Who was better Cantona or Bergkamp

[cgf]

Not gunna talk about their impacts or performances. But purely aesthetically speaking, Bergkamp was the forward I most enjoyed watching play in our lifetimes. He was just so ****ing silky smooth.

 

[Power Man]

Cantona has so much charisma tbh

 

[Adonis Creed]

The Dutch master....ooooozing classs.

 

[Power Man]

Bergkamp has such a punchable face

Great talent, but I could never stand him

 

[cgf]

Bergkamp has such a punchable face

Great talent, but I could never stand him

Well he is dutch, so no **** he has a punchable face, but we shouldn't hold this against him.

 

[Evilo]

Not gunna talk about their impacts or performances. But purely aesthetically speaking, Bergkamp was the forward I most enjoyed watching play in our lifetimes. He was just so ****ing silky smooth.

ZZ is smoother than Bergkamp smoothest dream though.

 

[YNWA14]

That touch though.

 

[Power Man]

Well he is dutch, so no **** he has a punchable face, but we shouldn't hold this against him.

I like Van Basten though

 

[East Coast Bias]

Bergkamp had the much longer career, which will obviously lead some people to vote in his favor. But at peak, it was Cantona for me. Cantona scored 96 goals in 220 games in England. Bergkamp had 120 in 423. Goals aren't everything, I know. But that's insane. He nearly scored as much in his 5 year run at United that Bergkamp did in 11 full years at Arsenal.

 

[YNWA14]

Bergkamp had the much longer career, which will obviously lead some people to vote in his favor. But at peak, it was Cantona for me. Cantona scored 96 goals in 220 games in England. Bergkamp had 120 in 423. Goals aren't everything, I know. But that's insane. He nearly scored as much in his 5 year run at United that Bergkamp did in 11 full years at Arsenal.

How is that even a fair comparison? Bergkamp played well past his prime. If Bergkamp stopped playing at 31 he would have had 78 in 194.

Cantona also had 69 in 220 in France (3 in 15 for Leeds) while Bergkamp had 122 in 237 for Ajax and 30 in 81 for Inter.

Not really a great way to compare them anyway given Cantona was an out and out striker while Bergkamp was not.

 

[Evilo]

Cantona was an out and out striker? Am I reading this? Man you're on a roll !

And indeed Cantona brought other things than just football qualities. He was the heart and soul of his teams, always the leader. In good and bad ways in fact

 

[Power Man]

Anf Cantona also has some insane Karate moves, another area where he is better than Bergkamp


And he is a poet "ze sigueules"

 

[Evilo]

"I love you. I don't know why, but I love you."

 

[YNWA14]

Cantona was an out and out striker? Am I reading this? Man you're on a roll !

And indeed Cantona brought other things than just football qualities. He was the heart and soul of his teams, always the leader. In good and bad ways in fact

Yes? He played a lot more at striker than Bergkamp ever did. That's not to say he didn't provide anything but goalscoring as much as just his positioning on the pitch. Bergkamp played deeper.

To be clear, I wasn't calling him a poacher.

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/...e-the-all-time-greatest-premier-league-player I like it.

 

[Evilo]

Cantona wasn't really a striker. He was playing shadow striker many times.

 

[East Coast Bias]

How is that even a fair comparison? Bergkamp played well past his prime. If Bergkamp stopped playing at 31 he would have had 78 in 194.

Cantona also had 69 in 220 in France (3 in 15 for Leeds) while Bergkamp had 122 in 237 for Ajax and 30 in 81 for Inter.

Not really a great way to compare them anyway given Cantona was an out and out striker while Bergkamp was not.

No he wasn't.

He played behind Andy Cole, Mark Hughes, or Solskjaer. He was much more a creator in United's offense, rather than a striker.

I was noting how good Cantona's 5 years were. He scored almost 100 goals, while missing 1/2 a season for karate kicks.

 

[YNWA14]

I was noting how good Cantona's 5 years were. He scored almost 100 goals, while missing 1/2 a season for karate kicks.

Yeah but you went on to compare it to the number of goals Bergkamp scored over his whole career at Arsenal which wasn't really a fair comparison given the timeframe is all.

At both of their peaks Bergkamp finished 2nd and 3rd in Ballon d'Or while Cantona only finished 3rd once (behind Bergkamp, btw).

I'm sure it would be pretty split if you held a poll as to who was the better player as the opinion seems to be here. I think they can both be appreciated without the need for comparison though.

 

[Evilo]

That's like Saying Suarez is not a BO finalist. His character played a huge part.

It's not really split when you see the posters posting here. Most are saying Cantona.

 

[cgf]

ZZ is smoother than Bergkamp smoothest dream though.

