Hence my point, one season.
The best Attack/Midfield/Defense Ever
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To be fair, Bale was largely irrelevant for Madrid's CL-victory last season and has been a bench player in their CL-campaign this season.
A "regressed" Benzema is currently 3rd highest asisst provider in LaLiga and has created nearly as much assists + pre-assists per 90 in LaLiga as Messi this season.
Top 20 LaLiga players with the biggest participation in creating goals by assists + pre-assists per 90.
Benzema's goalscoring output is utter shite if anyone judging him as the receving end at RM with the main task to deliver goals, which isn't really the case. He's more of a facilitator who plays behind Ronaldo nowadays and hardly gets into the penalty box to take shots (only 1.5 shots/game).
You asked if Bale, Benzema & Cristiano were ever seen as the best trio in the world and I brought up 2013-14 season to counter your question.
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Modric---Casemiro---Kroos - 2017
Gattuso----Pirlo-----Seedorf - 2005
Rivaldo---Ronaldinho--Ronaldo - 2002
------Alonso--Busquets
Silva-----Xavi------Iniesta - 2010
Gattuso----Pirlo-----Seedorf - 2005
Rivaldo---Ronaldinho--Ronaldo - 2002
------Alonso--Busquets
Silva-----Xavi------Iniesta - 2010
I honestly cannot understand the listing of players and teams that people have never seen play live. You are just going by sheer word of mouth, historical statistics, which lack context, and youtube clips. As well revered as players like Puskas are, and should always be, it's a little preposterous to see 30, 40 and 50 year olds talking about how great they were as part of a unit. You never saw them play. People will argue against this, but for me those opinions are pretty meaningless.
The earliest period I feel comfortable talking about, is approximately the late 80's when I was of mature enough mind to appreciate what I was seeing on the football pitch. In my life time the best midfield I ever was Busquets, Xavi and Iniesta. It was other worldly. The "awesome foursome" of Giggs, Keane, Scholes, Beckham, was perfectly balanced, but it truly only peaked and dominated for one season in Europe. Casemiro, Kroos and Modric is another fantastic midfield. While I loved the Ajax midfield of Van Gaal: Rijkaard, Seedorf, Davids, Litmanen.
Defence wise, it's been said repeatedly but Tassotti, Baresi, Costcurta, Maldini is hard to beat. Untied's '08 defence was fantastic too, and the France 98 defence had some stellar names Thuram, Desailly, Blanc, Lizarazu. I was alos a huge fan of any defence that contained the best full back pairing ever: Cafu and Roberto Carlos.
Midfields:
Busquest - Xavi - Iniesta
Giggs - Keane - Scholes - Beckham
Modric - Casemiro - Kroos
Rijkaard - Seedorf - Davids - Litmanen
The earliest period I feel comfortable talking about, is approximately the late 80's when I was of mature enough mind to appreciate what I was seeing on the football pitch. In my life time the best midfield I ever was Busquets, Xavi and Iniesta. It was other worldly. The "awesome foursome" of Giggs, Keane, Scholes, Beckham, was perfectly balanced, but it truly only peaked and dominated for one season in Europe. Casemiro, Kroos and Modric is another fantastic midfield. While I loved the Ajax midfield of Van Gaal: Rijkaard, Seedorf, Davids, Litmanen.
Defence wise, it's been said repeatedly but Tassotti, Baresi, Costcurta, Maldini is hard to beat. Untied's '08 defence was fantastic too, and the France 98 defence had some stellar names Thuram, Desailly, Blanc, Lizarazu. I was alos a huge fan of any defence that contained the best full back pairing ever: Cafu and Roberto Carlos.
Midfields:
Busquest - Xavi - Iniesta
Giggs - Keane - Scholes - Beckham
Modric - Casemiro - Kroos
Rijkaard - Seedorf - Davids - Litmanen
To be fair, you can watch a lot of full matches online. Not much difference between doing that and watching it live.
Not true IMO. Sports is a bit weird - it's not like a movie/theatre where the on field show is all that matters. The context and the emotions riding on it are just as important.
Do you think someone watching back the Germany-Brazil 7-1 in 30 years time, will feel the same shock and feel the same magnitude of what was happening - like those of us watching it unfold right in-front of us?
All the build up, the tension before a big game and watching someone fall apart or live up to that expectation, is a big part of spectacle.
I agree.
Milan 90s defense
United 99 midfield
Barca 04 attack
United 99 midfield
Barca 04 attack
I will be amazed if there’s another midfield as good as Spain 2008-2012 in my lifetime.
