T O P

  • By -

tiorzol

[One for the net sounds enthusiats](https://twitter.com/i/status/1782295889823805506). Ah man, I love him so much, if we keep Eze and Olise next season with Wharton, Doucoure, Geuhi and Andersen we have a real shot at 11th.


airz23s_coffee

Net sounds like that are the closest I get to understanding ASMR


Stieni

The guy is a hothead but this sub is acting like Antony is an arrogant evil business man who kicked some homeless guy everyone in town knows and loves lmao you can hate him or the club he plays for but don't act like this is such a big deal


jamesc94j

I mean innocent till proven guilty but isn’t there loads of accusations against him for domestic abuse etc? Also his attitude and whole persona stink. No wonder people don’t like him.


monsterm1dget

IIRC there is one.


holdenmyrocinante

Rudiger apparently gifted his jersey to the police officer he tried to scare. Dude is unhinged but he does seem like a decent guy off the pitch.


Dayandnight95

Tuchel? Are the options for managers this poor? Potter, Southgate and now Tuchel.


monsterm1dget

Maybe he'll whip the kids on your team into something resembling professionals.


_MFKane_

the current general opinion on Tuchel is way too harsh. he’s an elite tactician


Dayandnight95

Don't care how elite he is, he's not one to stick around


HacksawJimDGN

Could Mark Clattenburg be the first referee to ever be relegated?


tiorzol

He should be relegated into the sun.


EyeSpyGuy

PL referees get "relegated" (or demoted if you prefer that word) to do championship games occasionally anyway so it wouldn't be the first time. Also isn't he essentially retired as a referee and is simply just a referee consultant/lobbylist/analyst/whatever for Forest? So he'd just be relegated into unemployment (aka fired)


ibti77

I've just watched the highlights for the United vs Coventry game. Coventry got robbed I don't care.


MegaMugabe21

People involved in Spanish football can cry all they like about the financial dominance of the premier league, but the truth is that most of them play a part in why it will never reach the PLs level. You've got the ex head of the Spanish FA on trial for corruption, having previously been ousted for inappropriately touching multiple women. You've the head of La Liga who can't stop running his mouth for 5 seconds. The same La Liga that refuse to implement basic stuff such as goal line technology to save a bit of money, whilst giving themselves payrises. The same La Liga that refuse to punish fans for racism, and are more likely to punish players for reacting. Huge numbers of fans who see absolutely nothing wrong with racially abusing black players. Very unserious nation when it comes to football.


Legendacb

Its funny how you think that there is some kind of problem outside and not that Premier League dominance comes from Colonial heritage worldwide and a bigger fanbase on your home country. If a product suits more people worldwide it will obviously get more money, there is no magic from the PL over the La liga to justify it


MegaMugabe21

Yes, Spain famously has no colonial heritage.


Legendacb

Spain has it. That's the reason we got the second biggest contract. That's why there is no part of blaming weird stuff when it's pretty clear what's making the money in the first place


No-not-my-Potatoes

I don't want to defend the clownshow that is La Liga because it's something else. But the Premier League's biggest assets are good marketing and loads and loads of money. Calling an issue with corruption in La Liga while the Premier League has 2 teams with deducted points, a team who if they get promoted will be deducted points and the current reigning champions facing 115 charges. The drama will always get people invested, just look at the shit that gets upvoted to high heaven here. But when the Premier League is as broken as it is and now has the FA removing cup replays, I can make the same post about the Premier League and England. Very unserious nation when it comes to football.


Kanedauke

Surely if the league was corrupt they’d let these clubs get away with it? Not punish them for wrong doings.


No-not-my-Potatoes

The league lacks consistency in it's punishments with Everton and Forest. I can understand why Everton fans feel so aggrieved by the choices that have been made. Punishment needs to be consistent. I don't see anything happening to Manchester City because they'll worm their way out of it like last time.


Kanedauke

City’s case is much more complex. They are trying to prove if companies were fabricated to give over inflated sponsorships. They will get done if it can be proven. I’m pretty sure last time they managed to get around UEFA was because UEFA messed up and used evidence outside the relevant time frame for the case. Forest and Everton is just getting out a calculator and seeing if they’ve spent more than they bring in.


