yep they were and also Asprilla.
Past football squads that look excellent in hindsight
- Thread starter LawCharltonBest
- Start date
Veron was there with all of those barring Sosa, plus Chiesa and as has been mentioned by someone else, Asprilla. Veron had one season there in 98/99, Sosa a loan move for the second half of 99/00.
Others who were there with Veron were Sensini and Dino Baggio, kind of surprised nobody thought fit to mention those two. They also had Stanic, Fiore, Abel Balbo, Roberto Mussi and Diego Fuser who were all handy.
95/96 was also a tasty squad. Some of the aforementioned plus Stoichkov, Inzaghi, Zola and Fernando Couto.
Last edited:
Monaco 2015 had
Carvalho
Coentrao
Fabinho
Joao Moutinho
Bernardo Silva
Thomas Lemar
Kylian Mbappe
Adama Traore
Really interesting side
Carvalho
Coentrao
Fabinho
Joao Moutinho
Bernardo Silva
Thomas Lemar
Kylian Mbappe
Adama Traore
Really interesting side
It was only a few years ago we had a squad featuring de Gea, Carrick, Schweinsteiger, Pogba, Rooney and Ibrahimovic.
Not the Wolves Adama Traore though. The centre midfielder
What was the name of the midfielder who would sometimes even perform better than neymar for themSantos 2011 : Alex Sandro, Danilo, Felipe Anderson, Neymar, Elano, Rodrigo Possebon (
Ganso!!Santos 2011 : Alex Sandro, Danilo, Felipe Anderson, Neymar, Elano, Rodrigo Possebon (
They also had Toulalan and Vagner Love. But Coentrao was bad enough to be Echejille's substitute, Carvalho's legs were gone and the main striker was Lacina Traoré.
Atlético de Madrid 99-00: Molina, Aguilera, Capdevila, Baraja, Juninho, Valerón, Solari, Kiko, Hasselbaink...they got relegated...
Atlético de Madrid 10-11: De Gea, Filipe Luis, Godín, Perea, Tiago, Raúl García, Reyes, Simao, Agüero, Forlán...7th, 38 points short of Barça.
Atlético de Madrid 10-11: De Gea, Filipe Luis, Godín, Perea, Tiago, Raúl García, Reyes, Simao, Agüero, Forlán...7th, 38 points short of Barça.
More like the manager fecked up big time.
From around 06-09 we had:
Reina, Xabi Alonso, Mascherano, Gerrard, Torres (Torres from 07 onwards)
Complemented by good fillers who did a role or were coming to the end of their time but experienced/still good:
Carragher, Arbeloa, Hyypia, Kuyt, Benayoun, Crouch (left in 08/09 I think)
and the perennially injured pair of Agger and Aurelio (the only season he was properly fit, we finished second)
We could put out a fantastic starting XI, the problem was always the larger squad, combined with of course that beyond Gerrard and Torres we lacked creativity (a Coutinho type player would have been perfect) - it was largely workmanlike, and also lacked pace beyond those two, at least where it counted (attack).
That team won no trophies, but went to a Champions League final, another semi-final, and went toe to toe with your lot in the league, and also had to duke it out with a pretty damn good Chelsea team, and the last Arsenal team that was pretty good.
Reina, Xabi Alonso, Mascherano, Gerrard, Torres (Torres from 07 onwards)
Complemented by good fillers who did a role or were coming to the end of their time but experienced/still good:
Carragher, Arbeloa, Hyypia, Kuyt, Benayoun, Crouch (left in 08/09 I think)
and the perennially injured pair of Agger and Aurelio (the only season he was properly fit, we finished second)
We could put out a fantastic starting XI, the problem was always the larger squad, combined with of course that beyond Gerrard and Torres we lacked creativity (a Coutinho type player would have been perfect) - it was largely workmanlike, and also lacked pace beyond those two, at least where it counted (attack).
That team won no trophies, but went to a Champions League final, another semi-final, and went toe to toe with your lot in the league, and also had to duke it out with a pretty damn good Chelsea team, and the last Arsenal team that was pretty good.
Not really. The Serie A of the time was frigging tough. Even the smaller clubs could afford top players like Hagi, Dunga, Careca, Laudrup, Batistuta, Taffarel, Asprilla etc. It was also the golden age of defenders which meant that it was common for foreign top players like for example Ian Rush and Dennis Bergkamp to fail big time there.
