Who would you rather have?

Gecklund

Registered User
Jul 17, 2012
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California
Pretty sure you're the one using absolute terms.
And frankly it's laughable. I take Pepe over Ziyech as well.
I love Pepe and if he gets back to the level he was in France then he’s higher but he was pretty bad at times this season. Ziyech to me is the perfect complimentary piece and a great connector in the team. I rate that so highly. They’re hard for me to compare though because they are different types of players.
 

Stray Wasp

Registered User
May 5, 2009
4,561
1,503
South east London
Mine:

Michael Essien or Ngolo Kanté - prime
Dominant, also offensively.

Jaap Stam or Virgil van Dijk - prime
Way more intimidating, more rugged defensively. Virgil better ball skills.

João Felix or Jadon Sancho - potential
Felix has Ballon d’or potential. Though Sancho is currently way more impressive.

Nicolas Pepe or Hakim Ziyech - current
Coming of a better season. Pepe impressed me more during his final games. Will be interesting to see them both at the same level this season.

Andrew Robertson or Jordi Alba - current
Huge fan of Alba. Actually played great in the hot mess that was Barcelona this year. Robertson is better now however.

Pavol Nedved or Ryan Giggs - prime
I believe this is a battle of two somewhat overrated stars. Giggs way more likeable and more of a constant threat out there

Serge Gnabry or Ousmane Dembele - current
Dembele’s injuries are a concern. I believe Gnabry is smarter and more efficient - big game player, too.

Gabriël Batistuta or Kun Aguero - prime
Batigol is overrated. Yeah, I said it.

Philip Lahm or Dani Alves - prime
Career definitely Lahm. Alves had a higher peak.

Frank Ribery or Raheem Sterling - prime
Ribery was hit or miss a lot and kind of wasted his career by playing his prime seasons for Metz, Marseille and Galatasaray.

Harry Maguire or Nicolas Sule - current
If there was a stay-at-home-defenseman term in football, Sule is that type. Derian Hatcher mold. Maguire overrated.

Marco van Basten or Romario - prime
More complete. Romario was a sneaky volume scorer.

Oliver Kahn or Manuel Neuer - prime
Kahn somewhat overrated. Neuer more of a game decider.

Riqui Puig or Dani Olmo - potential
Puig more potential. Olmo saver choice.

Claudio Tafarel or Kepa Arrizabalaga - prime
Iew. Tafarel at least was a penalty shot stopper.

Ronaldinho vs Ronaldo (BRA) - Prime
Not many I take over Ronaldo.

Scholes vs Gerrard - Prime
Scholes a bit overrated.

Maradona vs Messi - Prime
I don’t rate Maradona much. Messi is the goat.

I take Kante over Essien, Van Dijk over Stam, Pepe over Ziyech.

Otherwise, I agree with the choices, if not always the sentiments.
 
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Stray Wasp

Registered User
May 5, 2009
4,561
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South east London
Mine:

Harry Maguire or Nicolas Sule - current
If there was a stay-at-home-defenseman term in football, Sule is that type. Derian Hatcher mold.

I don't hear it used so much nowadays, but in England the term was 'stopper'.

Often used admiringly of defenders in the line, 'He's an old-fashioned stopper centre-half.'

(Pedant's corner: it should be, 'old-fashioned, stopper centre-back', but it's unfair to expect the English to get their heads around a formation that sprang out of their own league, popularised by one of their compatriots).
 

AB13

Registered User
Apr 29, 2019
6,998
2,605
To be honest, Ziyech and Arsenal is a match made in heaven. Been saying it for years. He could’ve been the replacement for Ozil.

Totally agree, and Zyiech said he dreamt of playing for Arsenal too. Özil is his idol, and he plays beautiful football the Arsenal way. If we put in a bid, we would have had him.
 
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Wee Baby Seamus

Yo, Goober, where's the meat?
Mar 15, 2011
14,704
5,715
Halifax/Toronto
Used to make these at the main hockey forum over here, but barely watching hockey these days (am I the only one here?). Here’s a football edition.

Rules are simple. Bold the one you prefer. Elaborate if you like. Extend the list if you want.

Here are 15:

Michael Essien or Ngolo Kanté - prime

Jaap Stam or Virgil van Dijk - prime

João Felix or Jadon Sancho - potential

Nicolas Pepe or Hakim Ziyech - current

Andrew Robertson or Jordi Alba - current

Pavol Nedved or Ryan Giggs - prime

Serge Gnabry or Ousmane Dembele - current

Gabriël Batistuta or Kun Aguero - prime

Philip Lahm or Dani Alves - prime

Frank Ribery or Raheem Sterling - prime

Harry Maguire or Nicolas Sule - current

Marco van Basten or Romario - prime

Oliver Kahn or Manuel Neuer - prime

Riqui Puig or Dani Olmo - potential

Claudio Tafarel or Kepa Arrizabalaga - prime

Done

Tbh most of these were no-brainers. Only ones I struggled with were Felix or Sancho, Puig or Olmo, and Gnabry or Dembele.
 

S E P H

Cloud IX
Mar 5, 2010
30,725
16,245
Toruń, PL
Pepe may have a skill level comparable to Ziyech but Ziyech has a much better football brain. Pepe sometimes reads the game like Homer Simpson might read the game.
Absolutely not by any means at all is this true. Ziyech might be more consistent, but Pepe doesn't have this sever lack of stupidity compared to Ziyech at all. Pepe's biggest problem is that he tries to dribble through three players at a time, which is what probably made him successful in Ligue 1. In EPL there is less space and he'll have to adjust to the timing but he had some brilliant dribbling moments this season as well, just does it a bit too much during certain sequences.
 

