This has been bugging me for years now, ever since I started posting on ESPN soccernet forums approximately 5 years ago. It has been something that trends continuously, that supporters seem to think all their team's past and present players are the best in the world. This is just plain delusional.

If a thread is proposed to discuss who the best player in a particular position may be, club supporters always jump to promote their own players without thinking rationally. It is quite a bit unoriginal.

Lets take the hypothetical case of CM's for instance. Chelsea fans will over-hype Lampard, Liverpool fans Gerrard, Manchester fans Scholes, Bayern fans Bastian etc... etc...

If you are the type of person, that out of pure pigheadedness, you claim Van Persie is the greatest striker of all time just because you are an Arsenal fan /or/ Ozil is the best CAM of his youthful generation just because you support Real Madrid.. FFS be a little more original then that.. and if you feel it is true then you should have no problem backing up the argument.



What players (past or present) do you feel supporters over-hype?

Kahn is a good one to start with

Especially on these forums.....

A fan without bias, is not a fan.

I get where you're coming from. It's the same here.

Um... Kahn overhyped? Okay, to back up my claim that he's an all-time great, I'll quote his honours from Wikipedia:

Bayern Munich
Bundesliga (: 1997, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2008
German Cup (6): 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2008
German League Cup (6): 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2004, 2007
UEFA Cup (1): 1996
UEFA Champions League (1): 2001
Intercontinental Cup (1): 2001

International
UEFA European Championship: 1996
FIFA Confederations Cup Third Place: 2005
FIFA World Cup Second Place: 2002
FIFA World Cup Third Place: 2006

Individual:
UEFA Champions League Man of the Match: 2001
UEFA Fair-Play Award: 2001
German Footballer of the Year: 2000, 2001
Runner Up FIFA World Player of the Year: 2002
European Footballer of the Year Bronze Ball: 2001, 2002
IFFHS World's Best Goalkeeper: 1999, 2001, 2002
UEFA Club Football Awards – Best Goalkeeper: 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002
Best European Goalkeeper: 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002
Best Bundesliga Keeper: 1994, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002
FIFA World Cup Golden Ball: 2002
Yashin Award: 2002
FIFA World Cup awards: All-Star Team 2002
FIFA 100

So I wouldn't say you can call him overhyped.

This thread is similar to most overrated player on the forums thread.

Since the Madrid fanbase is huge here.I personally find Madrid players being overrated a hell lot.

Three players in particular.Oezil,Marcelo and Benzema.

We know it's Yashin.

RVP is the funniest one for me. My friend told me the other day that he thinks that RVP is one of the best strikers in the world and that he is and has always been better than Eto'o. Delusion or what?

Lord Hispano wrote:We know it's Yashin.

I think I never put in question that Lev Yashin was absolutely amazing. ^^

rwo power wrote:Um... Kahn overhyped? Okay, to back up my claim that he's an all-time great, I'll quote his honours from Wikipedia:

Bayern Munich
Bundesliga (: 1997, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2008
German Cup (6): 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2008
German League Cup (6): 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2004, 2007
UEFA Cup (1): 1996
UEFA Champions League (1): 2001
Intercontinental Cup (1): 2001

International
UEFA European Championship: 1996
FIFA Confederations Cup Third Place: 2005
FIFA World Cup Second Place: 2002
FIFA World Cup Third Place: 2006

Individual:
UEFA Champions League Man of the Match: 2001
UEFA Fair-Play Award: 2001
German Footballer of the Year: 2000, 2001
Runner Up FIFA World Player of the Year: 2002
European Footballer of the Year Bronze Ball: 2001, 2002
IFFHS World's Best Goalkeeper: 1999, 2001, 2002
UEFA Club Football Awards – Best Goalkeeper: 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002
Best European Goalkeeper: 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002
Best Bundesliga Keeper: 1994, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002
FIFA World Cup Golden Ball: 2002
Yashin Award: 2002
FIFA World Cup awards: All-Star Team 2002
FIFA 100

So I wouldn't say you can call him overhyped.

"Best ever"

"Better than Casillas, Peter S and Buffon"

etc etc etc and on and on and on

I never said he wasn't a great keeper but people think he never made a mistake ever and are alot of people obviously never watched him play

For my mind not even in the best 10 keepers of all time, not even the best German keeper of all time

Khan was better than Buffon IMO.

I would give my left testicle to have prime Kahn between the Argentine posts

good thing that can't happen!

Crimson wrote:For my mind not even in the best 10 keepers of all time, not even the best German keeper of all time

Well, I would put him in the Top 10. Best German keeper - well Sepp Maier was just great, too. ^^ Too bad he got injured in that accident and never recovered.

