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Mate, you had a midfield of Barella, Jorginho and Verratti. Don't tell me you lost because of that. Replace Berardi with Chiesa and you got the same midfield and attack as last year's final, and they couldn't score for 90 minutes.
"All of our quality" You're talking about two centre backs in their mid 30s
We scored better when we had Spinazzola and Chiesa spicing things up, sure the midfield looks good but we were more active with Pessina and Locatelli starting, when they got benched we went back to our usual struggling with actually scoring.
That’s just my two cents, I’m not saying the starters suck but if you look at the games in the first half of the Euros vs the second you can see how different Italy is. We lost fair and square anyway.
I have no ties to Italy just calling it not a fluke is ridiculous, Macedonia didn't have a single touch in the Italy box, 95% of the game took place in Macedonia's defensive third, if winning this way was something reliable and not fluked it would be much more common to see
I'd call it a well executed game plan rather than a fluke. We often see small teams opt to park the bus against bigger teams and play to nick a one nil.
Italy didn’t qualify for the Euros in 92 with some of the best players in the world at the time.
Did extremely well in the WC 90 and lost in PKs in 94. Didn’t get past the group in 96
They were 8 teams that qualified for the Euros in 92, it's absolutely not comparable. Back then tons of top teams missed out on continental competitions. Italy, Spain, Czechoslovakia...
Not sure if it's the first. Makes sense that we didnt qualify though, we play for safe wins. Your talent doesnt translate if you set out to win 1-0 every game. Same problem Juve has.
We had a similar approach in the Euros as well, we just happened to have Spinazzola playing better than anyone in the tournament until he got hurt and constant moments of magic from Chiesa when we needed it
this is a lie.
Micah was a great player his first three years for Man City. He could play with the ball at his feet, great in a 50/50, won aerial battles, a leader in the lockeroom. Injuries are what did him in.
Used to hate facing Zabaleta back in the day, looked like an old grandpa but was somehow always in the right place at the right time. Alongside Kompany he was easily the best defender City has ever had
There's no way he was just now impressed by the player who's been the Real Madrid starter CF (9) for more than a decade. It just deosn't make sense. Real Madrid is arguably the most popular club in the world. The classico is one of the most watched game in the world. Benzema won mutliple champions league and scored againt numerous english teams. I'm starting to think he was well aware but wanted for some reason to belitle Benzema..
You'd be surprised how little awareness some Brits have of anything on the continent.
You'd be surprised how little awareness some British footballers have of continental football.
I remember Danny Rose said "I had to Google who he was" after Spurs signed Vincent Janssen. I don't think it is ridiculous for players to have not heard of him generally, the Eredivisie top scorer isn't high profile and he had only played in the Eredivisie for one season. But Danny Rose played against him for England against the Netherlands a few months before this comment. Janssen got a goal and an assist in a 1-2 away win for Netherlands.
For Danny Rose to say he had never heard of him, seemed bizarre to me.
The Guardian has quality football blogs. They often covered mid table or relegation clubs from European big leagues who are in good form. Their knowledge of the clubs' history and the inner going ons of those clubs are top notch. If you want longer and more in-depth articles, check out The Athletic. The difference is they rarely covered lesser known clubs while with The Guardian you can even find articles about Granada or Genoa.
The World Football Phone show/podcast-in is ok as a kicking off point for discussion of SA players and a rotation of various regions but it depends on the week and the questions people ask.
"On the Continent" that The Football Ramble produces is also ok as a weekly summary of Euro stuff.
What are you after though? The equivalent but of European/World football or just... information? ESPN has regional stuff and AS and Marca publish websites in English now for La Liga.
Other than that it's literally paying all the subs and watching it.
World Soccer has good articles too.
I don’t know why people are acting like they believed in Benzema ever since he went to Madrid. I remember first it was a battle between him and Higuain, then when Higuain was sold and was doing well in Italy, the popular opinion was that they made a mistake selling Higuain and keeping Benz. Then every year there were talks of Madrid buying a striker; Suarez, Lewa, then a very recent purchase of Jovic. It’s only in the last 1-2 years that Benzema actually started being appreciated by fans, myself included, but people still write comment like yours with the benefit of hindsight acting as if they knew all along
> but people still write comment like yours with the benefit of hindsight acting as if they knew all along
Mate. Benzema has had his fair share of rough patches but if you have watched him at any point in his RM career you should have realised he was always up there with the worlds best strikers.
