Best Midfielder of this Generation

Peyton Manning

Sure we may as well go for each area of the pitch now! Somebody get the goalie poll up and running

Last 15 years - Whos been the king of midfield? Im voting Roy Keane, mainly because when Zidane came up against him, Keane had him in his back pocket. I dont think Roy can be blamed for not winning a World Cup or European Championship - but if it wasnt for him, then I dont think Man Utd would have won half the accolades that they did. I also think that he could top this poll, but theres too much anti-Utd and anti-Keane bias on this forum to see that happen.

Obviously theres a lot more than the 9 I have mentioned that could have a say in this poll, so dont start bitching 'Oi, where the hell is what-hisname' and all that crap - just use the Other option.

Pepe LeFrits

Hurrah, another thread.

Defender: Maldini
Midfielder: Zidane
Forward: Ronaldo

Goalkeeper is the only one that really needs some thought.

Bodhidharma

Gotta be Zizou. Most talented by far and lived up to that talent. Won it all, had it all.

Sajan

I'm a Liverpool fan so this aint biased.. My vote would be Paul Scholes.

Mossin

I'd love to vote Keano, really I would...

But I think that Makelele is as good if not better in his position and is still performing at the highest levels.
Obviously, the attacking flair of Zidane, Kaka, Boban, Giggs, etc cannot be discarded either but a defensive player gets my vote..

Makelele it is..

Peyton Manning

^I wanted to put Scholes in there instead of Kaka, but I thought people would think I was being too Premiership biased

LostinBlanch

Well Scholes is criminally underrated. Any team would be glad to have him playing for them IMO.

Keano excellent as well, not just for his reading of the game, tackling and passing, but also for the effect he had on both his team and opponents.

Zizou up there as well, along with Nedved.

Hard choice to make, but Keano just shades it for me, and not just because I'm a United fan.

PHB

Zidane,
Scholes is top 5 though.

Carcharodon

Zidane by a long way, produced it on every stage. Zidane will go down as one as the all time greats with Pele, Maradona, Van Basten etc, have that something extra that puts them above other great players.

Seaneh

The fact that the two best defensive midfeilders of the mid ninties to early 2k's isn't on that list is a bit of a joke,

Also as much as I love kaka, bit early to for him to be there.

Vokes

Pepe LeFrits wrote:

Hurrah, another thread.

Defender: Maldini
Midfielder: Zidane
Forward: Ronaldo

Goalkeeper is the only one that really needs some thought.

Id definitely agree with those. And perhaps Schmiechal for Goalkeeper.

Seaneh

Team of the last 15-20 years, 3-5-2.

---

Buffon

---

--Thuram--Ayala--Maldini
---Redondo--Guardiola---
Nedved--Zidane--Savićević

---

Ronaldo--Baggio----

eirebhoy

Where does Ronaldinho fit in if he's not a midfielder or a forward? He's one of the best players to ever kick a football.

Carcharodon

Seaneh wrote:

Team of the last 15-20 years, 3-5-2.

---

Buffon

---

--Thuram--Ayala--Maldini
---Redondo--Guardiola---
Nedved--Zidane--Savićević

---

Ronaldo--Baggio----

No Maradooona ??

Seaneh

He's hardly from this generation of players now is he?

Carcharodon

well you did say last 15-20 years i know what you mean though

tdv

Has to be Zidane with Redondo,Keane & Scholes not to far behind. Still think Kaka has the potential to be the best evere tho.

Others who deserve a mention are....

Makelele, Dunga,Giggs, Rivaldo, Cambiasso, Luis Enrique, Ballack,Neved & Figo

Peyton Manning

I know its opinion only, but I find it hard to believe that someone can put Guardiola ahaead of Keane, Vieira or Makelele.

Seaneh

tdv wrote:

Has to be Zidane with Redondo,Keane & Scholes not to far behind. Still think Kaka has the potential to be the best evere tho.

Others who deserve a mention are....

Makelele, Dunga,Giggs, Rivaldo, Cambiasso, Luis Enrique, Ballack,Neved & Figo

I agree with the kaka comment, but cambiasso? he's only like 26, and he's never really done anything...

Seaneh

Archimedes wrote:

I know its opinion only, but I find it hard to believe that someone can put Guardiola ahaead of Keane, Vieira or Makelele.

I dunno, just prefered watching him above all of them.

Outside of premiership fans nobody would be picking the likes of Vieira, keane and mekelele maybe but paddy, while being world class on his day, is hardly a great.

Peyton Manning

I agree that Vieira is the lesser of the 3 players mentioned, but Makelele is renowned on a European basis. Madrid's decline in recent years has been thoroughly blamed on his sale to Chelski by the Spanish media. As for Keane, the main reason that he is not hailed outside of the Premiership is that he never left the league, he never got his chance on the International scene and Manchester United notoriously underperformed in Europe. Mind you, that one-man show against Juventus was the best performance I have ever witnessed by a player in my lifetime.

My team of this generation would be (4-4-2):

GK: Schmeichel (Very Hard To Choose, Buffon is almost 50-50 on terms of ability)
DL: Maldini
DR: Cafu
DC: Cannavaro
DC: Ayala
DMC: Keane
ML: Giggs
MR: Kaka
AMC: Zidane
FC: Ronaldo
FC: Ronaldinho

Mr. Presentable

I voted Zidane, but where's Gullit, Rijkaard?

Seaneh

too old for the list :P

Seaneh

Archimedes wrote:

I agree that Vieira is the lesser of the 3 players mentioned, but Makelele is renowned on a European basis. Madrid's decline in recent years has been thoroughly blamed on his sale to Chelski by the Spanish media. As for Keane, the main reason that he is not hailed outside of the Premiership is that he never left the league, he never got his chance on the International scene and Manchester United notoriously underperformed in Europe. Mind you, that one-man show against Juventus was the best performance I have ever witnessed by a player in my lifetime.

Don't get me wrong, I think Roy was a legend, and the best midfeilder to ever play in england, but I still think the two defensive midfeilders I mentioned were better players.

And as for the best display by a midfeilder I've ever seen in my life, it's actually Redondo's one man midfeild masterclass for real against man u, he was EVERYWHERE, attacking, defending, creating, destroying, a perfect game.

Mr. Presentable

Seaneh wrote:

too old for the list :P

Then the definition needs to be more precise. Of those who played in the last 15 years, or those who played through the last 15 years, or those who played for the top 4 in the EPL with a couple added for fun.....?:rolleyes:

Peyton Manning

^Agreed, a master game from Redondo, single handedly knocked us out but the difference between that performance and Keanes vs Juve - I will always value Keanes performance more because he performed as he did with the knowledge that he wouldnt get to play in the final no matter what the result was, win lose or draw. That edges it for me. But I'll agree, Redondo was a criminally under-rated player at Madrid. I would class him above Vieira, but not Makelele or Keane.

Mr. Presentable

Seaneh wrote:

Don't get me wrong, I think Roy was a legend, and the best midfeilder to ever play in england, but I still think the two defensive midfeilders I mentioned were better players.

Best middie, not Glenn Hoddle? A creator vs a destroyer. I know what I prefer.

Seaneh

uh, that's a fecking good debate!

I loved watching hoddle play!

Mr. Presentable

Archimedes wrote:

^Keanes vs Juve

It's worth noting that that was the worst Juventus side in ten years, languishing mid table serie A with Ancelotti in his first CL game. The man was our best midfield product ever, but we are creating myth from legend

Mr. Presentable

Seaneh wrote:

uh, that's a fecking good debate!

I loved watching hoddle play!

Or Waddle. I never saw such a one footed player. My memory of him is playing up the right, late in his career, but on his left boot only - without exception

Seaneh

Archimedes wrote:

^Agreed, a master game from Redondo, single handedly knocked us out but the difference between that performance and Keanes vs Juve - I will always value Keanes performance more because he performed as he did with the knowledge that he wouldnt get to play in the final no matter what the result was, win lose or draw. That edges it for me. But I'll agree, Redondo was a criminally under-rated player at Madrid. I would class him above Vieira, but not Makelele or Keane.

Redondo was anything but under rated by real.

When he was sold to Milan the Real fans rioted, threatened the life the the president and tryed to stop his plane from taking off from madrid airport!

as for Keane and Mekelele being better, it comes down to personal opinion, and in my opinion he was a better player because unlike Keane and Mekelele he ws more than just a destroyer, his passing was as good as any playmaker and even Maradona said in his auto-biography that redondo was the best midfeilder he ever played with.

Seaneh

nipplenuts wrote:

Or Waddle. I never saw such a one footed player. My memory of him is playing up the right, late in his career, but on his left boot only - without exception

chris was a good'un too, in his later years he reminded my of le god, in that he looked cronically over weight but still managed to skin players from fun and do silly things with the ball!

jank

No Roberto Baggio??

He was some player in his prime.

Zindane for me.
Had that touch/vision and awareness that only mere mortals an dream of having.

One of the best all time players ever.
Id even rate him over then Pele

Seaneh

Roberto was a forward.

jank

Seaneh wrote:

Roberto was a forward.

One could argue that I suppose but he always played very deep.
More like a AMC, Ronaldihno

Seaneh

he was a fecking second striker, more like a del boy or a totti.
A classic italian number 10.

jank

Seaneh wrote:

he was a fecking second striker, more like a del boy or a totti.
A classic italian number 10.

So second striker in Italy or a AMC in England or Spain.:D
Del Boy as you call him has played many a game in Midfield and so has Totti.
All be it in an attacking role

I was only making a point.

kinaldo

Gullit, Zidane, and Redondo (disgracefully treated by Passarellla).

MrPillowTalk

Keane for me, if I wasnt a united fan then it would be a tough decision between keane and zidane, but the two best performances Ive ever seen from midfielder came from Keane.

Vs Juve when he dragged United back into the game he was just phenomenal.

Vs Holland in the qualifiers for Saipan he was the only Irish player who turned up and basically played a very strong Dutch side on his own.

redzerdrog

rivaldo on his day was top class dont no if he should be classed as a midfielder or striker a bit like ronaldinho

Carcharodon

Keane as good as he was, people are probably looking at him through red and green tinted glasses, yea he had great games against Juve amongst others but its Zidane, one of the greatest players to ever play soccer, he has done it all with some to spare....
Not knocking Keane at all, all time great as well but srely Zidane would get the vote, opinions - i know

Pigman II

LOL if Keane has 12 so far then Redondo should have 13 just for showing him up as the 'big fish in a small pool' that he always was.

kaimera

Zizu.

Amazing talent, period

Maybe midfield should have had a poll for attacking and defensive players, rather than a single best midfielder. *shrug*

thebaz

i'm with you all on Keane and Viera for midfield honours -- i vote Keane cause of his desire to win and hes Irish -- but whats with all this worshipping for Ronaldo , i assume you mean that fat bloke at Real and not his Portuguese namesake ! Sorry he never did it for me , in that Maradonna or Ronaldinho way

Chucky the tree

thebaz wrote:

i'm with you all on Keane and Viera for midfield honours -- i vote Keane cause of his desire to win and hes Irish -- but whats with all this worshipping for Ronaldo , i assume you mean that fat bloke at Real and not his Portuguese namesake ! Sorry he never did it for me , in that Maradonna or Ronaldinho way

I havent seen anyone worshipping Ronaldo.

Re-read the thread when your sober maybe?

Zidane was the best aswell.

Peyton Manning

Ronaldo in his prime is twice the player Ronaldinho is.

Cruzeiro - 12 goals (14 apps)
PSV - 42 goals (46 apps)
Barcelona - 47 goals (49 apps)
Inter - 49 goals (68 apps)
Real Madrid - 69 goals (98 apps)

What exactly do you class as 'doing it' for you?

Idiotic comments.

MrPillowTalk

Pigman II wrote:

LOL if Keane has 12 so far then Redondo should have 13 just for showing him up as the 'big fish in a small pool' that he always was.

This is one of the dumbest things Ive ever read.

Peyton Manning

MrPillowTalk wrote:

This is one of the dumbest things Ive ever read.

That, and Pigman's birth cert.

besty

I think he's referring to Redondo

wardie

Redondo for an all round player for me. So much class and such a pity injury ruined his career.

Mitch Connor

Why are people talking bout Ronaldo....

Anyway - its Zidane, followed by Keane.