Zinedane Zidane.

PARKHEAD67

Was he the best ever?Discuss.He was the best player Ive ever seen. Di Canio was quite good too.

Iang87

PARKHEAD67 wrote: »

Was he the best ever?Discuss.He was the best player Ive ever seen. Di Canio was quite good too.

di canio and zidane in the one statement. Crazy stuff on boards this late

PARKHEAD67

Iang87 wrote: »

di canio and zidane in the one statement. Crazy stuff on boards this late

Zidane was almost god-like. Di Canio was a skilful bhoy too..;)

smokedeels

PARKHEAD67 wrote: »

Was he the best ever?Discuss.He was the best player Ive ever seen. Di Canio was quite good too.

I think you've covered everything in your post, what's left to discuss?

Zindane, great! Di Canio, quite good....

Insightful stuff.

MrStuffins

Zidane, amazing!

For me, I think the best player i've ever seen (I'm not old enough to remember Pele, Cruyff, peak Maradona etc) is......... well i'll let Zidane tell you

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uked-uhAPW0

PARKHEAD67

smokedeels wrote: »

I think you've covered everything in your post, what's left to discuss?

Zindane, great! Di Canio, quite good....

Insightful stuff.

No.Do ye think that Zidane was better than Pele and Maradona and the original ronaldo?Thats my question.Was Zidane BETTER than those three? I think he was.

smokedeels

PARKHEAD67 wrote: »

No.Do ye think that Zidane was better than Pele and Maradona?Thats my question.Was Zidane BETTER than those two? I think he was.

Is there anything specific about him as a player that brought you to that conclusion?

PARKHEAD67

MrStuffins wrote: »

Zidane, amazing!

For me, I think the best player i've ever seen (I'm not old enough to remember Pele, Cruyff, peak Maradona etc) is......... well i'll let Zidane tell you

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uked-uhAPW0

Ronaldo was genius-like too.

AgileMyth

Zidane and Ronaldo were the best I'd seen. Until Messi.

Di Canio was a great footballer but nowhere near that level at all. Hes not even the best player thats played for celtic

PARKHEAD67

smokedeels wrote: »

Is there anything specific about him as a player that brought you to that conclusion?

The way he could make the ball be his friend.

PARKHEAD67

AgileMyth wrote: »

Zidane and Ronaldo were the best I'd seen. Until Messi.

Di Canio was a great footballer but nowhere near that level at all. Hes not even the best player thats played for celtic

True.Thats Jimmy Johnstone.

MrStuffins

PARKHEAD67 wrote: »

True.Thats Jimmy Johnstone.

You misspelled Evander Sno.

PARKHEAD67

MrStuffins wrote: »

You misspelled Evander Sno.

Your some looder:D

Xavi6

Di Canio? Lulz. Fits nicely into the Eric Cantona bracket of overrated players.

Zidane is the best I've ever seen to date.

daithijjj

These debates are difficult to have. Zidane was obviously brilliant, so was Maradona, but Maradona did it while getting the sh1t kicked out of him week after week, even by the Brazilians, he was that good, on a different plane to Zidane imo.

Theres a great story Garl Lineker tells about Maradona. When the Argies and England were warming up before a game Maradona was doing a trick, the trick was to plant his right foot and not move it and with his left he kicked it 50 feet in the air. He did that about 20 times on the volley (without moving his right foot from when he started) until several of the England players just stopped warming up and started watching him like they were the audience. He carried on volleying the ball to himself for about 3 minutes after that, every time kicking it high into the air, he never caught it, it never touched the ground. His right foot never moved from start to finish.

Now that doesnt make a footballer but its just a snippet of what the man was capable off with a football, that a team of international players he was about to play against stopped warming up themselves so they could take in the man close up.

I dont want to make it into an 'era' debate but Maradona did his work in an era with little or no protection at all. Mexico '86 was about one man. Zidane, Messi etc, fantastic but would they stand the test of time back in the day like Maradona did?, targeted from minute one with crude lunges?. Football these days is not far of Netball by comparison.

MrStuffins

sugarman wrote: »

Zinedane? Best player ive ever seen in the flesh, or full stop. Could have easily carried on at the top level for another 2/3yrs if he wished. Was insrtumental in seeing france reach the 2010 wc finals, he single handly guided them there.

The same Zinedine Zidane who retired in 2006?

