One-man teams

[Irrational.]

Is there a bigger example of a one man team than Barcelona? They look like utter shit when Messi is out of form or not playing, and the man has single handedly carried them ever since Xavi and Iniesta left the club.

I struggle to think of other one man teams that rely so much on a single player. Maybe Arsenal with Aubameyang?

 

[Cutch]

Grealish and Zaha for their respective clubs

 

[MrEleson]

the man has single handedly carried them ever since Xavi and Iniesta left the club.

That's such a hyperbolic statement. Suarez won them the league in 15/16 with his 40 league goals (finishing just 1 point ahead of RM). Neymar also carried them earlier on in that very season when Messi was injured and starred in the 0-4 drubbing of Madrid at the Bernebeau (in Messi's absence). That MSN trio won the treble the previous season. In 16/17, Neymar carried them again in that historic comeback against PSG. So yeah, he's been their best player but by no means did he play with bums throughout.

 

[SilentWitness]

Grealish and Zaha for their respective clubs

Don't think that is true of Zaha at all this season gone.

 

[Cutch]

Don't think that is true of Zaha at all this season gone.

They seem to be absolutely awful whenever he's not at his best

 

[JPRouve]

That's such a hyperbolic statement. Suarez won them the league in 15/16 with his 40 league goals (finishing just 1 point ahead of RM). Neymar also carried them earlier on in that very season when Messi was injured and starred in the 0-4 drubbing of Madrid at the Bernebeau (in Messi's absence). That MSN trio won the treble the previous season. In 16/17, Neymar carried them again in that historic comeback against PSG. So yeah, he's been their best player but by no means did he play with bums throughout.

To be fair Iniesta left the club in 2018 and between 2018 and 2020, Messi has almost singlehandedly made that team competitive. The 2018-2019 season was ridiculous in that regard.

 

[RedTiger]

Leicester with Vardy.

 

[Cutch]

Leicester with Vardy.

I think Ndidi and Maddison are equally as important as Vardy. The right back Pereira also very influential

 

[altodevil]

No such thing

 

[SilentWitness]

They seem to be absolutely awful whenever he's not at his best

I think Palace are just one of those teams that look shit whoever is playing for them but I think Zaha actually had a really poor output last year and they could probably be alright without him.

 

[TheReligion]

Liverpool with VVD

 

[IrishRedDevil]

Aubameyang FC

 

[Cutch]

I think Palace are just one of those teams that look shit whoever is playing for them but I think Zaha actually had a really poor output last year and they could probably be alright without him.

Dunno, he gets double and triple marked every game because everyone knows he's their only real threat. That should leave space for others and probably helped Ayew last season to score a few goals. I think they'll be dreadful if he leaves

 

[MrEleson]

To be fair Iniesta left the club in 2018 and between 2018 and 2020, Messi has almost singlehandedly made that team competitive. The 2018-2019 season was ridiculous in that regard.

Yeah he was critical to their success but it's not the biggest carry job. Suarez scored 25 goals in 18/19 (21 in the league).

 

[DWelbz19]

Leicester with Vardy.

It’s actually a shout. He’s the only one who got double figures in the league, and only Tielemans and Barnes got more assists (Vardy’s 5 vs Tielemans‘ 6 and Barnes’ 8) than him this season.

Their abysmal run from January until basically the end of the season coincided directly with Vardy looking really shite. Without him there’s nobody else in the side who even looks like they can score.

 

[T00lsh3d]

Shearer at Blackburn. Surely wouldn’t have had a sniff of the league without him

 

[ChaddyP]

Maradona at napoli?

 

[Josh 76]

One name.
Maradona!

Argentina 86.
Napoli 87

 

[Chipper]

Le Tissier FC

United with Robson at times?

 

[VorZakone]

De Bruyne at Wolfsburg 2014/15.

 

[Cal?]

Ronaldo Juve 19/20

 

[Ecstatic]

Ronaldo with Inter in 1997/98


Serie A Context

97/98: Ronaldo scored 40 goals with Inter Milan - all competitions - with a dysfunctional team (for many reasons). Zamorano & Djorkaeff were able to score some goals but let's be clear: the only offensive threat was Ronaldo. No collective play. Add the fact that refereeing has changed since to protect talented players subject to assaults. Seria A was the best league in Europe.

Top scorers Inter Milan in Serie A - 1997-98

• 
  Ronaldo 25 goals
• 
  Youri Djorkaeff 8 goals
• 
  Diego Simeone 6 goals
• 
  Álvaro Recoba 3 goals
• 
  Zamorano: 1 goal

 

[JPRouve]

De Bruyne at Wolfsburg 2014/15.

