Franco Baresi's perfect 11
- Thread starter Eyepopper
- Start date
feckin' hell that's some team. Franco knows his stuff.
I think Ryan just fulfilled that potential of his 
Cue City looking to buy some of those players
What a side. Maldini
The Italians always had great appreciation for Giggs.
He forgot to put himself in.
The best defender of the last 30 years. Perhaps ever.
The best defender of the last 30 years. Perhaps ever.
It's obvious he put Nesta in there because in reality, that's his own spot
Cafu Baresi Maldini Carlos
Cafu Baresi Maldini Carlos
Swap Roberto Carlos for Baresi and stick Maldini left back and that would be a team and a half
Harsh on Carlos. Best LB I've seen.
Italian Defense, Brazilian wingbacks, continental midfield, genius upfront
Great team that, hard to argue with any of his selections
I'm guessing its from retired players only therefore no Messi? Have to say a midfield of Rijkaard, Zidane, Figo and Giggs would get raped in midfield by the current Barcelona side alone.
Edit: Definitely needs a Matthuis or Beckenbaur in there somewhere.
Edit: Definitely needs a Matthuis or Beckenbaur in there somewhere.
But Giggs..?
Weird headline though.
I dunno, a midfield 3 of Rijkaard Giggs and Zidane could have been excellent. Zidane was better than Iniesta, Rijkaard was better than Busquets, I would only swap giggs for xavi there. Well actually I'd swap in Scholes for Giggs but either way it's a great midfield.
Figo might get nutmegged, but Rijkaard would piss or spit on whoever is in the Barcelona midfield, that is for sure...
and Giggs would do fine down the left flank, bet he could skin anyone during his prime.
Well. You always prefer to choose players that you played with or saw play a lot. Picking players based on reputation is the same as fanboyism. I'd never pick Pele or Beckenbauer. Didn't see them enough.
I agree with that.
Amen.
Fair enough if I have to choose the best left winger in the past 20 years, Giggs would be the first name in my mind.
There is only one place Messi could take, and that's Maradona's given Baresi put up a 4-4-2 or a 4-4-1-1. Messi is not better than Maradona.
About that midfield getting raped... I would hope you're joking, but I sense you are not.
Regarding that team; I think it's the best xi I've seen an ex-pro put together given it actually has balance with top players in their best positions barring Zidane and Maldini, but even then, it looks like a proper, functional xi who would cause the opposition no end of problems and do a good job on the other side of the ball.
The defensive end is the area most of these ex-pro xi's usually make a mess of in their fantasy xi's. Baresi was a defender, so I'm guessing he built from the back where I reckon as it's usually midfielders and forwards asked to do these kind of things, that they start from their position or thereabouts and fit in all the best players they can, logistics be damned.
I'd swap Schmeichel in for Buffon. with respect to the Italian, as good as he was/is, Schmikes was simply the best ever
Spot on - the team has an over Italian flavour to it predictably and schmeichal is he best I've ever seen
Best LWB by a mile, but I always thought his defending was a little bit suspect and he never looked a patch on Maldini.
The idea that Carlos' defending was suspect is way off, in his Prime the guy was a beast of a defender too.
Yeh I agree, that was always a bit of a myth that becuase he was brazilian and good going forward he had to be a liability at the back.
He wasn't. He was better than he gets credit for as he generally got the job done defensively, which was admirable considering his forays but 'a beast of a defender' he certainly wasn't. There were many around far more solid. Cafu is more noteworthy in this regard.
Carlos in his prime was still stupid enough to attempt this in a world cup quarter final:
And there were dribblers who simply had his number and raped him at will. A young Messi being the most memorable, but he wasn't the only one. He plain didn't like wingers who turned in-field on his right foot.
Excellent team.
Roberto Carlos was far from a natural defender. Anyone familiar with his spell with Inter will tell you that.
No Suarez, Lampard, Terry, Stevie Me? What a shit list. i bet Daily fail would come up with a better one 
Harsh, remember Evra's first 1/2 season in England?
Extremely harsh to use Carlos at Inter as an example, he'd just moved from a league where they aren't expected to defend at all, Inter was his first season in Europe.
Of course he was no Maldini when it came to defending, but who is? He was a bloody good defender though, and a sensational footballer.
Possible harsh but the fact remains neither R Carlos or Evra for that matter are or ever will be natural defenders. Irwin was superior to both in that regard.
Obviously, but the fact is, both Evra and Carlos at their peaks, defended excellently more often than not.
Obviously Maldini was a better defender than Carlos, but Carlos offered so much more the other way. What Carlos gave in both directions trumps what Maldini did from LB, hence why Maldini would be in at CB, just as Baresi thinks.
Irwin was superior to a lot of left backs in every regard.
Carlos is one of my all time favourite players, when I say I adore that lad it's an understatement. Arghh
Anyway the team is great but it certainly isn't perfect and can be better.
Anyway the team is great but it certainly isn't perfect and can be better.
Carlos was a good defender because he was great offensively and pressured high in a time when defenders usually gave attackers more space. The whole "the best defense is a good offense".
But as a pure defender, he wouldn't be close to my starting LB. Maldini was far better and he still offered something in offense.
But as a pure defender, he wouldn't be close to my starting LB. Maldini was far better and he still offered something in offense.
Marco van basten and maradona upfront. Wow! cant help but notice baresi left out gullit. Great player, but marco and frank were arguably more crucial to that great Milan side.
cant help but notice baresi left out gullit. Great player, but marco and frank were arguably more crucial to that great Milan side.I've told you guys Giggs is rated alot in Italy. Same as Scholes, in fact many critics questioned SAF's decision of buying JSV when we already had Scholes.