SEE YOU! A brand spanking new modern fitba thread 2021/22

Yeah obviously you don't want players to be one dimensional but it's much more interesting to see players who really define their position. Those battles within the context of the larger game make it so interesting. I don't know whether or not it's optimal in terms of "game theory" or whatever but it sure makes it dull.

 

One thing I’ll go on record of saying is that at least La Liga is beginning to look interesting again. I admit that I got away from it for a few years because it was awfully boring to watch Barcelona and Real Madrid trade the hardware every year with all the other teams hilariously behind them. Hoping it’s a sign of things to come.

That said, EPL is where the best competition has been at for a long time. That plus the fast pace and physicality of the league. It’s looking like it’s going to be between Man City and Chelsea, thus far.

 

Holy fuck Maradona was good. I can easily see why many consider him the GOAT.

 

It's shaping up to be a three-horse race this season between City, Liverpool and Chelsea. I do agree the Premier League is definitely the top league in the world right now, it was La Liga before then and before that it was the Bundesliga. La Liga is more competitive these days but it is more to do with Barcelona and Real Madrid declining than other teams improving imo (with the exception of Atletico Madrid). Bayern Munich are maybe the best team in the world right now, they look downright terrifying to play against, but they are so far ahead of everyone else in Germany these days that the league just isn't worth following.

 

Yeah he's definitely the GOAT for me. As Feebs has said before, he could do skills with an orange that most players couldn't do with an actual football.

 

Genius athletes and tortured souls seem to go hand in hand. Even I knew he was a cokehead, but then again, it was the 80s... coke ruined a lot 80s athletes.

 

Yep, absolutely. I think guys like Maradona, Best, Gascoigne etc had incredible football minds and could see and do things other players couldn't, maybe that same mind is also vulnerable to addictive behaviours.

 

I never thought of it that way, but it's an interesting hypothesis.

Johan Cruyff also looks impressive. Would you rate Cryuff as better than Best?

 

How good was Roberto Baggio?

 

Personally I would rate Cruyff higher than Best if you take into account the length of his career at the top level and his impact on the game, both as a player and tactically, it was revolutionary. If we are talking just purely skill vs skill, I think it is a very, very close, paper thin difference between them.

 

Fantastic player, one of my favourites growing up. It's a shame that sometimes he gets remembered for his penalty miss in the '94 World Cup final (which could have happened to anyone, somebody has to miss after all) more than his brilliant career.

 

I was taking a bus somewhere the day after that WC final. Some Italian guy was sitting next to me and we talked for a bit. Guy was just going in hard on Baggio. Almost like he wished he was dead.

Like you said, that can happen to anybody. At some point somebody is going to have to miss.

 

Yeah, it's crazy how one kick can define your whole career in the eyes of some, and all your great moments are seemingly forgotten. The guy was an amazing player.

 

If it was revealed later he took a bribe to throw the game it would be understandable but just a bad PK? I can understand being heavily disappointed with the stakes and all but not the ostracization.

 

That fat little cheating cunt is the GOAT. An absolutely otherwordly football player.

MTF

 

Yes.

MTF

 

I think Cruyff was a better player than Best. He was a more cultured, more skilled and more consistently good player than George. He achieved more, too, although his piss-taking in the 1974 World Cup final has to be considered against him. And I agree that his influence on football was massive. He is synonymous with an entire style of play ('total football') which he then carried on into management, where he essentially created the entire culture that Barcelona FC claims as it's own even today. Taking into account his managerial impact, there is an argument that Cruyff is the single most influencial person in the history of football.

I have him in my top 5 as a player. I think he was sensational. The only two players who I rate as definitely better than him are Pele and the little fat cokehead.

MTF

 

Give me a player from the 80s-90s to look up. I just watched a doc on George Weah, so not him .

Cool, now I'll get into football! It seems ESPN+ gives access to a lot of leagues.

 

Ronaldo (Brazilan one, not Cristiano) and Michel Platini are good ones.

 

An an Englishman, I'd probably suggest Paul Gascoigne. He was the most interesting English player of that period. My favourite ever player is Peter Beardsley. You'll enjoy his highlight reels on Youtube and whatever. But the best player of that era was very probably Zinedine Zidane.

MTF

 

Yeah, was just about to suggest Platini as the next port of call for the 1980s.

MTF

 

Also, note for me some of the best current guys, and the teams they're on, so I can be sure to watch when I can.

 

Already watched Platini. Is he considered like the 2nd best of the 80s behind Maradona?

 

Messi and Ronaldo (the preening Portugal cunt) are the two best current players by common consensus and by a considerable distance. They are probably the most famous sportsmen in the world right now, so you'll be able to find them easy enough.

MTF

 

I should have said beyond the obvious . I know Messi and Ronaldo.

Other than those two.

 

By me at least, yes.

MTF

 

In typical American fashion, I started with an MLS game last night. Is anyone in the MLS even top 10 in the world?

 

There aren't any other real standouts. Those two have basically dominated world football for the last decade and a half. There are probably another thirty or forty players below those guys worth a look but who do not rank near either of them.

MTF

 

No. Probably no-one in the top 1000, in truth.

MTF

 

I suppose you could look at Mbappe? He's possibly the next best right now...

MTF