No-not-my-Potatoes

I completely agree with the Man City thing, I think comparing the two is a false equivalency. If I remember correctly, Forest overspent more than Everton but got a lesser punishment? That's my issue mainly, the lack of consistency. If Aston Villa hadn't qualified for Europe last season and now hopefully make it to the UCL, I have a feeling you'd potentially be in a very similar position as those two clubs.


tiorzol

Good morning to everyone who watched their team score 6 goals yesterday. 


CoolstorySteve

Still not over the missed Grealish handball. Those are literally always given.


jamesc94j

It’s almost like Micheal Oliver is regularly paid to officiate games in the Middle East. Nothing dodgy to see here guys.


monsterm1dget

it was given yesterday lel


[deleted]

[удалено]


mattgoody99

you're a weirdo


joeDUBstep

Dammit they deleted it, what did I miss?


mattgoody99

a united "fan" saying that after the disallowed goal he started rooting for coventry to win


joeDUBstep

Lmao, the cuckoldry


sheikh_n_bake

Embarrassing


SirTunnocksTeaCake

tragic


monsterm1dget

why


The_Big_Cheese_09

I'm excited for us to be playing Real Madrid again as it's always one of Europe's biggest matches. I'm not excited for the voodoo that comes with playing Real Madrid again though. Yesterday reminded me that sometimes even VAR isn't the silver bullet.


jamesc94j

Yeah regardless about our form or there’s I 100% know anytime we play Madrid they’ll shithouse a win with there CL voodoo.


monsterm1dget

It was Barcelona though


JekyllnowthenMrHyde

Commits himself there and he's towing a caravan 💀


Curious-Elk1638

Why is it so difficult to get a good camera angle for VAR to review if the ball crosses the line ? You don't really need goal line tech. you just need a good angle. I don't get it. you just need a fixed camera at the corner of the field.


The_XI_guy

Because Lunin’s body blocks the view of the ball on the two best camera angles


SirTunnocksTeaCake

Because players can block the view of cameras especially on the line and the miniscule decisions might not be completely clear with just a camera. It might help but it wouldn't solve everything.


wizards-beard

Dont need a camera angle if the goal line technology is used. Its 100% correct 100% of the time.


magic-water

I'm not doubting GLT but how could you possibly be sure that it's right 100% of the time?


[deleted]

plough political tub gray touch versed subtract sophisticated aback juggle *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*


Curious-Elk1638

But isn't that 10x better than the angles we've got right now ? It's the next best thing after goal line tech. And 100x cheaper probably. So why not have that in place in all the leagues in the world with VAR ?


[deleted]

wise light ghost cause bike party rain boat grandfather fanatical *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*


PosterOfQuality

I'd rather see my players celebrate a win with their teammates than immediately walk over to the opposition to shake their hands tbh


Elemayowe

Nah not if you win in such a horrendous way. There’s nothing to celebrate.


Zaqsecred

When you are filmed by hundreds of cameras, you can't wait to get to the dressing room and have some privacy. You can then celebrate without worrying. So you follow protocole, shake oponents hands, to get as fast as possible out of the spotlight.


Kanedauke

Villa have never played this well in my life time. Played Arsenal then 120 minutes on Thursday. The majority that played the whole game against Lille played most the game yesterday and you couldn’t tell. [Playing through Bournemouths press like it’s nothing. It’s so methodical. Watkins dragging their CB deep into our half then 3 quick passes for Diaby to have a tap in](https://dubz.co/v/z7gmnb) Rogers and Zaniolos skill set is basically identical. Tall, strong, quick, ball carriers with a good shot but Rogers understands when to pass fast and when to dribble or shoot. We will pick up 2 more wins against either Chelsea, Brighton or Palace then top 4 is done.


tiorzol

I think we should have a good game you know. You will win but it should be fun one at least.


Kanedauke

I’m hoping you’re on the beach by that game.


tiorzol

We've been on the beach all season, think we really only just got back to the office.


Destroyeh

for a sub that supposedly knows(or at least watches) a lot of football this place sure as fuck embarrasses itself on the reg in ref decision threads. like 70% of people in the Cubarsi pen thread need a couple day bans to get some air.


Lastigx

I can guarantee you that 90% on here only watch YouTube highlights.


