do not say a word .. you're well exposed your knowledge LOL Del Sol was bought the next season, along with Agne Simonsson WC58 finalist and best Swedish player (to replace Didi )
MARCO VAN BASTEN: Greatness that could have been greater There isn’t much that can be said about Marco Van Basten that hasn’t already been said. The man is a legend. If you were a kid in the early 1990′swatching Serie A, Van Basten is one of the first names that you would have beentaught. It is synonymous with greatness. A three time Ballon D’Or winner, Van Basten was part of Milan’s golden age. Marco Van Basten was brought to Milan from Ajax in 1987 and formed a partnership with fellow Dutchmen Frank Rijkaard and Ruud Gullit. In his inaugural season, Milan won their first Scudetto in 8 years, although it was more on the accomplishments of his teammates as he was injured most of the season. The following season, fully healthy, Milan failed to win the Scudetto but were triumphant in lifting the European Cup, the predecessor to the Champions League. Van Basten played a spectacular final as he scored two goals to help secure a 4-0 victory over Steaua Bucharesti. Van Basten lifted his first Ballon D’Or, beating out fellow countrymen and Milan teammates Gullit and Rijkaard. The following year Van Basten helped Milan repeat their feat as he lifted his second straight Ballon D’Or as well as European cup. Van Basten would add a third Ballon D’Or in 1992 before injury would take its toll on him. His last game for Milan was the European Cup final against Marseille. Even though he missed out the next season and Milan won another Scudetto and European Cup. Van Basten boasts one of the most successful careers in the history of Serie A. In the six years that he featured in the squad (not including the injured year), he lifted 3 Scudetti and 2 European cups. He also became only the third person (Messi is the fourth) to win the Ballon D’Or three times. He is the last Dutch player to win the trophy. He is also the only person from Milan to win the trophy more than once. He is clearly one of, if not the greatest Milan player of all time. Had it not been for a series of injuries that cut his playing career short, there is no doubt he could have created even a greater legacy for himself. At the age of 31, he still had a couple years of quality left in him and a number of players have won the Ballon D’Or at an older age than when Van Basten retired (Nedved, Cannavaro). The footballing world was robbed when Van Basten’s injury forced him to hang up the boots.
If we see Zidane as the most elegant MF, Van Basten was the most elegant Striker ever since. Along with Gullit and Rijkaard, they formed the best trio in 80's and among the best trio's ALL TIME
Suarez on Carroll and Van Basten 19th Mar 2011 - Latest News Ajax came calling for his services in 2007 and it was in Amsterdam the striker believes he really honed his talents after receiving tutoring from decorated Dutch icons such as Marco van Basten, Dennis Bergkamp, Frank de Boer and Henk ten Cate. "Even as a kid in Uruguay I knew I would one day have to play in Europe," revealed Suarez. "And I saw Holland as a great school. I learned so much in my time in Holland and, because of the way they do things there, I don't think I would have learned as much somewhere else. "I was a selfish player. But they taught me the importance of being part of a team. Van Basten taught me a lot about how to play as a forward; about shooting techniques and about things that worked for him. His movement, his technique. "But from all of them I learned about remaining calm on the pitch; when in front of goal and also when being fouled. You have to try not to react; take a step back. I learned to control my attitude more."
According to OPTA he has the 3rd most assists in EPL history. He has 94, Lampard 101, Giggs 162. Per minute Reyes (214), Nani (222), Mata (226), are ahead of him (236). Fabregas just behind (one assist per 240 minutes).
that's right. Bergkamp's success in EPL thru Arsenal is more than what people think or just getting used to goals and trophies won. Bergkamp (along with Zidane Figo Laudrup Baggio Riquelme Ronaldinho ...) is more of a team player/ coordinator/ playmaker - he is not a "go to guy" type a la Maradona R9 Basten Romario Messi CR7 ... who can do damage on their own
Yep, thanks. It wouldn't even matter if Capello or any other manager, player, fan or so called expert came out and said Van Basten was better than R9 or vice versa, its only a persons opinion based on what they admire most in a footballer because there is no doubt than MVB and R9 are amongst the very best PLAYERS never mind centre forwards to ever play the game. My personal opinion is I thought MVB was more complete and technically better overall.
His control of the ball, accurate finishing with either foot, accuracy in heading, passing the ball, quickness and smoothness to turn a defender, his movement to create space for himself, the wide variety of different goals he is able to score on a regular basis from the spectacular to the scrappy, his ability to bring others into the game and assist with through balls or even crosses, he could take a very good free kick and penalty as well. I`ve never seen a centre forward that does so many things at such a high level, he has no weaknesses as a striker IMO and he`s the only centre forward I can say that about.
