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How highly do you rate... Robert Pires?


Beren

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Some of our players thought he was so advanced/had such a great footballing brain that they didn't understand his level of play sometimes and what he was going to create.

 

Aye he was a different wave length to those around him.... when ever i watched Ginola after he left us for the likes of Spurs and Villa etc etc i got the same feeling like they didn't have a clue what he was going to do.

 

Indeed, Kluivert's most salient talent as a footballer was his creativity. In his prime he'd create as many goals as he'd score, and one of the most enjoyable things was seeing the balls he'd come up with.

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Some of our players thought he was so advanced/had such a great footballing brain that they didn't understand his level of play sometimes and what he was going to create.

 

sometimes i think we have this problem with Hatem. a lot of the time when he gets the ball the rest of our team don't know what to do.

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Kluivert murdered us twice playing for Barca; he got a deserved ovation when he was subbed at SJP. I agree that he'd lost the passion when he signed for us and believe that the reaction he'd received from our crowd played a part in his signing.

 

As a player he was fantastic when in the mood. Consistency wasn't his strong point.

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Guest firetotheworks

For a player to look disinterested, unfit and lazy and for me to still like them in a Newcastle shirt is quite an achievement.

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Kluivert murdered us twice playing for Barca; he got a deserved ovation when he was subbed at SJP. I agree that he'd lost the passion when he signed for us and believe that the reaction he'd received from our crowd played a part in his signing.

 

As a player he was fantastic when in the mood. Consistency wasn't his strong point.

 

 

:scared:

 

 

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Oh this one brings back some memories man. I remember the day we signed him going mental. He was probably one of my favorite players outside of Shearer at the time.  I remember Sir Bobby saying how massive of a signing he was for our club, and that at the age we signed him at - and the potential he still had - could prove to be one of the most important signings we've ever had.  I was just in awe at the time, thinking - go on, our Big Al will retire and Bellers & PK would take on the mantle and propel us forward.  I mean the rest after that was history....

 

But his injuries and fitness always seemed to rub many the wrong way, I still can't believe at times we had this guy playing up front with Alan Shearer and Bellamy and we had that tit Souness managing the club. :anguish:

 

On his day, he was legendary, the things he could do with the ball...just wish we had gotten to see him play for us longer, and hungrier? I don't know. I'll always rate him as one of the bests I've ever seen, and I never look at his period with us other than we were fortunate to have him with us and wish it could have been better for him and us.

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Shares the exact same birth-date as van Nistelrooy. Remember playing FM and catching onto that. Pretty much an early / late bloomer + early / late career peak when you put them side by side.

 

Record goalscorer for Holland beating the likes of Cruyff and van Basten and still is. Surprising with the number of striking greats that Holland produces that 40 goals is the record.

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Shares the exact same birth-date as van Nistelrooy. Remember playing FM and catching onto that. Pretty much an early / late bloomer + early / late career peak when you put them side by side.

 

Record goalscorer for Holland beating the likes of Cruyff and van Basten and still is. Surprising with the number of striking greats that Holland produces that 40 goals is the record.

 

Huntelaar is closing in. A shame really. I mean, I like him but he's not fit to lace the boots of many others they've had.

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Shares the exact same birth-date as van Nistelrooy. Remember playing FM and catching onto that. Pretty much an early / late bloomer + early / late career peak when you put them side by side.

 

Record goalscorer for Holland beating the likes of Cruyff and van Basten and still is. Surprising with the number of striking greats that Holland produces that 40 goals is the record.

 

TBF van Basten retired early and Cruyff wasn't a striker. Surprised he is a ahead of RvN though.

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RvN started his international career late and had a long-term injury at PSV. That probably affected his international record. Also, I believe at that time the NL national team had a Ajax bias, rightfully or not, so Kluivert was pretty much first choice. Back then their regular starting XI was a Ajax core, players like van der Sar, the de Boer bros, Seedorf, Davids, Overmars, Kluivert.

 

Besides Huntelaar with 34 goals in 59 games, the next closest is van Persie with 31 in 71. RvP without doubt the better player and imo with a higher chance of breaking that record, but I'll so hate it if that twut becomes their leading goalscorer of all time. :anguish:

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Pre-2004, Kluivert was one of the best strikers in the world, no doubt about that. His spell here was rather forgettable mind and that has somewhat soured my opinion of the man (that and GHoeberX).

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Guest neesy111

Pre-2004, Kluivert was one of the best strikers in the world, no doubt about that. His spell here was rather forgettable mind and that has somewhat soured my opinion of the man (that and GHoeberX).

 

Tell me one player that came out with any credit from the 04/05 season?

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Pre-2004, Kluivert was one of the best strikers in the world, no doubt about that. His spell here was rather forgettable mind and that has somewhat soured my opinion of the man (that and GHoeberX).

 

Tell me one player that came out with any credit from the 04/05 season?

 

Laurent Robert, for his unique way of saying goodbye :cheesy:

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Apologies for truncating Kluivert's limelight (he wouldn't like that) somewhat preamaturely, but tonight I'm interested in centre-backs.

 

How does Tony Adams do against the test of time?

 

http://www.footballfancast.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/Tony-Adams-300x225.jpg

 

Which centre-backs around now are better than him, if any? I think there's a real shortage of top quality centre-backs atm, though perhaps the reputation/legend of centre-backs tend to grow as their careers end.

 

Much like a legend-to-be goalkeeper is capable of dropping a clanger and incurring laughter now, I think maybe CBs in the era they play might not be appreciated. I'm not sure who will be the next Maldini/Cannavaro/Hierro/Puyol/Desailly/Stam etc though.

 

Anyway, Adams...

 

I vaguely recall Shearer saying he disliked playing him the most, which is quite the compliment really. Really strong and physical but definitely not from the 'Jamie Carragher-bruiser' style of defenders either - he was very, very intelligent and decent technically too.

 

[/iMO]

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Guest ObiChrisKenobi

Not sure you could really compare him to centrebacks today, since forwards have changed, and centrebacks have adapted to that. Gone are the days of the Alan Shearer forwards - most of the top forwards now are under 6', very technical, agile, great balance, very mobile, drop between the lines and the channels. It'd be interesting to find clips of Adams against Zola, for example.

 

Perhaps the closest today, strangely, would be Per Mertesacker (who had the highest amount of accurate passes/forward passes out of all Premier League Centrebacks last season - Coloccini was 3rd).

 

HOWEVER... in his day he was fantastic, and personally I under-rated him at the time. He wasn't just a good defender, he was a great leader and organiser.

 

Certainly benefited from the arrival of Arsene Wenger too.

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