Pinturicchio

He's the best player I've ever seen regularly. Messi would probably be second.

joe123

Zidane was brilliant but Messi is just on another level again. Saying that when ronaldinho was at the top of his game he was probably the best I've ever witnessed.

Son Of A Vidic

Zidane was a great player but I wouldn't put him close to being the greatest. Anyone who remembers watching Maradona at his peak, will see why. The magical Brazilian team at the 1982 World Cup had many amazing players, but Zico was king (The White Pele). Moving to more recent times Ronaldo (Brazil) is another player I put ahead of Zidane. Messi will undoubtedly be ahead in the all time greats list when he retires. The one thing about Zidane though, was the way he ended a great career with that infamous head butt assault. It just left a bad taste with a lot of people.

stovelid

I do think the earlier points about Maradona are valid: that modern football helps the gifted players (better referees and fitness for start) than it did pre-90s.

I saw Maradona play admittedly. That said, you didn't have the wall-to-wall TV coverage that you have now so in fairness you do get to see an awful lot of a player these days.

One thing that is always overlooked as well is the modern Galactico phenomenen: the conglomeration of top players in the one or two top teams in a generation. One could only imagine a player like Maradona with the amount of protection afforded by referees these days, a better fitness and training regime and being surounded by some of the best players in the world when he was at Napoli or indeed with more recent Argentine national teams.

That said, ZZ should be seen as one of ther best players ever though but not at the level of DM.

stovelid

I resisited assessing Di Canio because you're just messing about with the pantheon there and he is beyond compare.

He played for Celtic after all.

Dotrel

Iang87 wrote: »

di canio and zidane in the one statement. Crazy stuff on boards this late

Agreed. Zidane never played in the premiership!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IIf07gQAbGM

Zidane, the only footballer who can make Coldplay tolerable. Best player of his era. A leader of men and made the game look easy.

Nalz

Xavi6 wrote: »

Di Canio? Lulz. Fits nicely into the Eric Cantona bracket of overrated players.

I think I'm biting when I shouldn't here but Cantona albeit was never world class or frequently labelled as such was twice the player Di Canio was. I don't think was overrated. One wonders where the mighty Manchester United would be now if he stayed at Leeds.

eugeneious

Messi was the best player i've seen but anyone i know lucky enough to have seen him would say DM.Must have really been a phenomenon. I always loved this picture of him too

Dotrel

eugeneious wrote: »

Messi was the best player i've seen but anyone i know lucky enough to have seen him would say DM.Must have really been a phenomenon. I always loved this picture of him too

I've always wondered what that was about. I'm guessing it was the wall from a free-kick breaking. I'd love to one day see the bit of video where that photo was taken.

stovelid

Dotrel wrote: »

I've always wondered what that was about. I'm guessing it was the wall from a free-kick breaking. I'd love to one day see the bit of video where that photo was taken.

If you magically transplanted today's rules of the game and referees back to, say, his playing time in Spain, the opposition would have ended up with 6 or 7 layers on the pitch.

Dotrel

eugeneious wrote: »

Messi was the best player i've seen but anyone i know lucky enough to have seen him would say DM.Must have really been a phenomenon. I always loved this picture of him too

Hah. Found it!!!!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wVlur1I12wc

Go to around 1:10 and watch the free-kick. Belgium weren't nearly as terrified as the photo may suggest

OCD is a bitch!!!!

BaZmO*

PARKHEAD67 wrote: »

The way he could make the ball be his friend.

I think you're thinking of Tom Hanks in Cast Away

AwayWithFaries

I love how this has turned into a Maradona appreciation thread.

But he deserves it. Zidane was good but Maradona was much much better. Single handedly winning a World Cup is no east feat.

And as for Di Canio, wtf have you been smoking OP?

karma_

PARKHEAD67 wrote: »

No.Do ye think that Zidane was better than Pele and Maradona and the original ronaldo?Thats my question.Was Zidane BETTER than those three? I think he was.

Categorically NO.

Maradonna was amazing, the best ever (until Messi). It's teh height of madness to even compare Zidane to Maradonna or even Pele, he wasn't even on the same level as those two legends.

inforfun

Dotrel wrote: »

Hah. Found it!!!!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wVlur1I12wc

Go to around 1:10 and watch the free-kick. Belgium weren't nearly as terrified as the photo may suggest

Photo is from mexico '86.
Clip is from Spain '82.

Same match up, 2 different tournaments and 2 very, very different Maradona's.

Zidane is for sure the best player in the world as it comes to do some incredible difficult, make it look so easy and always effective.

