At their Absolute Peak for a Must Win Game, who you Got?
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YNWA14
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Again, not sure how some of the answers are arrived at in this thread considering some of the evidence out there. Looking at a few and considering some of the big match performances:
Messi vs Iniesta
- Gerrard vs Lampard
- Kaka vs Rivaldo: Probably a tie for me, but I'd have to think of more Kaka examples. Either way Rivaldo not only carried the entire offense at times, but against Valencia he carried the entire team and season on his back to get Barça into the CL with what I think was the best hattrick I've ever seen.
- Suarez vs Ibrahimovic: Probably another tie, but I can think of more Suarez examples like beating up Madrid whilst Messi was injured.
- Schweinsteiger or Ballack: Ballack for me.
- Totti or del Piero: Hmmm, can't recall del Piero as much. I'd say Totti here.
- Tevez vs Higuian: Tevez easily.
- Cesc vs Iniesta: Iniesta very, very easily.
- Salah vs Hazard: Tough to say.
- Zlatan vs Lewandowski: Zlatan.
- Ronaldo vs Ronaldo: Cristiano who I think was better on the bigger stage.
- Alves vs Lahm: Dani Alves
- Xavi vs Pirlo: Xavi all day. Look at the Euro Final where he beat Pirlo badly.
Messi vs Iniesta
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Yeah I hate to remember this but Kaka crapped all over us in the 2007 CL Final. I would take him too.
I know of Kaka examples, but was thinking of more because Rivaldo had multiples.
The point of Messi and Iniesta was that Iniesta was a huge big match players. WC Final, CL Final, Copa Final... I'd give it to Messi but Iniesta absolutely is up there.
The point of Messi and Iniesta was that Iniesta was a huge big match players. WC Final, CL Final, Copa Final... I'd give it to Messi but Iniesta absolutely is up there.
Suiteness
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The Kaka/Rivaldo one is extremly close. Rivaldo's peak was 1999 where he won the Ballon d'or and also led Brazil to the Copa America. He was unstoppable at that time. I don't think there's a wrong answer here, it might just boil down to which player you personnally prefered.
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With his Euro performance and that in the Uefa Cup, did Nani really match that?
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I mean Nani’s entire 10/11 season. I can see an argument for either guys but I wouldn’t say it’s easily either way.
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Doped Euro 2008 Arshavin is one of the best players ever at any tournament. I would take that guy over a lot of the players mentioned here.
YNWA14
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Sneijder for me. His 2010 season is one of, if not the best season outside of Messi Ronaldo of the last 20 years.
Nani was definitely an underrated player, but not sure he's world class. Just a very good EPL player.
I didn't see these get answered...
Which of these underrated blokes would you take?
Yossi Benayoun vs Rafael van der Vaart
I didn't see these get answered...
Ronaldinho for me, he's one of the best footballers of all time whereas Neymar is just one of the best footballers of this generation of players. Both players are highly skilled 1v1 dribblers so I really liked the comparison.
Didn't see too much of either of them, but I think I would take Blanc. He was a CB that played like a BxB bloke lol, but he absolutely had the skill to do it!
Which of these underrated blokes would you take?
Yossi Benayoun vs Rafael van der Vaart
I would argue Modric is one of the best ever in big games. You got players who just don't seem to care about pressure, but not all of those are able to combine that with this heightened "focus" when it really matters. Modric could and can. I think Iniesta is another (as mentioned by others).
I loved that Sneijder, but for me that easily Modric.
I loved that Sneijder, but for me that easily Modric.
YNWA14
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Sneijder was nothing if not a big game player. I've never seen Modric carry a team in a big game the way Sneijder did at his peak, but they're kind of different players.
YNWA14
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It really is too bad that Sneijder was so lazy; he could have been an ATG with some real work ethic. One of the greatest travesties IMO is that he didn't win the Ballon d'Or that year but then they gave one to Modric who was less influential. Keep in mind, I'm not saying that he is or was better than Messi or Ronaldo, but he certainly deserved it that year...that he didn't even finish top 3 is an absolute farce.
I'm biased though; he's my all time favourite player.
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He’s not far from being an ATG as it is. His 2010 WC has always stood out to me as far as performances go. Just seemed to be a masterclass every single game.
Absolutely. It is never about one player only. There is a reason why Argentina haven't won it all even with Messi.
Sneijder was never alone either. I didn't expect him to be the star for that Inter team, so by all means credit to him, he was absolutely amazing, but that was a rock solid team. I would argue he had quite a lot more support than Modric ever had for Croatia (even if Croatia also had some excellent players like Rakitic and others who always seemed to raise their game playing for the national team).
