Your team of the decade?

[newbie original]

France scored 3 TOTAL goals against......South Korea, Switzerland and Togo. They really only played 1 good game..against Spain. They defended against an overhyped Brazil and did the same against an overhyped/lucky Portugal. Other than that game against Spain, I thought Zidane was average. And he didn't do too much after the first 10 or so minutes against Italy. And he did NOT even win the World Cup.

Sorry, but that's unacceptable.

Oh and between 2003 and 2006 he wasn't very effective at Real Madrid. He couldn't carry the team the way he did at France 98, with Juve and with Real up until '03. And one of his 2 Player of the Year awards was a joke....they only gave it to him because nobody else had a goo d season that year.

 

[yoyo913]

Oh excuse me, he didn't even WIN the world cup in 06.

How many times have your boys Lampard and Gerrard even been in an international final?

 

[cfdemarco]

You're entitled to your opinion, but I'm guessing you didn't watch a whole lot of Zidane's matches. As for the Materazzi incident, that's when I gained more respect for him. Materazzi is a disgusting player and he deserved worse.

Any other reasons why you find him dispicable/overrated?

In all honesty, I think I was in a bad mood when I made that post so I might have exaggerated it a little bit. However, I do believe that he is overrated. That is not to say that I don't think he is a great player, as he was. It's just that I see players like Ronaldinho, Kaka and Gerrard who can all do the same things that Zidane did, and when playing at their best are all capable of controlling a game like Zidane did, and I never hear the same kind of praise for those players as I do for Zidane, who people seem to want to revere as some kind of God.

Also, my main problem with him as a person stems from his actions in the WC06 Final. In my opinion what he did was simply unforgivable. Yes, I understand that Materazzi said some ugly things to him, but part of being a professional is being able to control your emotions and not let them get the best of you. I'm not so much bothered by the fact that he disgraced himself as I am bothered by the fact that he let his teammates down. That is what should bother him the most, and I think that in his mind he should feel like it was his fault that they lost.

I can certainly give praise where it is do, and despite my feelings towards him I still count his CL Final goal as one of the best I've ever seen. But if I ever saw him in a restaurant or something I would not want to shake his hand or get my picture taken with him.

 

[Sevillista]

Zidane(Jan 2000 to May 2003) does not belong on that team. The same can be said for Ronaldinho(Sept 2003 to June 2006)...Kaka lasted longer. I'd like to say the same about Ryan Giggs but there aren't too many left wingers out there so he'll have to do. His best days were in the 90s though.

The 2 CMs MUST be Lampard(2003 to present) and Gerrard(2004 to present).

Casillas
Cafu
Roberto Carlos
Maldini
Cannavaro
Gerrard - Lampard - INSERT RANDOM NAME HERE(Giggs?)
Kaka
-----------Henry

Putting aside the fact that you're leaving Zidane out for missing about half the decade (would you have left Pele out of the team of the 70's?), I think Xavi deserves to be there in front of Lampard and Gerrard. He has won more Leagues (3), Champions Leagues (2), and Euro Cups (1) in this decade than Lampard and Gerrard combined.

 

[Pogba4Now]

Zidane(Jan 2000 to May 2003) does not belong on that team. The same can be said for Ronaldinho(Sept 2003 to June 2006)...Kaka lasted longer. I'd like to say the same about Ryan Giggs but there aren't too many left wingers out there so he'll have to do. His best days were in the 90s though.

The 2 CMs MUST be Lampard(2003 to present) and Gerrard(2004 to present).

Casillas
Cafu
Roberto Carlos
Maldini
Cannavaro
Gerrard - Lampard - INSERT RANDOM NAME HERE(Giggs?)
Kaka
-----------Henry

Both Gerrard and Lampard have been playing consistently since 2000 but I think Zidane's presence has been more important to the teams he played for IMO. Both Gerrard and Lampard have not been able to drive their national teams so far whereas Zidane has been France's key player for years. Not to forget his presence for Madrid as well.

Btw your team has 10 players. Unless Roberto and Carlos are 2 separate names :P

 

[Mandieta6]

Xavi became world-class at the Euros, he was a squad player previously. He has been a top player since, but I remember talks of him being up for sale before 2008. Lamps and Gerrard have been great for their teams for much longer than he has.

Kaka, Ronaldinho and Gerrard are all praised a lot, depending on who you ask. Zidane is retired, being retired makes you level up in footballing terms.

