How good was Marcos Senna?

[sullydnl]

Random topic but for no reason whatsoever Marcos Senna popped into my head. A player I rarely see mentioned any more and hadn't thought about in years. Yet I seem to remember him being superb for Spain at the beginning of their reign and receiving a lot of plaudits at the time. So I'm not sure if he's underrated now, overrated then or if I'm just misremembering how highly rated he was at the time.

So how good was he?

 

[GledTheRed]

off the chain, gutted when the deal fell through.

 

[Infordin]

Marcos Senna's performance at Euro 2008 is better than any individual international tournament from either Sergio Busquets or Xabi Alonso. You could argue about Alonso's Euro 2012, I think that Senna's Euro 2008 was a tad more impressive overall. Although obviously at club level, both Busquets and Alonso achieved far more than Senna did and are universally considered better players overall.

Senna was a tidy on the ball, but was not as press-resistant as Busquets, nor did he have Alonso's versatile and long range passing ability (although Senna's passing ability was still very good). However, he was more athletic and stronger defensively than both.

With Villarreal, Senna was a key player alongside Riquelme. That Villarreal side won two Intertoto cups in 2003 and 2004, and also reached the Champions League semi in 2006 (a penalty miss away from the final). I'm surprised that Villarreal were able to keep hold of him for basically his entire prime. He was good enough to play for Europe's biggest teams.

 

[Rozay]

Was on the brink of signing for us, but Fergie switched targets when he saw he could get Hargreaves, who probably looked more ‘United Way/Get the club’ etc. Then he left and went to Manchester City.

 

[FootballHQ]

Villareal had a wonderful team in those days.

Sorin, Tacchanardi, Arruabarrena, Senna, Riquelme, Jose Mari, Forlan.

 

[Web of Bissaka]

"How good was.." series thread number ?

I remember he was a very good defensive DMF, more on to the defending and physical parts. His all around games eg. passings, etc are fairly good enough, he is limited and not really impressive compare to the other DMFs at that time, etc, but I don't think he has any weaknesses to his game. A complete player without really being spectacular. Basically efficient. One of those top rated DMF at those times but not the best.

 

[Lay]

Villareal had a wonderful team in those days.

Sorin, Tacchanardi, Arruabarrena, Senna, Riquelme, Jose Mari, Forlan.

They became my favourite Spanish team during that period. I'm still fond of them and usually are my go to FM save

 

[Berbasbullet]

Muppet me wanted him over Carrick back in the day.

 

[GlasgowCeltic]

Villareal had a wonderful team in those days.

Sorin, Tacchanardi, Arruabarrena, Senna, Riquelme, Jose Mari, Forlan.

Gonzalo looked an excellent centre back the majority of time starts I watched them play

 

[FootballHQ]

Gonzalo looked an excellent centre back the majority of time starts I watched them play

Should've played for Argentina more but he had horrendous injury problems IIRC. Went to play for Fiorentina in Serie A afterwards.

Actually when we were talking about excellent on paper teams to get relegated Villareal in 2012 was a pretty huge shock. They started that season in champions league.

On final day when they lost 1-0 to Atletico Madrid and went down they started with Diego Lopez in goal, Musacchio, Carlos Marchena, Marcos Senna, Borja Valero. Likes of Gonzalo Rodriguez, Cani and Nilmar were on the bench. Think Guiseppe Rossi was also there but was probably injured.

 

[Hellboy]

Did not have a big name at the time
so always stayed under the radar but brilliant player.

Would have been a perfect squad played circa 2007 with Scholes, Carrick, Hargreaves, Ando and Fletcher.

 

[Gio]

Agree with the consensus that he was a top defensive midfielder in his day. Ironic that Spain secured his services despite boasting a plethora of high quality central midfielders while Brazil opted against him and ended up with mediocrity like Melo there a couple of years later.