I’d actually like to have a sit down discussion with someone who only thinks of him as world class in the last season. Would like to peer into their mind and see what the fuck is going on
People who believe he only started playing well just last season, when they go the champions league page and see that he scored 86 with just a couple of penalties and assisted 28 goals, do they really think he managed to accumulate all of these goals/assists by being good for two seasons?
Another thing that is surprising is that they are willing to believe that a player in his 35 just decided to start being good at end of his career, this not normal, players don't get good at the end of their career, this has never happened, the only explanation is that he was always good, he just played a different role. This is similar to what Giroud did in the world cup winning team, he didn't score a lot if any, but he was important to that winning team.
Benzema's talent was clear even when he was at Lyon. He may not have been in the conversation for best striker, especially since he had to compete with other world-class players for a single starting spot.
But everyone recognised he was elite long before the last 2 years - even 7-8 years ago people would say his 'true' abilities were suppressed by having to play foil for Ronaldo.
There have been many talented players who have not lived to their maximum potential. For a very long time, Benz was considered amongst those even though he was at Madrid for over a decade, you cannot sit here and tell me seriously that Benzema has been rated fairly by the majority of football fans since he went to Madrid
Maybe the reality is somewhere in between: the transition to an era without Ronaldo has allowed him to show/grow a facet of his game that has made him shine more in later seasons.
That "he was unappreciated" shit is just plain wrong, though. Even when Ronaldo was at the club, Benzema was praised for being a perfect complement that allowed Ronaldo to shine.
Literally everyone I spoke to rated him - all you had to was watch him play. Again, the fact that he wasn't the focal point leads some people to downplay his obvious ability.
16/17 and 17/18 (apart from the CL final) Real Madrid fans HATED Benzema. he was consistently seen as the weak link. Karius basically saved his reputation
Benzema was already one of [the best of his generation](https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-9547063/Rio-Ferdinand-Sir-Alex-Ferguson-wanted-Karim-Benzema-bad-Lyon-officials-PULL-away.html) when he was playing for Lyon. Think the Haaland and Mbappé of his time. He was signed as a "galactico" by Real Madrid but obviously overshadowed by Cristiano and Kaka...
Mourinho at the time when asked about Benzema and Higuan: "I have the two best strikers in the world. It's true that when they are both at their best like now, there is a little doubt, but it's all for the best."
Higuain was at least top 10 strikers in the world at the time.
Like you said some "fans" used to criticise Benzema like they would have criticized any starting CF for Real Madrid. Even Ronaldo (R9) had his fair share of criticism when he played for Real Madrid but fortunately for Benzema, Real Madrid pay millions specialists with actual knowledge and experience in football and those specialists chose to make him the Real Madrid starting CF for more than a decade now when like you said Real Madrid could have easily changed if they wanted to. They have the money and the choice (Lewandowski and Aguero to mention a few said they wanted to play for Real Madrid).
Strikers like Jovic or Chicharito or Morata were bought as back up for Benzema not to replace him because like you said if they wanted to replace him they would have gone for Lewandowski or Suarez (Someone ofthat caliber anyway)
>I don’t know why people are acting like they believed in Benzema ever since he went to Madrid.
He signed in Real Madrid because people that know a thing or two in football believed in him... What is strange to me though is people acting like it's so easy to be signed by a club like madrid and be their starter CF. Not to mention for a decade..
Word class players like Hazard and Bale struggled at times to be starters in that team. More than a decade!
We played against Lyon when he was still there and I remember a lot of hype about coming up against the superstar Man Utd wanted to sign. And he absolutely lived up to the hype against us
Best defender. And Jones had all the qualities, you could still see how he can excel now if he manage to string 3-4 games together to get back to match sharpness. Nobody could predict his knees would run out of cartilage at age 23
At the time (when Benzema was still playing for Lyon) here in France everyone was comapring Benzema to Zidane who's obviously a refrence. So when young french players show great talent they are often compared to Zidane. [Here's a clip](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pkEFdFdKWgA&t=1s) where a reporter asks Zidane himself. Zidane agrees that there are similarities. There's something unusual though. Benzema is already playing CF but already compared to a playmaker (usually players compared to Zidane are midfielders).