FYI......

I hype Newcastle players into the stratosphere because no one else does

Also i see Alfred is also right handed

Surag.Blueguy wrote:This thread is similar to most overrated player on the forums thread.

Since the Madrid fanbase is huge here.I personally find Madrid players being overrated a hell lot.

Three players in particular.Oezil,Marcelo and Benzema.

Benzema!!! For me the most overrated player in the world, just more so than RVP and the majority of the England squad. I don't see why he is rated so highly, sure he scores a fair few goals but with the amount of chances he has he should score so many more. He broke into a Lyon team that was destroying Ligue 1 and if you play as a striker for the best team in the league you are going to score goals. (See Hernandez at United, on the bench in Mexico and is now scoring alot in the 2nd best league in the word.) Then he moves to Madrid where he has amazing players like Ozil, Ronaldo and Di Maria making chance after chance for him and he wastes about 5 clear cut chances before he puts one in. He also only seems to score simple finishes or tap ins, when Real are in a tight game and need that little bit of magic to get a goal he is rarely, if ever, the one to step up and make something happen.

Pagliuca & Zenga > Khan & Maier anyway.

rwo power wrote:

Crimson wrote:For my mind not even in the best 10 keepers of all time, not even the best German keeper of all time

Well, I would put him in the Top 10. Best German keeper - well Sepp Maier was just great, too. ^^ Too bad he got injured in that accident and never recovered.

Over who? imo he is not any better than these keepers

Zoff
Yashin
Zamora
Buffon
Casillas
Maier
Banks
Tomaszewski
Zubizarreta
Schmeichel
VDS
Combi
Jennings

Thats 13 keepers better than Kahn without even thinking....

Pagliuca and Zenga? Oh please, if you go for great old Italians, then do not forget Dino Zoff!

Dont flame me Valencia fans but Banega in this forum is overrated.He is a very very good player but World class? i dont think so.

and not to mention Dani Alves although its a view of just one fan.

Had to hear things like Zanetti isnt an elite level fullback and Alves was supposedly better than Zambrotta(who was arguably the best RB in the world that year) despite him winning the World cup that year.

The Madrid fanboys are the main culprits of this.

Varane - "Is he already World Class"?
Ramos - Best RB in the World
Marcelo- Top 3 dribbler in the World/Best left back in the World.
Ozil - Best AM in the World. Better than Cesc, Iniesta, Silva, Xavi etc
Casillas - GGOAT
Pepe - Best CB in the World
Alonso - Good player at Liverpool, World Class at Madrid
Higuain - Best finisher in the World

Copa del Ray >>> La Liga + CL

etc etc

rwo power wrote:Pagliuca and Zenga? Oh please, if you go for great old Italians, then do not forget Dino Zoff!

No no. I didn't put Zoff cause IMO he's the only one who challenges Yashin for NO.1 spot.

Surag.Blueguy wrote:This thread is similar to most overrated player on the forums thread.

Since the Madrid fanbase is huge here.I personally find Madrid players being overrated a hell lot.

Three players in particular.Oezil,Marcelo and Benzema.

MARCELO!?!?!?!

Son, look at this goal then say it

Crimson wrote:

rwo power wrote:

Crimson wrote:For my mind not even in the best 10 keepers of all time, not even the best German keeper of all time

Well, I would put him in the Top 10. Best German keeper - well Sepp Maier was just great, too. ^^ Too bad he got injured in that accident and never recovered.

Over who? imo he is not any better than these keepers

Zoff
Yashin
Zamora
Buffon
Casillas
Maier
Banks
Tomaszewski
Zubizarreta
Schmeichel
VDS
Combi
Jennings

Thats 13 keepers better than Kahn without even thinking....

Fantastic players, in fact VDS has been my favorite keeper of the last 5 years, but I don't think I would put them up in an all time great list.

Crimson wrote:Over who? imo he is not any better than these keepers
Zoff
Yashin
Zamora
Buffon
Casillas
Maier
Banks
Tomaszewski
Zubizarreta
Schmeichel
VDS
Combi
Jennings

Thats 13 keepers better than Kahn without even thinking....

Well, I don't think most of them are *better*, but mainly because it is difficult to 100% certainly rank them anyway. I usually prefer to see many of the pretty equally ranked, and if you follow what I post, you might have noticed that I try not to get involved in any hard rankings as they are always subjective anyway, unless you find statistical data, and even there you can make an argument that a lot of things can't be measured statistically. I'll just say, I would see him at least in the Top10, and I will not say whom I'll rank along as that always upsets other people (I think I even have posted something with almost the same wording not too long ago).