The best players of the season 2004-5

Thank you very much for this.

At a quick glance I already noticed a surprising discrepancy between how ESM saw Makaay and the domestic perception (compared to some other seasons as well). Shevchenko too, it appears.

In my view/research this season is together with 1999-00 (league winners with Depor, 22 non-penalty goals in the league, 16 opta assists) and 2002-03 (european golden boot etc.) one of his three best. He was (again) good in the Champions League in 2004-05 (7 goals, 2 assists), domestic cup (5 goals, 3 assists) and the league (22 goals, 14 assists). With this he was #2 in the topscorer list of the league (2 goals behind the #1) and the top assister of the league.

My personal conclusion was (or is) that this was a better and more influential campaign as the previous 2003-04 season. This applies to a few of his countrymen (or the Belgian players even, most notably Kompany or Van Buyten).





To be clear: I don't see him as a real or unquestionable legend of his country, but I do think he was 'world class' in a few seasons and indeed one of the better Champions League strikers of his generation (easily in the top 10 deadliest CL goalscorers of his era).

 

3 - Eden Hazard is only the third player to assist a goal in three consecutive substitute appearances in the Premier League, after Tomasz Radzinski for Everton in March 2004, and Arjen Robben for Chelsea in April 2005. Magic. pic.twitter.com/XXRsafmD0K

— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) November 4, 2018

10 - Against Real Sociedad, Eden Hazard become the first @realmadriden player to complete 10 dribbles in a @LaLigaEN game since Arjen Robben in January 2009 (10 vs Villarreal. Lightning. pic.twitter.com/m1oZGMkkvg

— OptaJose (@OptaJose) November 25, 2019

I'd give him two stars at least. Three stars is not clear but there are more cases like that (Dani Alves in 2017). His playing level and consistency when he played was worthy of three stars.

I have no doubt he immediately played very well for Chelsea, for example against then unbeaten Arsenal. Illustrative is he had 5.7 successful dribbles per 90 minutes in the league, at a very high 75% success rate (per OPTA). He had a high volume and he was highly economical with it. In 33 games for club and country (23 starts) he had 11 goals (no penalties) and 13 assists.



He was very good for the national team around this time with 2 goals and an assist against Romania (Chivu, Mutu - Elo rank #15 to 25) in the qualifiers (he left the field injured in one of them), with the national team in transition, and also two great goals against Germany at the beginning of August 2005. That counts for something.

"Robben (106) is the only European with 100 or more dribbles at the World Cup finals since 1966"; "Robben has been fouled more often at the World Cup than any other player since the 2006 edition (47 times)"

What helped him was that those PFA things are voted in February, just before he got injured again. Possibly that flatters him, but later seasons undersell him. Injuries meant the hype went down a bit (just as with Kompany) and players like Totti or Gerrard have their (local) talking heads to keep them in the wider attention. With him playing Chelsea won 82% of their games and without him 57% during his spell there (a pattern repeated at Real Madrid, with Clasico goals, and also Bayern).

I think the previous season (2003-04) he had his problems with finding his rhythm, form and shape. That is not so much the case in this campaign. This was a fairly defensive Chelsea team overall, with effect on the defensive statistics.

Until this date there had already been oddities in the awards; like him getting Groningen's player of the year (the club and province Groningen) in 2001, while he played more games and was more productive a season later. He got that on the back of making his first full start against table leaders Feyenoord, immediately helping his team to a win, and then scoring and assisting against Ajax in 2000-01 (he repeated this however in 2001-02, at April 2002, against the later champs).

For me this was a genuine great player. I'd think two stars make sense, but the playing level was three stars clearly.

 

https://www.skysports.com/football/news/11668/2358084/ronaldinho-better-than-lampard

Well the start of the next season helped, with the Bernabeu game for example.

Often repeated goals against Milan and Chelsea (the toe poke) also helped (4 goals with 2 penalties and 1 assist in the CL).

This was also his best year for the national team with a Confederations Cup played on a favorable time and marketed well. If I'm not mistaken the write-up mentions that.

If you ask me he was 'better' in the second half of 2003-04 and 2005-06 (especially until March 2006).