Good point. What I should have said is that there isn't much difference when it comes to learning about players' footballing abilities.
Best midfield I've seen watching the game live is either Busquets-Iniesta-Xavi or Casemiro-Kroos-Modric.
Best attack Neymar-Suarez-Messi, honourable mention to Man United's front 3 of Rooney, Tevez and Cristiano Ronaldo.
Best defence: If the 08 United side had a world class right back that would be the one, Evra, Vidic and Rio were world class back in the day. Atletico Madrid 2014 is up there too. But I have to say, Chelsea 2005 was pretty immense defensively, as a whole its the best I've seen. I don't rate Juventus of recent years. Barcelona and Real Madrid have had fantastic backlines going forward over the years, but I've always felt they were nothing special overall defensively. Bayern with Lahm, Alaba, Boateng and the 4th defender I can't remember who was quite good. I'm too young to have ever seen the defence of milan in 1990 or even Arsenal's defence was very good around 1998/1999.
Best attack Neymar-Suarez-Messi, honourable mention to Man United's front 3 of Rooney, Tevez and Cristiano Ronaldo.
Best defence: If the 08 United side had a world class right back that would be the one, Evra, Vidic and Rio were world class back in the day. Atletico Madrid 2014 is up there too. But I have to say, Chelsea 2005 was pretty immense defensively, as a whole its the best I've seen. I don't rate Juventus of recent years. Barcelona and Real Madrid have had fantastic backlines going forward over the years, but I've always felt they were nothing special overall defensively. Bayern with Lahm, Alaba, Boateng and the 4th defender I can't remember who was quite good. I'm too young to have ever seen the defence of milan in 1990 or even Arsenal's defence was very good around 1998/1999.
Defence - Milan 1990's or Germany 1970's
Midfield - United 1999 (Beckham, Keane, Scholes, Giggs)
Attack - Real Madrid 1950's (Puskas, Di Stefano, Kopa, Gento)
Mix up the midfield and attack a little and that would be one strong attacking unit!
Midfield - United 1999 (Beckham, Keane, Scholes, Giggs)
Attack - Real Madrid 1950's (Puskas, Di Stefano, Kopa, Gento)
Mix up the midfield and attack a little and that would be one strong attacking unit!
Attack - Maradona 86.
A one man army if I ever saw one. Unbelievable what he was doing against big teams in World Cup finals stages.
Mourinho's first Chelsea midfield was pretty awesome.
__ Makelele
Essien ___________
Duff-_____ Lampard ___ Robben
Essien ___________
Duff-_____ Lampard ___ Robben
Valdano & Burruchaga scored 4 goals and 3 goals respectively where most of them were deceive as well.
Yes, Maradona was easily the best player in WC 86 tournament but let's not overlook the contributions from his teammates...
If anything, Messi's WC 14 tournament was equally impressive.
However, Maradona had teammates who consistently delivered whereas Higuain, Palacio, Di Maria etc. choked and were underwhelming in general at WC 14.
The title thread asks ever, in that sense I would not include them.
Benzema is still a striker and goalscoring is a duty he lacks in, I do agree he facilitates greatly for Ronaldo which right now is what almost justifies his inclusion as there are better strikers out there.
Oh dear...
Did Higuain choke when he scored the only goal against Belgium? or does it only count when he misses?
Man Utd's 07-08 team for all 3.
Best defence is Italy 1990 for me. Zenga, Baresi, Bergomi, Ferri and Maldini, with the likes of Vierchowod, Ferrara, D'Agostini and Costacurta as back-ups. Their defence wasn't breached until the sixth game of the tournament, deep into the semi-final when Zenga misjudged a floated cross. The back line was basically flawless throughout.
Feck me. There's a cavernous gap between the two tournaments.
Good to see France's carre magique recognised - it's right up there in the top three midfields of all time. Has an advantage, as you say, in its cohesion and ability to adapt to different threats and opponents.
Well I use to love watching:
Ronaldo - Rooney - Tevez in 07/08
Ronaldo - Rooney - Tevez in 07/08
The ball will always move faster than the man. Remember that.
In my lifetime:
Defence - Milan (Cafu, Stam, Nesta, Maldini)
Midfield - United (Beckham, Keane, Scholes, Giggs)
Attack - Barcelona (Ronaldinho, Eto'o, Messi)
Barca had a better midfield with Busquets, Xavi and Iniesta. But United 99 midfield will always be my favorite.