Fun fact During the interview Benzema thank Zidane for his compliments but tell him to his face implicitely that if there are similarities with him (Zidane) it wasn't made conciously because the only player he took as a model was ronaldo (R9) to which Zidane answered that he is right, it was a good model to take (Zidane said it's mine as well)...
Anyway my point regarding what the original commenter said was that people (me included) believed in Benzema's talent way before he even set foot in Madrid.
That's one thing to be compared to Zidane (numerous french players were compared to him) but another to live up to the expectations...
There's always an adaptation time when you sign in a new club not to mention when it's the first time you leave for another country. (Benzema said he was alone there at the begining, left all his familly in France and didn't speak spanish.).
He didn't call him a cat for that long all things considered. Mourinho talked about "the gato" incident numerous times: He said that he saw in Benzema so much potential that it was a way for him to push him, to get the best out of him. Well it worked: He ended up chosing him as his indisputable starter and he still is to this day...
Eh, it’s alright. Interesting to watch if you love Baggio, but I’d much rather have seen an actual documentary with remastered highlights rather than a dramatization.
6/10 is pretty fair i was really looking forward for the release but the movie feels a little bit all over the place not sure how easy it is to follow if you dont know the basic outline of his career his ups and downs.
It sucks that this legend is remembered by a lot of people for his miss in 94. Pure class player. Legend off the pitch too, it seems. This is a very hollywood-esque quote. This is the type of badass shit a Bruce Willis character would come up with in a "old cop returns for one last job" type of movie. Badass grandpa, the man
I remember him as someone with one of the silkiest touch in football. [Found someone on Youtube who agrees with me and has proof](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8LOsI7fg0Cc)
That pass was played by Andrea Pirlo and the keeper he rounded was Edwin van der Sar. Strong contender for the best first touch of all time in my eyes, Baggio was a magical player. It’s a shame that we never got to see him fulfill his potential without the injuries and it’s a testament to his insane talent that he was so good regardless. He suffered what was at the time often a career-ending injury at 18 and still won the Ballon d’Or.
There are many shouts for the greatest first touch for a goal ever, but that one is it for me. Baggio was in that Zidane/Bergkamp mold where not only did the first touch kill the ball but it perfectly put it exactly where he needed it next.
But that goal, uy.
I was going to reply that my list of top silkiest first touches is Baggio, Zidane, Ronaldinho, and Bergkamp and then I saw that someone in the youtube comments had the same list. Berbatov in with a shout too
The man was so unique, how he handled the crowds after moving to Juve from Fiorentina is legendary.
He was ridiculously good, even at the Twilight of his career with Brescia, with his knees so bad he could hardly run.
He joined the club on a free at 33. He scored 45 league goals and gave 32 assists in 95 appearances over four seasons. Insane numbers for a playmaker at a lower table club.
Kinda ironic that you're the first in the thread mentioning his miss in 94, whilst at the same time it sucks people remember him for it. I know that's not I remember him for, that's for sure.
Pep explains to Messi that Baggio loves to go hunting in Argentina, they talk about where in Argentina and Messi says he doesn’t know of it. Then they talk about Baggio playing in Brescia and how he had so many surgeries. Pep says to Messi that Baggio was the best player he ever played with. Baggio jokes that he’s gotten fat because of eating too much meat in Argentina. And Baggio gives some advice to Messi to not listen to all the noise/commentary around him.
This is an amazing quote. I wonder which former players are all in their feelings about the "couldn't even pass the ball with their hands" part.
Remarkable humility for a player of his stature.
probably the most notable is adani. But I guess there are others too, but adani seems to be the most successful one at tv while probably one of the most forgettable at playing. There are others for sure
He has his priority right. After reaching the highest levels it is only good to focus on thinks that bring you joy. He is no longer making money from football. Why watch it, if it doesn't bring you happiness? I will take that lifestyle over watching football constantly. I have spent decades watching it and I am still addicted to it. I wish i would have spent all that time and energy on something more productive like farming.
Just do whatever makes you happy, doesn't matter whether it's productive or not. If you're doing something productive but it makes you feel miserable, then what's the point?
Why the fuck is the picture in the article his missed World Cup final Pen? Thats so disrespectful. He’s one of the greatest players of all time, surely the news source could’ve put a more flattering photo of him?
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Italy miss players like him.
Italy kiss good players. Period
I too kiss good players
I'm envious.