 

Here I found an internet source confirming this, in one of the quotes below (166 dribbles - 75% success rate; this are attempted dribbles).
https://tottenhamhotspur.blogspot.com/2005/07/never-mind-atouba.html

 

They have re-broadcasted the CL final here in perfect HD quality. Milan had the superior expected goals and then after the 3-3 also the best chances to score another!

 

Here is an analysis of the 2005 CL semi final:

PSV Eindhoven were close in 2004/05 to reach their 2nd Champions League final. An asymmetrical shape and a good rest-defence was how they controlled Milan in the 2nd leg. Analysis of PSV 3-1 Milan in the 2nd leg of the 2005 Champions League semi-final.https://t.co/I9S694xaIk

— Ahmed Walid (@Walid_4) April 14, 2020

I think he is the most underrated/overlooked player of that late 90s to early 00s generation (born around the mid 1970s). In a few Vitesse, Depor and Tenerife games he was also more forward than striker I'd say (in the same way as the late career DB10 was often a midfielder out of possession).

Of the Robben generation I think Kuijt was the most underrated one. The OPTA/Actim Index shows him higher than Gerrard (even goalscorer Torres) in a few seasons, and that includes even the illustrative 2008-09 season; was numerically a better through-baller than many people think and give him credit for; one of the few Liverpool players to score an open-play hat-trick against a top team; managed to score in CL quarter finals, semi finals and the final; has a healthy amount of goals and assists for the national team and that includes various strong opponents as well in friendlies and competitive matches.
Although not a legend, clearly a diligent player with which you can form a competitive team rather than "the weak link on the other wing" domestic media made of it. Indeed, his commitment was missed after he played his last national team game in 2014.

https://www.theguardian.com/football/blog/2014/jun/30/dirk-kuyt-holland-world-cup-2014-running

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[...]
That "The Energizer Bunny" loved being a Liverpool player has never been beyond question. Kuyt worked as hard as he ever did during the 2010/11 season, missed only five Premier League matches and 13 League goals was his best return as a Liverpool player. Kuyt achieved a rare feat, not seen by a Liverpool player since 2001, by scoring in five consecutive League matches towards the end of the season. He also netted a hat-trick against Manchester United at Anfield on 6 March 2011, having failed to score in his previous nine encounters against them since coming into the Premier League. Six years of hard work and honest endeavour finally brought tangible reward for the popular Dutchman when he collected a League Cup winners' medal in 2012 after putting his team ahead in extra-time of the final against Cardiff City at Wembley and then scoring from the penalty spot in the shoot-out that followed. Kuyt's 100% success-rate from eight penalties had ended though when he missed from the spot against Everton in October and again when facing Arsenal in March. But he did reach 50 League goals for the club when netting the final goal in a 3-0 win at Wolverhampton in January 2012. The late Anfield winner against Manchester United in the FA Cup was another reminder that he could still be a man for the big occasion At the start of June 2012 the popular 31-year-old Dutchman signed a three-year contract with Istanbul club Fenerbahce. Kuyt was very emotional leaving Liverpool. "After six years, I just had a feeling I needed to change something in my career, a new experience, a new country, new people around me, and that's why I made the decision to leave," he said. "I had a great time and I had great teammates. The club was great, the people were great and the people from Liverpool - the text messages, the phone calls, the e-mails, all the tweets I had on my Twitter account - it's unbelievable how much respect they showed me and it's also a bit emotional. They wished me good luck and they said that they will miss me." More than a player Kuyt is a humanitarian who runs the Dirk Kuyt foundation that supports and organizes events for people with disabilities.

Dirk Kuyt adapted well to life in Turkey after six years in England. Fenerbahçe were unable to prevent Galatasaray from winning the domestic championship but Kuyt played in thirty-one of the thirty-four Süper Lig matches, scoring eight times. Fenerbahçe had a long run in Europe, reaching the semi-final stage of the Europa League after topping Group C at the earlier stage of the competition. The Dutchman's previous European experience with Liverpool was a real advantage to the Turkish club with Kuyt contributing an impressive seven goals from seventeen European ties during the season [scoring in the semi final, PvH]. In the summer of 2015, after 26 goals in 95 league appearances for Fenerbahce, Kuyt returned to Holland signing for Feyenoord on a one year deal.