And i ave seen a few world stars play, old enough to have seen my country lose 3 wc finals.

karma_

inforfun wrote: »

Photo is from mexico '86.
Clip is from Spain '82.

Same match up, 2 different tournaments and 2 very, very different Maradona's.

Zidane is for sure the best player in the world as it comes to do some incredible difficult, make it look so easy and always effective.

And i ave seen a few world stars play, old enough to have seen my country lose 3 wc finals.

The clip is definitely correct. If you pause at 1.16 you see the moment the photograph was taken from a slightly different perspective, which in fairless is really cool.

bullvine

Zidane is slightly overated! He was a great player but not on the level of Pele or Maradona, he was capable of moments of brilliance, especially on the world cup stage but at club level in the champions league I was never too impressed by him apart from the goal in 2002 final. The games against Man United, at the turn of the century he never stood out the way Mendiata, Effenberg or Figo had when they played against United. Messi on the other hand, really is the closest to Diego we have seen but I'm not sure if he has the personality to carry his national team to a world cup win the way Diego did. I dont think a player has ever stood out the way Maradona did in 86, it was his tournament and his alone.

Dotrel

inforfun wrote: »

Photo is from mexico '86.
Clip is from Spain '82.

Same match up, 2 different tournaments and 2 very, very different Maradona's.

Did you even watch the clip before you typed that?

Bodhisopha

bullvine wrote: »

Zidane is slightly overated! He was a great player but not on the level of Pele or Maradona, he was capable of moments of brilliance, especially on the world cup stage but at club level in the champions league I was never too impressed by him apart from the goal in 2002 final. The games against Man United, at the turn of the century he never stood out the way Mendiata, Effenberg or Figo had when they played against United. Messi on the other hand, really is the closest to Diego we have seen but I'm not sure if he has the personality to carry his national team to a world cup win the way Diego did. I dont think a player has ever stood out the way Maradona did in 86, it was his tournament and his alone.

Platini 84.

Nobody really likes him anymore, so it's easy to forget he is probably the greatest French player of all time.

bullvine

Sorry, I meant World cups, Platini was a wonderful player and in 84 he was incredible, he was unfortunate that he happened to play at the same time as Maradona. Being the second best player on the planet in the 80's. Your right, i think hes the greatest French Player ever.

eyescreamcone

Maradona was superb
His 2 Italian league wins with Napoli were super achievements for a very small club at the time (just promoted if I remember)
His 86 WC win on his own was fantastic.

I didn't see Pele play live.
But his Brazilian teams were packed full of stars.

I think ZZ was amazing also.

My vote
Diego
Pele
ZZ

With Messi coming up fast on the outside.
I reckon in 10 years time there will be no agument who will be the greatest.

Johnny Evans???

human repellent

Think it's safe to say maradonna pele and zz are all different players in their own right.

I grew up on the ronaldo, ronaldhino, zz, messi generation.

However i do have box sets of the old world cups, all great players but while i think zz was the best at what he did for a generation, i don't think he can compare to the other two.

If messi continues as he does there is no doubt who will be the undisputed greatest ever, hell if he played in the premiership already we wouldnt be having this conversation.

Bodhisopha

eyescreamcone wrote: »

Maradona was superb
His 2 Italian league wins with Napoli were super achievements for a very small club at the time (just promoted if I remember)
His 86 WC win on his own was fantastic.

I didn't see Pele play live.
But his Brazilian teams were packed full of stars.

I think ZZ was amazing also.

My vote
Diego
Pele
ZZ

With Messi coming up fast on the outside.
I reckon in 10 years time there will be no agument who will be the greatest.

Johnny Evans???

No. Napoli were not just promoted when Maradona joined them. They finished 3'rd and 4th in the first couple of seasons in the 80's and much lower the season before he joined. They broke the world record transfer fee in signing him and brought many others in. To say they were a very small club, or even a small club is a bit of a stretch.

inforfun

karma_ wrote: »

The clip is definitely correct. If you pause at 1.16 you see the moment the photograph was taken from a slightly different perspective, which in fairless is really cool.

Dotrel wrote: »

Did you even watch the clip before you typed that?

Yep. And i am still convinced the photo is from mexico '86, semi final.
And the clip is opening match Spain '82.

But never mind. Thread is about Zidane. Well... mostly.

Edit: proven myself to be wrong. first time for everything i guess
It is indeed 82, Apologies.

