Footballers rated higher when active than after

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David Beckham
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And another one
The list is quite big, but I would like to mention players like Ronald Koeman, van Basten, Brehme, Mathaus, Roberto Baggio and Paulo Futre who were some of the best players to set foot on a pitch but people barely mention them.
throw in Del Piero and we good.
Gerrard maybe? People will remember the slip mostly. At least for us United fans that is the first we would think out.
Terry for the same reason potentially. Although he won CL later too and won more titles.

Giggs and Terry also did disgusting things outside football which fans should remember.
Scholes probably too. Even me being a big Scholes fan since forever probably rate him less now than I did.
Mainly due to his job in media after. He was better being silent and focused on his football.
Also in general since England never did much at any tournaments the recent generations might not be rated as highly.
It applies to Lampard, Terry, Scholes, Gerrard, Rooney etc.

Most historical giants got the name due to massive world cup or euro performances. Although CL giants there days will be remembered too.
Scholes is the opposite effect

Definitely Scholes. We all knew how great he was when he was playing but now we have to put up with Scousers acting like he was some kind of water carrier :rolleyes:

In fairness I would say Ian Rush is nowhere near as appreciated outside Merseyside as he should be, though I'm guessing we're going a little off topic talking about players underappreciated outside of their fanbases.

What about Robert Pires? Not a player I hear much about when we're talking about the great Arsenal sides of the 90s/00s but he was in the thick of the action at Highbury from 2000-06, did the business for his country and was always a player I very grudgingly admired.
actually the opposite with Scholes. This has been debated to high heaven
People act like Beckham was never a great player now. Such disrespect.
enrages me. I saw him as our most valuable midfielder along with Keane although some seasons Giggs was monstrous. Pure disrespect with Becks. In terms of the art of kicking a football, I haven't seen many better
 
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André Dominguez

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That's a mad, mad shout. I always rated Shevchenko as the best striker of his time - he was a complete player. Better than Henry, for me, who was certainly flashier (and scored a lot) but went missing in key moments. Shevchenko was a beast for Ukraine as well.

Much like Torres, he was clearly past it when he moved to Chelsea (and/or it was too late for him to adapt to a whole new league/pace of play/style etc). He shouldn't be judged on that at all - not with the career he had before all that.
Maybe I'm a bit influenced by his time at Chelsea where he was pretty much useless most of the time, because I totally agree with you with his time at Milan, where he was my "favourite" striker to watch for. Not only he would be there to score, he would also run his socks off pressing the opposition.

We might not know the full story and there are persons who's physical decay starts earlier, it's not an exact science.
 

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And another one

throw in Del Piero and we good.

Scholes is the opposite effect


actually the opposite with Scholes. This has been debated to high heaven

enrages me. I saw him as our most valuable midfielder along with Keane although some seasons Giggs was monstrous. Pure disrespect with Becks. In terms of the art of kicking a football, I haven't seen many better
Well I certainly did, and so did all the United fans I know personally. If you only started appreciating him properly after he retired for the second time you were at least 15 years late to the party.
 

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Ballack
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Gilberto Silva
Ze Roberto
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Di Natale
 
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André Dominguez

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throw in Del Piero and we good.
Fantastic player. Was probably one of the first versions of a 100% all-round attacker, who could roam on the wings, behind the striker, etc. Nowadays the wingers do this role.

Serie A was the equivalent of EPL today in terms of money and quality players, and I would say further that if you look at the late 90's squads (after Bosman) they probably had the strongest top8 of all time.
If TV money was a thing back then like it was today, Serie A would thrive and would make a lot of leagues to starve for UEFA titles. They would probably be at the top. Also, calciocaos and calciopolli didn't help and scared a lot of investors and sponsors.
 

André Dominguez

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Garrincha. Won a World Cup almost single handedly to increase Pele’s legacy more than his own.

Stefan Effenberg. Fearsome player. 7 Bundesliga Team of the Year appearances and European club footballer of the year winner in 2001.

Roy Keane. Doesn’t get enough respect from some football fans. He was up there with the very best players in the world.
Effenberg and Sammer were out of this world. Amazing at both defending, attacking, passing, scoring and assisting. In nowadays market they would be 100M€ players.
 

André Dominguez

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Redondo:
One of the best DMs of his generation, was immense for Madrid, but his less successful stint at Milan didn't help him,as ge was almost completely forgotten before he retired.
He had a career wreck injury at Madrid, that's why he left almost for free to Milan. Milan knew about this and gambled because Redondo's quality was terrific. He was the prototype of a modern def midfielder.
 

André Dominguez

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Mario Jardell, Marcello Salas, Javier Saviola, Ze Roberto, Giovanni, Adriano, Edmundo, Ariel Ortega, Juan Pablo Sorin.

South America is rife for this lot.
Mário Jardel was the best poacher I've seen play. His efficiency was bellow none. Drugs and alcohol killed his career. The stupid thing is: he makes the best season of his career, and after that he disappears for six months, not even his wife, kids and parents knew where he was :lol:

When he returned he was a mess: splashed almost all his money, totally addicted to alcohol and cocaine. After that he got very fat was just stealing for life and clubs hired him thinking they could recover him into football again, but never happened.

