Spanish La Liga Thread (BBVA)

Who will win La Liga and which two teams will complete the top 4?


  • Total voters
    83

Massaro94

Milan Legend
Joined
Mar 11, 2013
Messages
24,426
Reaction score
6,662
Location
Grande Britain
Fav. Players
Maradona-Shevchenko-Zizou
roberto carlos, ronald koeman....bombers



:monto:

I remember during the 94 final... the commentator said... Koeman has scored 58 0r 158 goals... only 3 came off his head :lol:

Cruyff used to tell Koeman to strike the first Freekick into the wall. thus when the second fk came along the wall would be less likely to charge :lol:

Roberto Carlos was ridiculous .... imaginie him taking a pk... even if you save it, the sheer power would take you and the ball into the net :D
 

Rotti

Milan Icon
Joined
Dec 26, 2012
Messages
3,468
Reaction score
1
Location
Ikealandia
How the fuck can Cristiano ROnaldo be considered the best FK taker around by anyone?
 

joyrider

Il Moderati
Staff member
Joined
Feb 15, 2004
Messages
47,771
Reaction score
9,635
I remember during the 94 final... the commentator said... Koeman has scored 58 0r 158 goals... only 3 came off his head :lol:

Cruyff used to tell Koeman to strike the first Freekick into the wall. thus when the second fk came along the wall would be less likely to charge :lol:

Roberto Carlos was ridiculous .... imaginie him taking a pk... even if you save it, the sheer power would take you and the ball into the net :D

true about koeman fk's
cruifs barca was a joy to watch...but we were a bigger joy to watch :D


dunno if roberto carlos even could take a freekick, poor keeper would get missiled


one his most famous fk's

 

Massaro94

Milan Legend
Joined
Mar 11, 2013
Messages
24,426
Reaction score
6,662
Location
Grande Britain
Fav. Players
Maradona-Shevchenko-Zizou
true about koeman fk's
cruifs barca was a joy to watch...but we were a bigger joy to watch :D


dunno if roberto carlos even could take a freekick, poor keeper would get missiled


one his most famous fk's


That's an iconic free kick...

This one against ARG was a belter.... missile. Aint no keeper saving it

 

Allan_Sombrero

Milan Legend
Joined
Aug 19, 2012
Messages
11,410
Reaction score
5,888
How the fuck can Cristiano ROnaldo be considered the best FK taker around by anyone?

Idk man. There are several better free kick takers than him right now.

The ones that come to mind are Benat, Lodi, Reus, Sneijder, Messi, and Pirlo.

My fondest memory of Roberto Carlos


My fondest memory is this goal.



---

For the Messi vs. Ronaldo argument the one thing that separates them is vision. Messi can assist just a well as he can score. Ronaldo on the other hand has tunnel vision and can be very selfish. Also, Ronaldo used to be an incredible dribbler and now he can barely run past anyone since he has become more of a poacher. The same case with the long shots. I can't recall the last time he scored a goal from long range and imo he was a better overall player at Manchester United.

Even though I don't like him much as a footballer he is still an incredible player and this is one of my favorite goals from him.

 

milanoldfarts

Banned
Joined
Mar 18, 2014
Messages
2,136
Reaction score
0
I remember Buffon came closest to capturing a shot from Carlos...but the ball slipped from his hands the moment he captured it :eek:
 

bacon d'or

Milan Legend
Joined
May 24, 2013
Messages
7,136
Reaction score
2
true about koeman fk's
cruifs barca was a joy to watch...but we were a bigger joy to watch :D


dunno if roberto carlos even could take a freekick, poor keeper would get missiled


one his most famous fk's


this fk is molto great, but my fave carlos goal is this :eek:

 
Last edited:

leaf

Sack Pioli
Joined
Aug 28, 2012
Messages
28,061
Reaction score
54,620
Location
Trinidad and Tobago
Fav. Players
Ronaldo, Kaká, Maldini, Nesta, CR7, Seedorf, Dwight Yorke, Quaresma
The stupidity in this thread is fucking unbelievable. None of the current active footballers today have scored as many as him and there's all this shit being tossed about at the guy :fp:

You don't need to like HIM as a person but for fuck's sake respect what he does.

