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11 months agoBalotelli vs that bib.
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Cake day: October 28th, 2023
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IIRC when Leeds signed Rio Ferdinand there was a lot of fans, pundits, press that thought Woodgate was the better defender for much of their partnership. When Woodgate was in top form he was a very classy CB. Unfortunately the injuries ruined him.
This is going back a bit, and I remember at the time the press asking why, but Liverpool signing David Speedie. It kinda started off Liverpool’s decline, after dominating for fifteen years, and also started off a twenty year period of distinctly average, strange signings.
I wouldn’t say it was unfair, as they were pretty dire at the time, but when Wolves sacked Mick McCarthy. One of the first things out of a director’s mouth when it happened was “we need somebody like Mick McCarthy” which is one of the dumbest things I’ve ever heard.
They had no back up plan, got in caretaker managers who hadn’t the faintest clue, and went from dire to being utterly terrible. It sent them on a spiral to the third tier and took them a good while to get back to where they are now.
As a Baggies supporter it was quite fun to watch.
Beckham for England against Greece in 2001 is a big shout.
The rest of the England players were absolutely awful in that game, Beckham realised this and went on a one man crusade to drag England kicking and screaming into the 2002 World Cup. He was absolutely everywhere on the pitch, defending like a CB, spraying balls around like he always did and the instigator of every single attack. And then to smack a 30 yard free kick into the top corner in the dying seconds to salvage a draw and qualify England for the WC
He became a national hero from that match, which is remarkable given how much he was hated after the 98 WC sending off. It’s one of the best, if not the best, redemption stories in football.
Another would be Rooney against France in Euro 2004. England lost the match (still don’t know how) but an 18 year old Rooney absolutely battered France. I remember Thuram, a world class defender, coming off the pitch looking absolutely shagged out - Rooney ran him ragged. Even Thierry Henry admits in the Rooney documentary that he has no idea how France won as “England murdered us”.