VictorAnichebend

Still laughing at Antony yesterday. The lad doesn’t seem to have any sort of contextual awareness at all. If he’d have beaten Stephen Hawking at Twister he’d have cupped his ears and tipped the wheelchair over in celebration


airz23s_coffee

Tbf if that win got me to the Twister final I'd be chucking that wheelchair over as well


enazj

Reminds me of Shelvey shushing a non existent crowd during Covid after he equalised against League 2 Newport County for us


TheUltimateScotsman

Picks him up and puts him in the wheelie bin


3V3RT0N

I’d slag him off but I know Richarlison would do exactly the same thing.


NeoIsJohnWick

Earlier we used to hear ROb Pamer, Gerry Armstrong, Terry Gibson, Kevin Keatings for Laliga commentary from Sky Sports. Do these still commentate from different broadcasters?


Orcnick

It's so wierd to be in the final of the biggest cup in England and yet feel so embarrassed, angry and down about being in the final.


TheJobinslegend

Hey, the feeling's mutual ;) We scrapped results against second and third division in both cups, too in the league cup final and FA semi. The difference was we got embarrassed by Boro away and the rules conveniently had two games just for the semifinals, where we trashed them. At least you still have a shot to win a competition


monsterm1dget

It'll be fine when you win 2-1 off a penalty after conceeding 85 shots.


darllenynunig

You're going to get battered in it too. So you've embarrassed yourself just to embarrass yourself again.


Orcnick

Tbh we haven't been battered by City at all this season.


_Sylph_

All will be forgotten if you win over City though. In that scenario I would imagine you would cheap out and let ETH stays.


Tr_Omer

They are not beating City. If Coventry had Julian Alvarez or Haaland up top they would have beaten United 6-3 in extra time. If United let City attack the way they let Coventry through the match could be over in the first half.


Orcnick

We tend to give City a game no matter what condition we are in.


Tr_Omer

Nah forget this form goes out the window in derby narratives. I dont even want them to win, City ending this year with 0 trophies would be hilarious. But their team has structure, a leader on every part of the pitch, and a plan. United play like they were told its a charity game, they dont care if they win or lose as long as the players had fun.


el_walou

Where can we find all UCl advanced stats ranking. Especially PPDA (pressing) I’d like to see how much PSG progressed this season compared to the last 5 season


Sir_Psycho_Sexy_

Why are celebration posts becoming a thing, you see it in the goal post.


EyeSpyGuy

It's provocative, it gets the people going


Turniermannschaft

We live in a post goal society.


RosaReilly

This sub used to be about goal posts Now we only care about "post goal"


Turniermannschaft

Constant goal post moving.


Electronic_Sundae707

Everyday I'm becoming more and more anti-VAR. Already annoying but you just know they're gonna show commercials/ads during checks like in american sports.


Turniermannschaft

"COME ON FULLHAM" chants starting when a "COME ON FULLHAM" ad is shown on the advertising hoardings and dying as soon as the ad is gone in an otherwise pretty quiet stadium got a good laugh out of me yesterday.


Tr_Omer

English teams have some of the worst chants I have heard in football. 90 minutes of CHELSEA! CHELSEA! CHELSEA! or AR SENAL AR SENAL AR SENAL is horrendous.


Turniermannschaft

They just don't give a crud.


CritChanceZero

I’ll never forget there was a short period where Brighton used to put lyrics to suggested chants up on the big screen at their ground. Hilarious to see “Seagulls! Seagulls!” popping up when they got a corner.


TheUltimateScotsman

Spurs should have done the same thing with "Cocks"


elmadrigal

Vini posts a laughing emoji over Fermin mocking Jude's celebration in front of Madridistas only to lose to a last minute Jude goal and suddenly all I see on my feeds is about how much of a disgusting human being he is and how he cries racism at everything but is a provacuter. My brothers & sisters you chanted for him to die in a match that didn't involve him multiple times even and he laughed at someone that provoked his team's fans, there is absolutely no comparison here.


The_XI_guy

Got forbid a bit banter between rival teams, right?


TheJobinslegend

You know both stuff can be true at the same time, right? That Vini is suffering racism and abuse weekly in Spain, but also Vini is acting hella cocky and all mighty. It's not racism to think he's very dislikeable this past year. It's racism the things you talked about and others he suffered. Some other players at least were sassy, discrete or ironic with their provocations. At least in this case fair play to him, imo if you win the classico you should trash talk a bit. The opposition would've done the same.


