I remember he was a bit slow (physically I mean), so he wasn't all that in the prem but his style suited Inter and Italy much better. Not a legend or anything though, just a decent hard man for his time.
How good was Materazzi?
- Thread starter VorZakone
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In the latest episode of the United Hour Podcast, Nik and Imran hold a long overdue conversation about United's awful league form with 1 win in 7. They discuss a disappointing draw at Bournemouth, a not so disappointing draw against Liverpool and a crushing defeat at Chelsea - Is time nearly over for Erik Ten Hag?
Then in a special second half of the pod, Nik welcomes Natalie ( https://twitter.com/natalie_17) to discuss the fortunes of Manchester United Women as they booked a place in the FA Cup Final after a historic first ever win vs. Chelsea.
I really think that the World Cup final 2006 sums him up. Materazzi was furbo personalized. He knew what buttons he would press to get Zidane off balance, and that won him and Italy the final. Of course he's a dick, though. But then again, football wouldn't be as entertaining if there was 10.000 copies of De Bruyne running around.
That's great and all but was he actually good at defending or playing football? The correct answer is he was ok. Made a good career for himself by combining his slyness with being ok at defending.
Diego Costa is in a similar mould but a much better footballer. I would say he's a very good striker whose cunning and bastardity made him world class or thereabouts.
He kicked the shit out of defenders. There are clips of him where he goes for a player‘s balls instead of the actual football. Was also a bit of a diver.
Bang average defender. There would be no threads about him if he hadn’t goaded Zidane.
Materazzi??? Dude was never the best defender at his club, never mind further afield. Not much better than average.
Not as good as a ferrari.
Best CB ever of his generation
Dominant in the air
Very good on the ball, underrated passing
Lacked pace which was his biggest issue
Occasional feck ups
If you compare him to someone today, I would rate him on the same level as Joel Matip or Clement Lenglet
Very good on the ball, underrated passing
Lacked pace which was his biggest issue
Occasional feck ups
If you compare him to someone today, I would rate him on the same level as Joel Matip or Clement Lenglet
scored one of the best own goals I've ever seen:
He was absurdly aggressive and belligerent. He also seemed to have a personal vendetta against Shevchenko as he would kick the hell out of him every Milan Derby. He wouldn’t survive in today’s game as he would be a ticking time bomb for a red card every match. As an actual defender my memory eludes me, but he was a starter for a competitive inter side and his national team in a WC final so I guess he was decent enough.
That’s not relevant, players adapt to the game as it’s played at the time.
I rated him very highly but similar to players of his unsportsmanlike behaviour & mentality, his reputation always went before him. Mind you, he only has himself to blame for that. He was a defender of the highest quality though
Materazzi was red carded quite frequently in his time, too
He was a very good defender though, not world class or anything, but definitely more than just "ok"