Canāt believe Ancellotti is only 63.
Always had him down as an old man going back to his AC Milan days from 2003 onwards.
I think Iād rate Inzaghi above anybody in column 2. An absolute hatcher but pure clutch. And Iād rate Drogba higher again. Drogba to me was the best striker in world football when he was on it, when he was in the mood he was a level above.
There were a lot of āeliteā strikers in the 2000s who to me look slightly less than elite when compared to their successors in the 2010s.
Raul was āeliteā, but there was something about him where you just knew he had an element of flat track bully, or was of dubious character. Same with Henry and van Nistelrooy. Etoāo wasnāt a flat track bully, he was clutch, but Iām not sure Iād have him down as real elite. Like I think Henrik Larsson was a better player. Shevchenko was elite but flopped in England.
Michael Owen was top tier for a short while and then wasnāt.
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The 1992 Ac Milan Kit that is now part and parcel of Raves in College Court was a nicer one. cc @Aertel220
I realised Santa Clause wasnāt real when I requested the 2002/03 AC Milan away kit expecting a white version - in the end I got a red one which I think was the 3rd choice strip and while it was in fact an absolute beauty, since it wasnāt what I was expecting, it could only lead me to the conclusion that Santa wasnāt magic and couldnāt read my mind.
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Played in the '86 World Cup
He was a mainstay of the 1990 Italy team.
A couple of beautiful goals by Carlo Ancelotti here. The first is from Milan v Juventus in Serie A in the 1990/91 season. The second in the 5-0 demolition of Real Madrid in the 1989 European Cup semi-final second leg.
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They ended up winning the Champions League in that white kit at Old Trafford later that season. Even as a child you were a shrewd judge of what was coming down the tracks.
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I was always miles ahead of my age. Well I was inspired really by an older cousin who was wearing the White Away one when he came to visit in October 2002 - the day Wayne Rooney scored the screamer against Arsenal incidentally.
I always knew though when to jump aboard a bandwagon and when to steer clear.
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Drogba was unreal, agreed.
Inzaghi was certainly a big-game player but I donāt think I could possibly rate him as truly elite because of the limitations to his all-round game. I loved watching him play but thereās no way I could put him over Henry, for example.
Iād have Raul in the second tier tbh, Iād argue that RVN probably isnāt top tier really but he did score lots of goals.
Wouldnāt agree on Henry though, think he was top top class. As was Shevchenko, he was just done by the time he came to Chelsea imo. And Etoāo was consistently excellent across a long period, Iād have him very close to the top for the period, such an intelligent player.
Ronaldo obviously when someway fit. Probably the best of the lot in the 1997-2003 period (slightly earlier than some of the others).
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He was injured for the 84 final v Liverpool when a young lad at Roma
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Van Nistelrooy seemed to make teams worse.
Manchester United got worse when he signed and improved when he left.
The Dutch team got worse when he became a regular and got better when he left.
Real Madrid were poor enough when he was there.
I canāt shake my view of Thierry Henry being a hat trick merchant against Norwich and West Brom and then doing fuck all in most of the biggest matches he was involved in. And to me he was not an integral part of Barcelonaās rise under Guardiola, he was carried along by Xavi, Iniesta, Messi, Busquets, Etoāo etc. He was outrageously talented, but didnāt do enough when it counted to be ranked as one of the true greats.
Clutch:
Inzaghi
Drogba
Klose
Etoāo
Larsson
Non-clutch
Henry
Van Nistelrooy
Ibrahimovic
Vieri
Kluivert was clutch for a few years and then turned to anti-clutch.
Edward Sheringham was clutch.
Ronaldo (Brazil) was an underperformer in the Champions League.
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Pep got rid of Henry at the first chance too.
Etoāo is one of the best big game players I have seen. Always turned up when it mattered most.
I would throw David Villa into the mix as a top striker. He was a class act.
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Not sure his club qualified all that often and he was fucked with injury at Real.
Villa was an excellent player but he played wide left for Barcelona and Spain in a lot of big games.
Great player, but he was a bad signing by Real Madrid.
He scored a wonderful hat trick v man United
Not a bad goalscoring record for a winger.
| ears | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2000ā2001 | Sporting GijĆ³n B | 36 | (14) |
| 2001ā2003 | Sporting GijĆ³n | 80 | (38) |
| 2003ā2005 | Real Zaragoza | 73 | (32) |
| 2005ā2010 | Valencia[2][3] | 166 | (108) |
| 2010ā2013 | Barcelona | 77 | (33) |
| 2013ā2014 | AtlĆ©tico Madrid | 36 | (13) |
| 2014ā2018 | New York City FC | 124 | (80) |
| 2014 | ā Melbourne City (loan) | 4 | (2) |
| 2019ā2020 | Vissel Kobe | 28 | (13) |
| Total | 624 | (333) | |
| International career | |||
| 2001ā2002 | Asturias | 2 | (1) |
| 2002ā2003 | Spain U21 | 7 | (0) |
| 2005ā2017 | Spain | 98 | (59) |
He scored 83 goals in 127 matches.
Very bad signing alright.