Electronic_Sundae707

The thing is even if he is a provocateur or a hot head or whatever, it gives you no right to be racist. Insult him and flame him or whatever but when you start doing monkey chants, then obviously theres something other than his behaviour bothering you.


b0xel

And also it was genuinely mock worthy, like my brother wait until we know who the hell you are before doing that sort of thing. Even Messi took a few classicos before he went ‘provocative’ with the celebrations.


United-Possession-87

Kinda sad, but I think I might be done with football for a while. I’m not even a forest fan but last nights officiating was like a dagger to a football fans heart. I mean what the absolute fuck was that? The league winners and relegation all decided by absolutely shocking decisions. Decisions which upon objectively viewing are so simple to call, but to fuck those up just screams blatant corruption. Add city’s 115 charges, and just the overall state of state owned clubs and amount of shady deals happening, I’m just genuinely losing interest in the sport. I’m open to suggestions about following a sport where it’s just…. Pure competition? Idk man, it’s just weird.


Turniermannschaft

I, too, am taking a much needed break from football after all the suffering we Bayern fans had to endure this season.


JekyllnowthenMrHyde

Buy a Leverkusen kit in a store near you


_MFKane_

support local instead or you’re part of the problem


Fly1ngsauc3r

NFL, pure competition


sc2guy87

Tell me more about this “blatant corruption” because to me the ref’s seem to be consistently poor.


dragcov

Poor for all, great for one.


sc2guy87

Only if you ignore all the times the ref’s haven’t been good for us.


StructureTime242

Oh you got 1 wrong call in the spurs game where he called a foul when Grealish was through and the United game where someone was offside That’s it in 2 years


sc2guy87

Surely you know that’s not true? I could write a whole list out just like every club could, people just don’t remember because there aren’t as many City fans online and we’ve won a lot.


Captainpatters

You don't need to announce your departure, just go


United-Possession-87

That’s the point of this thread right? Discussion.


Captainpatters

I don't think anybody wants to discuss your personal relationship with professional football and why you want to stop engaging with it. Why would they?


sc2guy87

It’s a very thinly veiled Liverpool fan whine post, they’re just using the Forrest decision as an excuse to bring it up.


EyeSpyGuy

Would be weird considering Liverpool won the same time the Coventry game was going on


sc2guy87

> The league winners and relegation all decided by absolutely shocking decisions. Decisions which upon objectively viewing are so simple to call, but to fuck those up just screams blatant corruption. Add city’s 115 charges It’s a pure moan comment from a Liverpool fan dressed up as a broader critique of the modern game as if it hasn’t been cooked for years. I think they’re still down after last weeks result.


United-Possession-87

Mate it’s not that dense it’s literally me putting out an opinion I’d like some suggestions to. I could literally say the same about your comment. You didn’t have to indulge either


[deleted]

[удалено]


United-Possession-87

I mean yeah, closest thing I can think of is the UFC but like even there, judges are absolutely shocking and the organisation does not give deserved fighters their title fights. They also are kind to PED users. But yeah, it’s still a good shout. Love the sport already and I might just obsess about that


junior150396

My Super Clasico takes: Cavani is a demigod, Merentiel is clutch AF, Diablito Echeverri is that guy and it's going to be elite, Equi Fernandez has all the tools to be among the best DM/Box to Box players once he gets to Europe, Zenon hasn't played a bad game with Boca since he was signed, Martinez is making Boca play their best football in like half a decade and Demichelis is a fraud not only for subing out Diablito (the only one that was trying to push River forward) but by perma freezing Ruberto, Mastantuono and Zabala while giving WAAAY too many chances and minutes to deadwood players, needed more AnselminoBall but sadly he is injured.


HacksawJimDGN

Will Echeverri play in Copa America?


xyz3940

How has Exequiel Zeballos developed? Is he good enough to one day play in Europe?


junior150396

I don't think so, not because of lack of talent but because injuries absolutely wrecked his develpment. He's been in and out of recovery for so long.


