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How highly do you rate... Robert Pires?


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Guest Howaythetoon

Raul was a great forward in the same vein as Del Piero etc. Litmannen was a fantsatic player too.

 

How about Roberto Ayala? Fucking rock of  CB he was.

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Raul and Del Piero were totally different man.

 

Del Piero being your classic number 10 whilst Raul being a centre forward of such outstanding finesse.

 

A similar striker to Raul would be say Davor Suker.

 

Agree about Ayala though.

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There was actually some debate in Finnish and Swedish press about Litmanen and Zlatan. They agreed that Zlatan has had a better career (surprise  :rolleyes: ) but some of them said Litmanen in his prime was better. Difficult to say because they are playing in different positions, but Zlatan certainly has had a more successful career. I rate him to top 5 strikers in the world at the moment.

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Guest Howaythetoon

Raul and Del Piero were totally different man.

 

Del Piero being your classic number 10 whilst Raul being a centre forward of such outstanding finesse.

 

A similar striker to Raul would be say Davor Suker.

 

Agree about Ayala though.

 

I didn't mean they were the same type of players in terms of attributes, I meant in terms of what they meant to their respective clubs, basically the hub of their team for a decade or so.

 

Although Raul was a very creative forward too. I agree about your comparison with Fowler btw, although the latter clearly not as creative/technical. Fowler could have been a beast at every level but for injuries and apparent attitude.

 

I remember when KK took charge of the England under-21s and came back raving about Fowler, saying he was an outrageous talent. He was. He was quick, intelligent and could score from anywhere and all type of goals. He wasn't a classic CF type but more of a roving one. Such a sweet left foot too.

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Litmannen was a fantsatic player too.

 

How about Roberto Ayala? f***ing rock of  CB he was.

 

Always signed Litmanen in Champ Man 96/97 back in the day ....scored crap load of goals as an attacking midfielder  ;D

 

Agree about JL in a Keegan side  :pedro:  ......was linked to us in the SBR days actually

 

Ayala? Oustanding at Valencia but pretty mediocre at Napoli and Milan

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Good one.

 

To be honest, I never seen him play so I can't really judge him but I'm really interested on reading what people have to say. Reading on him his peak seemed relatively short, and it has always surprised me the huge reputation he has over in the UK/Ireland. Again, I'm too young to ever having seen him play.

 

Is he really considered in the same echelon as Pelé, Maradona, Cruyff or Di Stefano? Not over here at least.

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Definitely the most talented British player I've ever seen. His ability to go past opponents was second to none. Wonderful close control of the ball, and no real weaknesses in his game.

 

In terms of talent he was the equal of any player, apart from possibly Messi. But he didn't achieve anything like his capability. It was like he reached the top and then got bored and failed to kick on.

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I live a few doors down from his old house (i.e. the one shown in most of the old documentaries):

http://i1.mirror.co.uk/incoming/article843699.ece/ALTERNATES/s615/An++exterior++view++of++the++house++belonging++to++Manchester++United++footballer++George++Best++in++Bramhall++August++1973

... which incidentally is just around the corner from Ronaldo's old house.

A few things:

 

1. He was so well regarded the house had bundles of flowers outside when he died even though he hadn't live there for decades.

2. The present owner didn't dare move them.

3. A lot of women I've worked with used to bunk school to sit outside the clothes boutique he owned just in the hope he'd pop in ... (more innocent times)

4. Since I moved to Manchester in 1980, saw him drunk almost as many times as Alex Higgins ... just a case of which one went first really!

5. It was like watching a ballet when he played.

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