Great Teams from Down the Years that could beat anyone on their day - but maybe didn't

bazalini

The Baz Man - He made us laugh 2000 - 2012
Joined
May 17, 2000
Messages
24,588
Location
Dines out
I am looking teams in which anyone with any knowledge of the given sport will go - WOW - together on their day that team would have beaten anyone. Reason I am starting this thread is - because I am a geek & I can name all this these players



I will start off with the 91-92-93 Sheffield Wednesday Team. On Paper Ron Atkinson and Trevor Francis had assembled some of the best young talent in the game, while had about 5-6 journey men who were coming to the end of their careers. They won the Rumblelows Cup in 92 and went on to Lose the FA Cup and League cup Final the following year

Goals - Chris Woods / Pressman
Defenders - Des Walker, Nigel Pearson, Viv Anderson, Paul Warhurst, Nigel Worthington, Shirtliff, Roland Neilson
Midfielders - Chris Waddle, Danny Wilson, Carlton Palmer, John Sheridan John Harkes, Graham Hyde, Chris Bart William
Strikers - Mark Bright, David Hirst, Paul Williams, Nigel Jemson

Ron Atkinson said in his autobiography that the team he had assembled with Wednesday were individually one of the most gifted teams he ever managed.
 
Last edited:

bazalini

The Baz Man - He made us laugh 2000 - 2012
Joined
May 17, 2000
Messages
24,588
Location
Dines out


The Meath Gaelic Football team of the Late 80's

Dublin was Great in '88 but Cork were Tragic while Meath was Magic

Under the Guidance of the Lovable Dunboyne Herbal Whack Sean Boylan - Meath won Back to back All-Ireland in @87 & 88 and runners up in 90& 91. A team who would beat the crap out of the opposition and I reckon if put together now they would be a match for any of the Division 4 league teams.

Absolute beasts from Mick Lyons to Martin O'Connell to Liam Hayes. People talk about Kerry of the 80's, Cavan of the 30's & 40's, Down of the 60's, Cork of the late 80's Dublin in recent years - but for me Meath on their day would have beaten anyone.

88 team - Michael McQuillan, Robbie O'Malley, Mick Lyons, Terry Ferguson, Colm Coyle, Liam Harnan, Martin O'Connell, Liam Hayes, Gerry McEntee, David Beggy, Joe Cassells, PJ Gillic, Colm O'Rourke, Brain Stafford, Bernard Flynn - Add in the Likes of Mattie McCabe, Brendan Reilly, Kevin Foley & Joe Cassells
 

Inigo Montoya

Leave Wayne Rooney alone!!
Joined
Oct 1, 2008
Messages
38,543
The Green Bay Packers under Vince Lombardi were an outstanding team. Just before they merged the two leagues and had the first Super Bowl, they were far and away the best team around
 

bazalini

The Baz Man - He made us laugh 2000 - 2012
Joined
May 17, 2000
Messages
24,588
Location
Dines out

Vidyoyo

The bad "V"
Joined
Jun 12, 2014
Messages
21,283
Location
Not into locations = will not dwell
Roma's team from 05-06

GK: Doni
LB: Chivu
CB: Sami Kuffour
CB: Philippe Mexes
RB: Panucci
DM: De Rossi
CM: Perrotti
AM: Totti
RW: Mancini
LW: Taddei
ST: Cassano/Montella

Great first team, poor squad depth. Most fun team to play with in FIFA, PES and Footy Manager at the time.
 

Slevs

likes to play with penises
Joined
Apr 5, 2010
Messages
28,203
Location
Boyo
The Sacramento Kings in the early 2000s. How that team never won a championship is beyond me.

White Chocolate, Christie, Chris fking Webber, Stojakovic, Divac.
 

Dr. Dwayne

Self proclaimed tagline king.
Joined
May 9, 2006
Messages
97,254
Location
Nearer my Cas, to thee
Really appreciate the level you both have went in to to support your arguments. A**eholes


The Stanley Cup Champion 1983-84 Oilers were the first team with three 50-goal scorers: Gretzky (87), linemate Jari Kurri (52) and Glenn Anderson (54). Defenseman Paul Coffey's 40 allowed them to tie the record of four 40-goal scorers they set in 1982-83. The Oilers also tied the NHL record of four 100-point scorers, with Gretzky (205) topping 200 points for the second time and winning his fourth Art Ross Trophy to go with his fifth Hart Trophy.

Gretzky also had a 51-game point streak, still the NHL record, as is his 1.18 goals-per-game average. Edmonton was even dangerous when playing down a man: The Oilers' 36 shorthanded goals are still the single-season NHL record.

from nhl.com
 
Last edited:

Florida Man

Cartoon expert and crap superhero
Joined
Jan 24, 2014
Messages
13,863
Location
Florida, man
2012 Denver Broncos. One of the most exciting offenses I've ever witnessed.
Ignore the shitty music
 

Invictus

Poster of the Year 2015 & 2018
Staff
Joined
Mar 22, 2014
Messages
15,230
Supports
Piracy on the High Seas.
Dynamo Kiev in the late '90s, IMO ⁠— during the third and final Lobanovskyi period. For context, they had failed to reach the deep end of the European Cup since the 1986/87 season, when they lost to eventual winners Porto in the semi-finals. But that changed in dramatic fashion — as they beat Advocaat's PSV with Nilis, and Stam and Cocu, and then famously thrashed Barcelona, who had players like Figo and Rivaldo and Enrique and Ferrer, 7-0 on aggregate...