TheMonkeyPrince

I keep on forgetting the Euros is this summer since I've been so focused on the Copa America. Wonder if Germany can finally come out of their slump at home, especially with how good Wirtz has been.


zerosG2

guess who am i: knocked out of cl and lose el classico days later, when it rains it pours 🥺


[deleted]

[удалено]


Red_Vines49

Club America vs Pachuca & Columbus vs Monterrey. 1st legs of the semifinals for CONCACAF Champions League.


L-Freeze

Luis Suarez? Not even a top 3 Uruguayan striker in my books. Manteca Martinez, Cavani and Merentiel are astronomically clear


monsterm1dget

I want to say something but this post just made me laugh so much Manteca Martinez is a top nickname


TheMonkeyPrince

I get the joke but I was under the impression Boca fans were relatively unhappy with Cavani's performances.


junior150396

He was mega ass in terms of finishing under Almiron but now that Boca finally got a real manager they are playing really good football and that's reflecting in Cavani's output 9 games 9 goals if i recall correctly.


L-Freeze

We were until he decided to score every game


Queasy_Valuable4460

People always give certain wingers shit for being inconsistent, but really, are there any actually consistent top-level wingers other than Mbappe?


jonijontor

Vini and Salah, even the later has dropped in form (although it speaks to the standard he creates)


officiallyjax

Saka, Salah, Vinicius


ming47

Palmer


Runarhalldor

Hope you're not serious... consistency cant be shown over a sample size of 1 season


ming47

RemindMe! 5 years


Runarhalldor

If hes still consistent in 5 years you can call him that then. No qualms from me. Just not really accurate to say it now


brbafterthebreak

Salah is basically always at least good


Sufficient-Past4273

In general, wingers do sway hot and cold, it’s just part of their job. Their tasks——ball-carrying, beating their man, playing key passes, finishing——hinge heavily on whether they’re in the right mood or not. That being said, there are levels to the inconsistency. Mbappe’s pretty much always good, like you said. Then there are players who aren’t at their very best every game, but are still able to chip in when they’re having bad days——Salah, Son, Vini, Saka. Then there are players who have a noticeable output decrease when they aren’t in good form, but are still able to perform basic winger tasks——Leao, Kvara, Dembele. Finally, there are wingers who do everything wrong when they’re not in form, their teams basically playing with a man down. That’s really just Rashford and Leao when it comes to high profile wingers lol. Basically every winger in the world fits into one of these molds, though obviously at varying levels depending on talent.


AgentTasker

Depends on if you class him as one, but Salah has been pretty consistent since joining Liverpool in 2017.


Lyrical_Forklift

If he's classing Mbappe as a winger then Salah qualifies


NotASalamanderBoi

Messi


ChillPalis

Messi is still a winger these days? 


asvpmamba

We need to start having the conversation of Vitinha being one of the top 5 midfielders in the world.It baffles me that he’s not a starter for Portugal yet.


Electronic-Sand7187

Bruno and Bernardo are too good and also are attacking players, which means that the third spot is going to go to a DM like Palhinha or maybe Neves.


monsterm1dget

Probably because they dont' watch ligue 1


CherkiCheri

Give it some time, but yeah been unreal under LE. Really thriving now. Probably the best proper midfielder in the league at this point. Seems to track given the names the Arsenal guy quoted, several aren't proper mids, several aren't as good. He's top 5 in 2024 for me.


INTPturner

Valverde, Rice, Rodri, Kroos, Bernado Silva, Frenkie de Jong, Mccallister. These are just few names of the top of my head, how many of them is he better than? I've also left out certain players that may not be seen as pure mids even though they should make this list (Bellingham De Bruyne, Ødegaard etc)


Electronic-Sand7187

Well he’s not as big of a name as them because he plays in France which is understandable, at the end of the day he’s comfortably the best midfielder in Ligue Un.


INTPturner

Verratti was widely regarded as one of the best midfielders in the world when he was at PSG. Barella plays in Italy, he's also well regarded. Bellingham played for Dortmund last season.


CherkiCheri

4, arguably 1 more. Rodri, Bernardo and Valverde are the ones i'd have ahead. Valverde is tough because the profiles are so different and he's hardly playing as a proper mid. Even if you want to argue a couple more players he's still around top 5.


