These are some of mine:
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Pepe was actually a better defender than Ramos, but Ramos’ knack for important goals (not a defender’s job) and what he won with Spain made him the better player in people’s eyes.
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Courtois should have been in the top 3 of the ballon D’or ranking in 2022.
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Xavi was a more complete midfielder than Iniesta. He pressed better, controlled games better, gave better weighted passes, and was also a good dribbler when pressed (Iniesta was the better dribbler overall). I’d say he was the better one.
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Modric and Kroos have far bigger careers with Madrid than Zidane did.
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Zidane and Ronaldinho were great players but were sometimes frustrating to watch and ineffective even in their primes. Their convoluted style of doing simple things made them highlight champions.
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Luis Garcia generally played the biggest role in taking Liverpool to the UCL final in 2005, but his name is hardly mentioned when that UCL win is mentioned (Gerrard, the Scouse, vs Garcia, the foreigner)
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Pique was a better defender than Puyol. The latter was prone to mistakes and making rash decisions, while Pique was far more intelligent.
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Eto’o had a bigger impact in Barca than Suarez did. The former came in 2004 when Barca hadn’t won the league since ‘99. He became the league top scorer for two straight seasons as Barca won the league, then the league and UCL double. He also won the treble in 2008/09. Suarez, on the other hand, came when Barca were already dominant, but just having a bad spell.
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Gerrard dived for the penalty which led to Liverpool’s equalizer in 2005 UCL final.
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Carvalho is the most underrated defender in his generation. He was basically Mourinho’s wingman.
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If Lampard played in this age, with those same stats, he’d be recognized as the best amongst the three.
What are yours?
Countinho wouldn’t have necessarily avoided a mid-peak flop had he stayed at Liverpool. He’s a world class player victim to transitional periods at Barcelona and Bayern, sure. But his role at Liverpool was only perfect for that time only and the eventual evolution of Klopp’s game would have exposed the same defending weaknesses he couldn’t improve upon in Spain. The man is a playmaker, but lacks versatility and actually thrives in very confined roles.
Teams like Porto and Benfica absolutely Could shell out the money and compete for more international domination but choose not to because they figured that operating in the green is sometimes more important than winning - selling their players for huge profits is the priority and they’re happy with that
Had Pep used Ibra the way that Ibra wanted to play, he would have still won the UCL.
R9 peaked at Barcelona (idk if “unpopular” but I feel like a lot of revisionism sees R9 being the best version of himself at Madrid and not before)
Beckham deserves far more recognition as a player than he actually gets. People - sometimes rightfully so - remember him as a caricature of a hot, celebrity footballer for than as an actual player and that should change.
Madrid could have done without some mediocre performances should they’ve used Fernando Gago more. The dude had a great football IQ and was the sort of playmaker that could’ve exposed weaknesses in Pep’s Barcelona sooner than later.
Van Gaal is, overall, a highly overrated coach who has overstayed his welcome. His refusal to adapt to changes in the game and player profiles goes beyond the stubbornness necessary to successfully play total footy.
you couldn’t be more wrong about number 2 Jesus christ.
portuguese clubs operate on a loss and have huge debts to pay, operational costs, academy infrastructure to invest in and most importantly, since they do not have the same money other clubs haver from TV rights or sponsorships, they NEED - not choose - to sell their best players for lots of money or else they do not stay competitive and go to financial hell. In addition to all that, taxes are not very friendly as every club needs to pay approximately 40/50% for every wage they pay.
you clearly do not know what you’re talking about sorry.