Is Platini the most underrated footballer of all time?

Ramos · Oct 17, 2019

JPRouve said:
Not really, I'm talking about my childhood here and it's actually the opposite that has happpened, Zidane is getting more support now than he used to. Platini is almost a god for the people that you mentioned, they rate Zidane but Platini is on an other planet for them and they are/were biased because he is from their generation.

OK well then we remember things quite differently ...

But the bold part seems odd to me if we really are talking the 2000-2002 period. Those were his absolute heydays. Zidane was the star player of the team that finally got that elusive World Cup in Paris(!) against the mighty Brazil nonetheless and outshone everybody at the Euros two years later providing an unforgettable double. That was enormous for the country and people were absolutely euphoric about him and the team. That's hard to forget. I was living and working in France and they were actually driving me crazy with how much they absolutely adored him. That has always stuck with me and that's why it's weird to hear Platini was always rated far superior, even in those days.

However if we are talking post headbutt, that's a different story. I know his popularity did drop a fair amount and may have come back a bit after the triple CL with Real as coach.

Invictus · Oct 17, 2019

Halds said:
I think Laudrup suffered a bit in the ballon d'ors having quit the danish national team during his best years at Barcelona. Easily top20 for me too, and he could have a claim for being the best player in the world in the start 90'es.

I like Laudrup and he was definitely a phenomenal talent, but he wasn't easily one of Top 20 footballers by any means wrt. his actual impact on the game...especially if we give defenders and central/defensive midfielders their proper dues. Don't think he was better than these 25, for example — even if we exclude Platini to stubbornly prove a point.

1. Di Stéfano
2. Baresi
3. Cruyff
4. Eusébio
5. Van Basten
6. Zico
7. Rijkaard
8. Figueroa
9. Puskás
10. Müller
11. Beckenbauer
12. Maldini
13. Best
14. Matthäus
15. Zidane
16. Facchetti
17. Xavi
18. Yashin
19. Pelé
20. Charlton
21. Messi
22. Fenômeno
23. Cristiano
24. Garrincha
25. Maradona

Don't think one can make a conclusive argument that he was better than, or more deserving of a spot in the Top 20-25, the likes of Gullit or Rummenigge either.

JPRouve · Oct 17, 2019

Ramos said:
OK well then we remember things quite differently ...

But the bold part seems odd to me if we really are talking the 2000-2002 period. Those were his absolute heydays. Zidane was the star player of the team that finally got that elusive World Cup in Paris(!) against the mighty Brazil nonetheless and outshone everybody at the Euros two years later providing an unforgettable double. That was enormous for the country and people were absolutely euphoric about him and the team. That's hard to forget. I was living and working in France and they were actually driving me crazy with how much they absolutely adored him. That has always stuck with me and that's why it's weird to hear Platini was always rated far superior, even in those days.

However if we are talking post headbutt, that's a different story. I know his popularity did drop a fair amount and may have come back a bit after the triple CL with Real as coach.

I think that you are mixing things. Zidane was at the time loved and talked about like Mbappé currently is, he was the current player, he was great and therefore the one people would talk about on a daily basis. But if you asked people who was the best french player of all time, Platini would have been the main answer. Also Zidane popularity never dropped, the headbutt had zero influence on his image.

HaliRed · Oct 17, 2019

harms said:
It's quite funny that, despite scoring 13 goals at that tournament, Fontaine was seen as France's second best performer. Not all of their games are available, but that's got to be some tournament by Kopa to be rated higher!

Agreed. I have seen highlight footage of that World Cup...

Pele at 17, Garrincha on his side...Kopa and Fontaine...Semifinals and finals finishing 5-2.

Maybe it just wasn't a tournament for defenders so 13 goals needs to be taken with a grain of salt.