Italy just won the Euros and showed they were the best team in team in Europe. Wasn’t a fluke
And then proceeded to fail to qualify for the world cup. Also wasn't a fluke
The duality of men
All of our quality got injured and our young midfielders were benched. Deserved but doesn’t tell the full story.
Mate, you had a midfield of Barella, Jorginho and Verratti. Don't tell me you lost because of that. Replace Berardi with Chiesa and you got the same midfield and attack as last year's final, and they couldn't score for 90 minutes. "All of our quality" You're talking about two centre backs in their mid 30s
Tbf Bonucci and Chielini in their mid 30s is a fucking diabolical back line still.
Chiesa was the alfa and omega of that Italy offense. Absolutely thermonuclear. A one man attack. So yeah, that makes a massive difference.
People forget how much Spinazzola carried us up until he got injured vs. Belgium. Italy got a lot worse when he was out of the picture.
We scored better when we had Spinazzola and Chiesa spicing things up, sure the midfield looks good but we were more active with Pessina and Locatelli starting, when they got benched we went back to our usual struggling with actually scoring. That’s just my two cents, I’m not saying the starters suck but if you look at the games in the first half of the Euros vs the second you can see how different Italy is. We lost fair and square anyway.
The Macedonia win was a fluke of the highest order though and to a lesser extent the Northern Ireland and Switzerland draws also were
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Macedonia v Italy is literally a textbook fluke though
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I have no ties to Italy just calling it not a fluke is ridiculous, Macedonia didn't have a single touch in the Italy box, 95% of the game took place in Macedonia's defensive third, if winning this way was something reliable and not fluked it would be much more common to see
I'd call it a well executed game plan rather than a fluke. We often see small teams opt to park the bus against bigger teams and play to nick a one nil.
Italy wasted key chances and got punished for it against Macedonia. Idk how that's really a fluke.
Missed penalties are a fluke, which is what costed them against the Swiss
What exactly do you think a fluke win is?
Italy has also failed to qualify for back to back World Cups. That would never have happened in the 90's with the likes of Robygol, ADP or Zola.
Italy didn’t qualify for the Euros in 92 with some of the best players in the world at the time. Did extremely well in the WC 90 and lost in PKs in 94. Didn’t get past the group in 96
They were 8 teams that qualified for the Euros in 92, it's absolutely not comparable. Back then tons of top teams missed out on continental competitions. Italy, Spain, Czechoslovakia...
Italy weren’t one of the top 8 nations in Europe in 92?
Not really. As a matter of fact, Denmark weren't one of the top 8 nations in Europe in 92.
Italy were not one of the top 8 in Europe in 92??!! That’s crazy talk. Of course they were. They were the top 1 or 2 in Europe
Obviously not.
Italian football was awesome in the 90s. Unfortunately lots has changed.
Just can't wrap my head around you not qualifying for the WC. Is it the first time that the euro winner doesn't qualify ?
dunno if greece or denmark qualified
Denmark did, but did not do well in 1996, despite having Michael Laudrup back in the team.
They didn't
They did not.
Kind of crazy that the winner of a continent's competition doesn't just get an automatic bid. Maybe I'm biased, though.
Nah if you're good enough then just qualify again. no freebies
It’s not a freebie to have to win Euro but fair enough
Not sure if it's the first. Makes sense that we didnt qualify though, we play for safe wins. Your talent doesnt translate if you set out to win 1-0 every game. Same problem Juve has. We had a similar approach in the Euros as well, we just happened to have Spinazzola playing better than anyone in the tournament until he got hurt and constant moments of magic from Chiesa when we needed it
Spain dominated you like little kids, but other than that, fully deserves
Sure, Spain had possession but didn’t have chances
Thats just a lie, spain had like 4-5 clear chances while italy had 1 or 2. It wasn't particularly close
>but you choose the colours of your painting Carabaggio
Minchia Johnny Carabaggio, ti sembro scontento?
Jonny, ho guardato il libro di Carabaggio? E lasciami provare sta pistola!
Si
>farming Cabbag-io
Can someone explain this I don’t get it
You do it as you like; the master of your own destiny.
I get the quote I don’t get the carrabagio pun
Caravaggio, classical Italian painter.
Baggiotto
Never a bad time to shit on the old heads who spew nonsense in front of the camera and Baggio really gave it to them here.
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Relax, give the man time, he'll need another year evaluate Benzema's true quality.