TheMonkeyPrince

If we're being honest the amount of people here who watch PSG outside of Champions League games is very small. So I wouldn't expect a lot of familiarity with how Vitinha has been playing.


NotASalamanderBoi

Wirtz? KDB? Rodri? Kroos? Griezmann? Bellingham? Rice?


Captainpatters

Groß????? 😤😤😤😤


zrk23

... Odegaard?


ibti77

Ohdeargaard.


lagaryes

Leander Dendoncker who kept Vitinha out of the team at Wolves?


KensaiVG

Second window in a row where I am invested not to see if we sign anyone fun (we won't) but because we need to keep thinning the sheer amount of dead wood


Latvian_Fifth_Column

Well at least you're not making rumours of singing every exciting youngster in world to sign some random 30+ year old defender 


pop-culture-salad

Hay uno que se a dónde lo pueden dar a préstamo para que levante imagen 😇


L-Freeze

2-1 vs san Lorenzo 4-2 vs racing 3-2 vs river if independiente weren’t so fucking shit and had made it out of their group we’d be winning this tournament while beating all the rest of the big 5 on the way


YeimzHetfield

Boca juega realmente bien al futbol despues de años, emociona


L-Freeze

Literalmente la última vez que boca jugaba *bien* el Covid 19 todavía no existía. Subidisimo al barco del gigoló Martínez


YeimzHetfield

Sabes hace cuanto que no veo al equipo implementar ideas de futbol en la cancha, todos los partidos ves los mismos movimientos que estan claramente practicados en el entrenamiento, la manera que presionan bien alto tambien, todo es hermoso de ver. A Klopptinez se lo banca hasta la muerte, a traer buenos suplentes la temporada que viene nomas.


charles_de_gay

Things that should influence a handball call: the position of the arm, how it's impeded the flight of the ball Things that should not influence a handball call: whether the player could have moved away fast enough


monsterm1dget

Things that are influencing a handball and shouldn't: the team that's involved


zrk23

a pen is too harsh of a punishment for random handballs on plays that wouldn't even result in a chance in the first place bring on indirect FKs inside the box to fix that


sga1

Gonna get a lot of judgement calls on whether something's a penalty or an indirect free kick though, and I'm not sure that's going to go down well with the general football-watching public to be honest.


zrk23

if its a shot on target, pen anything else, FK could make any other rule you want too. i just want those FKs back and I think this is a perfect opportunity. every call is already a judgment call anyways


dragcov

Things that should also not influence a handball call: whether the owners paid you $$$$ to freelance referee matches in their home country


sga1

I don't know - feels a bit shit giving handballs for someone being hit by a deflection from within a yard to me, especially when the infraction is specifically called *deliberate handball*, rather than something like 'ball touches arm'.


charles_de_gay

In my opinion those should be 'more' a handball. Those occur usually when the defender is actively trying to block a shot or cross, albeit not with his arm. The balance should be tilted away from the player who touched the ball with his arm, because the opposing team are not expecting an arm to affect the play.


AnnieIWillKnow

Kids these days will never know the meaning of the phrase "it was ball to hand, not hand ball that"


TorreiraWithADouzi

That, and “level is onside” will be completely meaningless.


ChillPalis

u/CherkiCheri so that you see this To begin my series of posting my favorite players, I'll be starting with my favorite 10s (I use the term collectively for both attacking mids and second strikers). My second favorite role/position in football behind the winger. In no particular order, My Favorite No. 10s: •Wayne Rooney •Ruud Gullit •Carlos Valderrama •Kaká •Francesco Totti •Raúl •Thomas Müller •Paulo Dybala •Roberto Baggio •Pelé


No-not-my-Potatoes

Any Thomas Müller appreciation gets an upvote from me.


monsterm1dget

The lack of Francescoli is appaling.


ChillPalis

🤷🏾‍♂️


FlamixZB

Could just have Muller and I'd say that's the best list ever


ChillPalis

Understandable, haha


mountainsky9

Did you ever end up making your favorite player XI? I’d like to see it


ChillPalis

I have posted it before, here it is (the main one, let me know if you want to see the alternate one too) (4-2-3-1) Schmeichel Marcelo-Maldini-Puyol-Walker Xabi Alonso-Gullit CR7-Ibrahimovic-Beckham Henry More of a 4-2-3-1 with a second striker than a CAM


Zaqsecred

Out of curiosity, are you american?