Treble · Oct 17, 2019

Shamana said:
Plenty of Laudrups team mates at Barca and real Madrid had him has the best they had ever played with and couldn't believe he hadn't won the ballon d'or. Cruyff also said he was unplayable when he gave 100%, but wasn't determined enough to do it regularly. I think Laudrup can easily be included in top 20 of all time

Laudrup was never the star of Cruyff's dream team, Stoichkov was closer to being that as he was the only Barca player at the time competing for the biggest individual awards. When Barca signed Romario in 1993, Cruyff decided to bench Stoichkov and play with Romario and Laudrup. But Barca had a bad start to the season and Cruyff had to play Stoichkov and bench Laudrup. Barca won the title and reached the CL final. Laudrup couldn't compete for a starting place with Romario and Stoichkov and decided to leave for Real. He was flashier than Stoichkov and technically more gifted but Stoichkov was a better big-game player and generally more valuable to Barca.

Treble · Oct 17, 2019

Schneckerl said:
Laudrup was one of the best players in the World for sure around '91 - '93. On a week in week out basis too.

Van Basten, Romario, Baggio and Stoichkov were better and winning the individual awards at that time. Laudrup never made the top 3 for Ballon d'Or. Some people talk about him as if he was a serial winner like Platini and van Basten.

Laudrup was a fantastic talent but not close to Platini's achievements and not in the top 20 of all time, imo.

Jaqen H'ghar · Oct 17, 2019

Needham said:
He must have been taking the piss, Pogba before Platini was Justin Bieber before Elvis levels of stupid.

Exactly. As it stands Pogba is closer to Emanuel Petit level than than he is to Zidane.

giorno · Oct 17, 2019

Fun fact: Laudrup was the one player Capello was worried about for the CL final in '94. Once it became clear that he wouldn't play, he told his players they'd just won the CL. He had all the counters for everybody else, Laudrup was the only player he thought he had no answer to

RooneyLegend · Oct 17, 2019

Zico and Baggio deserve this tag more. Romario too.

RoyH1 · Oct 17, 2019

RooneyLegend said:
Zico and Baggio deserve this tag more. Romario too.

Zico was a special player. Best Brazilian player from a loaded generation. Gets talked about so little nowadays

RooneyLegend · Oct 17, 2019

RoyH1 said:
Zico was a special player. Best Brazilian player from a loaded generation. Gets talked about so little nowadays

Probably because he played the vast majority of his football in Brazil.

Treble · Oct 17, 2019

giorno said:
Fun fact: Laudrup was the one player Capello was worried about for the CL final in '94. Once it became clear that he wouldn't play, he told his players they'd just won the CL. He had all the counters for everybody else, Laudrup was the only player he thought he had no answer to

Cruyff despised Capello's football and Capello was happy to wound him by implying he made a bad mistake and didn't choose the right players.

IIRC, Milan had two weeks to prepare for that CL final whereas Barca had only 3 days after a tiring final game in La Liga. Still, nobody expected a big Milan win. Milan were masters of 1:0 wins in that period. It was a memorable CL final.

Socur Toxanarosa · Oct 17, 2019

Infordin said:
I only rate the ones in bold above Platini, everyone else is either equal or below him.

You also forgot to mention Zico, another player who I rate above the bottom 4 players on your list.

If you rate Ronaldinho above Romario, you know nothing about Brazilian football.

RooneyLegend · Oct 17, 2019

Edgar Allan Pillow said:
If you wanted a matchwinner, you'd choose Zidane.

If you wanted a player who can elevate the whole team, you'd go Platini.

Wow, its actually the other way around.

Edgar Allan Pillow · Oct 17, 2019

RooneyLegend said:
Wow, its actually the other way around.

Platini is slightly better playmaker because his off the ball skills were better than Zidane's. Also his passing was better.

Zidane - Dribbling / Ball control
Platini - Passing / Finishing
Speed / Creativity / Defensive contribution - Both are equal.

Halds · Oct 17, 2019

Treble said:
Laudrup was never the star of Cruyff's dream team, Stoichkov was closer to being that as he was the only Barca player at the time competing for the biggest individual awards. When Barca signed Romario in 1993, Cruyff decided to bench Stoichkov and play with Romario and Laudrup. But Barca had a bad start to the season and Cruyff had to play Stoichkov and bench Laudrup. Barca won the title and reached the CL final. Laudrup couldn't compete for a starting place with Romario and Stoichkov and decided to leave for Real. He was flashier than Stoichkov and technically more gifted but Stoichkov was a better big-game player and generally more valuable to Barca.

