Re: The unpopular opinion thread

[M99]

Rivera>>>>Baggio, Totti

Cristiano from 2006-14 is one of the greatest players of all time.

Also agree with zizzle.

Shevchenko was as good as Henry if not better.

Dida was a great goalkeeper.

[McAgger]

Pjanic is world class and the best CM in the world at the moment.

Batshuayi > Martial

[FennecFox7]

I'll say this and I'll say it again. The way R9 moved was unnatural. That's when you have to question how strictly football tests for PED's and how far you can go to treat a condition.

http://grg51.typepad.com/steroid_nation/2008/02/reports-of-socc.html

This suggests that he was on Test Suspension or something that clears out within days. I hope I don't hurt anyone's feelings or whatever.

Messi gets alot of shit for that HGH crap but that probably didn't help or hurt him, he would still be a beast. The HGH use just balanced out his hormone levels. IMO you need to take a shitton to even see long term effects and you need to supplement it with something else.

Also, CR is massively underrated on this forum, and anything and absolutely everything he does when it comes to technique and skill is forgotten because he is ALWAYS subconsciously compared to messi, who is way better.

Sure he's flopped against big teams, but he's also played well against many big teams. You can't be perfect.

This season he is trash however. Needs to take 3 weeks off and patch up his tendonitis and he will be much better.

[Cruijf]

This Barca is overrated and only won the treble due to weak competition.

Bale isn't fit to be a Real Madrid ball boy

Coutinho is overrated because he's Brazilian and scored a few long shots

Balotelli is underrated and can reach the top level

[futbol]

This Barca is overrated and only won the treble due to weak competition.

Ahh, thanks for reminding me, I almost forgot.

Enrique's Barca is stronger than Pep's Barca.

This will sooner rather than later be accepted as a fact anyway, at the latest in about 6 months after Barca win the Champions League back-to-back but I'll get it out now and not in hindsight.

Tactically a lot more diverse. A little less composed on the ball and when put under pressure (but still better than any other team in the world right now) but infinitely more dangerous on the counterattack which makes it a worthwhile tradeoff. I have wittnessed Diego Simeone barking orders at his players to play a short corner because he was scared to run into a counterattack. Let that sink in. Corners are one of Atletico's biggest strengths and they are scared to get counterattacked from it against Barca. Some proper wingplay now instead of the Eto'o/Villa/Pedro acting as a decoy on the wing nonsense. No more stubborn head against the wall tiki-taka through the middle at all cost football. No more ridiculous highline to get wrecked by any half decent counterattacking side (that Arshavin goal in 2011 annoys me even 5 years later ). No more choking in CL away knockout games only to put out the flames at home. No more Messi slaloming through the entire Madrid team through a Busquets 1 yard "assist" at the halfway line type of CL semi-final victory so that Rinus Pepels' superior tactics can be praised. 3 individual match winners instead of 1. A much superior goalkeeper than Victor Clowndes.

Only advantage Pep's Barca had was the novelty of it all in 2008 and weak competition (DEM good old times when Madrid came to Camp Nou with Drenthe and Metzelder and Diarra doning the #10 shirt and 70 year old Raul leading the line ).

A shame Pep has become like a cult leader nowadays and his fanboys aren't even able to see through his fraudulent mascarade.

[Andrew]

This forum used to be about football but now it's all about "mine is bigger than yours" kind of debates.

[Art Morte]

The Pep's vs Enrique's Barcelona is certainly an interesting debate and in some years' time should be intriguing to see which one has gone down in history as the better one. Pep's Barcelona is certainly enjoying some romantic appreciation in this moment in time. If Pep fails in England, I wonder is that going to affect his Barcelona-reputation in any way

Coutinho is overrated because he's Brazilian and scored a few long shots

Balotelli is underrated and can reach the top level

I'm not sure just how highly is Coutinho rated anyway. I haven't seen that much talk about him anywhere. And I would say that apart from scoring a few superb goals this season, he's been a bit disappointing. Often leaves a feeling that he could do more with his ability if he just tried a bit harder and played a bit smarter.

I sort of agree about Balotelli, I think he's underrated right now. I'm hoping Klopp would give him a second chance at Liverpool. But the thing is, I'm not sure playing striker is Balotelli's best position and as long as managers keep playing him like one, he won't become as good a player as he could - and now time is starting to be against him, too.

[Art Morte]

This forum used to be about football but now it's all about "mine is bigger than yours" kind of debates.

This is the unpopular opinions thread....

[titosantill]

totti was better than del piero...he put del piero on the bench when he came on the scene. won't put him over the divine ponytail but injuries really hurt baggio. pires was more skillful than nedved, not better though. nedved was like a central midfielder playing the wing. pires could give you more on offense than nedved could, but to win i'd go with nedved. he'd give you what he can on offense and help out on the defensive end....pires isn't shown enough love for the silky football he played

romario or r9, lol off the field, these two would be a headache. romario wanting to leave games at halftime to head back to rio, r9 and his wedding that never existed; romario's largely ignored cos of the generation thing...i dunno i think i'll go with romario. but i can get up another day and prefer r9

zidane over iniesta. and i won't mind 2008 lassana diarra playing in our midfield today.....i do have an unpopular opinion btw, steve mcmanaman is the best brit to have played at madrid (since he arrived till now)....not based on titles, or transfer fees, goals scored or brand name. just from what i saw on the pitch.

