Roy Keane, Iniesta, Modric, Chiellini come to mind on first thought.
Which players are the mentality monster GOATs?
- Thread starter Dr. StrangeHate
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Messi, Bale, Ronaldo. All delivered in key moments for club and country.
Casemiro merits a shout out.
Di maria. The fecker has his best games in the biggest stage
Drogba
Zidane. I dont know how far back we can go, but obviously Di stefano, Maradonna and Pelé. Messi and Cristiano have already been mentioned. Beckham in his prime wasnt too shabby either or Giggs btw. Gerd Müller too.
How would you define mentality monster? Just someone who delivered in crunch moments at the highest level year after year?
I would argue a player like Giroud who keeps being counted out, fans and coaches always thinking they can do better but somehow he always fights back and regains the starting spot and the respect of the people who doubted him.
I would argue a player like Giroud who keeps being counted out, fans and coaches always thinking they can do better but somehow he always fights back and regains the starting spot and the respect of the people who doubted him.
Dennis Wise
That's what separates him from someone like Lukkaku where there were early comparisons due to him being huge, athletic, black and ties to Chelsea.
There are two types of mentality monsters. Those who never crumble under pressure and those who have the ability to immediately bounce back after a major setback. Bonus points if they can do it without lashing out publicly or taking it out on their team mates. Essentially a cool-headed warrior.
Nobody can beat Iniesta, even though he looks like he should be an accountant. Man of the match in the finals of all of the below tournaments:
World Cup 2010
UEFA Super Cup 2011
Euro 2012
Champions League 2015
Copa Del Rey 2016
Copa Del Rey 2018
The only person ever to do it in a World Cup Final, Euro Final and Champions League Final, although they didn't give the award back in the days of Pele and Maradona.
World Cup 2010
UEFA Super Cup 2011
Euro 2012
Champions League 2015
Copa Del Rey 2016
Copa Del Rey 2018
The only person ever to do it in a World Cup Final, Euro Final and Champions League Final, although they didn't give the award back in the days of Pele and Maradona.
Gareth Bale.
Iniesta is the first one that comes to my mind too, I also remembered him as the main man (next to occasionally Messi) in the biggest games his teams played.
For all the dislike I have for him right now, it's also hard to look past Cristiano before he left Real. His record in the latter stages of CL is excellent and was a true talisman for the national team (and crucial in their Euro win, even after injury). Also lucky enough to have missed a pen our CL final shootout and still win the trophy
Drogba also has to be there at the top. The guy was thriving under pressure and the bigger the stage the more he raised his game. Even if he wasn't the GOAT striker, for the hypothetical one-off life-deciding match Earth vs Aliens I'd probably have him leading the line.
Ramos
Pele
Keane
Pele
Keane
I think football fans' attempts at armchair psychology are misguided at best. 'Mentality' is very hard to judge without ever even meeting a player, let alone talking to them.
Its ironic that he is the mentality monster, and one of the best big game players in history, considering he has had struggles with depression.
Though i'm sure its not uncommon, just that most aren't open about it, i suppose.
Robben and Coman. Having your body betraying you that often and coming back as a top player or maintaining a high level takes a lot of mental fortitude. And I will include all the similar players.
De Gea and Maguire?
Mark Hughes always felt like big game player and scored important goals in Semis/Finals
I like the rationale, perhaps RVN for similar reasons?
Without a specific definition of mentality, I’m going to chuck Ryan Yates into the conversation. He got his chance in the first team at 21 while Keane and O’Neil were in charge. Keane did a lot of work with Yatesy and loves his attitude and determination. Before that he’d been out on loan in every league from National league upwards and now he’s the main man for us in the Prem. The lad just wants to succeed and works his bollocks off until he does.
Nadal, djokovic, Federer
You joking aren’t you? He’s a coward. Couldn’t motivate us when he was playing for us. He blames everything but himself for his poor form and time at the club.
A few keepers perhaps... Neuer, Kahn, Buffon, Schmeichel. Not just that they're in that all-time great tier but they seemed to just be larger than life in goal and performance, bounced back after a bad match or mistake, won a shit ton of trophies and awards, and so forth.
Maldini and Pirlo also come to mind.
Maldini and Pirlo also come to mind.
Eriksen. He died on the field and came back to play well enough to move to the biggest club in England.
He played for more teams that United.
Most of the core comprising the recent Madrid side easily clears the criteria and so does our treble and double double winning teams(although they probably should have done better in europe).
I'd say the mou Chelsea side is up there as well and for a more unconventional pick I'd say the core from that sampodria side.
I'd say the mou Chelsea side is up there as well and for a more unconventional pick I'd say the core from that sampodria side.
There's probably loads of players with brililant mentalities. It's just they haven't got the ability to get the headlines.
Aye
I've never seen anyone do what Mbappe did at the world cup final. That was incredible.
Beckham post 1998 got dumped on, fought back and became England’s most influential player since Gascoigne. He eventually moved to the best league in the world amidst a host of world class players and stood his own despite never being out of the spotlights. That’s a strong character.
I’m guessing natural ability isn’t a factor? I always thought Darren Fletcher always rose to the occasion in big games against City, Chelsea and Arsenal back in the day. He turned in a lot of his best performances against the best teams and was pretty much a nailed on starter in those games as the midfield destroyer.
Early on he was a little frustrating to watch when a run of the mill match was played against a team United should beat and he never really rose to it as much as he would have against the biggest and the best.
Ji-Sung Park would probably be one too, based on similar lines as Fletcher. He always put in pretty good European performances against some of the best teams. His man marking of Pirlo has gone down in football legend.
Early on he was a little frustrating to watch when a run of the mill match was played against a team United should beat and he never really rose to it as much as he would have against the biggest and the best.
Ji-Sung Park would probably be one too, based on similar lines as Fletcher. He always put in pretty good European performances against some of the best teams. His man marking of Pirlo has gone down in football legend.
Usual sort of suspects — Ramos, Drogba, Amad, Ronaldo, Mbappe etc
So his mentality only shows for certain teams? I thought you take that everywhere with you.
Peter Crouch. You think about the attitude he had to fight against. Getting abusive chants when he was a young player starting out. Being seen as something he was not (a big lump of a target man) and having to prove himself everywhere he went.
What a career he had at the end of it. Played in a World cup 100+ Premier League goals, played regularly for one of the biggest clubs in the world. Always admired him.
What a career he had at the end of it. Played in a World cup 100+ Premier League goals, played regularly for one of the biggest clubs in the world. Always admired him.
He played great in 2009 vs United also, despite being injured!
Majority was on the 1999 Man United team
Technical ability helps too.
Scored the only goal in the Copa America final. Won a penalty and scored in a World Cup final. Was the best player on the pitch when Real Madrid finally got their 'La Decima'. Absolute definition of a big game player.
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