Kuyt was part of a championship-winning squad in 2013/14 as Fenerbahçe equalled Galatasaray's total of nineteen domestic titles. Dirk played in 32 of the 34 league matches, scoring ten times. He added more appearances in the Turkish Super cup and the Champions League, where the Turks were beaten home and away by Arsenal in the play-off round. Kuyt was one of the key players in the Dutch squad in the knockout stages of the 2014 World Cup, equally adept in attack and defence on the right as the Netherlands finished in third place. Unfortunately, there would be no European football to look forward to in 2014/15 because the Turkish champions would be serving the second year of a two-year ban by UEFA following match-fixing allegations. Ironically, that European ban would end at about the same time that Kuyt's three-year contract would expire in the middle of 2015, when he returned to Feyenoord. Despite his advancing years, Kuyt scored nineteen goals in the Eredivisie in 2015-16 and helped his side win the Dutch Cup, leading to speculation that Barcelona could be ready to make a bid. He put paid to any rumours though by opening a one year contract extension and retained his links with Liverpool, attending the second leg of the Europa League semi final against Villareal.

In 2016-17 Kuyt helped Feyenoord to the first Eredivisie championship since 1999, scoring a hat trick in title clinching game against Heracles. Three days later he announced his retirement from the game. However he did come out of retirement towards the end of 2017-18 to help ease a striking crisis at fourth tier Quick Boys, playing three times without finding the net.
https://www.lfchistory.net/Players/Player/Profile/1162

 

Hello comme, just a few remarks by me:

I think Del Piero didn't have a good season to be honest. DBDcalcio shows him as 10th best in his position, he had 10 non-penalty goals in the league (+4 pens), and 4 assists according to soccer-europe (2 from set piece). In the Champions League he had 2 goals and 0 assists. Next season the club emblem became benched for a reason, and I believe in part that was a carry-over from this season. During this season, FourFourTwo had already a cover like this (October 2005). Hmmm.. Strong Del Piero seasons before and after this date were 2002-03, 2007-08 imho.

Veron played only 24 league games (39 in total, 36 starts) but looks low - in some ways he was more matured, calibrated and composed as in his previous Serie A spell while not going down in productivity overall (1999-00 aside). Didn't play for national team however.

The full classification for the Eredivisie was this:
https://www.vi.nl/nieuws/mark-van-bommel-is-speler-van-het-jaar

It helps to play as many games as possible. Nowadays the 5 lowest grades fall out but think back then it was maybe 4 (IIRC, might be wrong). If someone plays 29 games (Cocu) he is at a disadvantage compared to playing 34 games.

For Van Bommel is maybe helped that past season he was injured for stretches (and PSV was unsuccessful as a result), and was now revived. He did score a hat-trick against Ajax as captain and was also elected by his colleagues as footballer of the year, and by Sportweek magazine. Personally I was more a fan of Cocu at the time, who had some terrific CL performances too (goal in quarter final, 2 goals in semis).

Although many compatriots like Makaay, Cocu, Robben, Bergkamp (Kompany) were better here or more prominent (e.g. I think Gio was already good in 2003-04, but it registered more in this one), I think Seedorf had actually one of his weaker seasons. That he wasn't selected for Oranje was not totally bizarre at this point. However, he was pretty good/decent against Barcelona in the group stage, had a tie winning involvement against Manchester United (I remember @Edhardy saying how good and in control he was there) and also a good quarters against Inter. He wasn't particularly good though in the semis and in the final in my mind.
In general I don't think he was a worse player as Redondo or Pirlo (similar mechanisms to how Henderson gets elevated now) - just look for example at his 1998 performances against Inter (also one of Ronaldo Luis his best CL performances), Chelsea and Leverkusen and then think Redondo was better, I don't see it and the commentators did not either (Xavi and Modric is a different story overall) - but I do think 2004-05 was sandwiched between stronger campaigns on either side. It wasn't very good or influential compared to 2002-2004, 2005-2008 and his 2009-2011 periods (in my research, that were his most impactful years for Milan; e.g. 2009-10 in CL, 2010-11 in the league). I found it a funny scene to see him saying against Maldini in the final what should be done (but as Ancelotti says in his book and video profiles like this when he was at PSG, he did value his leadership ability highly and is a sort of player who he "always wants to have in my team"). I wouldn't be enormously against leaving him out although there were a few good CL games (not so many 'big performances in big games' in the league as in 2003-04).