You must be a real pussy if you think so low of Zidane because of the final. Sure, as a professional, role-model and teammate he should've contained himself, but you wouldn't give 2 ****s about it if he wasn't a footballer, hell, you wouldn't care if he was a lower-leaguer. Everyone's done something violent and hoped they could take it back, you can't demonise Zidane because he did something human. Hell, considering all the emotions and adrenaline evolved, I'm surprised people aren't getting 'zidaned' more often.

 

[Arnau]

Xavi were already top class but underrated, just like iniesta before the goal.

 

[Elber2k3]

To me Iniesta is still underrated, world's best player, not Messi or Ronaldo or whoever.

 

[Sevillista]

Xavi became world-class at the Euros, he was a squad player previously. He has been a top player since, but I remember talks of him being up for sale before 2008. Lamps and Gerrard have been great for their teams for much longer than he has.

Kaka, Ronaldinho and Gerrard are all praised a lot, depending on who you ask. Zidane is retired, being retired makes you level up in footballing terms.

You must be a real pussy if you think so low of Zidane because of the final. Sure, as a professional, role-model and teammate he should've contained himself, but you wouldn't give 2 ****s about it if he wasn't a footballer, hell, you wouldn't care if he was a lower-leaguer. Everyone's done something violent and hoped they could take it back, you can't demonise Zidane because he did something human. Hell, considering all the emotions and adrenaline evolved, I'm surprised people aren't getting 'zidaned' more often.

Xavi was already a mastermind in the Rijkaard years, but his style is not flashy and he didn't get much attention next to the likes of Ronaldinho. His biggest talent is his ability to find the open man and direct the flow of play, something that doesn't show up on the highlight reels. I think Xavi finally got his due at Euro2008 because Spain won playing possession soccer.

Lampard and Gerrard get more attention because they're in the EPL and because they score goals from long range. This has always bothered me because for every goal they score from outside the box, they launch 10 into the stands.

 

[theo]

no Zidane in the team=bias

and yeah, Xavi > Gerrard/Lampard. except for work rate, a few good passes and long range goals, they're 0 from my pov. no technique nor creativity. just a lot of hype. sure, they're good players but not as good as everyone makes them and they're definitely not part in this team unless it's EPL-only.

 

[Mandieta6]

Xavi was already a mastermind in the Rijkaard years, but his style is not flashy and he didn't get much attention next to the likes of Ronaldinho. His biggest talent is his ability to find the open man and direct the flow of play, something that doesn't show up on the highlight reels. I think Xavi finally got his due at Euro2008 because Spain won playing possession soccer.

Lampard and Gerrard get more attention because they're in the EPL and because they score goals from long range. This has always bothered me because for every goal they score from outside the box, they launch 10 into the stands.

I'm not saying Xavi is anything short of a fantastic player, and I've said it before that he or Iniesta should've won the awards Messi won.

But that's bull****. I don't care about Gerrard, but Lampard is as good a passer as Xavi. He can get an assist from anywhere on the field, but because Chelsea don't play possession footie, his great-passes-per-game ratio is less than Xavi's, but he has a killer eye for a pass. He's also a good finisher, has a great longshot, his workrate and teamwork is second to few, if any, and he can go all game. Those are his greatest assets, but he's a very well-rounded players. He's a decent header of the ball, and he knows how to defend, few playmakers contribute to every aspect of a team as much as he does. It's happened more than once that I've seen him do a great a tackle and thought he was Terry. He's not agile, but he can definitely move quick enough when Chelsea counter, and that's the thing about Frankie, he isn't a flashy player, he chooses when to do what, and he doesn't overdo it. How often, in the last year, has he actually shot the ball in the stands? You'd be surprised by how few.

No creativity or technique? That's bollocks. In order to be one of the top passers in the game (and I don't mean short-passing like Mascherano) you need to have great creativity and technique, otherwise your passes will go to the wrong people, and you won't pull them off. He's also constantly adding new elements to his game.

The only thing Lamps doesn't do is dribble, and he doesn't need to. I've seen him pull off some wicked feints, though. Lamps has no real weaknesses, and that's why he's the the Premiership player of the decade (well, not really, but that's why deserves it anyway).

 

[Sevillista]

I'm not saying Xavi is anything short of a fantastic player, and I've said it before that he or Iniesta should've won the awards Messi won.