I think that overall Messi is more BRILLIANT but in general, they're pretty much equal. There's things Messi can do that he can't and vice versa.


As for vision, yes Messi shits all over him. Messi is almost as good a CAM as he is a forward.....but then again CR7 was a beast of a winger as well as a striker as well.
 
Last edited:

leaf

Sack Pioli
Joined
Aug 28, 2012
Messages
28,061
Reaction score
54,620
Location
Trinidad and Tobago
Fav. Players
Ronaldo, Kaká, Maldini, Nesta, CR7, Seedorf, Dwight Yorke, Quaresma
:lol::lol::lol::lol:

Bruv he hit a 1 man wall :tongue:

Seems to hit a lot of free kicks badly then eh ;)

He's a top player ... but definitely not the #1 when it comes to freekicks.

Pirlo > Cr7 atm
of course he hit it badly....even the best players (except Juninho) miss most of their free kicks duuuuuuuuh
Becks, Carlos, Mihalovic etc all went loooong spells without scoring them.
Pirlo went three fucking years!!!

You think hitting a one guy wall is bad? He was trying to curl it around him btw.......Go look at Milan vs Arsenal 2008 and tell me about shit free kicks!
Fucking P!rl0
Fuck Pirlo!!!


In other news P!rl0 almost scored in the England vs Italy game that I went to see in Brazil.....I'd probably have gotten a heart attack if it went in :lol:
 

Massaro94

Milan Legend
Joined
Mar 11, 2013
Messages
24,426
Reaction score
6,662
Location
Grande Britain
Fav. Players
Maradona-Shevchenko-Zizou
The stupidity in this thread is fucking unbelievable. None of the current active footballers today have scored as many as him and there's all this shit being tossed about at the guy :fp:

28112014145203.jpg


Chill out Leafy... he's good... no denying that. But not the best. And yes Pirlo is definitely a better fk taker than cr7.


A little bit of swerve, a pinch of yaw, a bouquet garni of knuckle and a soup?on of pitch ? as Thierry Henry put it: ?Pirlo is that good, I think he meant to hit the crossbar??

CourteousHatefulBat.gif
 

Allan_Sombrero

Milan Legend
Joined
Aug 19, 2012
Messages
11,410
Reaction score
5,888
The stupidity in this thread is fucking unbelievable. None of the current active footballers today have scored as many as him and there's all this shit being tossed about at the guy :fp:

You don't need to like HIM as a person but for fuck's sake respect what he does.

I think that overall Messi is more BRILLIANT but in general, they're pretty much equal. There's things Messi can do that he can't and vice versa.

As for vision, yes Messi shits all over him. Messi is almost as good a CAM as he is a forward.....but then again CR7 was a beast of a winger as well as a striker as well.

jEBJ2TP.jpg


Relax your jimmies bro. People meant that he CURRENTLY sucks at them. He was extremely good at it in Manchester United and I remember a couple good goals from early in his Madrid career but he has gotten bad at them. I think the stats for him was he didn't score for over a year before he scored against Eibar this year in April. After 56 attempts he finally scored a free kick against Eibar. It seems to me his technique has gotten bad and there are other footballers currently who are better than him at free kicks.
 

Massaro94

Milan Legend
Joined
Mar 11, 2013
Messages
24,426
Reaction score
6,662
Location
Grande Britain
Fav. Players
Maradona-Shevchenko-Zizou
jEBJ2TP.jpg

I think the stats for him was he didn't score for over a year before he scored against Eibar this year in April. After 56 attempts he finally scored a free kick against Eibar.

So let me get this right... the BEST fk taker in the whole universe... required 56 attempts to score a single set piece :eek:

Give him another ballon d'or for perseverance ;)
 

Allan_Sombrero

Milan Legend
Joined
Aug 19, 2012
Messages
11,410
Reaction score
5,888
So let me get this right... the BEST fk taker in the whole universe... required 56 attempts to score a single set piece :eek:

Give him another ballon d'or for perseverance ;)

Yup. 56 attempts and the last time he scored a free kick was in this match.