Drew 1-1 with Lippi's great Juventus, which had Zidane and Del Piero and Davids and Inzaghi and Montero, in the first leg of the Quarter-finals in Turin...but beaten quite handily in the end. Though all things considered they obviously gave a very good account of themselves.

Next season (United's Treble season for context), they went a step further — topped group E (which also contained Wenger's Arsenal)...and beat then Champions League holders Real Madrid, who had incredible players like Raúl and Redondo and Carlos and Hierro and Sanchís! Lost 3-4 to Bayern in the semi-finals, but again — punched above their weight and took down some traditional giants (proving they could overcome just about any opposition on their day).



Shevchenko, and Rebrov/Kaladze, are in all likelihood the only well known names from the team these days...

Shovkovskiy (GK) 2 Luzhny (C) 4 Holovko 5 Vaschuk 7 Kaladze 9 Kosovskiy 10 Shevchenko 11 Rebrov 14 Gusin 15 Khatskevich 18 Kardash 24 Belkevich 30 Yashkin

https://www.uefa.com/uefachampionsleague/match/56074--dynamo-kyiv-vs-real-madrid/?referrer=/uefachampionsleague/season=1998/matches/round=1212/match=56074/

P.S. To further put those wins into perspective, they were far removed from the financial capabilities of the teams they beat over those 2 campaigns:

 
Last edited:

RedBanker

I love you Ole
Joined
Dec 13, 2017
Messages
2,636
The South African Cricket team for about a decade in the 90's. They had gems like Fanie Devilliers, Donald, Brian McMillan, Rhodes, Cullinan, Hudson, Richardson. They never won any trophy of note. And who can forget that in the 92 World Cup they were asked to score 22 runs off 1 ball in the semis. The most jinxed team in sporting history I would say. They would romp to semis/finals only to trip up somehow.
 

amolbhatia50k

Sneaky bum time - Vaccination status: dozed off
Joined
Nov 8, 2002
Messages
95,336
Location
india
The South African Cricket team for about a decade in the 90's. They had gems like Fanie Devilliers, Donald, Brian McMillan, Rhodes, Cullinan, Hudson, Richardson. They never won any trophy of note. And who can forget that in the 92 World Cup they were asked to score 22 runs off 1 ball in the semis. The most jinxed team in sporting history I would say. They would romp to semis/finals only to trip up somehow.
Great shout. They're always the first on my mind regarding underachievers in cricket. Probably unlucky that Australia were dominant /starting their dominance at that time as well.
 

RedBanker

I love you Ole
Joined
Dec 13, 2017
Messages
2,636
Great shout. They're always the first on my mind regarding underachievers in cricket. Probably unlucky that Australia were dominant /starting their dominance at that time as well.
Sadly their legacy was tarnished by the match fixing scandal and the subsequent downfall of Cronje.
 

MrMarcello

In a well-ordered universe...
Joined
Dec 26, 2000
Messages
52,592
Location
On a pale blue dot in space
NFL: 88-92 Eagles, 92-93 49ers, 94 Cowboys, 98 Vikings
MLB: 2001 Mariners and just about any Braves side from 1991 to mid-2000s.
NHL: Pick from any of Avs, Blues, Stars, Wings from 96-04 - in any given season either side could win it all (some did)
 

harms

Shining Star of Paektu Mountain
Staff
Joined
Apr 8, 2014
Messages
27,952
Location
Moscow
Dynamo Kiev in the late '90s, IMO ⁠— during the third and final Lobanovskyi period.
It's probably the same for all of the Lobanovsky's teams — we've actually talked a little about that on @Raees' last classics podcast. At their physical and psychological peak they were insane, be it the mid-70s, late 80's or late 90's teams. But with Lobanovsky overworking them physically and mentally, they did suffer some embarrassing defeats, especially in Europe (with Soviet/Ukrainian calendar being poorly fit to coexist with the European competitions system as an additional negative factor). It's a bit like Bielsa — they're both so dogmatic and completely unable to compromise on some of their principles, that it leads to their teams underperforming, despite new generations of ultra-successful managers taking tons of notes from their ideas.
 

harms

Shining Star of Paektu Mountain
Staff
Joined
Apr 8, 2014
Messages
27,952
Location
Moscow
My favourite would be Dinamo Tbilisi from the late 70's and early 80's.