Gecklund

Registered User
Jul 17, 2012
25,142
11,717
California
Absolutely not by any means at all is this true. Ziyech might be more consistent, but Pepe doesn't have this sever lack of stupidity compared to Ziyech at all. Pepe's biggest problem is that he tries to dribble through three players at a time, which is what probably made him successful in Ligue 1. In EPL there is less space and he'll have to adjust to the timing but he had some brilliant dribbling moments this season as well, just does it a bit too much during certain sequences.
“Pepe isn’t dumb he just does dumb things”
 

Evilo

Registered User
Mar 17, 2002
61,958
8,526
France
Nope his main problem is that at Arsenal, the lack of support is obvious. At Lille, he had to dribble one guy and he had passing lanes.
At Arsenal, he dribbles his guy and has nobody to pass to. So he goes on.
 

Live in the Now

Registered User
Dec 17, 2005
53,030
7,489
LA
Michael Essien or Ngolo Kanté - prime

Jaap Stam or Virgil van Dijk - prime

João Felix or Jadon Sancho - potential

Nicolas Pepe or Hakim Ziyech - current

Andrew Robertson or Jordi Alba - current

Pavol Nedved or Ryan Giggs - prime

Serge Gnabry or Ousmane Dembele - current

Gabriël Batistuta or Kun Aguero - prime

Philip Lahm or Dani Alves - prime

Frank Ribery or Raheem Sterling - prime

Harry Maguire or Nicolas Sule - current

Marco van Basten or Romario - prime

Oliver Kahn or Manuel Neuer - prime

Riqui Puig or Dani Olmo - potential

Claudio Tafarel or Kepa Arrizabalaga - prime
 

S E P H

Cloud IX
Mar 5, 2010
30,725
16,245
Toruń, PL
“Pepe isn’t dumb he just does dumb things”
You could interpret like that, but alas no. Him trying to dribble through three blokes is him resulting to the history that made him a 70 million Euro player in the first place. What I am getting at is how he played last season is how he probably played in Ligue 1 and I just mentioned in my post that in the EPL you have less space and more aggressive players than in France. It's an adjustment period which is clouded if he ever becomes better. Sure he can stagnate to the player he was last season and I would concluded that he's dumb, but we've seen it on multiple occasions that Ligue 1 players need a certain amount of time to get to an EPL style. Last season in certain matches he didn't look dumb at all with brilliant crosses and passes throughout, he showed a certain level of ability that a dumb player wouldn't have.

Nope his main problem is that at Arsenal, the lack of support is obvious. At Lille, he had to dribble one guy and he had passing lanes.
At Arsenal, he dribbles his guy and has nobody to pass to. So he goes on.
Not only that, but he had three managers with three different styles last season. Lets wait for some consistency in terms of tactics for Pepe.
 

Gecklund

Registered User
Jul 17, 2012
25,142
11,717
California
You could interpret like that, but alas no. Him trying to dribble through three blokes is him resulting to the history that made him a 70 million Euro player in the first place. What I am getting at is how he played last season is how he probably played in Ligue 1 and I just mentioned in my post that in the EPL you have less space and more aggressive players than in France. It's an adjustment period which is clouded if he ever becomes better. Sure he can stagnate to the player he was last season and I would concluded that he's dumb, but we've seen it on multiple occasions that Ligue 1 players need a certain amount of time to get to an EPL style. Last season in certain matches he didn't look dumb at all with brilliant crosses and passes throughout, he showed a certain level of ability that a dumb player wouldn't have.


Not only that, but he had three managers with three different styles last season. Lets wait for some consistency in terms of tactics for Pepe.
I agree about your main point that he’s not as dumb as that poster made him seem. I do think Ziyech has the better brain. I just found it funny the way you said it. :laugh:
 

les Habs

Registered User
Sep 21, 2005
22,236
3,964
Wisconsin
Michael Essien or Ngolo Kanté - prime: I think Essien is more well-rounded.

Jaap Stam or Virgil van Dijk - prime: Really close this one. I prefer van Dijk on the ball though. Still, very close.

João Felix or Jadon Sancho - potential: I'd say Felix has more potential left to fulfill, but I think Sancho looks the surer bet.

Nicolas Pepe or Hakim Ziyech - current: Two different players if you ask me. I'd definitely prefer Ziyech in my team at this stage.

Andrew Robertson or Jordi Alba - current: Current is obviously Robertson, but it should be considering the age difference.

Pavel Nedved or Ryan Giggs - prime: Really close for me. Giggs on longevity, but prime I'd say Nedved.

Serge Gnabry or Ousmane Dembele - current: Simply down to Dembele's injury record and nothing more.

Gabriël Batistuta or Kun Aguero - prime: Definitely Kun for me.

Philip Lahm or Dani Alves - prime: Surprised to see Alves get the consideration he is on this forum. Close considering it's based on prime, but in terms of career and longevity it's clearly Alves.

Frank Ribery or Raheem Sterling - prime: I think this one was is an easy choice.

Harry Maguire or Nicolas Sule - current: Another easy choice.

Marco van Basten or Romario - prime: Really tough choice here considering it's prime. I'm not as familiar with Van Basten, but I think he takes this.

Oliver Kahn or Manuel Neuer - prime: Easy choice for me. Better overall GK.

Riqui Puig or Dani Olmo - potential: Tough one because I could see Puig getting held back but managers afraid to put their faith in him.

Claudio Tafarel or Kepa Arrizabalaga - prime: Tafarel, but I think it's tough to rate Kepa here since we don't know if he's reached his prime.
 
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