Now Inter were unlucky to have had 3 foreigners (2 of which strikers) who simply failed to make an impact. That crippled them big time especially since their alternative aka Schillaci wasn't doing so well either. At a time when the 3 foreign rule was key, it was central for clubs to get their 3 foreigners right. Failing that meant like going to a fight with a broken arm and leg.
United 2002
True, to add further to that, it was also the season their record midfield signing Igor Shalimov decided he couldn't be bothered with the work ethic needed to maintain himself at top level teams and preferred to become a lazy mid-table journeyman. The previous season with him playing excellently and forming an exciting partnership with Ruben Sosa they finished 2nd, only four points behind Milan.
Remember Hercules in 2010, newly promoted to La Liga . Ended up somehow with a front three of David Trezeguet, Haedo Valdez and Royston Drenthe! Also had Farinos in central midfield.
They actually went and won 2-0 in Camp Nou in their second game, also beat Atletico Madrid 4-1 later on in the season but still went down so similar to Boro in mid 90s.
They actually went and won 2-0 in Camp Nou in their second game, also beat Atletico Madrid 4-1 later on in the season but still went down so similar to Boro in mid 90s.
There's a few Ajax ones that come to mind:
Ajax in 2010 away win at AC Milan in Frank de Boer's debut match as manager:
basically Spurs' core + Suarez. a bit hit and miss, especially Enoh and Sulejmani. Sadly Suarez was suspended in the league for most of that first 6 months of 10/11 season and then left for Liverpool in the winter.
Daley Blind also became a starter for a lot of the second half of that season, so you had a back four of Blind - Vertonghen - Alderweireld - Van der Wiel
There's a couple Ajax youth XIs that are pretty impressive in retrospect:
Ajax U19 - Schalke U19 in the Youth League 2015:
De Ligt, Nouri, Dolberg, Van de Beek, Mazraoui (on the bench), Eiting
Ajax U21 in 16/17 regularly had possibly one of the greatest youth midfield threes of all time with arguably one of the greatest centreback prospects of all time behind them. In fact, the first reserves match of that season is possibly most ridiculous:
That's the midfield three + De Ligt, as well as Davinson Sanchez and Onana. They drew against FC Emmen
That Ajax generation has always been ridiculous in the youth anyway though. In the U12 through U15s you had some combination of Nouri, Vd Beek, Bergwijn, Rosario(PSV, Dutch international), TFM, Sandler(City), Dilrosun(Dutch international), Mazraoui(Moroccan international), Eiting, alongside a bunch of other players that have gone on to be Eredivisie (squad) players.
Ajax in 2010 away win at AC Milan in Frank de Boer's debut match as manager:
basically Spurs' core + Suarez. a bit hit and miss, especially Enoh and Sulejmani. Sadly Suarez was suspended in the league for most of that first 6 months of 10/11 season and then left for Liverpool in the winter.
Daley Blind also became a starter for a lot of the second half of that season, so you had a back four of Blind - Vertonghen - Alderweireld - Van der Wiel
There's a couple Ajax youth XIs that are pretty impressive in retrospect:
Ajax U19 - Schalke U19 in the Youth League 2015:
De Ligt, Nouri, Dolberg, Van de Beek, Mazraoui (on the bench), Eiting
Ajax U21 in 16/17 regularly had possibly one of the greatest youth midfield threes of all time with arguably one of the greatest centreback prospects of all time behind them. In fact, the first reserves match of that season is possibly most ridiculous:
That's the midfield three + De Ligt, as well as Davinson Sanchez and Onana. They drew against FC Emmen
That Ajax generation has always been ridiculous in the youth anyway though. In the U12 through U15s you had some combination of Nouri, Vd Beek, Bergwijn, Rosario(PSV, Dutch international), TFM, Sandler(City), Dilrosun(Dutch international), Mazraoui(Moroccan international), Eiting, alongside a bunch of other players that have gone on to be Eredivisie (squad) players.
Anyone have Newcastle's 05/06 squad? Really impressive on paper
And yet that squad still finished 3rd under Fergie, he really was a miracle worker!
Porto Champions league winning team, with Vítor Baía, Paulo Ferreira, Ricardo Carvalho, Deco, Maniche, Nuno Valente, Costinha, Bosingwa,
Milan's squad from 1996-97 was insanely talented on paper:
...yet finished in 11th place in Serie A and were knocked out in the group stages of the Champions League. In fairness, the likes of Baresi, Tassotti and Vierchowod were as old as the hills, with Savicevic among others on the decline too, and they were a shambles managerially.