 

milanoldfarts

Banned
Joined
Mar 18, 2014
Messages
2,136
Reaction score
0
And how many times did Pirla attempt to score a FK? Cuz I remember he went years without scoring one
 

vB9

Man with a Plan
Joined
Jun 8, 2003
Messages
25,427
Reaction score
15,609
Fav. Players
Schmeichel, Maldini, Maradona and ME
Lol. Silly Moo.

The Portuguese coach flew into a rage when he suspected a member of his Blancos squad was leaking tactical details about to the press

Jerzy Dudek has revealed that a furious Jose Mourinho accused some of his Real Madrid players of "back-stabbing" him and of being a "rat" to the Spanish press.

Mourinho, who coached at the Santiago Bernabeu between 2010 and 2013, felt that a member of his squad was passing information to the Spanish media after his plan to play use Pepe in midfield against Barcelona in 2011 emerged in the press before kick-off.

It was speculated that the Portuguese trainer suspected club captain Iker Casillas of being the mole but former Madrid goalkeeper Dudek says Mourinho accused midfielder Esteban Granero, among unnamed others, of leaking information.

"Two years ago I read that Spanish press was looking for a 'rat' in Real dressing room and it immediately took me back to the match against Barcelona in 2011 that we drew 1-1 at Santiago Bernabeu," the Pole wrote in a passage of his book obtained pre-publication by Elconfidencial.com.

"Mourinho came to the dressing room and said that the result was not bad. Indeed, as for almost the entire second half we played with 10 men after Raul Albiol?s red card.

"And then he added: 'I see your relations with media are quite good. I know we have to get along with them but I didn?t think you were getting along that well. I heard from them that you do not want the meetings before the games, that we practice set-pieces wrong way and our tactical trainings are not good enough.

"'I turn on my TV four hours before the game and what the f*** do I see? That the journo is giving away our squad.'

"Mourinho started shouting: 'How could we ever surprise them if one of you is a rat! Yes, yes a rat! Somebody released the info about the starting XI before the game.

"'They knew everything about us. We trained all week. We wanted to surprise them. We wanted to make some changes. We put Pepe in midfield to play against Lionel Messi and we talked about how Pepe knows how to deal with him.

"'He knows when to let him go so he?s not the danger for us when he has the ball and makes the difference and we start panicking. That?s why Pepe had to play in midfield, right? Right. And everything was perfect. Why could it not work out?'

"Nobody said anything. But Mourinho started shouting again: 'I always go ahead of you, in the first line, I control everything that happens. Like a general, I always go into fire for you.

"'We were about to attack them when somebody stabbed me in the back. One of you backstabbed me with a knife before the game that is so important for us.'

"Mourinho had tears in his eyes. I had never seen him in such state, so emotional. And he still shouted: 'Where is this rat? Who is it? Who could it be? Maybe you...' and he pointed at Esteban Granero, who was born in Madrid.

"Mourinho explained: 'It may be somebody who plays here for a long time.' He pointed at three or four other guys and asked: 'How can you destroy what we?ve been working for for all week?

"'You screwed me over. But you screwed yourselves, your families and your friends too. I will get to the f***ing source. Though I don?t know if it will be needed now. I am f***ing sick and tired of you.'

