These are some of mine:

  1. Pepe was actually a better defender than Ramos, but Ramos’ knack for important goals (not a defender’s job) and what he won with Spain made him the better player in people’s eyes.

  2. Courtois should have been in the top 3 of the ballon D’or ranking in 2022.

  3. Xavi was a more complete midfielder than Iniesta. He pressed better, controlled games better, gave better weighted passes, and was also a good dribbler when pressed (Iniesta was the better dribbler overall). I’d say he was the better one.

  4. Modric and Kroos have far bigger careers with Madrid than Zidane did.

  5. Zidane and Ronaldinho were great players but were sometimes frustrating to watch and ineffective even in their primes. Their convoluted style of doing simple things made them highlight champions.

  6. Luis Garcia generally played the biggest role in taking Liverpool to the UCL final in 2005, but his name is hardly mentioned when that UCL win is mentioned (Gerrard, the Scouse, vs Garcia, the foreigner)

  7. Pique was a better defender than Puyol. The latter was prone to mistakes and making rash decisions, while Pique was far more intelligent.

  8. Eto’o had a bigger impact in Barca than Suarez did. The former came in 2004 when Barca hadn’t won the league since ‘99. He became the league top scorer for two straight seasons as Barca won the league, then the league and UCL double. He also won the treble in 2008/09. Suarez, on the other hand, came when Barca were already dominant, but just having a bad spell.

  9. Gerrard dived for the penalty which led to Liverpool’s equalizer in 2005 UCL final.

  10. Carvalho is the most underrated defender in his generation. He was basically Mourinho’s wingman.

  11. If Lampard played in this age, with those same stats, he’d be recognized as the best amongst the three.

What are yours?

  • HaxboyYT@alien.topBEnglish
    1·
    1 year ago

    1. Kroos has been the best and most consistent midfielder in the world for the past decade or so but he doesn’t get as much credit because he’s not as flashy as Modric. I honestly think Kroos is better than Modric and that he’s a top 3 passer of all time, top 5 at worst.

    2. CR7 is an underrated playmaker because he gets compared to Messi and so is stuck with this pure goalscorer label. If Messi didn’t exist, Ronaldo would be considered a top 5 playmaker amongst attackers of all time.

    3. The Ballon Dor is an overrated award with no consistency whatsoever unless the winner is absolutely clear cut like Benzema 2022. In 2021, Lewandowski absolutely deserved that Ballon Dor but then we were told that past seasons (like 2020) shouldn’t matter. Fast forward to 2023 and Messi wins again because he’s Messi and he won the WC. I thought the history of the player didn’t matter? Switch Messi’s season with any other player (except maybe Ronaldo) and Haaland is winning his first.

    4. The world class players directly under the Ronaldo and Messi level like Lewandowski, Suarez, Neymar, Neuer, Salah, De Bruyne, etc would be considered all time greats, as in top 20 if not top 10 if they played in any other era, and are better than a lot of players in that category.

    5. Man United are going to finish top 4 this season ahead of Chelsea, Spurs and Villa. We haven’t won a single game convincingly this season so far and yet we’re only 5 points off Spurs who’s currently 4th. Once our injured are back, we will stumble our way to a UCL spot and will surpass Spurs whose next 4 games are City, Villa, West Ham and Newcastle.

    6. There is no European top 5. It’s a top 4 of the Prem, Serie A, La Liga and the Bundesliga. The next three are on the same level (Ligue 1, the Portuguese league and Eredivisie). It should be the European top 4 and the Other 3.

    7. The definition of “World Class” shouldn’t be a player who walks into any team, but a player who is top 5 in the world in their respective position. This is easier to agree with and more objective because some players just won’t fit in other systems, e.g. Trent AA.