It is well known that Cruyff benched Laudrup because he didn't want to sign a new contract. I think Laudrup was the overall best player in Cruyffs Barcelona. Stoichkov and Romario were great players as well, but it's all about opinions, right.

Joga Bonito · Oct 17, 2019

I would probably argue that Zico and Sir Bobby Charlton are amongst the most underrated 'greats'. Platini does get underrated but not to the extent of these two imo.

Infordin · Oct 17, 2019

Socur Toxanarosa said:
If you rate Ronaldinho above Romario, you know nothing about Brazilian football.

change bottom 4 to bottom 5

I agree that Romario > Ronaldinho

but Zico was better than both

Treble · Oct 17, 2019

Halds said:
It is well known that Cruyff benched Laudrup because he didn't want to sign a new contract. I think Laudrup was the overall best player in Cruyffs Barcelona. Stoichkov and Romario were great players as well, but it's all about opinions, right.

Cruyff benched Laudrup because he could use only 3 foreign players and they were losing La Liga with Laudrup in the first XI and Stoichkov on the bench. He put then Laudrup on the bench, Barca won 15 of the last 16 games and won La Liga with Stoichkov making the difference. There was a reason why Stoichkov was competing for the big individual awards at that time and Laudrup never made the top 3 of Ballon d'Or. The former was widely perceived at the time as more crucial to Barca, mostly because of his winning and big-game mentality.

RooneyLegend · Oct 17, 2019

Edgar Allan Pillow said:
Platini is slightly better playmaker because his off the ball skills were better than Zidane's. Also his passing was better.

Zidane - Dribbling / Ball control
Platini - Passing / Finishing
Speed / Creativity / Defensive contribution - Both are equal.

Platini was a better match winner, Zidane was a better playmaker. Zidane's ability to create space out of nothing, his ball retention and overall ability to make a team function through combination play was on a different level to Platini. He had a better passing range too.

Platini was lethal in the final third both in terms of scoring and creating and would playmake a bit however his team functioned as a well oiled machine rather than a side dependant on him to play well. Girese infact was more the playmaker of the side. Watching his France side is actually funny at times cause it seemed like Tigana and Girese didnt like passing him the ball in midfield.

Schneckerl · Oct 17, 2019

Treble said:
Van Basten, Romario, Baggio and Stoichkov were better and winning the individual awards at that time. Laudrup never made the top 3 for Ballon d'Or.

Never finishing top 3 for the Ballon D'Or is a bit of dumb luck (partly his fault for falling out with coaches). There were several years where he was superior to some of them and also finished ahead in Ballon d'Or voting.

Treble said:
Some people talk about him as if he was a serial winner like Platini and van Basten.

Laudrup was a fantastic talent but not close to Platini's achievements and not in the top 20 of all time, imo.

I can't disagree with that. However just because Laudrup doesn't match up to 3x Ballon D'or winners like Platini or van Basten doesn't mean he wasn't one of the best players in the world at some point.

Treble said:
There was a reason why Stoichkov was competing for the big individual awards at that time and Laudrup never made the top 3 of Ballon d'Or. The former was widely perceived at the time as more crucial to Barca, mostly because of his winning and big-game mentality.

Laudrup got more votes than Stoichkov in '93. '94 was the World Cup year where Bulgaria finished 4th.

I know that Stoichkov got way more BD votes in '92 though, however, Laudrup got voted La Liga Foreign Player of the Year by local media. IIRC Stoichkov was more influential in the European Cup.

Treble · Oct 17, 2019

Schneckerl said:
Laudrup got more votes than Stoichkov in '93. '94 was the World Cup year where Bulgaria finished 4th.

Stoichkov was a runnner up in 92 when Barca won their first ever CL, Laudrup was 7th. As I said, Stoichkov was the only Barca player who was properly competing for Ballon d'Or and FIFA player of the year during Cruyff's era, Laudrup never came close. Romario was ineligible for Ballon d'Or in '94 because only Europeans could win it then.

OverratedOpinion · Oct 17, 2019

Garrincha might run him close from what i've read.