"Mourinho threw a plastic bottle against the wall, slammed the door and left."
Related
 

milanoldfarts

Banned
Joined
Mar 18, 2014
Messages
2,136
Reaction score
0
lol poor Jose...having to deal with a bunch of shitbags
I would have sold the whole team in that Mercato if I was him...then replaced it with overhyped expensive players and left the club

I bet it was Casillas who leaked it lmao

EDIT:post it in the Mourinho thread too
 
Last edited:

Massaro94

Milan Legend
Joined
Mar 11, 2013
Messages
24,426
Reaction score
6,662
Location
Grande Britain
Fav. Players
Maradona-Shevchenko-Zizou
And how many times did Pirla attempt to score a FK? Cuz I remember he went years without scoring one

Would those same years coincidently the same years as when this guy was here...

dinho80a.jpg


and how many attempts did Pirlo try in all those years.... something tells me it wasn't 56 :lol:

#Stats :lol:
 

leaf

Sack Pioli
Joined
Aug 28, 2012
Messages
28,061
Reaction score
54,620
Location
Trinidad and Tobago
Fav. Players
Ronaldo, Kaká, Maldini, Nesta, CR7, Seedorf, Dwight Yorke, Quaresma
A little bit of swerve, a pinch of yaw, a bouquet garni of knuckle and a soup?on of pitch ? as Thierry Henry put it: ?Pirlo is that good, I think he meant to hit the crossbar??

CourteousHatefulBat.gif
Says Pirlo is better
Posts pic of him missing

And how many times did Pirla attempt to score a FK? Cuz I remember he went years without scoring one

leave it alone. Pirlo fans are unstoppable :proud:
 

Dejan Savicevic

Primavera
Joined
Jan 10, 2013
Messages
114
Reaction score
0
Exactly. When the situation is tough he should ask for the ball more and be the one who steps up to try to make something out of nothing. He doesn't have that demanding factor (or garra as we Spanish speaking South Americans say) because he has not played in Argentina as a professional nor in a mid-table team like Tevez or Suarez has. It's in those teams where you learn everything is on the line and you become a very resilient player. Maradona acquired it when he played in Argentinos Juniors who went from battling relegation to battling for a Argentinian championship with him. The final is where you leave everything on the line. It would have been easier for Argentina had Di Maria been fit to play but he wasn't and Messi should have stepped up seeing as the forwards missed several chances to score. Higuain's miss was the worst one since he let the ball bounce for too long before he shot it :fp: He could have easily carried it forward to get a better shot.Well I say Maradona is more skilled for several reasons. Maradona could pull a rabona as an accurate pass and a goal attempt from out of nowhere. Maradona had less space and time than Messi did and could still do mazy dribbles and create space for his teammates even when defenders were trying to break his legs. The supporting cast Maradona had in Napoli is nothing compared to what Messi has had in Barcelona and he still helped Napoli win two Serie A titles, a Coppa Italia, and the UEFA cup. Even the Argentina team today was better and more complete than the 1986 and 1990 one.

1. I do agree on that, Messi should have tried and even if he had failed, his efforts would have redeemed it.

2. yes it was not as great as Messi's Barcelona, but Napoli has things favoring them and Maradona. People have a way of thinking it was some-kind of Crystal Palace, Granada or Palermo of today, when it was clearly not. They were a rich side, and in the later part with Moggi, they also had many suspect results due to ref help.
If we had to break it season by season:
In the 83/84 season they finished in 12th and appointed Rino Marchesi in mid-season. In the off season out went the veteran Dutchman Ruud Krol and mercurial Brazilian Dirceu plus a number of over the hill and under-performing domestic players. In came Maradona, the Argentine great Daniel Bertoni and Azzurri midfielder Salvatore Bagni to strengthen the side. They joined the defensive stalwarts in Ferrario, Bruscolotti and Boldini plus solid Italians in Celestini, Caffarelli, De Vecchi and Dal Fiume. The side performed adequately for the most part with Diego playing in every match, out of his skin by all accounts and scoring 14 goals with Bertoni chipping in with 11 but they could only finish 8th. It was evident that the level of half the side did not even remotely match that of Diego nor was it good enough to crack the top echelon of the league. Also notable were the first few appearances in the shirt of a young Ciro Ferrara. The slightly low place would cost Marchesi and lead to him and Ottavio Bianchi from Como swapping roles for the next season. In a surprise Hellas Verona win the league title in 84/85.

For the 85/86 season a number of key changes were made in eccentric title winning goalkeeper Claudio Garella, libero Alessandro Renica from Sampdoria and Lazio fan favorite Bruno Giordano coming in. The side responded much better and finished strongly ending up in 3rd place behind the title winner Juventus and Roma. Maradona top scores with 11 league goals with Giordano on 10.