 

Yes the rating was high. Of course it is difficult to compare across seasons or across leagues, or across publications even (on DBScalcio he has 6.52 in 23 rated games; Bergkamp in 2003-04 had 6.44 in 22 graded matches).

It was not necessarily the ratings, but just my own impression that he played very well in many of the big matches I saw later or the highlights. Also played with a nice shirt number His productivity with goals, assists and pre-assists is overall comparable to his previous Serie A spell I think.



There is also a 1-5 win against Valencia where he was really good alongside Adriano and a few others (although Valencia was not good).

He fitted better in the Serie A, at the top teams, because he did many things very well, but everything at one pace basically. All in one tempo. That was sometimes also his bottleneck in the Champions League (but, basically every player has a weakness, also Messi/Ronaldo have to be used in a proper way or can inhibit others, that we then see at national team level). Still an excellent player and one of the better central midfielders of his generation (doing good at real top teams).

Maybe it can look strange his rating is even significantly higher as in his first spell.

Will be back for this later.

I might be wrong but think it is not too far removed from reality few Milan players were really at their best form, the grades look poor indeed.

Crespo was a useful addition, giving a few more goals, and Stam certainly too in the knock-out stages (injured at the beginning of the season).

Kaka now played a full season for the first time and was the attacker with the most playing minutes (he should be among the forwards honestly).

Maybe for Pirlo the novelty had worn off (2003-04 was really his first full season as starter) and he was also taking fewer penalties (= boosts grades, even if it is a penalty).

Nesta was red carded and that drags his grade down; played in the end fewer minutes and games than Cafu and Maldini. Is maybe only borderline world class this year, came up a bit short in the semis and the final.

Seedorf does have more minutes than any other Milan midfielder (per transfermarkt; Gattuso has 60 less, Pirlo 200 less), and also more goals than the other midfielders (below Shevchenko, Crespo, Kaka and Tomasson) but not really the big game record of years before and after I think (even around 2010) and doesn't seem to be playing as sharp and well (just my own impression).

Overall I'd say Milan lost basically no significant contributor in the summer of 2004 (only Redondo might qualify, but barely played), and added Crespo and Stam.

Kaka contributed more (also in the CL!), Shevchenko was roughly as good (had more assists, and Kaka too). Not sure about Pirlo and Cafu but I'm inclined to say Gattuso, Rui Costa, Seedorf, Maldini and Nesta were all worse than before. About Maldini there was a lot of talk about him having a mediocre season and DBScalcio reflects that (probably the drop off is too big there, but equally there was an argument that 2003-04 Milan had clearly not the best defensive record in the world).

Maybe Dida was better as in 2003-04 as well, but that's hard to say, I don't rule it out. I remember it took a bit of time before people got convinced he was a half decent (or good) goalkeeper.

 

https://www.francefootball.fr/news/...-avec-le-temoignage-d-edwin-zoetebier/1129929

I think it makes the most sense indeed for seasons where Eredivisie teams progress far and also beat some strong teams on the road. Examples are Van Hooijdonk in 2001-02, some Ajax players in 2018-19. Certainly I thought Van Hooijdonk was quite remarkable in 2002, beating goalkeepers as Lehmann, Casillas and Buffon with his free kicks in this year and was just playing very well.

Maybe some others as Van Nistelrooij since he was already scoring strong in the Champions League (against Valencia, Bayern, Benfica, champions Kaiserslautern), maybe Luis Suarez in 2009-10 (although Ajax performed better without/after him) or Sneijder in 2006-07 (23 goals, 15 assists in all matches and losing the championship on goal difference). But seasons where a team progresses far and/or is one of the best in the competition are a safe start. I don't think PSV in 2004-05 was anywhere near as fluid as Ajax in 2018-19 (you said the combinations vs Juventus were one of the best you've seen) but defensively they were pretty stiff and solid, a solid organization with the likes of Park a two way player (marking Pirlo effectively and then also playing neatly in transition and offense). They could/should have won the Champions League (in both Milan matches conceding an injury time goal), the possibility existed (and the referee was Norwegian, that helped PSV I think).