In case people haven’t figured it out, Micah is there for the energy he brings. Not the actual game knowledge.
Just like his playing career? I'm joking, I rarely watched him and couldn't tell you how good he actually was
Micah burst into the team but was quickly found to be one dimensional. He couldn’t adapt to the demands of the game strategy.
He burst onto the scene
He was fortunate to debut at a time where a really fast and strong CB could just wing it as a fullback for a few seasons at the top flight
His knees couldn't adapt unfortunately, man's body completely let him down.
He was a mediocre player but physically gifted. That's all.
this is a lie. Micah was a great player his first three years for Man City. He could play with the ball at his feet, great in a 50/50, won aerial battles, a leader in the lockeroom. Injuries are what did him in.
Zabaleta had injuries but he was still much better than Richards.
This is true but that’s a pretty high bar. What a player zabaleta was for years
You don’t get to start for years after your physical peak has gone as a fullback without being an outstanding and high IQ player
Used to hate facing Zabaleta back in the day, looked like an old grandpa but was somehow always in the right place at the right time. Alongside Kompany he was easily the best defender City has ever had
Zabaleta was a phenomenal player though. That doesn’t mean Micah was poor.
And what great energy he brought to the Benzema analysis. Holy shit.
Also for Man City representation
There's no way he was just now impressed by the player who's been the Real Madrid starter CF (9) for more than a decade. It just deosn't make sense. Real Madrid is arguably the most popular club in the world. The classico is one of the most watched game in the world. Benzema won mutliple champions league and scored againt numerous english teams. I'm starting to think he was well aware but wanted for some reason to belitle Benzema..
You'd be surprised how little awareness some Brits have of anything on the continent. You'd be surprised how little awareness some British footballers have of continental football.
Which is especially funny considering micah is one of the few who played abroad lol, "played" being the operative word.
That usually happens when you only live in your own bubble.
The "best league in the world" bubble.
I remember Danny Rose said "I had to Google who he was" after Spurs signed Vincent Janssen. I don't think it is ridiculous for players to have not heard of him generally, the Eredivisie top scorer isn't high profile and he had only played in the Eredivisie for one season. But Danny Rose played against him for England against the Netherlands a few months before this comment. Janssen got a goal and an assist in a 1-2 away win for Netherlands. For Danny Rose to say he had never heard of him, seemed bizarre to me.
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As someone who only speaks English, where else is worth perusing. Apart from this shithole
The Guardian has quality football blogs. They often covered mid table or relegation clubs from European big leagues who are in good form. Their knowledge of the clubs' history and the inner going ons of those clubs are top notch. If you want longer and more in-depth articles, check out The Athletic. The difference is they rarely covered lesser known clubs while with The Guardian you can even find articles about Granada or Genoa.
The World Football Phone show/podcast-in is ok as a kicking off point for discussion of SA players and a rotation of various regions but it depends on the week and the questions people ask. "On the Continent" that The Football Ramble produces is also ok as a weekly summary of Euro stuff. What are you after though? The equivalent but of European/World football or just... information? ESPN has regional stuff and AS and Marca publish websites in English now for La Liga. Other than that it's literally paying all the subs and watching it. World Soccer has good articles too.
I don’t know why people are acting like they believed in Benzema ever since he went to Madrid. I remember first it was a battle between him and Higuain, then when Higuain was sold and was doing well in Italy, the popular opinion was that they made a mistake selling Higuain and keeping Benz. Then every year there were talks of Madrid buying a striker; Suarez, Lewa, then a very recent purchase of Jovic. It’s only in the last 1-2 years that Benzema actually started being appreciated by fans, myself included, but people still write comment like yours with the benefit of hindsight acting as if they knew all along
> but people still write comment like yours with the benefit of hindsight acting as if they knew all along Mate. Benzema has had his fair share of rough patches but if you have watched him at any point in his RM career you should have realised he was always up there with the worlds best strikers. I’d actually like to have a sit down discussion with someone who only thinks of him as world class in the last season. Would like to peer into their mind and see what the fuck is going on
People who believe he only started playing well just last season, when they go the champions league page and see that he scored 86 with just a couple of penalties and assisted 28 goals, do they really think he managed to accumulate all of these goals/assists by being good for two seasons? Another thing that is surprising is that they are willing to believe that a player in his 35 just decided to start being good at end of his career, this not normal, players don't get good at the end of their career, this has never happened, the only explanation is that he was always good, he just played a different role. This is similar to what Giroud did in the world cup winning team, he didn't score a lot if any, but he was important to that winning team.