But that's bull****. I don't care about Gerrard, but Lampard is as good a passer as Xavi. He can get an assist from anywhere on the field, but because Chelsea don't play possession footie, his great-passes-per-game ratio is less than Xavi's, but he has a killer eye for a pass. He's also a good finisher, has a great longshot, his workrate and teamwork is second to few, if any, and he can go all game. Those are his greatest assets, but he's a very well-rounded players. He's a decent header of the ball, and he knows how to defend, few playmakers contribute to every aspect of a team as much as he does. It's happened more than once that I've seen him do a great a tackle and thought he was Terry. He's not agile, but he can definitely move quick enough when Chelsea counter, and that's the thing about Frankie, he isn't a flashy player, he chooses when to do what, and he doesn't overdo it. How often, in the last year, has he actually shot the ball in the stands? You'd be surprised by how few.

No creativity or technique? That's bollocks. In order to be one of the top passers in the game (and I don't mean short-passing like Mascherano) you need to have great creativity and technique, otherwise your passes will go to the wrong people, and you won't pull them off. He's also constantly adding new elements to his game.

The only thing Lamps doesn't do is dribble, and he doesn't need to. I've seen him pull off some wicked feints, though. Lamps has no real weaknesses, and that's why he's the the Premiership player of the decade (well, not really, but that's why deserves it anyway).

I wasn't saying that they don't have any of those qualities, I was saying that they get attention because they're in the EPL and they score long range goals. If Xavi played in England's big-four and fired shots from outside the box, he would have been considered a world class player long ago.

Lampard is very good, Gerrard is overrated.

 

[Bobby]

Oh excuse me, he didn't even WIN the world cup in 06.

How many times have your boys Lampard and Gerrard even been in an international final?

Less than Michael Bradley and Rico Clark.

Fact!

 

[yoyo913]

Hurrr Hurr

 

[silvone]

Woooww! who said Zidane is overrated?
What Zidane did with the ball was poetry.Just like Ceaikovski's "Patetica".Can you touch it? Nope! but that doesn't mean it's not there.A piece of art.Ronaldinho,Rivaldo etc...good football players with good skills who did some great games during the years,But Zidane overrated ?! So wrong said....

 

[kp41]

Buffon
Cafu-Nesta-Puyol-Roberto Carlos
Gerrard-Xavi-Lampard
Messi-Ronaldo-Ronaldinho​

Subs:
van Der Sar
Alves
Ferdinand
Nedved
Zidane
Kaka
van Nistelrooy
kp40

Manager: Sir Alex/Pep

 

[kp41]

This Is My
---------------Shilton---------------
-------------------------------------
Cafu------Maldini-----Baresi-----R Carlos
-------------------------------------
--------------Gattuso ---------------
Messi-----------------------Charlton
-------------Zidane-----------------
---------------------Maradona------
---------------Baggio---------------

Honorable mentions:
Pelé
Cantona
Kaká
Beckenbauer
Nesta
Yashin

decade = 10 years, even kp knows that.

 

[cmc211]

decade = 10 years, even kp knows that.

Ugh.

 

[newbie original]

..How many times have your boys Lampard and Gerrard even been in an international final?

In 2003, he won the Spanish Super Cup and lost in the 2004 Copa del Rey final. AFter that(i,e. for the remainder of the decade in question), he won nothing.

FACT: --> Team trophies won from 2000-2009:
Zidane = 6 (ZERO AFTER 2003)
* La Liga: 2002-03
* Spanish Super Cup: 2001, 2003
* UEFA Champions League: 2001-02
* European Super Cup: 2002
* Intercontinental Cup: 2002
* EURO 2000

Gerrard = 10
* FA Cup (2): 2000–01, 2005–06
* League Cup (2): 2000–01, 2002–03
* FA Community Shield (2): 2001–02, 2006–07
* UEFA Champions League (1): 2004–05
* UEFA Cup (1): 2000–01
* UEFA Super Cup (2): 2001–02, 2005–06

Lampard = 8
* Premier League (2): 2004-05, 2005-06
* FA Cup (2): 2007, 2009
* League Cup (2): 2005, 2007
* FA Community Shield (2): 2005, 2009

Both Lampard and Gerrard were driving THE driving force behind their club teams during the 2000s...in particular from 2003 onwards. The same can't be said about Zinedine Zinedine.

 

[Theodorakis]

Gerrard and Lampard are both very talented and very good players.. Zinedine Zidane is a legend.. you cant judge a player by the cups or the leagues he's won.. with all the aesthetics and intelligence, Zidane is a better overall player for me..