FourFourTwo's 101 Best Footballers of the last 25 years

[Cassano]

Scholes was not better than Gerrard but we've had this discussion before. Carrying a team to a CL trophy outweighs a lot of things. Scholes was part of the Man United machine and obviously that clouds people's judgments in rating players properly. Just look at Rooney and Cantona for proof of that.

The list as a whole is awful.

Scholes was the one who pulled the strings on the man Utd machine.

 

[Suiteness]

Thierry Henry at 6 just jumps at me. He has no business being THAT high

 

[Cassano]

Thierry Henry at 6 just jumps at me. He has no business being THAT high

He's won everything possible and was arguably the best on the planet from 2002-06.

 

[Jussi]

Scholes was the one who pulled the strings on the man Utd machine.

This. especially after Keane was gone, he made that midfield gel. There's several videos on Youtube that are not about his goals and assists but rather his movement and ball movement. Scholes deserves all the praise that he's gotten from his old opponents.

 

[Pouchkine]

Shevchenko 3 great years at Kiev 1996-1999 including a CL 1/4 and CL 1/2 beating the likes of Barcelona RealMadrid Arsenal, then 7 great years at Milan 1999-2006 including a Ballon D'Or and multiple great run in the Champions League. That's mostly 10 big years in a row. A lot of goals for Ukraine as well during those years and a WC 1/4 final in 2006. Probably the idiots that made this list only watched the EPL.

 

[Il Mediano]

Almost always fans will choose the player from the club they support. Just the way it goes.

As a neutral, I've always had it as : 1) Gerrard, 2) Scholes , 3) Lamps

I'd still take Keane over them all, though.

 

[Jussi]

Almost always fans will choose the player from the club they support. Just the way it goes.

As a neutral, I've always had it as : 1) Gerrard, 2) Scholes , 3) Lamps

I'd still take Keane over them all, though.

I think Keane's leadership qualities would put him over them all. Despite being even more hotheaded and reckless with his tackles than Scholes was in his younger days. I mentioned in a previous thread how United fans used to joke that Scholes "made his obligatory rash tackle of the game/month/season" as years progressed.

 

[Albatros]

Scholes is definitely not the worst part of that list, but it tells more about the list than about Scholes. Just a weak effort overall, as if they gave up after the top 4 and just started throwing names in.

 

[Il Mediano]

I think Keane's leadership qualities would put him over them all. Despite being even more hotheaded and reckless with his tackles than Scholes was in his younger days. I mentioned in a previous thread how United fans used to joke that Scholes "made his obligatory rash tackle of the game/month/season" as years progressed.

Yeah, the guy was also just a dominant force. I've said here before, but he's really not accurately rated because : a) people don't like him , and b) people don't know how to asssess or value his impact/abilities. So we hear things like "leadership" and from people who don't know what they're talking about, he gets reduced to a "thug." The guy is one of the best defensive/tactical minds ever at his position. Whatever the club needed to win, he was capable of morphing his game into being that solution. He was also capable of orchastrating and elevating his teammates to a degree we've rarely seen.

Without going on huge rant, defensive (or minded) midfielders are horribly assessed/valued by fans and by the football world in general. They don't know what they're looking at.

We're now getting new statistics (such as "Packing") that making it a little more quantifiable, but the paradigm is still fully invested in what they've digested as football truths.

In an interview with the Daily Mail to coincide with the imminent release of his autobiography, Gerrard was asked to rank Keane, Frank Lampard, Patrick Vieira and Paul Scholes in order and he had little hesitation in naming the Irishman as his top pick.

"Roy Keane No 1. The rest? They’re all different," he stated.

'nuff said.

 

[Bures Elbow]

Rooney way too high. Look at some of the names he’s above. Ridiculous.

Edit- yes, in general English/Prem players are way overrated here.

And where is Rui Costa?

I was about to post this.

Manuel Rui Costa was poetry in motion...not on the list? Laughable.

Also Rooney ahead of Figo, Berkamp etc?

 

[Bures Elbow]

Also, I might get a lot of flack for this and I think Giggs is a marvelous player, but I always found him to be very overrated. And I don't particularly say this due to his absurd ranking on this list. I'll include Paul Scholes, too.

Agree with Giggs, not good enough to be that high. Disagree about Scholes, even Xavi praises him to no end.