With a much more solid defence now of Renica, Bruscalotti, Ferrario, a youthful Ferrara and with Diego fresh from his miracles in Mexico the side looked ready for season 86/87. Strong additions in newly capped De Napoli from Avellino, Carnevale from Udinese (Bertoni heading the other way) and important squad player Francesco Romano would all play their role. There was initial disappointment in the UEFA Cup getting knocked out by Toulouse on penalties but in the league the side was confident, unbeaten at home and sprinted off to a massive lead in the first 2/3 of the season. In the end they limped their way to the title but not really faced with a real challenger barring an aging Juventus led by Marchesi now the Southerners won their first Serie A title and also the Coppa Italia easily disposing of Atalanta over two legs. Maradona lead the team in goals once again on 10 with Carnevale scoring 8 but many crucial goals were scored by the lesser known players in this great season.

The following season in 87/88 they brought in the exciting Brazilian Careca from Sao Paulo and flying left-back Giovanni Francini from Torino. This was also the season a stalwart in Bruscolotti was slowly being phased out due to his age. Terrible luck meant they had drawn arguably the best side in Europe at the time Real Madrid in the first round of the European Cup! Losing 3-1 on aggregate the side was by no means disgraced and once again they got off to a great start in the league going neck and neck with Milan into the final stretch with the Ma-Gi-Ca trio in electric form. The side then hit terrible form at the worst time failing to win any of the last 5 matches effectively handing Milan the title and amongst that streak was a big loss to Milan in Naples by 3-2. Maradona, Careca and Giordano finish on 15, 13 and 8 goals each.

For the 88/89 season big changes occurred as probably Bianchi felt that the current side had run its course. Giuliano Giuliani funnily enough from Hellas replaced Garella, out went the aging Ferrario, Bagni and Giordano replaced by the tigerish duo of Corradini and Massimo Crippa from Torino. Utility Luca Fusi from Sampdoria was another key arrival as was the Brazilian international midfielder Alemao from Atletico Madrid. A new Napoli was on the horizon rebuilt to take the place of the first version but amazingly Inter would just not drop points that year led by the wily Trapattoni, by the goals of Aldo Serena and the drive of the German Matthaus, they romped to the title. Napoli would also lose the Coppa Italia Final to Sampdoria quite convincingly but massive consolation was the fact that Napoli had won its first European trophy by beating PAOK, Leipzig, Bordeaux, Juventus, Bayern and finally Stuttgart in the Final to take the UEFA Cup. Careca top-scored with 19 goals, Carnevale on 13 and Diego on 9.

Season 89/90 brought a few changes again, most notably coaching in Alberto Bigon coming in from Cesena. On the playing front, Renica started to get less playing time while Romano left to Torino, the two replacements/squad fillers were Marco Baroni from Lecce and Massimo Mauro from Juventus. The side was brilliant in the league especially at home, winning every game bar one and finished strongly to take their second league title with everybody pitching in with strong performances, it was quite strong squad all-round shown by 6 players going to the WC in Carnevale, Ferrara, De Napoli, Alemao, Careca and of course Maradona. Anyone of Crippa, Fusi, Francini wouldn't have looked out of place in the Azzurri at the time but the NT was packed with talent. In Europe the side beat Sporting CP and Wettingen before they were smashed to pieces in Germany by Werder. Also notable was the emergence of a young Gianfranco Zola who made numerous substitute appearances and even chipped in with a goal or two. Maradona had 16 goals in the end, Careca 10 and Carnevale 8.