Pastore27 · Oct 17, 2019

kouroux said:
That 84 european tournament must have been a heartbreaker, I only remember watching the VHS as I wasn't even born then but that was a disgrace the way the German did the French dirty

I was talking bout Euro 1984, the one France won at home with Platini scoring 9 goals. I suppose you're mistaking with 1982's world cup, and that semi-final against Germany. I've seen that game too but I was too young to realize what was going on, very few memories about it. (it's probably better like that)

My first huge emotion was 1984 semi-final against Portugal in Marseille. 1-1 at the end, extra-time. Portugal scores during the first period, and then France scored 2 goals in the last five minutes of the second period. When Platini scored the winning one .... aïe aïe aïe, the whole country exploded.

Suedesi · Oct 17, 2019

HaliRed said:
That entire France team (except the strikers) of the early-mid 80's, I was in love with. You are making me very nostalgic while wasting time at work, reading the caf and sipping coffee!

It had Ettori and then the amazing Joel Bats in nets.

Incredibly underrated defence consisting of Tresor, Janvion, Bossis, Battiston, Lopez and my personal favourite, Amoros.

The midfield of Platini, Giresse, Tigana, Fernandez, Genghini, Larios was magical to watch. So much fluidity and intelligent runners/passers/goal scorers.

I truly believe if they had more accomplished forwards, the 80's would have been a more glorious time for that team.

Rocheteau, Six, Soler, Lacombe and Bellone, even Stopyra were decent strikers, but there had no forwards of the caliber of 1998's Henry, Trezeguet and Dugarry.

Platini is definitely the best French player I have witnessed . And that includes Zidane, Henry and our very own King. I cannot make a judgement on Kopa or Fontaine, but scoring 13 goals in a single World Cup is no mean feat either!

Man, I'm getting nostalgic reading about this too. Euro 84 was the first proper tournament I saw every match of, and Platini, Tigana, Giresse were absolutely amazing.

And the quarterfinal vs Brazil in 1986, was probably the best match of the decade in my humble opinion.

Suedesi · Oct 17, 2019

Pastore27 said:
I was talking bout Euro 1984, the one France won at home with Platini scoring 9 goals. I suppose you're mistaking with 1982's world cup, and that semi-final against Germany. I've seen that game too but I was too young to realize what was going on, very few memories about it. (it's probably better like that)

My first huge emotion was 1984 semi-final against Portugal in Marseille. 1-1 at the end, extra-time. Portugal scores during the first period, and then France scored 2 goals in the last five minutes of the second period. When Platini scored the winning one .... aïe aïe aïe, the whole country exploded.

Absolutely outstanding match. Then the final with Spain was a bit of a boring match. Arconada with a feckup early on if I recall.

Pastore27 · Oct 17, 2019

Edgar Allan Pillow said:
If you wanted a matchwinner, you'd choose Zidane.
If you wanted a player who can elevate the whole team, you'd go Platini.
And if I had to choose one of them to build a team around, it'd be Platini ten times out of ten.
As to OP I'd say Zico is far more underrated.

Platini was a matchwinner too ... And Zidane was the very definition of a player making guys around him play better.
If I had to build a team, I'd take them both.

Jaqen H'ghar said:
Platini then Zidane then Henry, then you have a bunch of others you could choose from.

I'm not even sure I'd put Henry in a top 5 of the french NT. It's not such an obvious choice.

Treble · Oct 17, 2019

Suedesi said:
Man, I'm getting nostalgic reading about this too. Euro 84 was the first proper tournament I saw every match of, and Platini, Tigana, Giresse were absolutely amazing.

And the quarterfinal vs Brazil in 1986, was probably the best match of the decade in my humble opinion.

One of the best WC games I've watched. Brazil 82-86 had a fantastic team too.

Socur Toxanarosa · Oct 17, 2019

Infordin said:
change bottom 4 to bottom 5

I agree that Romario > Ronaldinho

but Zico was better than both

Seems reasonable

The Cat · Oct 17, 2019

Always struggled to like him for some reason but by hell he was one of the best footballers I ever saw watching live in major tournaments.

I guess I started watching them properly in '78 and he came along soon after which left a lasting impression.

meninred · Oct 17, 2019

The debate in France who is the greatest french player always divides opinion and there wont be one answer. It is rather a generation thing.
The ranking by many football organizations also makes both of them in the top 10 which seems correct.