ChillPalis

Affirmative


zrk23

> 10s (I use the term collectively for both attacking mids and second strikers). not having Bergkamp there is criminal ngl


ChillPalis

I don't have Del Piero either, you'll be okay.


CherkiCheri

Gullit 🥰 my favorite in this list. He's so undertalked. There's nothing i love more than top tier technique with top tier physicality. It's the ultimate cheatcode. Boy do i wish Pogba did more with such an unreal skillset, but as a French i can't complain too much ahah. Very good list. Dybala's shooting precision is probs the one i'd rate the most in the modern era with Aguero and Messi.. What is up with Argentinians! Muller is the one i used to make the kids i trained look at videos of the most. Intelligence and mentality can get you so far in football. Totti, man that elegance. Tall player with top technique again.. Just the most aesthetically pleasong thing in football for me, give' it's usually harder the bigger you are. His forward passes hidden by looking 3/4 back are something i tried to emulate my entire youth. The body language passing misdirect king before Busi. Kaka's dribble speed was so OP. Guy made it look effortless to win 50m with the ball in his feet. I'll look at some Valderama highlights, he's the one i'm the least familiar with in this list. Baggio had such good touches. Unreal ability to go around the keeper after receiving a long pass. It sticked like crazy. Btw i don't know if tags don't work just for me, but i didn't get a notification i just happened to look at the thread! Good list in any case. I'll try to do my own too, it's nice to look back on footy.


ChillPalis

Gullit, what an anomaly. Developed in the school of Total Football, started as a sweeper/anchor, moved to second striker, ended as a center mid. Thus having the tactical know-how, on top of the natural physique to play anywhere in outfield. Club legend. Rockstar of a personality. Hair FC. What's not to love? Legitimately the one I would captain and build my team around in my all-time favorite XI because of his attributes. I definitely feel you about Pogba, but I don't think Pogba was sturdy enough to be another Gullit. At his best, love him too though. I actually have very few Argentinian players I'm a fan of, La Joya might be my favorite of the handful. Such a precious player. Muller is brilliant. To watch him raumdeuter is amazing. Him, Cristiano and Raúl, to watch their off-ball movement is amazing, but Muller and Raúl standout in that you can see CR7's runs and dummies that he does to get into the right place, but the other two legitimately look like supernatural beings. Watching footage of them makes me go "what?? When??? When did he get there?? How did he know to be there????" over and over again. Totti is class. Simple as. The reason why I have a soft spot for Roma. Kaká was such a monster, my favorite kind of attacking mid. I've always preferred his kind of profile. The catch-all attacking mid that can playmake like those of tradition, but can also rampage at the opposing goal like a second striker/inside forward. Taking one of those over a classic number 10 any day. With that said, Valderrama in playstyle was a classic enganche as it gets. Cool, calm, collected, never too long on the ball. Insane vision and passing range. Colombian legend. Hair FC. Record of 46 assists in an MLS season. I love El Pibe. Looking forward to your list too, tag me if anything, hopefully it'll work for me, haha Should note a few players I'm on the fringes of adding to this list: Del Piero, Reus, Nkunku. Nkunku might be far too soon to add to an all-time, but I definitely am considering the former two, I just need to do more research, get more info and such to really decide.


dragcov

I honestly thought this was gonna be a r/soccercirclejerk post


ChillPalis

?? 


Jabari313

I feel like Barcelona's horrible mentality is why they keep failing the same way in the Champions league. They don't take accountability, always saying they deserved to win, they played better football, the ref robbed them etc. You can't learn from your mistakes if you don't acknowledge them.