 

[NYAS]

Agree with the consensus that he was a top defensive midfielder in his day. Ironic that Spain secured his services despite boasting a plethora of high quality central midfielders while Brazil opted against him and ended up with mediocrity like Melo there a couple of years later.

Nothing new for Brazil. They‘re notoriously shite at that kind of thing and especially for positions they desperately needed.

Adding onto your DM example, they massively dropped the ball with playmakers such as Thiago and Jorginho, a type of player they needed badly in midfield up until Arthur emerged.

Also look at their CF struggles. Could have gotten Diego Costa and Rodrigo. One could argue they still haven’t definitively sorted that position out.

 

[MrEleson]

I remember him being serially linked to United in the summer of 2006. The speculation was so strong that I’m surprised that we never signed him in the end. I think we signed Carrick that summer ultimately.

 

[MrMarcello]

I remember him being serially linked to United in the summer of 2006. The speculation was so strong that I’m surprised that we never signed him in the end. I think we signed Carrick that summer ultimately.

My recollection is Carrick had been signed in early July then SAF chased Senna. However, he was also chasing Hargreaves and at one point I think a deal was very close with Bayern and the Senna interest was put to the side. Then Bayern haggled over price and whatnot all the way up to the deadline. Seem to recall the club went back to Villarreal who had already extended Seena and/or refused to negotiate as the season had began and too late to reinforce a huge hole if they sold Senna.

 

[Infordin]

Nothing new for Brazil. They‘re notoriously shite at that kind of thing and especially for positions they desperately needed.

Adding onto your DM example, they massively dropped the ball with playmakers such as Thiago and Jorginho, a type of player they needed badly in midfield up until Arthur emerged.

Also look at their CF struggles. Could have gotten Diego Costa and Rodrigo. One could argue they still haven’t definitively sorted that position out.

Brazil were also very close to losing Allan to Italy too IIRC

Losing Thiago to Spain was a huge blow though. I genuinely think they could have beaten Belgium and even won the World Cup if they had him in midfield.

 

[Lay]

How many of the 4 games we had against Villarreal did he play in? Four 0-0 draws against them

 

[Offside]

I remember really wanting him in 2006. He was decent for Spain at one Euros I can also recall.

 

[FootballHQ]

How many of the 4 games we had against Villarreal did he play in? Four 0-0 draws against them

Started three of the four. Can remember all those games being ridiculously tight with barely a shot on target, particularly the two in Spain. Can also remember Rooney diving and I think getting sent off (?) and Fergie started ranting about Pires in the post match interview as he played for Villareal at that time.

 

[Infordin]

I remember really wanting him in 2006. He was decent for Spain at one Euros I can also recall.

He wasn't just decent, he was exceptional. One of the best players at the tournament for sure.

As I said before, Marcos Senna played better at Euro 2008 than either Xabi Alonso or Busquets did at the 2010 World Cup or 2012 Euros (although Alonso's 2012 Euro performance may be on par).

 

[Wayne's World]

The Spanish Makelele I thought at the time when I first seen him. Remember we were heavily linked with him for months. Would have loved to have seen him at United

I don't think without his defensive discipline that Spain would have won Euro 2008 without him. Absolutely crucial to their success at the time

 

[montpelier]

It must help always being in the fastest car, imo.

 

[Robertd0803]

Started three of the four. Can remember all those games being ridiculously tight with barely a shot on target, particularly the two in Spain. Can also remember Rooney diving and I think getting sent off (?) and Fergie started ranting about Pires in the post match interview as he played for Villareal at that time.

Rooney got sent off for sarcastically applauding the ref after a decision went against him.

 

[The Original]

Was on the brink of signing for us, but Fergie switched targets when he saw he could get Hargreaves, who probably looked more ‘United Way/Get the club’ etc. Then he left and went to Manchester City.

As I remember it, it was more of getting Carrick that scuppered the Senna move.

 

[Wednesday at Stoke]

I recall his defensive work being a big reason for why Riquelme could play in Europe.