He got Fabregas and the ball at almost exactly the same time, even having watched the replays over and over, it was far from obvious. I would have given him the benefit of the doubt.
Your arguments is based soley on Sagnol's caps for France (which is absolutely irrelevant to the topic at hand) and your conviction of it. Rothen hasn''t been "wretched", he was just part of an underachieving PSG team, he was still one of the standout players for the team and in Ligue 1. He's been one of France's best players since his Monaco days, that is quite some time now. And Guily is better than Micoud, however he hasn't played in Zidane's position since the 2003 Confed Cup, and with the few caps that he gets he spends it on the right wing as of late. Micoud is soley used in Zidane's role. I guess it just comes down to you having watched Sagnol for the past year, which I don't think you have. You keep sticking to the likes of Cafu and Zanetti who have been great but not nearly as compact as Sagnol has in the RB role.
i actually agree with you on this. there are alot of great players who hasnt/dont get caps for different reasons. cantona was hated by french managers and was excluded constantly, but that doesnt mean he wasnt fantastic as well. i think french national team managers are a bit strange. no doubt sagnol is better then Zebina for example -- much better -- and still he gets chosen.
And if indeed Sagnol goes to Juve he will prove there that he is the best RB, and with Zambrotta back on the left, Juventus would have the best fullback pairing in the world.
Thuram was playing on the right until recently (the WC2002, I believe). That's why Sagnol hasn't got much caps, but he's a starter for France since quite a long time.
There isn't really a standout RB in the world right now, IMO. Zambrotta, Cafu, Sagnol, Ferreira, Zanetti, and Neville are all class, but they are about as different as players in the same position can be. Zambrotta, Cafu, and Zanetti are all great going forward, but defensively, the other three, due to their conservative natures, are superior, IMO. Salgado would've been a shout a few years ago as well, but Luxa destroyed his reputation by playing him as a wingback.
neville has been solid for man utd and england for 10 yrs, neville has proven to be defensively strong as anyone in that time period. nevile is in top 3 rightbacks of the last decade, so yes the stats show nevile is better defensivly
he didn't go through him... he clearly got the ball prior to contact with Cesc. Players make the same challenge without fouls being called all the time. In fact, iirc a United midfielder probably Giggs did the exact same thing a bit earlier in the game outside the box with the same end result, got ball, no foul.
bullshiit. you know about as much of the rules of the game as the ref that night. gettin the ball first does not mean its automatic theres no foul. if that wasnt a penalty i dont know what is.
No, you know what Duck, you're right. Every Juventus player is superior in every facet of the game to every other player ever It's not down to 1 vs 1 defending or anything like that, it's just that because Neville stays back more, he doesn't leave the position as open as someone like Zambrotta would on some occasions. Unless you can tell me that Zambrotta has never made the wrong decision on when to go forward, which I find hard to believe.
I loathe Juventus, but I can tell you that Zambrotta is better defensively than Neville (and has been for about two and a half seasons). Of course, that's hard to say, because Zambrotta was playing LB until very recently, but the point stands as regards comparing full-backs controlling their respective flanks. Let me give you an idea of a typical Zambrotta performance at FB. When Juve came to the Stadio Olimpico this term, here's what he did: 1) completely shut down Roma's left-sided winger, Rodrigo Taddei; 2) completely shut down Roma's LB, Leandro Cufre; 3) poured forward menacingly on many occasions, notching two assists on crosses as Juve destroyed Roma, 4-1. I read the Gazzetta dello Sport every week, and I can't remember Zambrotta getting less than a 6.5 on any given week, and a 6.5 is exceptional by the Gazzetta's standards. When I heard that we were going to swap Cassano for Zambrotta (a rumor that came to nothing) I was ecstatic, because he's just that valuable of a player. And he never causes his teams the slightest problem. Really, I can't think of a team that wouldn't start Zambrotta as either LB or RB on pure quality. Chelsea wanted him before they bought Del Horno; he'd definitely start at Barca or Lyon, he'd put Serginho or Kaladzhe on the bench at Milan, at Inter he'd easily displace Favalli; at Madrid he'd be ahead of Salgado or Carlos, and at Man U. I think because Neville is now captain, he'd find room at LB (is that O'Shea now?). That's the kind of versatality we're talking about--on threads asking for world's best LB, he is always mentioned along with Cole or Heinze. And now he's playing RB at the same level. He's played CB for Italy, too.
Rothen is 28 I really wouldn't call that young. Honestly I think Sagnol IS when of the best in the world, whether he is THE best is another matter..
He's also been playing alongside a great defensive partnership, which helps to cover any errors he makes (which I'm sure he does), whereas Neville has played, this season at least, alongside an inconsistent Ferdinand and the error-prone Silvestre(who has been fairly solid this season, oddly enough). Neville rarely has a poor game for club or country, his positioning is excellent and he rarely gets beaten in 1 v 1 situations. He's maybe in the downswing of his career nowadays, but he is still a great defensive player. Overall, I'd give Zambrotta the nod for his ability going forward, his versatility and his defensive ability, but I think it's hard to say (about any RB) that they are better defensively than Gary Neville.
Zanetti, hands down, looks like a lot of you concur, but I was kind of sad that no one said anything at all about Finnan, not that I would choose him; but he deserves some recognition. After all Liverpool did win the the ECL and played against Sao Paolo for the World Championship.
It's definitely not "hands down" to Zanetti. Zambrotta can do anything than Zanetti can do. They are on about the same level in my book.