How highly do you rate... Robert Pires?

[Guest Roy the Irish Magpie]

A true winner with a true winner's mentality. Never settled for second best. Passionate about the game and always ready to give his all for the cause. Shamefully expelled from the WC by mackem legend mick mccarthy for being unhapy about disgracful preperation for the biggest competition in the world and complaining about players going out on the piss 'til early morning hours when they were supposed to be getting ready for the World Cup. Keepitonthedeck channel on youtube has a few good videos highlighting the great side of Keane. It's too bad he has a short temper and can be a right old cunt at times.

[Pandamninator]

Strangely enough, Keane has a bit of - probably unfair - bad rep over here. He's usually dismissed as the "prototypical British football thug", and a lot of people would put Scholes, Gerrard, Lampard... above him.

 

I personally enjoyed seeing him play, he certainly was one of a kind. The fire he brought to a side in his prime was almost infectious.

 

Whatever would've given them that idea?

 

I'd waited long enough. I fucking hit him hard. The ball was there (I think). Take that you cunt. And don't ever stand over me sneering about fake injuries

 

*edit* Oh right, no youtubez.  Well, let's just say a certain popular video site has the footage of the incident that quote is talking about.

[Guest firetotheworks]

He was a winner and a leader, but as a footballer he definitely wasn't my type.

[TheGuv]

He was shit scared of Shearer like

[cp40]

Going a bit more domestic, how about this guy as a player? Who is he better than?  Who is he worse than?

 

http://cdn.bleacherreport.net/images_root/images/photos/001/195/163/52781699_crop_650x440.jpg?1303799475

 

Frightening player to come up against.

He's the best central midfielder in Premier League history.

 

is the correct answer.

 

Gary speed used to give him a good game like. hence his shit miss punch on shearer.

[Tooj]

Actually think Keane was quite underrated in his passing ability too. The only criticism I'll have against him is barring a couple of seasons he never scored as many goals as he should have done.

 

That's why when I talk to people a bit older than me or someone like my dad says they rate Bryan Robson higher than him.

[Gallowgate Toon]

Very, very good player but I think Scholes and Viera are/were better.

[ben-nufc]

I think his ability is quite underrated to be honest, obviously he wasn't as technically gifted as Scholes Et al, but it wasn't as if he was a limited player. I thought that he was good technically but what made him top class was obviously his mentality and attitude towards winning. Yes he was a cunt of the highest order but he was certainly a player i admired despite being shit scared of Shearer.

[Tooj]

I posted this up a while ago. This is IMO the best team of my lifetime. (Aged 27)

 

Be interesting to see other's comparisons. (I think this is the right thread to put it in) Also I've picked quite a balanced team as I know when these things normally happen teams are usually ridiculously unbalanced.

 

http://www.footballuser.com/Formations/2011/06/125480_Dream_Team.jpg

[Incognito]

Hated the cunt , always rated Ince higher . My memories of him are him being openly racially abused by Steve Sedgley and Justin Edinburgh in the 91 Cup Final, frequently losing his temper and finishing Alf Inge Haaland's career.

 

Total wanker cunt bollock bastard .

[Foluwashola]

Random thug Shearer embarrassed. Nobody will remember the twat in 10 years time.

[Sima]

The best combative midfielder in my lifetime (I'm 32), although pigeon-holing him as a defensive midfielder does him a massive injustice.

 

Hugely influential to the players around him but the red mist descended stupidly all too often.

[Coco]

Will never forgive him for his actions during WC2002. He let the entire country down.

[Ryan_Taylor]

Hated the c*** , always rated Ince higher . My memories of him are him being openly racially abused by Steve Sedgley and Justin Edinburgh in the 91 Cup Final, frequently losing his temper and finishing Alf Inge Haaland's career.

 

Total w***** c*** bollock b****** .

 

Didn't Haaland retire due to an injury with the other knee though?

[Mr. Snrub]

A thug and a bully, but a great player.  Not as good as Vieira though.

[Hughesy]

A thug and a bully, but a great player.  Not as good as Vieira though.

 

Yeah - I always rated Vieira higher.

[Dr.Spaceman]

Total thug, stops him from being better than some foreign players of a similar style.

[pi_D]

A true winner with a true winner's mentality. Never settled for second best. Passionate about the game and always ready to give his all for the cause. Shamefully expelled from the WC by mackem legend mick mccarthy for being unhapy about disgracful preperation for the biggest competition in the world and complaining about players going out on the p*ss 'til early morning hours when they were supposed to be getting ready for the World Cup. Keepitonthedeck channel on youtube has a few good videos highlighting the great side of Keane. It's too bad he has a short temper and can be a right old c*** at times.

 

[SiLvOR]

His attitude cannot be questioned and having a winning attitude is one of the most important things you can bring to the football pitch. Having said that, he wasn't the nicest of guys. Has anyone read his autobiography? Was interesting to read, but some parts you think "God you're a prat." So to conclude I rate him as a player, not as a man.

[Mole_Toonfan]

A thug and a bully, but a great player.  Not as good as Vieira though.

 

Yeah Vieira was better for me as well i also thought Scholes was better at that time but obviously a different player.

[Sifu]

Ahhh, looks like I missed the Zidane discussion. Ah well, c'est la vie.

 

With regards to Roy Keane, he was the midfield enforcer on his day. Shame he was/is a cunt and thug - he disgraced himself one too many times.

