The best players of the season 2002-3

Discussion in 'The Beautiful Game' started by comme, Apr 18, 2018.

  1. PuckVanHeel

    PuckVanHeel Member+

    Oct 4, 2011
    Club:
    Feyenoord
    #51 PuckVanHeel, May 6, 2018
    Last edited: May 6, 2018
    Ah OK. What was your idea on Stam btw? What I've always found intriguing is that the land of the defenders rated him high. He was the best rated stopper by Gazzetta and best rated by DBScalcio, also nominated for defender of the year (won by Nesta; Maldini and Stam 2nd), got an esm selection for Lazio.

    Personally I think/thought he was surpassed by Nesta, who had a classier outlook and style and looked flawless to me in the CL. Nesta had that special 'aura' and combined it with reliability. Also think and thought 2003-04 was Stam's best Lazio season.

    At the same time, also a bit of a maligned player in memory in that his aggressive traits get remembered and highlighted. One of his main strengths was actually his calm and composed demeanor, as also noted by this guy of the epochal teams. His passing wasn't great, but reliable and very accurate. His most dangerous weapon in that regard was the ball over the top, which was something he had trained for very long.

    I think in his home country he's because of that picture not as fondly remembered as Frank de Boer (who is also more tied to a couple memorable and famous moments, which is not/less the case for Stam - he's funnily best remembered, I think, for noteworthy games he played against Ronaldinho in his pomp, when Stam was almost 34 years old; his best remembered moment in an orange shirt was the penalty at euro 2000, this always returns).

    edit: the guy of the epochal teams writes there in his notes. "Classy, very neat, also with the ball good, at times even advancing".
     
  2. comme

    comme Moderator
    Staff Member

    Feb 21, 2003
    Stam was close to 3 stars. I think part of the problem with the arbitrary distinctions I use is that you have to draw a line somewhere.

    I think this was the first season that Serie A wasn’t shown on terrestrial TV in England so not sure how much Lazio I’d have seen. In England it felt like he wasn’t at the same level after leaving United and certainly when he turned up at Milan he didn’t feel like the same player.

    In his prime though he was sensational.
     
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  3. PuckVanHeel

    PuckVanHeel Member+

    Oct 4, 2011
    Club:
    Feyenoord

    Yes I agree at Milan he wasn't the same player. He was also older then and got seriously injured at the start. Thereafter he was often played out of position, which got mixed reviews and brought his ratings down.

    He had however still his sparks, most visibly in the Champions League knock-out stages I think. In 2005 he met his former club Manchester United and both Gazzetta/La Stampa and the English press rated this performance high, even somewhat above his exalted colleagues Cafu, Nesta and Maldini. Gazzetta considered him as candidate for man of the match. Alex Ferguson had to concede this point too.

    Also well received knock-out games were (but not limited to) the first semi final against PSV (also in the British press), the quarter finals against Inter (admittedly boosted by a goal) and in 2005-06 kicker gave him strong grades for both his matches against Bayern (playing as right-back, even producing crosses) and Schalke. In the semis against Barcelona (those well-known matches against Ronaldinho, mentioned in the previous post) he was good in one and not good in the other. It's one of his better remembered moments, strangely a lot more so than any of the Manchester United matches, that aren't tied to any specific match I think.


    I haven't searched for Gazzetta (from memory they were okay) but DBScalcio graded his injury troubled 2004-05 season with a 5.91. That appears as poor, but in-position Nesta is at 6.16 and Maldini at 6.03. Jaap Stam was made look extra poor by his 'twin' Cafu who is on 6.21. This reflects playing him out of position got mixed reviews and quite probably raters struggled to peg it against set standards and expectations.

    In the more fortunate 2005-06 he's on 6.04, with Nesta in his prime at 6.02 and untouchable monument Maldini at 6.12. That are pretty marginal differences imho. He was well beyond his peak, the game wasn't tailored to him, but didn't look out of depth next to Italian defenders of an extremely high regard and class (put in a different way: he didn't look as a Lada next to the Ferrari's). IIRC, but need to search it back, also Gazzetta saw/graded it this way.

    In the main I agree with ** for him and think 2003-04 was of a better standard. Nesta is apparently judged as a 'stopper' too by the Italian graders, but would place him higher.

    In that spirit I've a lot more doubts about Baggio his standards in relation to the similarly productive Bergkamp to be honest.

    Interesting, too, how Cafu had a resurgence at Milan after several sub-standard seasons for AS Roma. He was well advanced into his thirties when he found a new life, in a position requiring athleticism and dynamism.
     
  4. carlito86

    carlito86 Member+

    Jan 11, 2016
    Club:
    Real Madrid
  5. PuckVanHeel

    PuckVanHeel Member+

    Oct 4, 2011
    Club:
    Feyenoord
    In absolute numbers this was Henry his peak season (in other seasons not nearly so many assists, only other with 10 assists or more is 2004-05) and he was obviously the best attacker in the league.

    However, it's obvious he had significantly more support than RvN had, in terms of chances created for him and shots on goal per game. RvN also more reliable and steady in the CL I'd say.
     
  6. Tom Souster

    Tom Souster Member

    Jul 20, 2016
    Club:
    Arsenal FC
    I made a video on Sol Campbell's 02/03 season. I think this was Sol at his best, coming off a great world cup, at his peak physically and mentally, he was very unlucky not to win the 02/03 league title. I think the main thing that let down arsenal that season was Campbell's centre back partners, with Keown and Cygan getting significant game time before Wenger moved Kolo Toure there in 03/04.

    In my opinion Campbell was as good as anyone in europe from 01-04 and is underappreciated nowadays.
     
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  7. Calculator

    Calculator Member

    Aug 6, 2021
    “He scored his first hat-trick in Serie A, in a 3–2 away win over Brescia on 30 September 2002.[45] Totti also scored the only goal in Roma's decisive 1–0 victory at the Santiago Bernabéu Stadiumagainst Real Madrid on 30 October 2002; this was the first time in 35 years that an Italian team had won a match in Madrid.[46] He continued his goalscoring exploits against Valencia, scoring two goals in Roma's 3–0 win.[47] Despite this, Roma only finished third in their Champions League group, and in eighth position in Serie A,[48] although they managed to reach the 2003 Coppa Italia final. In the final against Milan, Totti scored three times from free kicks over both legs (one goal at home and two at the San Siro), but Roma lost out to Milan 6–3 on aggregate.[49] In 2003, Totti won his second Serie A Footballer of the Year Award.”

    Francesco Totti...
    8th in the league, knocked out of CL group stage..... player of the year :)
     
  8. carlito86

    carlito86 Member+

    Jan 11, 2016
    Club:
    Real Madrid

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