Dotrel

inforfun wrote: »

Yep. And i am still convinced the photo is from mexico '86, semi final.
And the clip is opening match Spain '82.

But never mind. Thread is about Zidane. Well... mostly.

Edit: proven myself to be wrong. first time for everything i guess
It is indeed 82, Apologies.

No worries.

Here's Belgium's gear from the 1986 game in case you're interested
http://lh6.ggpht.com/_WWblHMUZA4E/S7YW_1PUY7I/AAAAAAAADto/vno3J74M6UU/42-24339344%5B2%5D.jpg

Pepe LeFrits

PARKHEAD67 wrote: »

Zinedane Zidane

Bendtner? :pac:

PARlance

Messi needs to continue on as he has been for 4-5 years.

Then he needs to fall into a pot-hole full of coke(thats a lot considering his size), stumble out and set up tent(pun intended) in a brothel for a few years whilst working on developing a drink problem.

Then when he's done, he can come back and prove the world that he is the best ever for another 4-5 years.

A world cup, preferably after the meltdown would also help.



Whilst I'm taking the piss to a certain degree, I have to say a good auld "issue" with a great player adds to my admiration. That's prob saying more about me than the player though

Leiva

IMO

#1 Zidane
#2 Maradona
#3 ** Messi

** ( who will over take the two above within the next three years if he keeps up his current form and achieves at Int. level )

Iang87

seriously why does he have to do it at international level?

So from the all time list can we cross off cruyff ya,

also considering it has to be done at international level we can make the assumption that sergio ramos must be the best fullback in the past 20 years

tdv123

In my life time.

1.Messi
2.Zidane.
3.Ronaldo
4.Ronaldinho
5.Maldini
6.Xavi
7.Iniesta
8.Baresi
9.Figo
10.Scholes

Leiva

Iang87 wrote: »

seriously why does he have to do it at international level?

So from the all time list can we cross off cruyff ya,

also considering it has to be done at international level we can make the assumption that sergio ramos must be the best fullback in the past 20 years

Of course International level has to be factored in .

Taking the other two players in people's top three or four: Maradona & Zidane both players who single handedly inspired a WC win with performances in major tournament that if removed would probably result in their respective countries not winning .

Yes club football has never been as big but it's silly to totally dismiss major achievements at international level when comparing to find the best.

curry-muff

Iang87 wrote: »

seriously why does he have to do it at international level?

So from the all time list can we cross off cruyff ya,

also considering it has to be done at international level we can make the assumption that sergio ramos must be the best fullback in the past 20 years

That's been puzzling me too, Van Basten never played at a World Cup, but I'd still count him as one of the best players ever.

Warper

Messi is undoubtably the greatest player of all time. The fact he plays at a different level than everyone else practically every match makes him remarkable. It is his consistency of brilliance that makes him stand out. It feels like he has been around forever but what is he, 24 or 25. Maradona was the best player of his generation and i think he is the second best of all time. Zidane was probably the best player of his generation and is also a legend. Brazilian Ronaldo was up there too when he was in his prime in his early 20's. Romario, Rivaldo, Ronaldinho also deserve a mention but even Maradona acknowledges that Messi is a better player than he ever was.

Warper

mixednuts wrote: »

Of course International level has to be factored in .

Taking the other two players in people's top three or four: Maradona & Zidane both players who single handedly inspired a WC win with performances in major tournament that if removed would probably result in their respective countries not winning .

Yes club football has never been as big but it's silly to totally dismiss major achievements at international level when comparing to find the best.

Inspiring your club team to win the CL is a greater acheivement than international level. Messi has been top scorer in the CL the past 3 seasons. He is breaking all sorts of records both in Spain and in Europe. His time in the WC may still come once Argentina sort out a manager that isnt mentally insane. He is still young. Any player can play great in a couple of matches like a WC but not all can be brilliant in every game, only Messi can do that.

Davaeo09

In my life time, Ronaldo (the Brazilian), Zidane, Messi, Ronaldiniho and Xavi have been the "creme de la creme" IMO

Each one having their own little "special" thing.
I remember watching Zidane with the ball at he's feet, and how players were so reluctant to tackle him, knowing that they'd be left there be-dazzled, with him bearing down on goal.

Messi on the other hand can just drift between defenders, with the lightest of touches and we all know about he's incredible goal scoring ability!

We should just stop arguing about who is the best/better! We are privileged to have the chance to watch these guys do there stuff!