So you are going to disrespect Bas Dost?

 

[Lebo]

Barca is not a one man team. That’s just what people say when they don’t want criticism on Messi. That team has Ter Stegen, Pique, Umtiti, De Jong, Rakitic, Griezmann, Suarez , Dembele etc. those players can get top 2 in Spain with a half decent coach. Same with people pretending that Portugal and Argentina are average sites. They aren’t at all. Sure they aren’t France or Germany but they are by no means average as people want us to believe.

 

[VorZakone]

So you are going to disrespect Bas Dost?

Yes I am.

 

[RedTiger]

Hagi at Galatasaray.

Edit: I just remembered Bruno at sporting!

 

[King Andow]

De Gea 17/18

 

[Annihilate Now!]

You could argue Danny Ings had pretty much single handedly kept Soton in the league... Though they do have a good manager.

 

[JPRouve]

Yes I am.

Now seriously they actually had a decent team with Luiz Gustavo, Arnold when he was decent, Ricardo Rodriguez when he was decent, Schurrle, Perisic and Benaglio. De Bruyne was by far their best player but it wasn't a one man team.

 

[Sandikan]

Gerrard for a lot of his Liverpool days.

It's what hyped his rep up to sky high levels. Like if some of us hung out with some seriously ugly fellas and looked hot.


Or something.

 

[Chief123]

Is there a bigger example of a one man team than Barcelona? They look like utter shit when Messi is out of form or not playing, and the man has single handedly carried them ever since Xavi and Iniesta left the club.

I struggle to think of other one man teams that rely so much on a single player. Maybe Arsenal with Aubameyang?

Maybe in the last couple of years since they’ve regressed so much.

But I don’t believe Barca have been a one man team throughout Messi’s career.

Neymar, Suarez, Xavi, Iniesta, Busquets, Ronaldhino, Eto, Henry who have all played with Messi at Barca have been incredible world class players. It’s just Messi was something the world has rarely seen.

 

[Brown Gooner]

Liverpool with VVD

Mane is their best player so not true at all

 

[Cascarino]

Now seriously they actually had a decent team with Luiz Gustavo, Arnold when he was decent, Ricardo Rodriguez when he was decent, Schurrle, Perisic and Benaglio. De Bruyne was by far their best player but it wasn't a one man team.

how good was Naldo generally for them? When I watched them (admittedly not that often) he always looked really good, he seemed to score in every game I watched too. I don’t know if it was a case of catching him on his best days.

 

[JPRouve]

how good was Naldo generally for them? When I watched them (admittedly not that often) he always looked really good, he seemed to score in every game I watched too. I don’t know if it was a case of catching him on his best days.

He was pretty good for a while but if I remember correctly he started to seriously decline with them when he lost a bit of pace.

 

[VorZakone]

Now seriously they actually had a decent team with Luiz Gustavo, Arnold when he was decent, Ricardo Rodriguez when he was decent, Schurrle, Perisic and Benaglio. De Bruyne was by far their best player but it wasn't a one man team.

There's never a true one man team. But De Bruyne was absolutely their main guy.

 

[el3mel]

France with Zidane. They had super stars everywhere on the pitch but they only clicked when Zidane was on form. Check 2006 WC when they started really poorly because Zidane wasn't in form and when he kicked on from first KO stage, they made it to final.

 

[KirkDuyt]

My youth team when I was 7. We had the coach's son in our team, who also played higher up. He scored about 15 goals every game untill the oppo's parents complained and he was benched. We lost 4-3.

Also, Maradona at Napoli.

 

[Zoo]

Kevin De Bruyne and Manchester City.

 

[Web of Bissaka]

Shearer with Newcastle.

Messi with Barca (recent 1-3 seasons).

 

[Demyanenko_square_jaw]

Pele and late 50s to early 70s Brazil. shite for years when he declined.

Cruyff and early 70s Ajax/Netherlands.

Van Basten and late 80s-early 90s Netherlands/Milan.

Beckenbauer and 66-74 Germany and mid 70s Bayern ( Monchengladbach were greater in the league at the same time with no good players at all though, which was even more impressive).

Puskas and the Hungarian early 50s team and first legendary Real Madrid team ( Di Stefano was a balding fraud).

Sindelar and the Austrian Wunderteam (not really a team at all. just one man doing everything).

France with Platini in the 80s and Deschamps in the 90s.

Germany without Uwe Bein was really bad too. They only got to three finals and a semi-final, but i think i got the main ones. Maybe the Barca dream team and Pep Guardiola?