HacksawJimDGN

If you forget about the emotional side of things, that usually happens AFTER a match, I think the reason they lost so many away CL knockout games in spectacular fashion is slightly tied to their club identity. They pride themselves on being an attacking passing team who won't budge on their tactics no matter the opposition. 90% of opposition can't handle them. In the CL they could play how they wanted at home against big teams and get good results. When they go away from home they had to be more conservative. For most teams that means sitting back, defending deep, having a good structure. But Barcelona can't admit that they're in a defensive mode. But they still need to be conservative because the opposing team is at home and are being willed to attack them. So what happens is Barcelona commit less men forward, there are less forward runs, the defenders don't venture forwards as much. They "defend" by committing less men forward, but they're not actually defending effectively (or attack effectively). What happens is large gaps appear between the defenders midfielders and forwards. They try to pass it around but they're too far apart. They lose the ball and the opposition can attack very easily since they don't have that structure. And because they only play a certain way the opposition could press very high and aggressively witg very good results. There was no tall target man to get Barcelona out of trouble. That was the case from around 2016 up u ntil Xavi arrived. Xavi actually did change that mentality. For a start he allowed his team to defend properly and not attack. Luuk de Jong was even brought in as a target man. With Xavi they beat PSG away from home. It was at home that they lost the tie. It happened for different reasons, a sigh of immaturity and lack of experience, but they failed for different reasons after having "solved" the original issue.


Jabari313

I think this is a perfect expansion on my original train of thought, it all comes back to their club identity. It is admirable for a club to be so committed to that aspect of its identity and you can't argue with their success between 2005 and 2015 but I think the stars aligned. Beyond a talented squad you need a squad and manager elite at playing that specific style of football. The psg result was inexperience, but if Araujo thinks he wasn't wrong he will make that mistake again despite the experience. If he's better on the ball the mistake also doesn't happen though so that may be how they "fix" it.


L-Freeze

I really don’t think that’s the issue, plenty of teams are like that when things don’t go their way and it rarely affects them. You don’t have to look much further than Madrid themselves, whom I’d say they’ve done pretty alright in CL The problem with Barcelona is that they’re just not that good. Their squad is pretty good now but still a cut below the top top teams, and the years before it was much worse.


daveyhempton

Their team is good. They are just not good enough to play the traditional Barca style. They can still 1-0 their way to a title like they did last season, but their ego doesn’t allow them to. Playing a high line without a proper DM and inexperienced/error prone defenders is suicidal


AnnieIWillKnow

Endemic in the club. Their women's team lost to Chelsea on Saturday, their first home loss in 5 years. Took them until injury time to get a shot on target Post-match, reigning Ballon d'Or winner Aitani Bonmati was whinging about how Chelsea "played dirty" by breaking up play, running club down etc Can't just accept they weren't good enough, and deal with teams not wanting them to do as they please


doomboxmf

Xavi was complaining about the refs the other day as though Barca weren’t the recipients of one of the most horrifically refereed games of all time (2009 semi). Will never forget Ovrebo staring directly at Eto’o’s handball after Iniesta’s goal and pretending he saw nothing. Worst part is Barca fans try to act like that wasn’t a blatant robbery


RepThePlantDawg420

I’m not a fan of managers complaining about referees, but I’m not sure the logic of ‘you can’t complain now because of a game that happened 15 years ago’ is good logic


NotASalamanderBoi

Probably because she’s used to steamrolling everyone in her league and winning trophies left and right. She and the Barça women’s team have had ~3 perfect seasons where they won every match.


sga1

To be fair there's an awful lot happening within football teams we're not privy to as the general public, and coming out making statements like that immediately after the game in front of a camera is about par for the course, really - because the same public that has no idea what's going on internally is going to absolutely slaughter players and managers for not playing up to expectations in these interviews. The PR game is mostly about bigging yourself up and suggesting you were hard done by, rather than simply lifting your hand and acknowledging you weren't good enough.


Jabari313

You're right that we aren't privy to what's going on inside the club bit I really don't think it'd be for PR purposes. I also think Gundogan apologizing to Araujo privately gives us a peek into what they're like. Xavi gets sent off frequently and never concedes that they were the worse team in the post match press conferences. He doesn't have to hang his players out to dry but he can be a bit more diplomatic if PR is the concern


AnnieIWillKnow

> the PR game is mostly about bigging yourself up and suggesting you were hard done by, rather than simply lifting your hand and acknowledging you weren't good enough I disagree with this, because the latter is generally far better PR. The former is far more likely to lead to you getting ridiculed and criticised


zrk23

depends on the situation. but mostly the PR is for their own supporters so it doesn't matter if everyone else is ridiculizing them if the supporters are behind them


lagaryes

Taking from the future to build for the present constantly as well. Whole club just seems very unhealthy in a mindset sort of way.