Defence - Milan (Cafu, Stam, Nesta, Maldini)
Midfield - United (Beckham, Keane, Scholes, Giggs)
Attack - Barcelona (Ronaldinho, Eto'o, Messi)
Barca had a better midfield with Busquets, Xavi and Iniesta. But United 99 midfield will always be my favorite.
There's a distinct lack of front twos mentioned in attack.
The standout being van Basten and Gullit. There are few others that had such quality in both- Romario was past his best when partnered with Romario.
If Kenyon hadn't cocked up we could have seen Ronaldinho and van Nistelrooy front two. That would have been awesome
The standout being van Basten and Gullit. There are few others that had such quality in both- Romario was past his best when partnered with Romario.
If Kenyon hadn't cocked up we could have seen Ronaldinho and van Nistelrooy front two. That would have been awesome
Defence: Milan 90
Midfield: Brazil 1982
Attack: Real madrid 1953-64
Midfield: Brazil 1982
Attack: Real madrid 1953-64
Well attack could be two versions of the Barca front 3 can’t really decide.
Midfield there isn’t any debate about it
Messi-Eto-Ronaldinho
Messi-Suarez-Neymar
Special mention to Hulk and Falcao at Porto.Messi-Suarez-Neymar
Midfield there isn’t any debate about it
Xavi-Busquets-Iniesta
Defence is a lot harder for me as I can only go off of what I recall or watched so
Brown-Rio-Vidic-Evra
Jose first Chelsea teams defence
Nesta-Maldini
Jose first Chelsea teams defence
Nesta-Maldini
MSN all day everyday. Had everything you want in an attack, a powerful striker with excellent work ethic, a Brazilian dribbling machine with flair and the greatest attacking player of all time all rolled into one.
Shout-out to the Parma defence of the late 90s:
Buffon
Thuram - Cannavaro - Sensini
Buffon
Thuram - Cannavaro - Sensini
I don’t know, Eto and Ronaldinho also brought those things. Something about Ronaldinho was just incredible to watch. The audacity and brilliance to do and try all the things he did. Eto also scored one of the best goals I’ve ever seen in my life and I still can’t understand how he managed to do it other that catching a massive gust of wind.
As a Barca fan trust me, its MSN. Eto'o, Ronaldinho and Messi didn't even play consistently with each other beyond a season.
Yeah, they were brilliant. Not a peak Buffon or Cannavaro, but still an incredible unit.
I was actually thinking of putting in a 3rd version with Giuly. Maybe I just don’t rate the Messi-Suarez-Neymar threesome that much because being honest by that time i’d sort of become bored of Barca and maybe I’m letting my heart judge more so than reason as I really loved watching the other 3 I mentioned. However i’ll Take your word for it.
I forget which year but didn't we have a season with a record long shutout in CL? Our United back 5 during 2006-2009 should be up there, at least in my lifetime.
Too bad none of them were actually at their peak. Would have been even better to watch.
That would be Arsenal in 2005/06 if I'm not mistaken. Van der Sar still holds (with the help of our defence) the World record for most minutes without conceding a league goal (1,311 minutes, set in 2008–09 Premier League)
Best Defense
Seaman. Dixon. Adams,Bould,Winterburn
Best Mid
Undecided on this. Either Beckham Scholes,Keane,Giggs or Iniesta,Xavi,Busquets
Best Attack Eto, Messi, Ronhaldinho
Seaman. Dixon. Adams,Bould,Winterburn
Best Mid
Undecided on this. Either Beckham Scholes,Keane,Giggs or Iniesta,Xavi,Busquets
Best Attack Eto, Messi, Ronhaldinho
Defence
milan Dida- cafu, nesta, stam, maldini.
United van der sar neville rio vida evra
Midfield( again the same)
Milan. Pirlo, seedorf, gattuso, kaka
United 1999
Attack
Brasil 2002- ronaldo, ronaldinho, rivaldo
.
milan Dida- cafu, nesta, stam, maldini.
United van der sar neville rio vida evra
Midfield( again the same)
Milan. Pirlo, seedorf, gattuso, kaka
United 1999
Attack
Brasil 2002- ronaldo, ronaldinho, rivaldo
.
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You really are, it is no exaggeration that when the MSN clicked, after the Atletico game at the Camp Nou in 2015/16 season, that people touted them as the best attacking trio ever. If you would have watched them regularly you would eat your words in a heart beat.
It’s not like I hadn’t seen them, I just loved the way Ronaldinho and Eto played. Ronaldinho was carnivale football and just magic and always with a smile on his face.