I agree ... with you in general - As said I rated Eusebio (arguably) Muller, Basten Romario and Ronaldo were the TOP5 best CF of history up to date as they were so skillful in what they did The only "weakness" of Basten in his career (besides injury) was his WC form ... other than that he was close to perfect
Yes, I agree. Shame Holland missed out on WC 86, think he got the golden boot that year with injuries not a problem by that point.... 4 WC games and 0 goals in Italia 90 really does hurt Van Basten`s all time great ranking, it doesn't hurt his ability as a player and his other achievements, only a moron could think MVB wasn't one of the very best ever, but with the WC being the biggest tournament in football and MVBs main competition for best ever CF having all done a good-great job in at least one WC (Muller, Eusebio, Ronaldo, Romario, Klinsmann).... it just wasn't to be for Marco which is a real tragedy because I really believe if not for injury in 93 he would have been at his peak for USA 94 (age 29) but I cant go on what ifs. Even with his WC failure though he has achieved enough and shown me enough in his career ability wise that I`d always have him in my dream teams. Even Messi (while the best player in the world) went the entire 2010 WC without scoring a goal, at least he got a chance to play in more than one WC though, so all in all I don't hold it too much against MVB, some things just are what they are, unfortunate.
Hello, did you see this thread that I made regarding the Ajax years? http://forums.bigsoccer.com/threads/marco-van-basten-his-years-at-ajax.1893816/page-5 In Italia90 he did have two assists by the way (but didn't play good like you say, and the whole team was in shambles). I also checked when MvB and Cruijff apparently first met each other: he was 11 years old. This encounter in itself isn't THAT strange because the size of 'de Randstad' area (i.e. the urbanized part) is fairly small (it's a populous area but the distances are small). Then three-four years later he was taken to tournaments, as explained in the Football's Greatest episode. It's very doubtful whether MvB was the biggest talent of his city Utrecht, let alone the Netherlands (see the thread I made about his Ajax years; link above), but apparently Cruijff belonged among the people who saw something in him. I'm a fan of his grace and one-touch play (which, I believe, was really superb), as well as his public presentation. Where he's always very calm, articulate, in control and makes generally a very good impression. Van Persie too: http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/...nts-his-style-to-make-him-better-9064487.html http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/fo...ie-EXCLUSIVE-Rooney-I-make-better-player.html Ibrahimovic says in his autobiography that he preferred to listen to MvB rather than Van Gaal: "One day he told me I should think more about the team while [Marco] Van Basten advised me to do the exact opposite. I asked him: ‘Should I listen to Van Gaal or a legend?’ I don’t think he liked that." http://www.tribalfootball.com/articles/ac-milan-ace-ibrahimovic-dont-compare-me-van-basten-2696501 http://forzaitalianfootball.com/201...himovic-pronounces-louis-van-gaal-a-dictator/ http://www.goal.com/en/news/10/ital...atan-ibrahimovic-marco-van-basten-is-a-legend http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/fo...an-Gaal-Arrogant-dominant-and-innovative.html [as bit of context for those remarks: it's good to know/remember that Ibra's numbers at Ajax weren't that impressive...]
It seems that the turn inflicted upon him (in 1988) made a lasting impression on Tony Adams http://www.theguardian.com/football/2000/may/28/newsstory.sport7 September 2013 choices: September 2006 choices: http://www.fourfourtwo.com/features/tony-adams-perfect-xi
Thanks for this, amazing. Coming up with a perfect 11 is one of the hardest things to do, my team constantly changes depending on formation and there is some players I hate leaving out but you cant have 7 or 8 attackers in your team, it just wouldn't work. There are a few players that always remain in my team regardless of formation though, Maldini, Baresi, Cruyff and van Basten, those guys always seem to be there.
Just funny to see Zidane as support striker - he just does not have the shots, speed to run into the area in time
Yeah I agree, I wouldn't play Zidane in that position, he simply doesn't score enough goals regularly. I wouldn't even play Platini or Zico that far up to be honest, Dalglish or Bergkamp maybe.
I don't think MVB was quite as fast as Henry but he was deceptively fast due to his tall frame, he was 6`3 in height, not sure what height Henry was to be honest but he definitely wasn't as tall as van Basten..... I think MVB was a better player (and striker) though but Henry was an all time great and brilliant player too.
I saw this in full (both highlights below show different scenes): It was a very good game by him (despite not scoring). He looked very confident here (as well as in the other leg of the tie). 'Sadly' he received a red card for elbowing and missed the two games against Marseille... At the end of the match it showed a statistic, saying he had all three shot attempts on target (and none wide).
Thanks for this, always good to see MVBs overall play, he was a very skilled and intelligent player, far more than just a goal scorer.
Marco and Fenomeno were the two great forwards in history, and only their injuries defied their bigger status potentially
Personally I think Van Basten was the more complete striker but Ronaldo was the better player, the level Ronaldo aciheved in some games in 96/97/98 only a few players have ever ever reached. I remember seing Ronaldo at PSV and then Barca and thinking he was the best player by a distance I had seen since Maradona, the only players who have achieved that since in my view have been Messi and possibly Ronaldinho in an 18 month period at Barca before he he found the cookie jar.
I would rephrase "more complete Player" (not striker) ! I can second that in the sense ... Basten was better in defensive skills than Ronaldo (in MF) and he was also better in aerial (header challenge)