Van Bommel had 13 assists as well in the league and was together with his 14 goals the most productive PSV player overall. Maybe should be (like Lampard) among the attacking midfielders but his position without ball was fairly deep for sure.

Cocu is certainly one of the bigger success stories of a veteran player (the former Barcelona captain) returning, much more so than vBommel did in 2012 for instance (red card in his very last game). I liked him a lot. Was also a good player for the national team for a prolonged time (at the 2006WC he hit the crossbar against Portugal, played well and was not carded).





There is a strong case to be made Cocu edges Van Bommel in the Champions League (Van Bommel had 0 goals and 3 assists - against Arsenal and losing finalist Monaco; Cocu had goals and assists in all the knock-out rounds), but overall it is understandable Van Bommel gets the limelight. Maybe you have seen the surprising statistic he has the highest win percentage of all Oranje players with at least 50 caps.

Alex had a pretty rusty start and his appearance record (with subbed out) also shows this. He started his Champions League career with an own goal. After a few months he was settled and did better. The only league game PSV lost was after a red card by Alex, both goals came after his sending off. His best phase was between November and March as far as I can see.

He might appear rash for some, more brute power than brains and crisp dispossession, and it took a time before 'all' people were convinced I think. Heurelho Gomes however was immediately seen as a worthy successor (if not more than that) of Waterreus (who was a good goalkeeper in his best days).

To be continued...

 

I see you named above multiple PSV, AZ and Feyenoord players but no Ajax players. For them I think the best picks are (in roughly descending order):

• Nigel de Jong. More or less sensibly voted Ajax player of the Year. Together with Sneijder the only player to have played in more than 40 matches this season (if the supercup is also counted as a competitive game, then Maxwell joins them). 5 goals in the league, also 4 assists. Pretty good and was in his comfort zone.
• Sneijder. Their most productive player. Some good to excellent Champions League games too, with three assists (which he pretty regularly had throughout his career, even later on for Fenerbahce vs Real Madrid, Juventus, Chelsea).
• Pienaar, Maxwell and Escude (the last one not unanimous applauded) also look fine. Pienaar is handicapped a bit by his playing time but played good.

For AZ Alkmaar I think Barry van Galen merits a brief mention, although he completed only 7 matches. He is the oldest debuting outfield player for Oranje in history. Technically maybe the best player of the UEFA Cup semi finalist (losing it in the very last second, from a corner kick), and together with Mathijsen, Landzaat, goalkeeper Timmer and the Danish forward/midfielder Perez he formed more or less the spine of the team. Had he played the same amount of minutes as Perez (who played 800 more) then he would have been their most productive player.

For the PSV and Feyenoord players I think you have all the sensible ones. Maybe Shinji Ono (highly talented but undone by injuries in his career) and Bart Goor can be there at a stretch (Goor was perhaps the best Belgian player in the friendly played against Netherlands). Kuijt was consistently among the more productive Eredivisie players (also back for Utrecht).

One very notable one outside the traditional top teams (the big three plus Twente and AZ) and a two-season-wonder is Yildirim of Heerenveen who had 7 goals without penalty in the league and and impressive 19 assists, which is a record for a player outside the big three and big five. In the UEFA Cup he scored against Benfica, Stuttgart and Zagreb (no penalties) so did also his thing outside the league (against much bigger teams).

Bit like a Turkish budget Beckham.



Finally, I'll also mention here Salomon Kalou was one of the most deserving 'talent of the year' selections. Sadly he regressed a bit next season; he combined and moved well with Kuijt and was technically good. The national team staff wanted to naturalize him, and he himself also wanted that (see wiki), but the government rejected the application.

This article from that time (may 2005) places his feats in perspective.

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How good is Salomon Kalou? Marco van Basten thinks he is very good. The coach of the Dutch national team is apparently so impressed by the talent of the Ivorian attacker that he tried to persuade him to naturalize as a Dutchman.