[Sri]

This forum used to be about football but now it's all about "mine is bigger than yours" kind of debates.

This is the unpopular opinions thread....

Andrew's opinion could be unpopular

[Art Morte]

Damn, I think got served.

[Bankz]

Trying to imagine peps barca defence vs MSN..

[Bankz]

Btw as for r9 and romario, well, I and pretty much most people I've discussed with would take r9 anyday coupled with the fact that he was clearly more talented than romario too but my God, is romario really underrated by people. Infact where it not for r9 I would even prefer romario to van basten (my opinion). Romario was a monster especially in his time with psv and barca.

Like titto said, I could even wake up tomorrow and still decide to go with romario. I think majority of the love r9 receives is that his game was all about total artistry and talent and again for the time he dominated 16 in brazil, and from 17 in europe - 22 (pre injury 94 - 98), it all was just downright footballing fantasy. Infact had he won the world cup in 98, I wonder if he wouldn't have been called the goat.

While romario was less aeathetically pleasing but was a better killer for me. Both where the ultimate big game players. Although it didn't help that ronaldo dominated romario at copa america 97 and confederations cup 97, infact, I think he even unanonymously won the copa MVP that year or something

And again, baggio is better than totti lol. What are people thinking?

[Great Leader Sprucenuce]

This forum used to be about football but now it's all about "mine is bigger than yours" kind of debates.

Yep.

[LeBéninois]

1- There are too many individual awards in football, it's almost a contest . e.g BBC African of the year vs CAF African of the year

2- The period from August to December count twice when it comes to individual award. Ballon d'or ( mainly ) should be based on August-July period

[Robespierre]

Romario was a superior striker than R9 who wasn't anything special anymore by the age of 23 after his knees got wrecked but the heavy commercialization of football and the whole Florentino Perez "Galactico" thing only started around the millennium which is why R9's 5 yard tap-ins and goalkeeper blunder goals served on a platter for him by Rivaldo and Ronaldinho in the lowest quality World Cup of all time is remembered fondly but Romario scoring or creating 8 of 11 Brazil goals in 94 with some world class actions in what was essentially, to this date, the 2nd best World Cup performance of all time after Maradona, is largely forgotten.

imo prime Ronaldo ( '96-'99 ) was the best player ever. The R9 since 2000 not , he was just the best CF in the world

[BarrileteCosmico]

This Barca is overrated and only won the treble due to weak competition.

Bale isn't fit to be a Real Madrid ball boy

Coutinho is overrated because he's Brazilian and scored a few long shots

Balotelli is underrated and can reach the top level

You realize that in order to win a treble you must beat every team out there (or teams that have beat their "betters")? So unless you're arguing that the level of football as a whole is incredibly low, how could this be?

[Cruijf]

Yes, partly. The premier league and Serie A are both very low quality right now and the big teams in them are rebuilding. That leaves only two competitors for Barca, and luckily they both fell apart at just the right time. Bayern due to injuries and Real due to fatigue. Had Bayern and Real been at full strength at the business end of the season I doubt Barca would've won the treble.

[Hapless_Hans]

Serie A will never overtake the PL in the UEFA 5 year ranking.

They'll come close next year, and then fade back again.

Watching Roma Milan has convinced me of this.

[S]

Serie A will never overtake the PL in the UEFA 5 year ranking.

They'll come close next year, and then fade back again.

Watching Roma Milan has convinced me of this.

Captain obvious comment if there was ever one...

This is actually a pretty popular opinion sweety so you need to think of something better.

Like for example ,
Ramsey wouldn't get into Juventus midfield.He's bench material at best.

Or

Koscielny being considered a quality defender is testament to the severe drop in quality in modern day defending.

Etc etc

[Hapless_Hans]

The opinion I expressed is clearly pretty unpopular with you, sweetie.

[S]

The opinion I expressed is clearly pretty unpopular with you, sweetie.

It's not true though

I have always been pretty skeptical about it

[zizzle]

R9 during his short lived prime was the best player in history. His comeback season with Inter before the world cup he was also unreal, scoring 7 amazing goals in 10 appearances. After the world cup he struggled with injuries/weight problems and you all know what happened. Id take prime R9 over Messi anytime although to me Messi is the greatest of all time career wise (on club level at least)

Romario in the penalty box was legendary, but he's no better than prime R9. Career wise it's a different story, but post injury Ronaldo was no scrub either, so you can make a case for either of them

[Robespierre]

in '97-'98 he was R10 tbh . he was an unreal thing

[Freeza]

Zidane is the best manager in the world at the moment.

Hazard would make Madrid better if he replaced Ronaldo.

Sergio Ramos is a mediocre player who is defended by people looking at stats.

[titosantill]

@zizzle, i don't know if his comeback was all that. yeah he scored, but i remember him and vieri missing a bunch of chances against (i can't remember if it was lazio or lecce) to see juve steal that title. also even when he came back, nobody really saw him as a threat in the upcoming mundial...brazil weren't at all favorites, until the world cup started and him and rivaldo started wreaking havoc

i agree with @LeBéninois, i'm not a fan of individual awards, but if you must have them, hand them out just after the leagues cup or ucl tournaments have ended. that's crunch time in a season, not january. sometimes the attention span of fans and pundits becomes so short....you wait so long to give out an award then statistics, and hindsight theories take over, rather than what we witnessed in real time

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