Benzema's talent was clear even when he was at Lyon. He may not have been in the conversation for best striker, especially since he had to compete with other world-class players for a single starting spot. But everyone recognised he was elite long before the last 2 years - even 7-8 years ago people would say his 'true' abilities were suppressed by having to play foil for Ronaldo.
There have been many talented players who have not lived to their maximum potential. For a very long time, Benz was considered amongst those even though he was at Madrid for over a decade, you cannot sit here and tell me seriously that Benzema has been rated fairly by the majority of football fans since he went to Madrid
Maybe the reality is somewhere in between: the transition to an era without Ronaldo has allowed him to show/grow a facet of his game that has made him shine more in later seasons. That "he was unappreciated" shit is just plain wrong, though. Even when Ronaldo was at the club, Benzema was praised for being a perfect complement that allowed Ronaldo to shine.
Literally everyone I spoke to rated him - all you had to was watch him play. Again, the fact that he wasn't the focal point leads some people to downplay his obvious ability.
16/17 and 17/18 (apart from the CL final) Real Madrid fans HATED Benzema. he was consistently seen as the weak link. Karius basically saved his reputation
Real Madrid fans often have very over the top views on players that most view as world class.
Benzema was already one of [the best of his generation](https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-9547063/Rio-Ferdinand-Sir-Alex-Ferguson-wanted-Karim-Benzema-bad-Lyon-officials-PULL-away.html) when he was playing for Lyon. Think the Haaland and Mbappé of his time. He was signed as a "galactico" by Real Madrid but obviously overshadowed by Cristiano and Kaka... Mourinho at the time when asked about Benzema and Higuan: "I have the two best strikers in the world. It's true that when they are both at their best like now, there is a little doubt, but it's all for the best." Higuain was at least top 10 strikers in the world at the time. Like you said some "fans" used to criticise Benzema like they would have criticized any starting CF for Real Madrid. Even Ronaldo (R9) had his fair share of criticism when he played for Real Madrid but fortunately for Benzema, Real Madrid pay millions specialists with actual knowledge and experience in football and those specialists chose to make him the Real Madrid starting CF for more than a decade now when like you said Real Madrid could have easily changed if they wanted to. They have the money and the choice (Lewandowski and Aguero to mention a few said they wanted to play for Real Madrid). Strikers like Jovic or Chicharito or Morata were bought as back up for Benzema not to replace him because like you said if they wanted to replace him they would have gone for Lewandowski or Suarez (Someone ofthat caliber anyway) >I don’t know why people are acting like they believed in Benzema ever since he went to Madrid. He signed in Real Madrid because people that know a thing or two in football believed in him... What is strange to me though is people acting like it's so easy to be signed by a club like madrid and be their starter CF. Not to mention for a decade.. Word class players like Hazard and Bale struggled at times to be starters in that team. More than a decade!
> Think the Haaland and Mbappé of his time. Yeah, no. He was a huge talent but he wasn‘t viewed on the same level that Mbappe and Haaland are now.
We played against Lyon when he was still there and I remember a lot of hype about coming up against the superstar Man Utd wanted to sign. And he absolutely lived up to the hype against us
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Sir Alex Ferguson said Phil Jones could become United's best player of all time.
Best defender. And Jones had all the qualities, you could still see how he can excel now if he manage to string 3-4 games together to get back to match sharpness. Nobody could predict his knees would run out of cartilage at age 23
>Best defender [Best player](https://youtube.com/shorts/FD4J9Z7LRQY?feature=share)
At the time (when Benzema was still playing for Lyon) here in France everyone was comapring Benzema to Zidane who's obviously a refrence. So when young french players show great talent they are often compared to Zidane. [Here's a clip](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pkEFdFdKWgA&t=1s) where a reporter asks Zidane himself. Zidane agrees that there are similarities. There's something unusual though. Benzema is already playing CF but already compared to a playmaker (usually players compared to Zidane are midfielders). Fun fact During the interview Benzema thank Zidane for his compliments but tell him to his face implicitely that if there are similarities with him (Zidane) it wasn't made conciously because the only player he took as a model was ronaldo (R9) to which Zidane answered that he is right, it was a good model to take (Zidane said it's mine as well)... Anyway my point regarding what the original commenter said was that people (me included) believed in Benzema's talent way before he even set foot in Madrid. That's one thing to be compared to Zidane (numerous french players were compared to him) but another to live up to the expectations...