Season 90/91 and the beginning of the end, nowhere else to start but the events of Italia 90 and the SF clash between Italy and Argentina where the always controversial Diego had asked for the San Paolo to support his NT! According to him, Italy north of Naples spits on and hates the South 364 days a year but this one time they want them to feel Italian. On the pitch the side struggled finishing 8th in the league and crashed out of the European Cup to Spartak Moscow on penalties, with Diego missing his kick. Player wise Giuliani was replaced by the veteran Galli in goal while Fusi went to Torino in a swap with Venturin, Carnevale (who had a poor WC) was offloaded to Roma, while in came little known names of Incocciati, Rizzardi and Silenzi, a sign of where the club was heading, towards mediocrity. Nobody scored over 10 league goals, Careca ended up on 9, Incocciati on 7 and Zola and Diego on 6. Maradona played his last match against Sampdoria in a 4-1 defeat in Genoa on the 24th March 1991. With a ready made replacement in Zola and his ban for cocaine use in place the time was up for this Napoli side...

Yeah that 1986 final he was man marked by several German players who kept fouling him so he couldn't do much when he advanced hence why he reverted to being the playmaker in the final. The strategy was to attract German players to Maradona and leave openings for the other Argentinian players; which worked and it helped Argentina win the final.

I dont think so that was the strategy, Germany did their best to nullify Maradona, although him being brilliant and having a great functional side did helped a lot.

Di Stefano and Platini got very unlucky in the world cup. In 1966 Di Stefano's Spain should have been 2-0 at half time because they had a penalty ruled as a freekick outside the penalty box and Platini's France lost Battiston when that German gk almost killed him in the collision. That should have been a straight red for the German gk since he went straight for the man and not the ball. Losing Battiston cost France the game since they lost a good defender. The French played better that day but the better team doesn't always win as we know. Cruyff's Holland played some great football in 1974 but Germany were better in the final.

sorry to nitpick but Stefano never played in World Cup. Also Platini did redeemed himself with that great 1984 Euro.
 

Allan_Sombrero

Milan Legend
Joined
Aug 19, 2012
Messages
11,410
Reaction score
5,888
If we had to break it season by season:
In the 83/84 season they finished in 12th and appointed Rino Marchesi in mid-season. In the off season out went the veteran Dutchman Ruud Krol and mercurial Brazilian Dirceu plus a number of over the hill and under-performing domestic players. In came Maradona, the Argentine great Daniel Bertoni and Azzurri midfielder Salvatore Bagni to strengthen the side. They joined the defensive stalwarts in Ferrario, Bruscolotti and Boldini plus solid Italians in Celestini, Caffarelli, De Vecchi and Dal Fiume. The side performed adequately for the most part with Diego playing in every match, out of his skin by all accounts and scoring 14 goals with Bertoni chipping in with 11 but they could only finish 8th. It was evident that the level of half the side did not even remotely match that of Diego nor was it good enough to crack the top echelon of the league. Also notable were the first few appearances in the shirt of a young Ciro Ferrara. The slightly low place would cost Marchesi and lead to him and Ottavio Bianchi from Como swapping roles for the next season. In a surprise Hellas Verona win the league title in 84/85.

For the 85/86 season a number of key changes were made in eccentric title winning goalkeeper Claudio Garella, libero Alessandro Renica from Sampdoria and Lazio fan favorite Bruno Giordano coming in. The side responded much better and finished strongly ending up in 3rd place behind the title winner Juventus and Roma. Maradona top scores with 11 league goals with Giordano on 10.

With a much more solid defence now of Renica, Bruscalotti, Ferrario, a youthful Ferrara and with Diego fresh from his miracles in Mexico the side looked ready for season 86/87. Strong additions in newly capped De Napoli from Avellino, Carnevale from Udinese (Bertoni heading the other way) and important squad player Francesco Romano would all play their role. There was initial disappointment in the UEFA Cup getting knocked out by Toulouse on penalties but in the league the side was confident, unbeaten at home and sprinted off to a massive lead in the first 2/3 of the season. In the end they limped their way to the title but not really faced with a real challenger barring an aging Juventus led by Marchesi now the Southerners won their first Serie A title and also the Coppa Italia easily disposing of Atalanta over two legs. Maradona lead the team in goals once again on 10 with Carnevale scoring 8 but many crucial goals were scored by the lesser known players in this great season.