[Guest Howaythetoon]

I actually feel Keane was quite underrated as a footballer even back when he was in his prime leading Man Utd to all that glory. He would never beat a player with a bit of skill or trickery or even pace but he was a very competent passer of the ball and had exceptional positional sense and this amazing ability to read the game wherever he was on the pitch. He wasn't even a defensive midfielder either which many would have him pegged as, for me he was an old school box to box midfielder but with bite and amazing leadership skills. That Man Utd midfield of Beckham, Keane, Scholes and Giggs was a frightening 4 and arguably as good as any we will likely see again in the Premier League. Having said all that, he was a massive coward.

[Tooj]

I actually feel Keane was quite underrated as a footballer even back when he was in his prime leading Man Utd to all that glory. He would never beat a player with a bit of skill or trickery or even pace but he was a very competent passer of the ball and had exceptional positional sense and this amazing ability to read the game wherever he was on the pitch. He wasn't even a defensive midfielder either which many would have him pegged as, for me he was an old school box to box midfielder but with bite and amazing leadership skills. That Man Utd midfield of Beckham, Keane, Scholes and Giggs was a frightening 4 and arguably as good as any we will likely see again in the Premier League. Having said all that, he was a massive coward.

Agree with all of that.

[colinmk]

Going a bit more domestic, how about this guy as a player? Who is he better than?  Who is he worse than?

 

http://cdn.bleacherreport.net/images_root/images/photos/001/195/163/52781699_crop_650x440.jpg?1303799475

 

Frightening player to come up against.

He's the best central midfielder in Premier League history.

 

is the correct answer.

 

Gary speed used to give him a good game like. hence his shit miss punch on shearer.

 

Agree with you guys, when he bossed a game he did it like few others.

[Guest Howaythetoon]

Zidane had something that few possess, even the likes of Messi and the current Ronaldo. He possessed a natural grace about his game that perhaps only Maradona from the players I've seen, had. Messi is obviously the best player the game has seen since Maradona and some would argue of all-time, and Ronaldo is just a machine, but neither has the grace and finesse if you like of Zidane who was a truly glorious player to watch whenhe wasn't doing anything much. Ronaldo's stepovers and tricks are great and all, but Zidane could beat a man just by dropping his shoulder or by side stepping the ball, all with ease and that grace that made him stand out.

 

By the way, in full flight, Thierry Henry had that same kind of grace and finesse. He too was another beautiful player to watch. Gazza had that way of moving the ball and beating his man like Zidane without the need for stepovers, tricks and flicks etc. ala Ronaldo and Ronaldinho. Messi can do it was well due to his incredible quick feet, speed of thought and movement all in one.

 

Back to Zidane... call me crazy but I'd pick him for my team ahead of Messis and Ronaldo and for me he ranks as the best footballer I've ever seen live. There has been no-one like him in the game since and probably never will be.

 

Kaka threatened but he for me was always the Brazilian Lampard with a bit more flair.

 

That comment has left me incredulous. Nothing against Lampard as he's always done what he's done to the highest standard and you know what you're going to get from him.

 

Technique and natural ability wise Kaka was on a different level to him. He was a fantastic playmaker before injuries took their toll. A completely different player to Lampard as well in all honesty.

 

I just knew you would pipe up.

 

Seriously, your opinion means f*** all when you claim Paul McGrath is the best defender you've seen based on wait for it.... reading his f***ing autobiography!

 

I stand by my comment, he threatened to break into that genuine era spanning world-class bracket but didn't quite make it for whatever reasons. The Lampard comparison wasn't a fully serious one, just that both are attacking midfielders who got goals and created goals.

 

I love how mentioning any English player alongside any top foreign player is met with incredulity by the way.

 

For the record, Frank Lampard has been one of the world's best midfielders for a decade now, a genuine world-class player. Not era spanning like Zidane, Messi, Ronaldos et al but easily up there with any of HIS generation, Kaka included.

 

In my own opinion of course...

 

You're talking utter drivel once again.

 

Honestly your limited knowledge and insular view on foreign footballers has been exposed time and time again on here.

 

Mentioning any English player alongside a top foreign player isn't incredulous at all. I'm sure if you asked anybody their opinion on somebody like Ashley Cole they would tell you he has been a world class player and the world's best left-back for the past decade or so.

 

Lampard has never been up there with the best of his era and this is somebody that rates him.

 

f*** off man you waxed lyrical about him after reading his book.

 

By the way I don't mind admitting I don't have an encyclopedia like knowledge of world football and its footballers but then I've never confessed to being an expert unlike your good self who comes across as one or tries hard to look like some kind of expert.

 

Despite that, I'm not entirely insular to world football and do have some degree of knowledge.

 

Back to Lampard... of course he is one of the best of his generation, not just in England but the world too. He is easily in the top 20 of midfielders of the last 10 years.

 

As for your Ronaldo thing, I never once said Shearer was better, all I ever argued that he was a better centre-forward which he was, with Ronaldo obviously the better footballer overall. That is you all over though, you see such a comment and jump all over it with your laughable incredulity totally missing the bit in between just as you have with my Kaka/Lampard comment which if you think about it was a fair one. Both are attacking midfielders noted for scoring and creating goals and driving their sides on from that area of the pitch and therefore can be compared. I did say though that Kaka had more flair and finesse though which should in anyone's mind, indicate that I'm not at all saying Lampard is better.

 

It is true about English players though, no matter how good, they are never better than their foreign counterparts in the minds of many on here who you would think, had season tickets at every club in the world....