SEE YOU! A brand spanking new modern fitba thread 2025-2026

The most impressive thing about Pele from what I've seen seemed to be his spatial awareness, like he watching the game from above. That would totally translate

 

Larsson moved like Pele, true story

 

You beat me to it. Geniuses like Pele just see the pitch on a higher level. That would translate in any era.

Conversely, you wouldn't be able to put a good, yet not great modern player like say James Maddison in the 60s and suddenly he'd dominate like Pele.

 

The trouble is the relative lack of full-game footage for Pele when he was in his real peak in the early sixties

 

There's some that I dug up like maybe 3 years ago on YT. Not a plethora of full games, but if you go down the rabbit hole theres a few longer Santos games from the early 60s.

 

Maddison might have had more time on the ball if he was thrown into the 60s, 70s but he'd quickly learn that if he was caught on the ball by the enforcers of the time like Stiles, Hunter, all the way up to Sounness, he'd realise that players were a lot less protected in that time, which might impact on his contribution

 

Put it this way: There's MORE full footage of peak Pele than there is peak footage of Ray Robinson.

 

Here, this is 1990. The man was literally almost 30 years removed from his peak here and still moving impressively:

 

Cruyff was a footballer, not an athlete. Guys like that will always thrive. Same as "Der Kaiser" because they're always a half-yard ahead.

 

Yeah I should imagine, technology from 1950 to 1970 is just different. Sometimes just the sheer size of it. Getting a camera into a cramped smelly gym in 1955 must have been a major PITA and even harder at ringside.

 

Romario for sure but he'd already proven himself in the European club leagues playing for shit sides like psv. I saw him at Old Trafford in the early 1990s and again at Camp Nou and they just messed up United. I think it was 6-2 on aggregate.

 

https://youtube.com/shorts/KpcVGaUB84A?si=zbDrIL-7wYHqKOfv

 

One more old school question and Irish is ideal to chime in here. Who was the better striker at their peak: Michael Owen or Robbie Fowler? I can only go off film. My takeaway is that Owen was a lot faster and dynamic but Fowler had a higher skill-set.

I know that both were washed before 30, and I'm very much aware that Ian Rush was better than both.

 

Fowler before his injuries was better. Owens legacy is largely based on one performance in one game:- the 2001 FA CUP final....

 

..and that world cup goal Vs argentina was pretty special. That hamstring injury he suffered in the season after the world cup pretty much clipped his nuts in a footballing sense, his one special thing was his 0-60 speed and that was largely gone...

 

The list of 17-year old footballers better than Owen at that age is incredibly small. People underrate how much of a phenom he was when he burst through. Like Salaco said, the injuries really done him in.

Fowler was also a superb striker, who never quite hit the heights expected of him.

 

I saw Michael Owen when he was 17 & we all shit ourselves every time he got the ball, he was scary

 

It feels like the ultimate insult to Rangers that I'm disappointed they're going after Gerrard b/c I want them to do better. That's how irrelevantly shite they are.

 

The reason I give it to Fowler is he just seemed to have more left after the injuries which suggested to me he had a better footballing brain.

Owen is all stuff like 2001 FA cup, Argentina goal as mentioned, and Manchester Derby.

Fowler actually returned to Liverpool and was in the squad for the 2007 CL semi final Vs Chelsea.

I don't dispute what Slice is saying. Mike Tyson is probably the greatest 17 yo HW of all times. Had he started 17 yo Ali he'd have bashed him .

But there's more to it than that.

 

That version yes. But it's 3 years, basically.

Plus he is a fucking KNOB..

 

They're doing a Celtic in it.

"Safe pair of hands...you know what you're getting....."

 

Yep, that's the first thing that comes to mind for me. Also a great game.

 

@Hut*Hut

I suppose you wouldn't know anything about this.

Rangers condemn 'shameful' Smith statue attack

 

Nah, if I'm setting anything on fire it's our CEOs house tbh

 

Would be hilarious in an act of revenge some Rangers fans do that and wonder why Celtic supporters applaud it.

 

Might tilt less less Celtic style inertia as the owners being spooked by fan reaction & caving to the mob/trying to shore up good will. How are guys from west coast USA to know being a Buddhist and not wearing brown leather shoes would be an actual thing in West coast scotland. Weeks later he's being chased out of stadiums under police escort. 'Ok, lets start again: find somebody who wears shoes these people like'.

 

Guy was an awful fit. Suspiciously woke, trendometrosexual, "new ideas" grooming to the max, nice guy ...ooot Tae fuck mon..

Btw the Huns are right about brown leather shoes. You don't fucking wear them with anything other than chinos....

 

I sympathise with the brown brogue thing tbh. It'd arbitrary and daft but so are blue strips when you get right down to it.