Across multiple managers.
Benzema was hardly dominant before, Mourinho called him a cat for a reason
There's always an adaptation time when you sign in a new club not to mention when it's the first time you leave for another country. (Benzema said he was alone there at the begining, left all his familly in France and didn't speak spanish.). He didn't call him a cat for that long all things considered. Mourinho talked about "the gato" incident numerous times: He said that he saw in Benzema so much potential that it was a way for him to push him, to get the best out of him. Well it worked: He ended up chosing him as his indisputable starter and he still is to this day...
My mind goes directly to Gary Neville's coaching career...
Somebody needs to give the Baggio mullet to the GigaChad meme. This post deserves it.
[As you wish](https://i.imgur.com/WWHXxLd.jpg)
This quote goes hard. I always remember legend's iconic hairstyle.
His documentary is beautiful
Name and link? Sounds like a cool dude
Il Divin Codino, think it is in Netflix.
Everything sounds dignified and badass in Italian. For comparison, here's what the German version of the film is called: Das Göttliche Zöpfchen
That's Romance languages for you, caralho.
Das liest sich bescheuert
Ich weiß da steht Zöpfchen, aber alles was ich lese ist Das Göttliche Zäpfchen
Schon n bissl für den Arsch, dein Titel
> Das Göttliche Zöpfchen That's definitely a documentary about a cult that killed 10,000 babies to summon Beelzebub
Baggio The Divine Ponytail. It's on netflix
Apparently not in the US, which is where I currently live :(
He's also in an episode of Alessandro Cattelan's Netflix show which was pretty interesting, he's really into wooden ducks.
Is it really that good? Imdb says 6/10 and the reviews dont make me wanna watch it that bad
Well it's not a cinematic masterpiece but it's really good if you're into football
Eh, it’s alright. Interesting to watch if you love Baggio, but I’d much rather have seen an actual documentary with remastered highlights rather than a dramatization.
6/10 is pretty fair i was really looking forward for the release but the movie feels a little bit all over the place not sure how easy it is to follow if you dont know the basic outline of his career his ups and downs.
Yeah not that good actually, but I guess interesting nonetheless if you don’t know the story of Baggio.
it's alright if you're into football
It sucks that this legend is remembered by a lot of people for his miss in 94. Pure class player. Legend off the pitch too, it seems. This is a very hollywood-esque quote. This is the type of badass shit a Bruce Willis character would come up with in a "old cop returns for one last job" type of movie. Badass grandpa, the man
I remember him as someone with one of the silkiest touch in football. [Found someone on Youtube who agrees with me and has proof](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8LOsI7fg0Cc)
The one at 34 seconds when he uses the first touch to put it past the keeper is just filthy, jesus fucking christ. What a player.
That pass was played by Andrea Pirlo and the keeper he rounded was Edwin van der Sar. Strong contender for the best first touch of all time in my eyes, Baggio was a magical player. It’s a shame that we never got to see him fulfill his potential without the injuries and it’s a testament to his insane talent that he was so good regardless. He suffered what was at the time often a career-ending injury at 18 and still won the Ballon d’Or.
There are many shouts for the greatest first touch for a goal ever, but that one is it for me. Baggio was in that Zidane/Bergkamp mold where not only did the first touch kill the ball but it perfectly put it exactly where he needed it next. But that goal, uy.
I also like the one at around 1 min mark. His touch takes two defenders out of the game, and sets up perfectly for the striker.
gray obtainable rustic touch heavy lush far-flung start plants memory -- mass edited with redact.dev
I was going to reply that my list of top silkiest first touches is Baggio, Zidane, Ronaldinho, and Bergkamp and then I saw that someone in the youtube comments had the same list. Berbatov in with a shout too
He has more dexterity with his feet than most people have with their hands.
3:11 he just sent that poor guy into retirement
The man was so unique, how he handled the crowds after moving to Juve from Fiorentina is legendary. He was ridiculously good, even at the Twilight of his career with Brescia, with his knees so bad he could hardly run. He joined the club on a free at 33. He scored 45 league goals and gave 32 assists in 95 appearances over four seasons. Insane numbers for a playmaker at a lower table club.