The following season in 87/88 they brought in the exciting Brazilian Careca from Sao Paulo and flying left-back Giovanni Francini from Torino. This was also the season a stalwart in Bruscolotti was slowly being phased out due to his age. Terrible luck meant they had drawn arguably the best side in Europe at the time Real Madrid in the first round of the European Cup! Losing 3-1 on aggregate the side was by no means disgraced and once again they got off to a great start in the league going neck and neck with Milan into the final stretch with the Ma-Gi-Ca trio in electric form. The side then hit terrible form at the worst time failing to win any of the last 5 matches effectively handing Milan the title and amongst that streak was a big loss to Milan in Naples by 3-2. Maradona, Careca and Giordano finish on 15, 13 and 8 goals each.

For the 88/89 season big changes occurred as probably Bianchi felt that the current side had run its course. Giuliano Giuliani funnily enough from Hellas replaced Garella, out went the aging Ferrario, Bagni and Giordano replaced by the tigerish duo of Corradini and Massimo Crippa from Torino. Utility Luca Fusi from Sampdoria was another key arrival as was the Brazilian international midfielder Alemao from Atletico Madrid. A new Napoli was on the horizon rebuilt to take the place of the first version but amazingly Inter would just not drop points that year led by the wily Trapattoni, by the goals of Aldo Serena and the drive of the German Matthaus, they romped to the title. Napoli would also lose the Coppa Italia Final to Sampdoria quite convincingly but massive consolation was the fact that Napoli had won its first European trophy by beating PAOK, Leipzig, Bordeaux, Juventus, Bayern and finally Stuttgart in the Final to take the UEFA Cup. Careca top-scored with 19 goals, Carnevale on 13 and Diego on 9.

Season 89/90 brought a few changes again, most notably coaching in Alberto Bigon coming in from Cesena. On the playing front, Renica started to get less playing time while Romano left to Torino, the two replacements/squad fillers were Marco Baroni from Lecce and Massimo Mauro from Juventus. The side was brilliant in the league especially at home, winning every game bar one and finished strongly to take their second league title with everybody pitching in with strong performances, it was quite strong squad all-round shown by 6 players going to the WC in Carnevale, Ferrara, De Napoli, Alemao, Careca and of course Maradona. Anyone of Crippa, Fusi, Francini wouldn't have looked out of place in the Azzurri at the time but the NT was packed with talent. In Europe the side beat Sporting CP and Wettingen before they were smashed to pieces in Germany by Werder. Also notable was the emergence of a young Gianfranco Zola who made numerous substitute appearances and even chipped in with a goal or two. Maradona had 16 goals in the end, Careca 10 and Carnevale 8.

Season 90/91 and the beginning of the end, nowhere else to start but the events of Italia 90 and the SF clash between Italy and Argentina where the always controversial Diego had asked for the San Paolo to support his NT! According to him, Italy north of Naples spits on and hates the South 364 days a year but this one time they want them to feel Italian. On the pitch the side struggled finishing 8th in the league and crashed out of the European Cup to Spartak Moscow on penalties, with Diego missing his kick. Player wise Giuliani was replaced by the veteran Galli in goal while Fusi went to Torino in a swap with Venturin, Carnevale (who had a poor WC) was offloaded to Roma, while in came little known names of Incocciati, Rizzardi and Silenzi, a sign of where the club was heading, towards mediocrity. Nobody scored over 10 league goals, Careca ended up on 9, Incocciati on 7 and Zola and Diego on 6. Maradona played his last match against Sampdoria in a 4-1 defeat in Genoa on the 24th March 1991. With a ready made replacement in Zola and his ban for cocaine use in place the time was up for this Napoli side...

You have extremely good memory Dejan :thumbsup: Napoli were basically the Atletico Madrid of 13-14 who had a few world class players and mostly good players that played in a good system. Their first Serie A title was definitely based on having a strong defense like you said since I remember Napoli had 15 or 16 clean sheets that season. The midfield consisted of De Napoli, Bagni, and Romano; which is a good midfield but was not world class. They won the title but just by 3 points. They needed a stronger attack and midfield in order to win another Serie A title with Milan, Juventus, and Inter strengthening their squad in the following years.