Suedesi · Oct 17, 2019

Platini was an amazing player. Many have touched on his playmaking and goalscoring feats, but one thing that always impressed me was articulate he was in post match interviews. He always had something interesting to offer in a sardonic style, part ironic part philosophical.

My first idol, but Maradona's emergence coincided with his physical decline but Diego just obliterated him from the scene. And Michel just fecked up his legacy when a became a politician.

I just like to remember him as a maestro of the ball, and the key player for Juve and France in times where football was not as money driven and corrupt as it is today.

Suedesi · Oct 17, 2019

Treble said:
One of the best WC games I've watched. Brazil 82-86 had a fantastic team too.

They were both insane teams. Brazil 1982 is spoken in the same vein as Holland 74 as one of the best teams that never won it (along with Hungary 54) and they had the same core group in 86.

France undoubtedly peaked in 84, but they were very strong in 86. They just couldn't handle the Germans (82 especially being scandalous, but 86 also was tough).

So Brazil France was a battle of giants, teams playing football without cynicism (that came from Italy and Germany), and going toe to toe for 120 minutes. I recall both Zico and Platini missed PK's which was unheard of.

kouroux · Oct 17, 2019

Pastore27 said:
I was talking bout Euro 1984, the one France won at home with Platini scoring 9 goals. I suppose you're mistaking with 1982's world cup, and that semi-final against Germany. I've seen that game too but I was too young to realize what was going on, very few memories about it. (it's probably better like that)

My first huge emotion was 1984 semi-final against Portugal in Marseille. 1-1 at the end, extra-time. Portugal scores during the first period, and then France scored 2 goals in the last five minutes of the second period. When Platini scored the winning one .... aïe aïe aïe, the whole country exploded.

Yes, you are right. I was thinking about one but typed the other

Member 102134 · Oct 17, 2019

platini better than zidane, this place :lol:

Edgar Allan Pillow · Oct 17, 2019

Pastore27 said:
If I had to build a team, I'd take them both.

Sadly, you can't fit both in the same team.

Righteous Steps · Oct 17, 2019

Socur Toxanarosa said:
If you rate Ronaldinho above Romario, you know nothing about Brazilian football.

Serious serious hyperbole.

Suedesi · Oct 17, 2019

Svajni said:
platini better than zidane, this place

Thanks for your perspective, I’m sure you saw them both playing in their pomp

Spoony · Oct 17, 2019

Suedesi said:
They were both insane teams. Brazil 1982 is spoken in the same vein as Holland 74 as one of the best teams that never won it (along with Hungary 54) and they had the same core group in 86.

France undoubtedly peaked in 84, but they were very strong in 86. They just couldn't handle the Germans (82 especially being scandalous, but 86 also was tough).

So Brazil France was a battle of giants, teams playing football without cynicism (that came from Italy and Germany), and going toe to toe for 120 minutes. I recall both Zico and Platini missed PK's which was unheard of.

I was gutted when Brazil were beaten by France. 1982 was the reason I used had a massive soft spot for Brazil...Zico was the first non United player I idolised. So naturally... Zico getting dumped out in 1986 hurt but the 82 defeat to Italy was far more shocking.

harms · Oct 17, 2019

RooneyLegend said:
Platini was a better match winner, Zidane was a better playmaker. Zidane's ability to create space out of nothing, his ball retention and overall ability to make a team function through combination play was on a different level to Platini. He had a better passing range too.

Platini was lethal in the final third both in terms of scoring and creating and would playmake a bit however his team functioned as a well oiled machine rather than a side dependant on him to play well. Girese infact was more the playmaker of the side. Watching his France side is actually funny at times cause it seemed like Tigana and Girese didnt like passing him the ball in midfield.

You should watch Platini at Juve then. In the French side of the 1984 he was more of a finisher, at Juve he basically played like Pirlo with more aggressiveness and an odd Inzaghi-esque tap in (about 20 per season).

Platini was definitely a better controlling midfielder and a playmaker. Perhaps Zidane is a better final third passer, but that’s debatable.

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