These are some of mine:

  1. 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.

  2. Courtois should have been in the top 3 of the ballon D’or ranking in 2022.

  3. 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.

  4. Modric and Kroos have far bigger careers with Madrid than Zidane did.

  5. 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.

  6. 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)

  7. Pique was a better defender than Puyol. The latter was prone to mistakes and making rash decisions, while Pique was far more intelligent.

  8. 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.

  9. Gerrard dived for the penalty which led to Liverpool’s equalizer in 2005 UCL final.

  10. Carvalho is the most underrated defender in his generation. He was basically Mourinho’s wingman.

  11. If Lampard played in this age, with those same stats, he’d be recognized as the best amongst the three.

What are yours?

  • freebaconcheesburgerBEnglish
    1·
    1 year ago
    1. I don’t think what made Ramos great was only “goalscoring”. He is one of the most tactically versatile and technically excellent footballers of this century. How many times have you seen a centerback taking penalties, freekicks, crossing, heading the ball, giving long balls to strikers and playing short passes, even dribbling, as good as Ramos? How many times have you seen a player being world class at both CB and RB and even moving to the midfield when needed (UCL semis 2015)? And after all these, there are also his leadership qualities and being “lucky” enough to play for the most succesful NT and club of the last years.
    2. Totally agreed. Not only because of the UCL, but he had 10/10 performances every snigle week in La Liga.
    3. I see your point, but I think Xavi excelled under certain circumstances. Remove both of them from Spain/Barca and Iniesta would have a much better career.
    4. Totally agreed.
    5. Many players before the internet era based off their legacy on huge moments and highlights. Ronaldo Nazario did absolutely nothing worth mentioning for 11 months of 2002 (he didn’t even play before May), but still won the Ballon d’Or because of his WC performances.
    6. Agreed.
    7. On his prime, maybe. But Pique spent way too many years doing dumb stuff, especially on big games.
    8. Agreed. Suarez is highly overrated because he used to score tons of goals against below average teams, both for Liverpool and Barca. His UCL overall record is atrocious. 15/31 EPL goals in 2013/14 were against teams placed 17th-20th.
    9. I don’t remember that.
    10. There were so many great defenders around that era, but I agree that Carvalho was great for every team he played.
    11. Agreed. People nowadays think everything is about stats.