Zamorano > Salas IMHO :P

From North America people often forget the amazing Hugo Sanchéz one of the classiest strikers to dress a Madrid shirt.
 

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Didier Drogba - ideal targetman. One of the best tactical players in EPL history. His contribution to team play was invaluable for that monstrous Chelsea. I hated him and Mourinho back in 2000s.

Andrea Pirlo - everybody forgot about the guy who was a model DLP for the generation.

pre-injury Peter Chech. Best keeper in the world.

Arjen Robben - fantastic player with lots of character and determination who battled injuries and overcame them.

Bastian Schweinschteiger - elite midfielder, an exemplary leader. His reputation was bit undermined by his United performances.

Seedorf was mentioned. worth mentioning again because he is best suited to the thread title description. Absolute monster.

Santiago Canizares - one of my favorite keepers.

Another player from Valencia - Pablo Aimar. Ridiculously talented playmaker.
 

GenZRed

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I think it is because of the Ronaldo/Messi era people view the legends of previous eras differently because they didn't score a goal every other game the way those two did. I get the impression that people in my generation forget there was football before those two appeared since the question is always 'Messi vs Ronaldo'.
 

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enrages me. I saw him as our most valuable midfielder along with Keane although some seasons Giggs was monstrous. Pure disrespect with Becks. In terms of the art of kicking a football, I haven't seen many better
He was De Bruyne level, top top class.
 

Gordon S

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A common phenomenon is footballers who gets put on a piedestal after retirement and remembered more fondly when no longer playing.

But what about players whose reputation seems to suffer from history passing?

I'd propose Ruud Gullit as one. Often seen as the third man in the Dutch trio and by now more of an asterisk to Van Bastens generational talent. I'd argue that back in the day, it was a lot closer between the two in the late 80s than history remembers today.

Or Stefan Effenberg. One of best passers of the ball you'll see, with plenty of leadership and aggression to go with it. Best midfielder in the world in his heyday. Not like he didn't have big performances either. Yet barely gets a mention in discussions of great midfielders.
Ruud Gullit is widely considered a as great player imo, but Effenberg is a great shout. What happened there? He was unplayable on his day, but still rarely (if ever?) mentioned as one of the best.
 

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I wish I kept my old Top Trumps cards. Some of the names being mentioned on here and bringing back memories of them. Rui Costa being mentioned triggered the memories.
 

Dr. StrangeHate

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He’s been harmed by Messi and Ronaldo doing a decade at the same level instead of two and a bit years.

He made any match watchable. Most insanely fun player ever I think.
Ronaldinho's hips dribbling goal against Chelsea is my favourite goal ever.
 

Sparky Rhiwabon

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What about Neville Southall? He was rated as (arguably) the best goalkeeper on the planet for a time, but sadly wasn't able to perform on the European stage due to Heysel. These days he only seems to be talked about as a bit of a joke, e.g. in the "Fat Footballers XI" thread
 

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Ruud Gullit is widely considered a as great player imo, but Effenberg is a great shout. What happened there? He was unplayable on his day, but still rarely (if ever?) mentioned as one of the best.
Imo the best German midfielder since matthäus.
 

André Dominguez

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Didier Drogba - ideal targetman. One of the best tactical players in EPL history. His contribution to team play was invaluable for that monstrous Chelsea. I hated him and Mourinho back in 2000s.

Andrea Pirlo - everybody forgot about the guy who was a model DLP for the generation.

pre-injury Peter Chech. Best keeper in the world.

Arjen Robben - fantastic player with lots of character and determination who battled injuries and overcame them.

Bastian Schweinschteiger - elite midfielder, an exemplary leader. His reputation was bit undermined by his United performances.

Seedorf was mentioned. worth mentioning again because he is best suited to the thread title description. Absolute monster.

Santiago Canizares - one of my favorite keepers.

Another player from Valencia - Pablo Aimar. Ridiculously talented playmaker.
Made a lot of brilliant games here at Benfica. Too bad he couldn't stay fit for long periods. He was always one step ahead in terms of vision.

In fact, that Valencia squad was very good even for today standards, but like many other squads in those late 90's, it wasn't financially sustainable on the long term.
 

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David Seaman.

Was a world class keeper for many years in premier league and for England, up there with Schmeichel.

Generally now though people talk about the Ponytail and the Ronaldinho goal (and also Nayim). He did probably go on a couple of years too long for England but there was a void in that position afterwards.
 

André Dominguez

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Giovane Élber: the guy inspired fear. Fast and accurate.
Cláudio López: was the most expensive transfer for a few years. Had a short peak, but he was deadly during that time.
Mehmet Scholl: a midfielder that scored lots of goals and saved Bayern several times.
 

André Dominguez

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David Seaman.

Was a world class keeper for many years in premier league and for England, up there with Schmeichel.