In their second Serie A title Napoli maintained a strong defense with the addition of Corradini to partner Renica and a more experienced but very young Ferrara at right back. They improved their midfield with the additions of Crippa, Alemao, Fusi, and they added a good striker in Careca. However, Napoli like I said was not of the highest caliber when it came to individual players. The only world class players that Napoli really had was Maradona, Alemao, Careca, and Ferrara. De Napoli and Bagni were very good but not world class. The rest of the players Maradona played with were average players (Giuliani, Ferrario, Bruscolotti, Renica, Corradini, Francini, Crippa, Fusi, Romano, Carnevale, and Giordano).

Without Maradona I really doubt Napoli would have won the trophies they did. He was irreplaceable and he raised his teammates level of play just like he did with the Argentina team. Shame that Diego had that cocaine addiction because it was what made him inconsistent at times. He could be an unrivaled player in one Serie A match and then the next match could be marked out throughout the game. Even on his off nights he was a top player but the cocaine definitely hampered his level of play and how much more he could contribute in matches.

I dont think so that was the strategy, Germany did their best to nullify Maradona, although him being brilliant and having a great functional side did helped a lot.

The 1986 team certainly was a decent side, but far from a "very good" side if you take out Maradona. The one big positive about that Argentinian team was how good it was defensively thanks to the great Ruggeri and mentally strong players like Olarticoechea and Brown, who made up for their lack of talent with grit in defense. Burruchaga and Valdano were also above average players but besides that; it was a pretty average team. The team had more hard-workers than creative, skilled players and Maradona was the conductor and creative spark of that team. Without him, Argentina definitely wouldn't have reached the final or have been able to beat the Germans.

sorry to nitpick but Stefano never played in World Cup. Also Platini did redeemed himself with that great 1984 Euro.

You're right. I was going off memory but Ferenc Puskas was the one who played against Brazil and it wasn't 1966 but the 1962 world cup where Garrincha helped Brazil win. Di Stefano retired one year before the 1962 world cup for the Spanish NT and Platini definitely made up for that world cup loss with his individual performance in the 1984 Euro.
 
Last edited:

Qaas

Vi må tage det som det kommer
Joined
Jul 22, 2012
Messages
38,776
Reaction score
69,621
Location
Danmark
Fav. Players
KAKA, Maldini, Nesta, Dida, Inzaghi, Sheva, TSilva, R9, Raul, Casillas, Schmeichel, Messi, Zlatan
Pogba and Hazard have had better individual performances with their clubs and country. I've already said it before that if Neymar starts performing well CONSISTENTLY I won't mind at all giving him the credit he deserves but for now he remains a bitchy squirrel in my book. A bitchy squirrel who scores and disappears.

Now you have lost it. In no way did hazard and pogba performed better than neymar for their countries. Specially hazard, de bruyne was their best player during the world cup.

You too biased when it comes to nemyar. You just hate him, and i woul d never understand why
 

milanoldfarts

Banned
Joined
Mar 18, 2014
Messages
2,136
Reaction score
0
Neymar is the reason why I don't like Brazil NT anymore
I wish Ganso was the one who succeeded and not this twat
 

Massaro94

Milan Legend
Joined
Mar 11, 2013
Messages
24,426
Reaction score
6,662
Location
Grande Britain
Fav. Players
Maradona-Shevchenko-Zizou
Now you have lost it. In no way did hazard and pogba performed better than neymar for their countries. Specially hazard, de bruyne was their best player during the world cup.

You too biased when it comes to nemyar. You just hate him, and i woul d never understand why

The hate is strong in Allan :lol::lol::lol: Especially when it comes to brazillians

Guess he forgot the spankings El Ney handed out to Italy and Spain in the confederations cup :lol:

Pogba and hazard have performed better :lol::lol::lol: what a load of hogwash. Especially hazard, he was poor at the world cup.
 
Top