Here's a little game. How many players can you name who were going to be the next [insert alltimer here] consider the date that the legend retired and then chronoligically come up with the amount of young hopefuls who were once touted to become the next xx So: All-timers name E.G Maradona and then his hopefuls in order. EG: Redondo Veron Ortega Gallarado Riquelme etc. etc all the way up to the present day were you have the Robinho's (the new Pele #598493540 and Messi (new Maradona #343543) See how many you can name for each legend. Quite a fun exercise
Are we including persons who are touted as their region's Maradona (e.g., Hagi, the Maradona of the Carpathians)?
hagi was very much said to be eastern europes Maradona. i think he should be included. as long as its a region not just a country or whatever.
I don't remember Redondo, Gallardo or Veron drawing much comparison to Maradona. These are the players I heard being compared to Maradona, by the Argentine media or by fans, and also my personal opinion of the comparisons. Riquelme: A difficult comparison to make, other than the fact that they both played the creative mid role for Boca Juniors. Riquelme is a very different player than Maradona. He reminds me of the old pre-Maradona prototipical Argentine creative midfielder, like 'beto' Alonso or Bochini. Especially Bochini. He slows down play and relies on his great passing and intelligence, and changes of rhythm. Not nearly as resourceful as Diego, but so far the best Argentine creative mid in the post-Maradona era. Aimar: This is a comparison that wasn't hyped too much, but I heard it on occasion. Like Riquelme, he is very different from Maradona, but in the opposite direction. He is more of a modern European style creative mid, relying on fast passes and quickness. He doesn't provide the pause which is part of the traditional Argentine game. His career has been hampered by injuries, but when healthy he is very effective. Saviola: He drew comparisons as a great dribbler with attitude, who played spectacular at the youth level. He plays further forward than Maradona, and while he has undeniable talent, he does tend to dissapear at times and doesn't have the protagonism of some of these other players mentioned. Tevez: A comparison made based on his great talent, and similar humble background. While it is too early to declare him great, I think he has the potential for greatness. But at this point he is nowhere near were Maradona was at his age. Like Saviola, he plays further forward than Maradona. He is a more complete player and a stronger player than Saviola, and he plays smarter. Messi: Probably the most talent and most potential since Maradona, and like Tevez, he has the potential for greatness. But he is also nowhere near were Diego was at his age. Although he has the ability to play the field general role as Maradona, he is more of a direct player and I think he is more suited to play closer to the opponent's goal. I'd say the most apt comparison remains the first one, Ariel Ortega. When he came up, Ortega looked like Diego, he played the same position, he had the same way of moving, the same way of dribbling, the similarity was uncanny. Ortega's talent was not quite up to Diego's level, he didn't have the same passing ability, and he certainly didn't have the same leadership qualities and winning attitude on the field, nor did he have the same football IQ, or that elusive ability to be able to make his teammates better. Also, it is unfortunate that he didn't have the ability to adapt to Europe and he underachieved and squandered the many opportunities he was given to succeed there. But when he was playing at his best, Ortega was an exciting player who looked and played in many ways remarkably like Maradona. But nobody really has come close to Diego.
George Best: (just going on some guesses to get some talk going) Norman Whiteside Mark Hughes Brian McClair Cristiano Ronaldo Wayne Rooney Paul Gascoine Keith Gillespie I'll admit some of those are just guesses like I said, but good players, though some of them actually were touted. So have at it.
I have a question about this. Do they have to be from the same nation/club/region as the other player in question? Because if not so then Freddy would be considered for Diego according to the US media.
most of the above were never called the new george best. in fact the onyl real player to be touted as the new best was ryan giggs, which u have ommitted from yr list, well researched
Sammer i would think.... oh... RVL - I don't recall anyone asking for the opinion of a Football Expert
As you've mentioned already; Matheus, Sammer, I don't know about Kehl, but Metzelder certainly got more hype than him a couple of years back. Augenthaler and Jurgen Kohler were also somewhat touted. I remember a few Germans saying something similar about Ramelow three years ago, it's ridiculous if you think about it now but I couldn't argue that as much back then.
What that is ridiculous I admit I left out Giggs, but simple google search will come up with half those names. I may not be a Manchester United historian but I know how to read.
http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/footb...rit-of-best-lives-on-in-rooney-name_page.html Wayne Rooney http://www.redcafe.net/archives/legend.php?id=16 Norman Whiteside http://uefacup.org/competitions/UCL/news/Kind=8192/newsId=282344.html Ronaldo http://news.bbc.co.uk/sportacademy/hi/sa/football/features/newsid_2059000/2059918.stm Gillespie
I had the same question, because I remember a few cases but with players of different origin: When I first saw Antonio Cassano play I thought he was going to be the next Maradona. Oops. As I recall, Baresi was widely regarded as the next Beckenbauer. According to some people Marcelo Salas was going to be the next Gerd Muller, he even looked like him. And from the same country: Raul Gonzalez, the next Butragueno Roberto Carlos, the next Rivelino Seedorf and Davids, the next Gullit, etc.
A few new names to the new kaiser: Augenthaler, Stieleke. Wasn't Klinamann nicknamed the blond bomber after Gerd Muller the Bomber? And wasn't Zico and Beverto callled the "White Pele"? Does A.Pele count as the next Pele?
I was hoping for a lot more contributions to this thread. There have to have been at least 10 'new pele's' since he retired.
I seem to remember that Best said something like... "maybe one day they will call me the 'old Ryan Giggs'" Praise indeed, remember his withering comment about two-times European Player of the Year, Kevin Keegan? "He's not fit to lace my boots" - to which some journalist retorted "Keegan's not fit to lace Best's drinks". I always personally thought Chris Sutton was the new John Charles, but no one went along with me.
Good topic. Being Dutch, I'll try to do some recent Cruijff's Van der Vaart - very technical, european talent of the year, same role as Cruijff Robben - Not really touted as the new cruijff, but widely regarded as possibly the best player since, which of course, is utter utter crap. damn this is harder than I thought! Somebody do a new 'van Basten'. EDIT: This might be interesting, a (sadly, because very good) late Dutch football monthly magazine aptly named 'Johan' used to run an article called 'The Johan Cruijff of (Insert random third-rate football country).