Minister of Foreign Affairs and Integration Rita Verdonk has a different view of football. She believes that Kalou is not that important for the Dutch national team. "On the basis of the currently known facts and circumstances, it cannot be assumed that the success of the Dutch national team depends on the contribution that the involved person (Kalou) could make in this," sounded her motivation, prepared with the help of some mysterious experts. Four years of speaking sound Dutch are not enough for robbing Ivory Coast from one of their wanted players

Salomon Kalou made his breakthrough this season. Ruud Gullit gave him confidence from the summer and put Thomas Buffel, a Belgian international, on the bench. Little Kalou showed why. The technical and sometimes ball-loving technician misled half the league, scored twenty goals and also distributed eleven assists. Only Dirk Kuijt scored more this season. Only Mark van Bommel, Ugur Yildirim and again Kuijt scattered with more decisive passes. In the UEFA Cup tournament, he was the club's top scorer with four goals.

Kalou's performance is all the more remarkable given his age. He is nineteen years old. In the last thirty years, only three other nineteen-year-old players in the Eredivisie have scored at least twenty times. They are not the least.

Wim Kieft scored no less than 32 goals in the 1981/82 season. Marco van Basten hit 28 two years later and Ronaldo scored thirty hits in the 1994/95 season. Kieft played 43 international matches, won the European Cup, assisted Romario to topscorer titles and made one of the most important Orange goals ever. Ronaldo shot Brazil to the world title in 2002 and was named best player in the world three times. He has played 87 international matches for Brazil so far and has scored 56 goals. Van Basten was international 58 times, scored 24 times and led the Orange to the European title. Three times he was chosen the best player in Europe and the world.

Kalou is not as good and accomplished as Kieft or Ronaldo, not yet. But to say that he can not be important for the Dutch national team is very cold. This season, Van Basten gave players such as Ryan Babel (18), Hedwiges Maduro (20) and Romeo Castelen (22) the opportunity to play for the Orange and they have grown into useful values so far. Kalou is anything but inferior to, for example, fellow attackers Babel and Castelen. I think he is all-round the better player and I think I'm not alone. Dirk Kuijt gratefully mentions he had his best goals and assists count to date thanks to Kalou his help, and returned the favor to him.

Since Van Basten approached Kalou himself, it is very likely that the national coach has plans with the Feyenoorder. The aforementioned numbers and names also prove that Kalou's talent is rare. And did Kieft, Ronaldo and van Basten not help their country with a European or world title? Who knows, maybe Kalou will give the Dutch national team that little bit of extra talent to help the Orange team again once. Yes, dear government, Kalou is better than you think

 

I gave above a very broad answer but think the three most notable ommissions in the broad list are De Jong, Yildirim and Van Galen. From PSV possibly center back Ooijer is next in line to be in.

 

To add to this, what Wikipedia doesn't mention is that with Cocu the club reached the CL knockout stages three times in a row. In his very last game he scored a goal, making sure PSV won the championship on goal difference. All those things together make it was among the more successful returns of a player. Here a good video with passes and such. He never played a CL final, but did play in three semi finals, scoring important goals in two of them. The domestic ratings already show him high for Vitesse early in his career, where he helped them to four 4th places in a row. From then on he collected five league titles, four runner-up places, three CL semi finals and three semi finals with the national team. Not one of the very greats of his country but a very good player.

Van Bommel his footballing qualities have maybe gotten maligned (Bayern video from this week, showing his very last game) over time. More than Cocu he has a trophy cabinet and list of achievements that belong to a player of his level (I've mentioned it before but he had also a bit of steadying contribution when he came into the team at Barcelona in the 2nd half of the season, with the rotating options diminished, and then also at Milan in 2010-11). Overall I think both are arguable top 50 players but not for the top 20 (unlike e.g. DB10 who still belonged among the best providers of the league, not to mention the many pre-assists and unlocking passes, at 32-37 years old only undone by diminished playing time).

Buffon his DBScalcio rating is again not spectacular by the way, nor was he by the Gazzetta ratings among the top keepers:
http://www.dbscalcio.it/sn-schedaCa...omePlayer=Buffon&dataNascitaPlayer=28-01-1978

Very hard to figure out what were really his best seasons. For the Premier League there are at least some statistics available.

