these forums would select from different World Cups to represent the best possible team. I`ll start with the 1974 World Cup. And because there were so many fine players, I had to put together not 1, not 2, but 3 teams! Check it out: 1974 A-Team --------------Lato----------------Cruijff----------------Gadocha ------------Bonhof---------------Deyna---------------Neeskens ------Breitner-------M.Marinho------------Beckenbauer--------Vogts ------------------------------Tomaszevski 1974 B-Team ----------Rep---------------G.Müller-----------Edström --------van Hanegem-------Overath------------Oblak -------Krol-----------Gorgon------------Katalinski--------Suurbier ---------------------------------Maier 1974 C-Team ---------Sandberg--------------Szarmach---------Grabowski ----------Kasperczak----------Bremner-----------Acimovic -----F.Marinho-------Rijsbergen---------Haan---------Szymanovski -------------------------------Hellström
I will have Gerd Müller in the A-team for 1970, when he truly deserved it, in '74, you gotta hand the central forward to Cruijff, there`s no way 'round that. Sepp Maier could of course also have been the no. 1 keeper, there were several great goalies in '74, also think of Enver Maric, who played exceptionally in this tournament, but still didn`t make it to the first three teams. In the case of Sepp Maier, I will make him my no. 1 goalie for the 1978 selection.
Muller scored 4 goals and was at the height of his powers. I'd want him in the middle, with Cruyff playing along side him. Sorry, but I'd drop Gadocha from your list. I know he was good, but him or Der Bomber? Easy Choice in my mind. Plus, Cruyff has the talent to play anywhere. Thinking back it was a very good Polish team that year.
It`s of course debatable to have someone like Gerd Müller only in the second team, and I personally am a great fan of him, and not that much of a Cruijff fan to be honest, thus this decision was kinda hard for me, but despite scoring 3 crucial goals, Müller was far from his best form (1971-73), he hadn`t scored too many goals in 1974 in the Bundesliga and was generally not in form like he used to be in previous years. Certainly a player like Cruijff can play at any position, but his official one was centre forward, and I just can`t field him as a left or right wing, or somewhere in the midfield, when that wasn`t his official position. Robert Gadocha played an exceptional tournament in 1974, there is no way I could leave him out of the first team, I have to give credit where credit is due, and Gadocha is one of the most overlooked players of the 1970s, so I at least wanted to make sure he`s in my first team. And needless to say, Grzegorz Lato is a first team choice as left wing in the tournament he scored some 7 goals in. And of course, I encourage everyone to come up with their own "best of 1974" selection, I am very interested in seeing what teams other posters would come up with!
1974 was a long time ago for me and I am a bit hazy on detail. I don't remember Gadocha that well, but I will bow to your greater knowledge of Polish Footie. My 1974 Dream Team: Maier Vogts Beckenbauer Haan Marinho Rivelino Neeskens Deyna Lato Muller Cruyff Definately one to argue
Problem with these line-ups, obviously from someone who didn't watch every game of the 74 tournament, which I did. The best center-back of the tournament, let alone Brazil, was Luis Perreira, yet you named his side-kick Mario Marinho to the team. Perreira didn't even make the 3rd team? At that time, Brazil had their #2 goalie of all-time, Emerson Leao, at the helm. He was every bit as good as any one of the goalie you named, including Tomazewski. As a matter of fact, Leao and Perreira were as instrumental to get Brazil to the final 4 as Rivellino and Jairzinho... And Cruijff at center forward? gimme a break. Cruijff is a #10 type in Brazil, not a center forward. In the old 2-3-5, Cruijff is the Pele-Schiaffino-Suarez type, not the Vava-DiStefano-Eusebio type. In fact, Cruijff and Denya overlapped in roles. The best center forwards of the tournament would be Mueller, Szarmach and Ralf Edstroem... My dream team of 1974, the first tournament that I saw every game: ----------------Leao Suurbier Beckenhauer Luis Perreira Breitner Neeskens Cruijff van Hanegem Gadocha G. Mueller Lato
You are absolutely right! Complete Brain-fart on my part! I meant Pereira of course, I always mix these two, I don`t know why. Thanks for pointing out this major mistake - too bad I can`t edit it anymore. There were many great goalkeepers in '74... Cruijff was definitely a centre forward - I don`t look at numbers, his chosen number was 14, which doesn`t indicate he played centre forward or midfield or anything. Cruijff was a player in the tradition of di Stéfano or Hidegkuti, or to a lesser extent, Kopa - all of them played starting position of centre forward officially, despite being found at all positions in the actual games.