Thus the importance of the word forward in my post

But it's closer than this post makes it seem, Zizou was obviously an all time great in large part because of how silky he was, but Bergkamp's first touch was just such a beauty up front.

I like Van Basten though

At least you didn't say Koeman, then we definitely couldn't be friends.

 

[Power Man]

At least you didn't say Koeman, then we definitely couldn't be friends.

Is it because of his obscene gesture in Euro 88?

One West German players did the same thing when they met again in WC 90

 

[Deficient Mode]

Zidane may have been more elegant than Bergkamp, but Bergkamp's elegance was more practical and more productive.

Bergkamp was a far better passer than Cantona, who was certainly more than a technically gifted goal scorer. Both were great players.

 

[gary69]

Not his fault... Houiller... They had a solid team.

IIRC, France also had a very long unbeaten (winning?) run before the start of Euro'92 and they were held in high esteem and one of the favourites for sure.

Whilst surely a disappointment, their tournament wasn't that different from Netherlands and Germany, they just lost earlier to fairytale Danes than those other two.

Failing to qualify for '94 wasn't personally Cantona's fault per se, but of course it's a black spot for the team as a whole when Cantona was at the peak of his powers. The finals were great nevertheless, but it's not unreasonable to speculate, that the French could have matched what the Swedes or Italy did.

If not for his suspension, which saw his lose his place in the French squad as well, I'm sure Cantona would have been the impact player to squeeze them past the Czechs in 1996. Whilst Zidane was starting to be the great player he was later to be, he was clearly exhausted at the finals the longer the tournament went, having started his season in the Intertoto tournament in the early summer of 1995 and playing non-stop huge minutes for 12 months.

It's a game of small margins at the top, and if the ball has rolled just a bit different for France at Cantona's time in the NT, he most likely wouldn't be regarded that far off from Platini or Zidane.

Bergamp was a very good player for sure, but Cantona was a more influential and a go-to guy in his peak.

I have very little against Bergkamp, but I'd pick Cantona as better.

 

[les Habs]

Bergamp was a very good player for sure, but Cantona was a more influential and a go-to guy in his peak.

I'd say this. Cantona for me was more influential when it mattered. Bergkamp had the longevity though which shouldn't be discounted. For me it's really close. So close I can't decide. Cantona at peak for sure, but maybe Bergkamp for a career. Tough to discount the peak argument though. Fortunately I got to see both of them play quite a bit over the years, but still tough to decide.

On a side note I still have my Cantona VHS tape if anybody wants it. PM me offers!

Yes? He played a lot more at striker than Bergkamp ever did. That's not to say he didn't provide anything but goalscoring as much as just his positioning on the pitch. Bergkamp played deeper.

To be clear, I wasn't calling him a poacher.

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/...e-the-all-time-greatest-premier-league-player I like it.

Not calling you out, but I have to say that article is pretty poor.

 

[Stray Wasp]

I think if Manchester United had had Bergkamp instead of Cantona in 95-96, I'd be approaching the twentieth anniversary of Newcastle winning the league (and without having been sober during the intervening years). And maybe Ferguson being fired.

Bergkamp was a wonderfully talented and effective player, and even with Henry at his peak there were still games when it was the Dutchman's vision that proved decisive. But Bergkamp wasn't able to lead a team the way Cantona did for a sustained period of time. Amid the personal melodramas, Cantona had a degree of steel Bergkamp lacked.

 

[Ceremony]

Zidane is the best player I've ever seen

I think if Manchester United had had Bergkamp instead of Cantona in 95-96, I'd be approaching the twentieth anniversary of Newcastle winning the league (and without having been sober during the intervening years). And maybe Ferguson being fired.

Bergkamp was a wonderfully talented and effective player, and even with Henry at his peak there were still games when it was the Dutchman's vision that proved decisive. But Bergkamp wasn't able to lead a team the way Cantona did for a sustained period of time. Amid the personal melodramas, Cantona had a degree of steel Bergkamp lacked.

I'm not sure why I said Cantona earlier in this thread given everything I know of the two of them says I would hate him regardless of what team he played for, but you see this

and there's an aura about him that just seems to overpower everything he could ever have possibly come up against. Given my own perception of Newcastle as anything approaching successful exists in the form of two images of Kevin Keegan in varying states of futility (seen here and here, though you don't need to click on these, Stray Wasp) I can't really judge Cantona in that regard but he just seems like a transcendent figure that's persisted much more vividly in the time between their peaks ending and my own knowledge of English football beginning.

There's also a chance I was getting Bergkamp mixed up with Ljungberg and conflating him with the latter's time at Celtic, but I'd still pick Cantona. Lunacy or not.