Generally now though people talk about the Ponytail and the Ronaldinho goal (and also Nayim). He did probably go on a couple of years too long for England but there was a void in that position afterwards.
I rate him highly. He was always on the saves of the week compilation. And his aerial game was quite solid. I think the goal he suffered vs Zaragoza pursued him all his career.
 

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Think Shevchenko aswell is easily forgotten now from the great forwards of last 20 years discussions. Was brilliant at Kiev in CL and same for AC Milan.

Slowed down a bit when coming up to 30 and struggled at Chelsea which has probably downgraded him in a few people's minds. Crespo perhaps in similar category.
 

André Dominguez

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Think Shevchenko aswell is easily forgotten now from the great forwards of last 20 years discussions. Was brilliant at Kiev in CL and same for AC Milan.

Slowed down a bit when coming up to 30 and struggled at Chelsea which has probably downgraded him in a few people's minds. Crespo perhaps in similar category.
This also shows that Argentina keeps having amazing teams, but somehow they never win titles. Their 98 squad could had won it with the talent at their disposal, with world class players like Chamot, Crespo, Batigol and Cláudio Lopez at their peaks, Almeyda, Zanetti, Simeone, Gallardo, Verón, Sensini, Ayala and that crazy goalkeeper named Roa that retired at 99 because he thought the world was going to end at year 2000.
It's crazy that not only they didn't got into the WC finals, they also played poorly. I guess this is a common place with Argentina NT
 

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Kevin Keegan for me. Epitomises the Shankly era at Liverpool. A legend at Liverpool and was worshipped at Hamburg after going through a difficult patch adapting to the German way of life to being nicknamed Mighty mouse by the Hamburger fans. Brilliant footballer and role model during his playing days. Maybe another one of those players we tend to forget what he achieved on the pitch.
 

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Bernd Schuster - Brilliant but retired very early from the German national team due to a fall out (still won European championship in 1980) but was outstanding in the 80s in Spain. Balon d'Or Runner Up as well. Gets overlooked because the German greats are mostly associated with international glory for the NT. But footballing wise he was one of the greatest midfielders of the century.

Romario - outstanding footballer who I feel didn't play in Europe enough to get the post career attention he deserves. Also slightly missed out on the internet video age where every player has an ageless compilation on YouTube (which I often feel makes people slightly overrate past players).

Hargreaves - probably also a bit underrated when active but his football performances seem to have been forgotten now that he's an incredible boring pundit (also doesn't help that he seems to be disliked by every PL fan due to playing for both Manchester clubs). Stellar record, CL winner with two different clubs and sort of the only midfielder of the golden generation who constantly performed well for the national team.
 

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Ayala, I'm not sure if he actually fits in this thread because on the rare occasions where he is mentioned everyone seems to rate him highly but to me it seems that he has been quickly forgotten. But for me Marius Trésor is the best example of a player that was highly rated during his playing days but is today almost never mentioned in mainstream circles. There is also Amoros and a spanish legend like Butragueno.
 

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Vidic.

Some myth has developed that Torres used to terrorise even though it was just one game where he mistimed a header and Torres nipped in ahead of him.

Comfortably the best centre-half in PL history but people always look at JT, Rio and now fecking van Dijk ahead of him.
 

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Made a lot of brilliant games here at Benfica. Too bad he couldn't stay fit for long periods. He was always one step ahead in terms of vision.

In fact, that Valencia squad was very good even for today standards, but like many other squads in those late 90's, it wasn't financially sustainable on the long term.
in 2001, Valencia squad and play quality was at the superclub level. Still remember Mendietta destroying O’Leary‘s Leeds in CL semis.
 

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Is Michael Carrick an opposite to title thread? People started to rate him at the end of his career, when the glaring hole in the midfield he left behind became visible. when we signed him, the Caf consensus was that we heavily overpaid Spurs for him (£16 M). People were moaning about how he was not a new Roy Keane. Who remembers that?
 

JPRouve

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Is Michael Carrick an opposite to title thread? People started to rate him at the end of his career, when the glaring hole in the midfield he left behind became visible. when we signed him, the Caf consensus was that we heavily overpaid Spurs for him (£16 M). People were moaning about how he was not a new Roy Keane. Who remembers that?
I would say no. Carrick was highly rated by United fans from 2008, of course some still peddled the "sideway passes merchant" claim but it's true for pretty much all players, they all have their detractors.
 

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I never said that in the slighest
Sorry I meant 'you' generally, as in if one were to only have started rating him post-retirement they've missed out. I didn't mean to imply you personally didn't rate him, but in that case what did you mean by the below quote? I was talking about United fans knowing he was great during his playing career:

Definitely Scholes. We all knew how great he was when he was playing
actually the opposite with Scholes. This has been debated to high heaven
 

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He had a career wreck injury at Madrid, that's why he left almost for free to Milan. Milan knew about this and gambled because Redondo's quality was terrific. He was the prototype of a modern def midfielder.
I didn't know that he left for free .Yes he was the prototype.