yes and Bergkamp also had a bad spell at Inter as failure, which Zidane never suffered with any teams
Yeah, realised I had forgotten Nedved who definitely belongs there. Perhaps Robben too, Kaka I'm unsure would get in a top 20. His peak wasn't all that (relatively) and he doesn't have the longevity either. When you add the early 90s guys it becomes tough, let me try though. 1) Messi 2) Ronaldo, Zidane, Cristiano, Baggio, Romario 3) Ronaldinho, Rivaldo, Figo, Laudrup, Bergkamp 4) Henry, Totti, Raul, Del Piero, Shevchenko 5) Cantona, Ibrahimovic, Eto'o, Nedved Stoichkov, Weah, Savicevic are greater players than some here but they miss out.
1- what made CR7 on par with Ronaldo Zidane and what separated Messi above? 2- Kaka was on par with Figo nedved ... and betetr than Sheva (proven) Raul Del Peiro (proven) ... So your ratiings is just by randomness? or Barca+Real trophies count:? LOL
I repped your post but Stoichkov and Hagi need to be up there, in the second line even. Try to watch their matches in WC94 when you have a chance, they are greater playres than Raul, Del Piero or Ibrahimovic. Also, I would add Zamorano and Riquelme at least to the last tier. Figo is a much better player than Kaka, and Shevchenko must be ahead as well.
That is way too harsh. At Inter many signings failed at that time (Shalimov, Pancev, Sammer and even Roberto Carlos was a criticized acquisition) and during his two season stay he also saw four different managers passing by at the club; within one and a half year. In his second season he became injured too and he had troubles with attacking partner Ruben Sosa (who had problems with some more squad players). Inter also started to play very different as they had intended and told him, which wasn't helped by the many managerial changes. Bergkamp won nevertheless the UEFA Cup in 1994 as the championship topscorer while he wasn't necessarily intended as the main goalscorer. Roberto Baggio during the previous UEFA Cup season (1993) didn't become topscorer (he was 3rd) in the year he won the Ballon d'Or, as reference. This is Thierry Henry thread though.
Kaka was great, but how long was he great for though? Raul, Del Piero and Sheva were world class for several seasons. Figo is miles ahead of Kaka though, in every conceivable way. Talent, longevity etc etc. Cristiano is on par with Ronaldo, Zidane and the rest because of how consistent he has been, for 8-9 seasons now. Ronaldo and Zidane albeit more talented, never showed that. Messi has the equal talent and surpasses them for consistency.
"I repped your post but Stoichkov and Hagi need to be up there, in the second line even. Try to watch their matches in WC94 when you have a chance, they are greater playres than Raul, Del Piero or Ibrahimovic. Also, I would add Zamorano and Riquelme at least to the last tier." Hagi ? why do You overrate and overrate WC again ? what Hagi did apart WC 94, where he shone ? in Romania and Turkey leagues, that's all because somebody named him Maradona of the Carpatian, then we should put him in the same bracket with those players ? come on, WC is a 7 games torunament and WC apart isn't enough to be a legend. I fully agree with Stoichkov but Hagi is one of the most overrated player here
No doubt those guys are greater, largely on the strength of their WC94 performances, but their primes (club wise) was split between the late 80s and early 90s. Stoichkov after around 95 went downhill and Hagi between leaving Bucharest and going back to Galatasary had some unsuccessful stints. Strictly sticking to the 1990-2015 timeline they (and Savicevic) miss out. Riquelme I thought about, but I don't know who he'd replace? Not too familiar with Zamorano outside his 1994/95 season...
@JamesBH11 I think the question now should actually be why I haven't put Cristiano a tier ahead of Zidane etc. He has arguably surpassed them.
Hagi won the UEFA Cup with Galatasaray as well. Hagi was also good to very good at WCs 90 and 98, and his WC94 is arguably the best individual performance at a World Cup since Maradona.
Stoichkov won four consecutive La Ligas (still a record since then) from 90 to 94, the CL in 92 and a final in 94, plus WC94 and Euro96. All in the time frame.
That Barca team was stacked though (Koeman, Laudrup, Guardiola and later Romario). In how many of those seasons was Stoichkov their main player? You raise good points though, but who would you take out for him?
Stoichkov and Laudrup split it between the 89-90 and 92-93 seasons, with Romario being the main player in 93-94. I would take out Del Piero, very short peak as elite, in a blink in favor of the great Stoichkov.
riquelme managed to completely out shined figo in several meetings that include 2000 boca vs real (the same year figo voted world best player), again in 2006 villarreal vs inter, completely out shined ronaldinho in 2005 villarreal vs barca (one of the best year for ronaldinho) what i trying to say here, riquelme always don't have much problem to out shined the current best player in the world & he should be rated in one of the highest tier
Del Piero's absolute peak was short-lived, but in that period he won the CL and reached two other finals and a semi final, plus domestic titles, intercontinental cup etc usually as one of the main players. After his peak he enjoyed some really good years between 02-03 until around 08-09.
Kaka did not have a longevity of Romario, Zidane ... but surely he was on part with Figo Nedved, in term of peak seasons: Kaka: 2004-2007 - 4 best seasons Figo: 99-02 also 4 best seasons Nedved: 02-05 4 best seasons Raul 00-03 Del Piero 97-02 Now interm of same serieA of same era: Kaka won 3x times best SerieA player of the year 04, 06 and 07 >> Del Piero 0 = Sheva 0
Kaka won it twice, in 06 it was Canna. And I don't know how legitimate the 07 win was, it was mostly on the strength of his CL perfomance ditto Canna with the WC in 06. Let's not deviate too far from the topic though, Henry's place in history.
Kaka won it 3x 2004, 2006 , 07 (as best foreigner in SerieA) - Nedved won 1 Kaka was legit won it in 07 In fact both prizes WPOY and Ballon Dor ... ok back to Henry ... who won 2x PFA (best EPL player) in 03 and 04
Probably it wasn't clear cut. Gazzetta dello Sport (which has in some circles the name to be supportive of Milan) didn't have him in the team of the season, and even not on the subs bench. He lost against names as Ibra, Totti, Toni, Mancini, Cambiasso, Stankovic. Adrian Mutu was very good in the league that season, I remember. Kaka was by the end of 2007 the highest paid Serie A player though. Mutu was #1 according to Gazzetta, Stankovic #2 and Ibra #3.
Kaka at 27 became a bench player at Real Madrid and increasingly lost playing time. Nedved and Figo were starters until their retirement.
wrong fact again Kaka was injured at time, and Mourinho could not wait but buying Ozil to replace him. After being recovered, Ozil was doing well and so Kaka gotta stay on bench - who's to blame? Mourinho
and mourinho could never beat Barca in el classico in his time there - so embarrassedly got kicked after