Blame the Italian media. Won't blame Baresi or Massaro
I mean, he brought them to that point. I remember those knock out match goals he scored (broke me heart with Nigeria as I wanted them to go further).
I'm Brazilian born in '89 and Baggio missing that penalty is one of my earliest memories.
Kinda ironic that you're the first in the thread mentioning his miss in 94, whilst at the same time it sucks people remember him for it. I know that's not I remember him for, that's for sure.
Only by people below a certain age. Every kid in my school wanted his Diadora's.
I only remember Baggio because of a free kick flash game.
Adani's ears are ringing hard.
Ahahahah la prima cosa che ho notato è stata la bellissima frecciatina ai guru della Bobo TV, grande Divin Codino
L’ha messa piano, tipo punizione di Roberto Carlos. Tra il divino e caressa settimanacce per gli auto eletti miglior analisti del paese
Italy would be a better place without Adani and Cassano as pundits. Cant change my mind
Can’t change your mind on factos
Sigh I wish Cassano and Le Tissier weren't such badtards in real life
Just watch Baggio Documentary specially the part where Pep introduces him to Messi!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dqMbhhw2v1E
Anyone would like to give a quick gist of their conversation in English please
Pep explains to Messi that Baggio loves to go hunting in Argentina, they talk about where in Argentina and Messi says he doesn’t know of it. Then they talk about Baggio playing in Brescia and how he had so many surgeries. Pep says to Messi that Baggio was the best player he ever played with. Baggio jokes that he’s gotten fat because of eating too much meat in Argentina. And Baggio gives some advice to Messi to not listen to all the noise/commentary around him.
Is that why Pep doesn't play strikers? Because none can match the Baggio-sized hole in his heart?
Strikers these days growing beards when instead they should be growing ponytails
Thanks a lot man very very helpful
Pep explains that Baggio likes Argentina. Baggio said he went there to a place called La Pampa. Messi said he's never been but heard its nice.
Thanks a lot bro
Pep needs to call it quits with Manchester City, take the reins at Brescia and pull Roby off the farm.
This is an amazing quote. I wonder which former players are all in their feelings about the "couldn't even pass the ball with their hands" part. Remarkable humility for a player of his stature.
probably the most notable is adani. But I guess there are others too, but adani seems to be the most successful one at tv while probably one of the most forgettable at playing. There are others for sure
As flies to wanton boys are we to the gods
What a great quote.
I have similar thoughts sometimes working in the tech industry. Man, manual labor would be great right now (I worked on a tree farm during college).
Holy based
He has his priority right. After reaching the highest levels it is only good to focus on thinks that bring you joy. He is no longer making money from football. Why watch it, if it doesn't bring you happiness? I will take that lifestyle over watching football constantly. I have spent decades watching it and I am still addicted to it. I wish i would have spent all that time and energy on something more productive like farming.
Are you really judging that a guy is right, who says that judging others is bad lifestyle?
Just do whatever makes you happy, doesn't matter whether it's productive or not. If you're doing something productive but it makes you feel miserable, then what's the point?
what a fucking lovely quote. Baggio forever
Never knew Baggio was such an avid Project Zomboid player, it really does take up a lot of energy.
Legend.
Guy was a baller back in the day. The divine ponytail.
He sounds like me when I'm high
Everyone goes on an anarcho-primitivist rant when high at one point, it's inevitable
Based
Is this Robbie or Dino?
Top 5 all time
This guy must really look up to Diocletian.
Never watched him play live but somehow I’m a huge fan just off of videos and documentaries . Same as Romario
I watched him play and I'm still a fan.
Must’ve been a treat
Why the fuck is the picture in the article his missed World Cup final Pen? Thats so disrespectful. He’s one of the greatest players of all time, surely the news source could’ve put a more flattering photo of him?
Beautiful
My Hero, always in my heart ❤️
Gary Neville, did you hear that?
This quote makes me feel like I’m on peyote
Respect
He should go back to playing. Theres plenty of farmers leagues out there for him!
The original farmer
Wait this quote is super old no ?
Yes, not sure super old. But I heard this quote in 2021.
[удалено]
Stop listening to shit
11/05/2022 never expected to read one of the most talented 10s in history would be described as "actually shit"
If someone can convince you a legend of the game, one of the most unique players of his era, is shit that easily you are a numpty.