 

His NL wiki page gives a good summary. In the second division (2003-04) he had a game where he scored 6 goals in one game, and that attracted the interest of all teams. Then it was followed by a remarkable one (2004-05) at the age of 22, and a solid one (2005-06). After that he had injuries, made some strange choices, and somehow never recovered. In the video he says, before making his only cap for the national team, that he is Turkish but also lives for 22 years in Holland and is born there. The classic situation of someone who is a foreigner in both countries.

Thanks.

I also meant his grade and relative rank compared to his other seasons, including when Juventus had a resurgence after 2011 (with 2016-17 as negative outlier interestingly, and I certainly think the awards of the time were overdone; for example in terms of expected goals and post-shot expected goals as well as the more basic stats it paints an underwhelming picture - but whether this negative outlier makes sense I don't know).

Other great goalkeepers as Cech, VdS, Neuer and Navas proved themselves from time to time without big names in front of them (or with a big turnover of names, like Man United in 2008-09).

Those three goals conceded in nine CL matches seems to be the best outing of his career after a quick check. For his entire CL career the same numbers are this.

For the national team this season the record - along the same lines - is however not equally great (goals by own team listed first). This can be compared to other non-tournament years as well.

50 18- 8-04 Reykjavík Iceland 0-2
51 4- 9-04 Palermo Norway 2-1 World Cup Qualifier
52 8- 9-04 Chisinau Moldova 1-0 World Cup Qualifier
53 9-10-04 Celje Slovenia 0-1 World Cup Qualifier
54 13-10-04 Parma Belarus 4-3 World Cup Qualifier
55 9- 2-05 Cagliari Russia 2-0
56 26- 3-05 Milano Scotland 2-0 World Cup Qualifier
57 4- 6-05 Oslo Norway 0-0 World Cup Qualifier
http://www.rsssf.com/miscellaneous/buffon-intl.html

Would be nice if you can post the EFY names for each year.

 

Looking at this again, it is possible that Buffon was at least at club level better as the previous season (2003-04), and affirmed his reputation above Dida in the second half of the 2004-05 season.

In a few euro 2004 previews there was the impression he wasn't coming from his best season (but: 2002-03 is maybe one of his very best) and there are also comments on bigsoccer, by different Italian posters, like that.

12 October 2004: "I'm a Juventus fan, but Buffon has been showing a tinesy bit of hesitation lately, particularly on the goal by Slovenia the other day and even the Ibrahimovic goal vs Sweden last summer. I actually think Dida is the best keeper in Serie A right now. He got my vote."

10 June 2004: " Buffon has had a lacklustre season, don't expect him to perform like Toldo did in 2000."

7 June 2004: "I'd have to say Toldo. Buffon was very inconsistent this year and Toldo was always better for the Azzuri."

etc.

But sure, old threads of that time place him up there or in pole position nonetheless (next or ahead to Casillas, past prime Kahn, Friedel, VdS at Fulham, Cech etc.)
https://www.bigsoccer.com/threads/gianluigi-buffon-best-goalie-in-the-world.144506/
https://www.bigsoccer.com/threads/who-is-the-best-goalkeeper-right-now.131448/
https://www.bigsoccer.com/threads/europes-best-goalkeeper.129853/page-2
https://www.bigsoccer.com/threads/the-best-goalkeper-in-europe.141793/


While I think he nicks it above the others as the best keeper of the last 25 years, I also think he showed that sort of league and Champions League level (in Serie A the 2nd highest clean sheets ratio behind Zoff for anyone with at least 100 games; and behind VdS 3rd highest for anyone with at least 50 games) in only one, two or maybe three tournaments. One can make a case his stats are for Italy not that impressive considering the type of set-ups he played for, and the defenders in front of him.





http://www.chroniquesbleues.fr/Les-gardiens

Buffon has a clean sheets ratio of 43.8% (77 in 176). That is not super impressive when comparing this to Barthez, Zoff (with big name defenders, in a defensive set up), Casillas, but also Cech (42.7%, 53 in 124, he's not in above chart but conceded 0.96 goals per game) and VdS can show (55.4%, 72 in 130).

https://www.americansocceranalysis.com/world-cup-expected-goals-by-keeper

 

From the OPTA account this week:




The final:


xG after 120 minutes was: 1.27-3.05


In contrast, the 1999 final: