Zinedine Zidane - was he all that?

Xavi6

Hope the posters concerned don't mind but I feel the below comments from the Gourcuff thread merit one of their own -

Bubs101 wrote: »

In fairness, Zidane was never that good. He was really really inconsistent for Juve. It's all well and good putting in great performances against the Inters and Milans but you have to do it at the Perugias and Piacenzas as well and so often he didn't

Warper wrote: »

This is the most ludicrous statement i have ever read - Zidane not that good? Before Messi came along Zidane was the best player since Maradona - easy. The guy was a genius - he carried France to 2 World Cup finals - winning 1 of them and scoring twice in the final. He was the main factor Juve won Seria A titles, Real Madrid won La Liga and he scored the winning wonder goal against Leverkusen in the Champion League final. He was the most skillful and creative playmaker since Maradona. His transfer fee to Madrid of £47m is still the highest ever paid - European footballer, World footballer of the year, player of the World Cup but ya he was never that good. :rolleyes:

With the world record transfer fee for Zidane potentially about to be broken I thought this could be an interesting one.

Arsenal1986

I think he would definitely get into the Irish squad if thats what you mean,

heck in his day he would do a job for Arsenal, who I support.

Fizman

Yes, he was all that, and a bag of potato chips.

Those comments were obviously made by those of an unsound mind. He is the best footballer of this generation (past 10-15 years), and the only person I see getting to a similar mantle is Messi. And at that it'll be another year or two at least for him. (Although I do love him, and want his kids).

EDIT: I want to choose the second option in the poll because he was not 'as' good as Pele or Maradona, but I don't like that the word 'Good' is there, so I can't possibly vote in these conditions.

redout

He left the game in disgrace on the biggest stage of all. Was a genious with the ball but Keano played him off the park in Turin 99 and against France at Lansdowne which I was at. Overall I am undecided. The galacticos won F ALL with him. One la liga title and one champions league in five seasons.

Bubs101

He was great but he was a big game player. Like Warper said there that he was the main reason we won the Serie titles but that's not true. He was no great sheik in his first season and I don't think it's any coincidence that the season Del Piero got injured for the majority of the season we went from two scudetti to 6th place.He lost us a title the season afterwards with a shocking performance on the last day of the season against Perugia (which I realise was a big game). He was also a far better player in the latter half of his juve career when we went 3 years without a league. Season he leaves we win it again. Coincidence I think not

Iang87

best player i've ever seen bar no1.
The adidas ad that he holds the ball on his leg from lik 5 floors up, was done in one take. The mans control, vision, shooting, even headbutting were absolutely perfect.
Champs league goal against leverkusen shows exactly everything that man is capable of. If he played in any era he'd be the best.

I'm not disrespecting pele or anything but i dont think he ever really played outside brazil apart from with that New York side in the 70s, i really think that damages some of his reputation in the case of the greatest ever

Rikand

sky sports

Xavi6

He won the World Cup for a French team that has Stephane Guivarc'h as it's striker. STEPHANE GUIVARC'H!!!

IMO he is the greatest player ever. I didn't see Maradona or Pele so it would be unfair to judge them. Zidane had absolutely everything and I spent over a decade watching and marvelling at his ability. I supported Juve in Serie A because of him. I have Juve, Madrid and France jerseys with his name on the back of them all. Nobody else comes close.

Melion

Best player to ever kick a ball, its that simple.

Bounty Hunter

he aint no Marlon Harewood ill tell you that

whatawaster

Not the best player i've ever seen. Maradona and Messi (he's that good) for me. He was a genius though.

I should qualify the above by saying i know Messi hasn't achieved anything near what Zidane did yet, but i believe he will one day, and he's the most gifted player since Diego.

el rabitos

great movement, the ease which he made space for himself, for others, the clever passing, the great vision for a pass or a shot, his reading of the game...had a decent shot on him, excellent technique

easy not to notice his talents if all your looking to see is fast attacking football and a goal after every single attack, same with scholes imo.

had all the talent in the world. bit lazy on occasion though

Bubs101

Xavi6 wrote: »

IMO he is the greatest player ever. I didn't see Maradona or Pele so it would be unfair to judge them. Zidane had absolutely everything and I spent over a decade watching and marvelling at his ability. I supported Juve in Serie A because of him. I have Juve, Madrid and France jerseys with his name on the back of them all. Nobody else comes close.

He was just never that good for us. I've made my argument up there, if someone cares to refute it I'll listen but the Juve facts speak for themselves and as a fan, if I were to pick one member of that French team from Juve for a fantasy draft it would be Deschamps every day

themont85

Incroyable

Frisbee

He was the greatest player of our generation for me.
And will remain to be so until he is eclipsed by Messi

Dont be at yourself

That's a great video. How on earth did he draw comparisons with plebs like Bruno Cheyrou??

Melion

themont85 wrote: »

Incroyable

:eek:Fúck my face

keane2097

NekkidBibleMan wrote: »

That's a great video. How on earth did he draw comparisons with plebs like Bruno Cheyrou??

Both of them are from France.

Xavi6

Melion wrote: »

:eek:Fúck my face

Ehhhhhh....open wide?

Xavi6

themont85 wrote: »

Incroyable

Can you post the url? No youtube in work so I'll have to proxy it.

cm2000

With Ronaldo(Brazil), the best player of our generation, his performances in big games were incredible, don't forget the spanish match in the wc too. As for this criticism of the stephan -goal every second game- Guivarc'h, I won't hear of it

themont85

Xavi6 wrote: »

Can you post the url? No youtube in work so I'll have to proxy it.

Sure thing-http://ie.youtube.com/watch?v=SvYlvkWpPy4

eagle eye

Ok for me Zinedine Zidane was one of the best players I've ever seen.

There can be arguments made against him though.

At Real Madrid, the Galacticos failed to win the League while Zidane was there after Claude Makelele left the club for Chelsea.
They next won the League the season following Zidane's reitirement.

Going back further,

Bordeaux never won major trophies while he was there. And while Juventus won the League title twice after he arrived, they were Serie A champions when he arrived and of course they lost in the Champions League final with him whereas they won it the year before he arrived.


Thats the argument against him if you don't watch football, then you would say that he was not that great. BUT if you have watched football and love watching the best football, that was played in all the teams that Zizou played in and he was the artist, the masterpiece and a truly magnificent player. I would say that without doubt he was the best passer of a ball that I have ever seen. He also had those other qualities like being able to turn it on and beat players with ease and also he had a magnificent foot and could score wondrous goals at any given moment as well as providing the killer pass which he did so often, he could also beat players with his feet. His performances in big games though were what made him so special. The 1998 World Cup final was where we first saw that the mand had it for the big day. Look at the Real Madrid Champions League final and you seen him at his very best. They are the games that sort the all time best from the other greats. I will have a look for a youtube on those two and put them up at the end. I want to look at them myself anyways as I recall them now.

He was just on a different planet to you regular elite footballer. The one problem with him though was his ability to tackle. He got many yellow cards for bad fouls and he did have a slight temper which I only really seen get the better of him in his last game.

After Maradona and Ronaldinho I would say that he is the most skillful footballer I have ever seen in my lifetime.

Just the goals is all I could get of this final.

I couldn't get one of the highlights for this either just one of the greatest goals ever in a final

eagle eye

A lot of stuff went up since I started my post, I'll have to speed up.:)

themont85

Goal in the CL final was absolutely sick.

The irony that while people said that heading was his biggest weakness it was his head that proved so crucial in the WC final(actually both of them come to think about it..)

I really love the Brazil 06 game, just the ease he had on the ball just a joy to watch. Its not even the type of video where you say show that to kids to know how to play football, you can't learn that, such god given talent.

Reganio 2

The best player ever, better than Pele and Maradonna. Can't believe people think he wasn't all that tbh.

Mr.Nice Guy

No I don't believe Zidane belongs in the same breath as the likes of Pele, Maradona, Best etc. He was a top, top player but for me not an all time great which is what I'd class the above as.

Bubs101

Reganio 2 wrote: »

The best player ever, better than Pele and Maradonna. Can't believe people think he wasn't all that tbh.

During his peak he won very very little at club level in two of the best teams of the period, who both had success before and after he left. On his day phenomenal, nobody's doubting that but his day didn't come often enough. I was amazed when I read Redout's earlier post about his lack of success in Spain because I just assumed Real dominated with him

keane2097

Mr.Nice Guy wrote: »

No I don't believe Zidane belongs in the same breath as the likes of Pele, Maradona, Best etc. He was a top, top player but for me not an all time great which is what I'd class the above as.

I think some people have an unhealthy nostalgia towards the old fellas and think that no matter how savage a player is if he wasn't born before the end of 1960 he can fcuk off he's not as good as George Best.

Trippie

I still think selling Zidane and getting nedved in to replace him has been the best transfer made in years

themont85

Bubs101 wrote: »

During his peak he won very very little at club level in two of the best teams of the period, who both had success before and after he left. On his day phenomenal, nobody's doubting that but his day didn't come often enough. I was amazed when I read Redout's earlier post about his lack of success in Spain because I just assumed Real dominated with him

He won as much if not more than Maradona did. Pele is not comparable really because he played in Brazil so its hard to judge. France got to two WC finals with him as the focus of the team.

He's up there with Maradona, Best and Pele imo. Who has been better than Zidane for the past 15 years? Ronaldo could have been but injury destroyed him.

I honestly believe he'll be talked in the same vain as the aforementioned great players in 20 years time.

Xavi6

Mr.Nice Guy wrote: »

No I don't believe Zidane belongs in the same breath as the likes of Pele, Maradona, Best etc. He was a top, top player but for me not an all time great which is what I'd class the above as.

Jamie? Is that you? :pac:

Bubs101

themont85 wrote: »

He won as much if not more than Maradona did. Pele is not comparable really because he played in Brazil so its hard to judge. France got to two WC finals with him as the focus of the team.

He's up there with Maradona, Best and Pele imo. Who has been better than Zidane for the past 15 years? Ronaldo could have been but injury destroyed him.

I honestly believe he'll be talked in the same vain as the aforementioned great players in 20 years time.

Maradona dragged Napoli to two Serie As, their only titles. NAPOLI. getting a top scorer award not to mention being good when he was young. At his prime Zidane dragged Juve to won with an amazing supporting cast when he wasn't even the star of the team. Not even comparable

Iang87

Trippie wrote: »

I still think selling Zidane and getting nedved in to replace him has been the best transfer made in years

maybe for juve ya i'm sure madrid prob think the same

eagle eye

I wasn't around in the days of Pele and Best.

The players I've seen I would rate in the following order

1. Maradona
2. Ronaldinho
3. Zidane
4. Platini
5. Van Basten

Obviously you cannot pick everyone but for me they are the best.

Frisbee

Xavi6 wrote: »

Jamie? Is that you? :pac:

I've run out of thanks for the day.
You woulda got one though

eagle eye

keane2097 wrote: »

I think some people have an unhealthy nostalgia towards the old fellas and think that no matter how savage a player is if he wasn't born before the end of 1960 he can fcuk off he's not as good as George Best.

My dad was around during that time and he believes that Ronaldinho is very like Best in a lot of ways. He says that Best had a burst of speed like nobody else over 5 yards, but like Ronaldinho he could just lazily put the ball past others as if they could not see it.

keane2097

Xavi6 wrote: »

Jamie? Is that you? :pac:

Epic lols.

Zidane in "I won because of the blueberries" shocker :pac:

redout

I always loved Rivaldo while at Barca. He boasts quite an impressive individual award haul. Thought the guy was from another planet. What about Franco Baresi if ever there was an unsung hero.

keane2097

redout wrote: »

I always loved Rivaldo while at Barca. He boasts quite an impressive individual award hall. Thought the guy was from another planet. What about Franco Baresi if ever there was an unsung hero.

+1 for Rivaldo actually - he was different class... well, same class as Zidane but you know...

LuckyLloyd

Lads, watch this movie and then tell me he isn't all that and much, much more.

keane2097

LuckyLloyd wrote: »

Lads, watch this movie and then tell me he isn't all that and much, much more.

That's the thing where it just spends 90 minutes filming him during a game yeah?

I heard it's fairly epic alright - does it not get boring though...?

LuckyLloyd

keane2097 wrote: »

That's the thing where it just spends 90 minutes filming him during a game yeah?

I heard it's fairly epic alright - does it not get boring though...?

Maybe I like my football too much but, for me at least, getting to study a player of his caliber go to work at the highest level for 90 mins is not boring in the slightest.

What will strike you (if you watch it) is how he seems to be in space to receive the ball for pretty much the entire game. And then his technique and abillity when he does get it is mesmerizing.

In any case, people should watch it before they deem themselves qualified to talk him up or write him off imo.

redout

LuckyLloyd wrote: »

Lads, watch this movie and then tell me he isn't all that and much, much more.

Zidane, un portrait du 21e siècle (2006)More at IMDbPro all 2 | slideshow)


Overview

User Rating:

6.2/10 777 votes = Flashes of genius, but not consistent

tdv

Certainley the most gifted player I've ever seen & the most fun to watch.
Still think Maldini should get a shout when it comes to the best of there generation. Always overlooked becase he was a defender. But just like Zidane was an artist at playmaking Maldini was an artist at defending.

A few others who I think should be in without a shout.

Romario
Redondo
Hagi
Rivaldo
Baresi
R9

UnitedIrishman

redout wrote: »

I always loved Rivaldo while at Barca. He boasts quite an impressive individual award haul. Thought the guy was from another planet. What about Franco Baresi if ever there was an unsung hero.

Rivaldo was pretty special, I'd put him alongside Zidane. His hat-trick against Valencia to qualify for the CL, his bicycle against United when he literally had a second to chest, hit the ground and turn his body - it's beyond coaching.

Idu

tdv wrote: »

Certainley the most gifted player I've ever seen & the most fun to watch.
Still think Maldini should get a shout when it comes to the best of there generation. Always overlooked becase he was a defender. But just like Zidane was an artist at playmaking Maldini was an artist at defending.

A few others who I think should be in without a shout.

Romario
Redondo
Hagi
Rivaldo
Baresi
R9

I always loved Redondo, beautiful footballer. It was like the ball was glued to his foot sometimes. Him making a show of Henning Berg is one of my favourite footballing memories and I'm a United fan.

Highsider

After Pele and Maradona the greatest player to ever play the game.

leninbenjamin

Highsider wrote: »

After Pele and Maradona the greatest player to ever play the game.

Zidane was a good player, but this kind of statement is ridiculous imo. to be perfectly honest, i didn't even think he was the best player in the French squad in 98.

Dolph Starbeam

Best player i have ever seen. I do expect Messi to eclipse him though. And i was told 3 years ago that Gourcuff will be the next Zidane, lets see...

Nalz

LMAO
"I'd rather have Benayoun behind the front two"