Craig McCracken for The Guardian said:
In the decades before blanket television coverage of European football became the norm, little was known about clubs from the furthest of far-flung continental outposts. Exposure was fleeting, usually coming in the form of snatched, crackly highlight packages on Sportsweek, which were squeezed in after the boxing, darts and curling. So, when the provincial Georgians of Dinamo Tbilisi were broadcast into British homes in the late 1970s and early 1980s, their extraordinary quality came as a mysterious and exotic bolt from the blue.

My mind was a blur of questions: who are these footballing supermen and in what sinister Soviet sports laboratory have they been manufactured? Why don’t they smile more when they’re really, really good at football? And can communism be a bad thing if it produces athletes like this?
https://www.theguardian.com/footbal...2015/sep/07/dinamo-tbilisi-liverpool-west-ham

3:0 win against Liverpool side that had won 2 European Cups in a row before that season that started a cult following of Dinamo in England

An absolute annihilation of West Ham United at their home:
 

harms

Shining Star of Paektu Mountain
Staff
Joined
Apr 8, 2014
Messages
27,952
Location
Moscow
Another good example would be the Danish team of the 80's that played some mesmerising football — they had to, with young Michael Laudrup, Preben Elkjær, Søren Lerby, Morten Olsen and others. With strong results against the world's best teams like Uruguay and Soviet Union, they were considered as one of the biggest favourites for both Euro 1984 and 1986 World Cup... both time ending up eliminated by a hugely inferior Spanish side due to their tactical naivety and inexperience. Funnily enough, Denmark would win their only international title to date with a team that would incorporate completely opposite values — it would be gritty, hardworking and tragically uninspiring.

Rob Smyth and Lars Eriksen for The Guardian said:
That may seem odd, given that all they achieved was reaching the semi-finals of Euro 84 and the second round at Mexico 86, when, having laughed in the face of the Group of Death, they lost 5-1 to their Spanish nemeses in football's saddest, maddest thrashing, but it shows the extent to which this all-action, ultra-attacking side captured the imagination from the moment they qualified ahead of England for Euro 84.
It's an export from their brilliant book on the matter, but the article itself is well-worth reading: https://www.theguardian.com/football/blog/2009/oct/13/forgotten-story-denmark-1980s





And a fair shout to the Borussia Mönchengladbach side of the 70's. The result that would be remembered forever is their 7:1 against Inter Milan — the greatest defensive side of that era and the very team that the term "catenaccio" was first used to describe to. Interestingly, it wasn't enough to eliminate Inter, who had managed to get this result to be ruled out due to a can of coke being thrown on the pitch from the stands. They still hold the record for the biggest win in Bundesliga history — 12:0 against Borussia Dortmund in 1978. It was the last game of the season and they needed to overcome a 10-goal deficit to win the league on goal difference. They had scored 12, but their competition, Köln, had scored 5 unopposed goals in their game, making all of their efforts pointless. They had never won the European Cup and had a habit of losing to an unexpected opponent in Europe.

 

Lay

Correctly predicted Italy to win Euro 2020
Joined
Jan 29, 2013
Messages
19,790
Location
England
That Hungarian team in the 50s?
 

Himannv

Full Member
Joined
Dec 11, 2017
Messages
5,726
Location
Somewhere in the draft forum
That Hungarian team in the 50s?
I don't know if they really qualify unless you consider they didn't win the World Cup despite their dominance of the sport during that time. They were favourites in almost every game and just had 1 loss in a period of 6 years (World Cup final against West Germany). They beat the great Uruguay team of that period, along with Brazil and a few other strong sides.
 

Melbourne Red

Still hasn't given Rain Dog another chance
Joined
Feb 21, 2002
Messages
10,867
Location
Melbourne
Supports
Liverpool
And a fair shout to the Borussia Mönchengladbach side of the 70's. The result that would be remembered forever is their 7:1 against Inter Milan — the greatest defensive side of that era and the very team that the term "catenaccio" was first used to describe to. Interestingly, it wasn't enough to eliminate Inter, who had managed to get this result to be ruled out due to a can of coke being thrown on the pitch from the stands. They still hold the record for the biggest win in Bundesliga history — 12:0 against Borussia Dortmund in 1978. It was the last game of the season and they needed to overcome a 10-goal deficit to win the league on goal difference. They had scored 12, but their competition, Köln, had scored 5 unopposed goals in their game, making all of their efforts pointless.
That last bit is actually amazing
 

Red Dreams

Full Member
Joined
Aug 16, 2003
Messages
55,333
Location
Across the Universe....from Old Trafford.
Absolutly the first 2 teams that sprang to my mind. Brazil in that era were fantastic to watch, most entertaining team I’ve ever seen play.
I was gutted England did not qualify in 1974. But Holland losing that final was so painful for me.
Cruyff at his best. Saw him at Wembley 2 years later beat England in a friendly.

Brazil 1982 I agree was the best team I ever saw.
 

Ian Reus

Ended 14 years of Grand National sweepstakes
Joined
Aug 22, 2014
Messages
10,425
Location
Somewhere in South America
The first United double winning team that got chutneyed by the home grown rule in our first season back in it.

Gothenburg and Romario sending Dennis Irwin to the shop for milk are my blocked out memories.