Summer mercato 2012
I think football as a whole has gone down in talent , 10 years ago ask who is the best players people would say , Zidane Shevchenko Rivaldo Ronaldo Nesta Figo Rui , ask now and you get Messi Ronaldo -------------big pause---------Xavi eh eh Iniesta maybe Ibra.There isn't as many as year's ago the true undoubted stand out WC players are few and very far between.
(04-05-2012, 06:53 PM)Mystik Wrote:
(04-05-2012, 04:44 PM)xudong Wrote: I guess we should invest on Italian defenders (seriously). It is just in their blood how to defend. Santon it is then. Big Grin

I would have agreed with you..ten years ago. Now? The best centrebacks and fullbacks in the world are definitely not Italian. I don't know what's gone wrong with Italian football but they just aren't producing players like they used to.

For some odd reasons, the best defenders are Brazilians. When you name top 5 RB and LB and top 10 CB. You will find Brazilian names/
OUT:
roma, mesbah, zambrotta, ambrosini, seedorf, yepes, flamini, emmanuelson, pato, lopez

IN:
criscito, astori, asamoah, montolivo, keita, hernanes, tevez

ibra, binho, tevez, cassano, el shaaraway (short loan)
boateng, hernanes, asamoah, nocerino, aquilani, montolivo, van bommel, keita, gattuso, merkel, strasser (loan)
nesta, t.silva, mexes, astori, bonera, abate, antonini, criscito
abbiati, amelia, free gk

25 players
I think nowadays, the focus of the game is more on team play and tactics than on individual talent. As a result, you probably don't find as many individually brilliant players as before. I'm probably clutching at straws here but that's all I can think of. I definitely don't see any Nestas and Maldinis nowadays though. When Pique (who is a good..but not GREAT defender) has a case to be among the top 3-5 CB's in the world..you know there's a dearth of talent, especially defensively.
Siamo a posto cosi.
I blame Sony and Microsoft these kids and their video game boxes...Well I'm off to play some Mass Effect 2 haha
Top 5 CB Defenders in World (no order)
1. Thiago Silva
2. Gerard Pique
3. Giorgio Chiellini
4. Alessandro Nesta
5. Vincent Kompany

Top 5 Fullbacks in World (no order)
1. Marcelo
2. Dani Alves
3. Sergio Ramos
4. Philip Lahm
5. Patrice Evra

Top 5 Midfielders in World (no order)
1. Arjen Robben
2. Xavi Hernandez & Andres Iniesta
3. Francesc Fabregas
4. David Silva
5. Yaya Toure

Top 5 Forward in World (no order)
1. Lionel Messi
2. Cristiano Ronaldo
3. Zlatan Ibrahimovic
4. Mario Gomez
5. Carlos Tevez
(04-05-2012, 08:00 PM)BINHO Wrote: Top 5 CB Defenders in World (no order)
1. Thiago Silva
2. Gerard Pique
3. Giorgio Chiellini
4. Alessandro Nesta
5. Vincent Kompany

Top 5 Fullbacks in World (no order)
1. Marcelo
2. Dani Alves
3. Sergio Ramos
4. Philip Lahm
5. Patrice Evra

Top 5 Midfielders in World (no order)
1. Arjen Robben
2. Xavi Hernandez & Andres Iniesta
3. Francesc Fabregas
4. David Silva
5. Yaya Toure

Top 5 Forward in World (no order)
1. Lionel Messi
2. Cristiano Ronaldo
3. Zlatan Ibrahimovic
4. Mario Gomez
5. Carlos Tevez

Would be better to make some lists like CB, RB, LB, DM, CM/AM, Winger, FW ...

Having Touré in a list with Robben and guys like Fabregas seems a bit weird as they don't play the same role at all, and Robben is more a forward actually than a midfielder (you won't see Robben do the defensive tasks).
(04-05-2012, 07:06 PM)Jay Crisp Wrote: I think football as a whole has gone down in talent , 10 years ago ask who is the best players people would say , Zidane Shevchenko Rivaldo Ronaldo Nesta Figo Rui , ask now and you get Messi Ronaldo -------------big pause---------Xavi eh eh Iniesta maybe Ibra.There isn't as many as year's ago the true undoubted stand out WC players are few and very far between.

I think the main problem is that there's never been such a talent like Messi that makes some other great players look normal or almost normal !!

I think a guy like Aguero would be among the best players in the world in a recent past, but nowadays, because of Messi, Aguero doesn't come to your mind when you want to name the best players ...

Just about the Argentinians, you have Aguero, Tevez and Higuain up front who would have been called "WC" some years ago, but they play with Messi nowadays. You can name a few players in the main countries who could be called "WC" or be among the top players some years ago ...
One should not speak ill of the dead.
So stop laughing at Juventus !
(04-05-2012, 07:46 PM)Mystik Wrote: I think nowadays, the focus of the game is more on team play and tactics than on individual talent. As a result, you probably don't find as many individually brilliant players as before. I'm probably clutching at straws here but that's all I can think of. I definitely don't see any Nestas and Maldinis nowadays though. When Pique (who is a good..but not GREAT defender) has a case to be among the top 3-5 CB's in the world..you know there's a dearth of talent, especially defensively.

I agree but I also believe it is partly due to a lack of good caoching of defenders and also due to an increase in the speed of the game which makes it more difficultfor defenders.
(04-05-2012, 04:42 PM)fLame Wrote: While it's possible to sign a player for cheap / free, it's impossible to sign a good player with no salary / with small salary. Big Grin
Mesbah is a golden example of this.

No matter if the Taiwo money were wasted, it's not a big sum.

What's funny is that out of nowhere Antonini starts to play like Maldini in his prime. Big GrinBig GrinBig Grin
If he keeps up like this, we no longer have to look for a left back and will only need to find a backup solution for now.

Recall Didac Vila or get Santon on the cheap?

Antonini do improve a lot recently,but his performance against barca 2nd leg was as atrocious as what mesbah did in his away arsenal game.antonini's talent is limited,if we want to form world best defenceline,he is still the weak link.

Mesbah's arsenal game is his only flop performance this season,actually he did more than ok against serie-a mid level teams.I don't him stay as a backup cause he is always ready and accept bench without complain,plus he doesn't have a zambrotta like wage.



May god with chinese footbball
(04-05-2012, 09:31 PM)GeoTav Wrote: ...........

wanted to make it simple, but you're right I will do again Angel
problem is some teams play with no wingers (milan) and other teams play with 3-4-3 formation so they dont use full backs.

Top 5 Center Back Defenders
1. Pique
2. Nesta
3. Thiago Silva
4. Chiellini
5. Kompany

Top 5 Left Back Defenders
1. Evra
2. Clichy
3. Kolarov
4. Marcelo
5. Coentrao

Top 5 Right Back Defenders
1. Sergio Ramos
2. Dani Alves
3. Lahm
4. Ivanovic
5. Maggio

Top 5 Central Defensive Midfielders
1. Xabi Alonso
2. Schweinsteiger
3. M'Vila
4. Mascherano
5. De Rossi

Top 5 Attacking Midfielders
1. Xavi
2. Iniesta
3. Lampard
4. Fabregas
5. Yaya Toure

Top 5 Wingers
1. Cristiano Ronaldo
2. Ribery
3. Robben
4. David Silva
5. Valencia/Di Maria

Top 5 Strikers
1. Van Persie
2. Messi
3. Rooney
4. Ibrahimovic
5. Gomez

Top 5 Goalkeepers
1. Buffon
2. Abbiati
3. Neuer
4. Casillas
5. Lloris

Honorable mention: Ozil, Cavani