:rolleyes:
I’m all for wind ups on pretty much everything else but Francesco Totti is sacred and the best footballer that ever lived. Please don’t use his name to pointscore and for your own amusement.
9 goals mate, considering the players he played with is a terrible return. Sneijder played the role of playmaker to perfection at the last World Cup. It certainly is true at international level that Totti wouldnt be in the same league as the dutchman as their respective records prove.
Along with your nonsense about Spanish players and football, your defence of Totti’s record at international level is equally as flawed. I wouldnt mind actually hearing from someone knowledgeable about Italian football to put forward why they feel Totti failed at international level as its something I’ve wondered about myself before. Alas that person isnt you.
i’ll make my poinst clearer for morons like yourself in future, happy?
He never failed at international level mate, he played a key role in Euro 200 where he was named MOTM in a final and was rushed back to fitness by Lippi and entrusted in helping Italy win the World Cup, they flopped in Euro 2004 due to his unavailability and were robbed in 2002 by a bent, drug-smuggling match official.
Totti filled the gap left by Baggio that Del Piero could not.
mac will be along later to describe your posts with a cliche likely to include words such as cant, wood, trees.
Del Piero scored 3 times the goals Totti did at international level.
And he was regularly left out of the Italian side by various coaches (Zoff, Lippi, Trappatoni), whereas Totti was handed the most important role in the side & Del Piero’s no.10 jersey.
Please don’t embarrass yourself further.
Better than Henrik Larsson?
why are you trying to muddy the waters?
When this thread was first posted I must say I couldnt possibly have seen it come down to a mud slinging match with KIB Man on one side and Mr Totti and TASE on the other. I am utterly shocked at this turn of events.
… And he still scored three times more. Says it all. Del Piero has a lot of caps for a so called second choice player and three times the amount of goals. I think I might have mentioned that before.
Yeah, Del Piero came in and out of the team alot, made a good few appearances off the bench.
The Italian football media and the managers all seemed to agree that Totti was a much more important and valuable player than Del Piero was, even Lippi viewed Totti as a better and more important player and he was very close with Del Piero from their time at Juventus. There’s no getting away from the fact that Zoff, Trappatoni and Lippi had more faith in Totti, hence why Del Piero started the two major finals off the bench.
Totti was undoubtedly a top class Serie A player as his superb record indicates. But his 9 goals in nearly 60 games at international level is incredibly poor for a player of his ability particularly in a top international side primarily built around him. Del Piero has a record of a goal every 3 games at international level. Not bad for a player who was often only coming on as a sub. It’s a pity you can’t debate the point like an adult - why was Totti such an average player at international level?
Another similar player, Dennis Bergkamp who didn’t play in all international games 37 goals in 79 games. The greats all did it at international level, Totti didn’t so his legacy will always be flawed.
You pay too much attention to stats and you don’t understand the tactical intricities of the game. The opinion of world class coaches like Lippi and Trappatoni was that Totti was far more valuable to the Italian national side than Del Piero was. He was much more of a team player and they wanted someone with the footballing intelligence and technique of Totti - who they knew they could rely on - rather than the mentally fragile Del Piero. Goals would come when Totti played, he just might not neccessarily score them, he’s played his whole international career in midfield.
[quote=“The All Seeing Eye, post: 624563”]
why are you trying to muddy the waters?[/quote]
A legitimate question TASE all the same. It needs an answer too.
Mentally fragile - Totti was disgraced in 2004 for spitting at an opponent. I think it’s fair to say you are embarrassing yourself at this stage. Certainly in 2006 it was bizarre the faith placed in a half fit ineffective Totti. He didn’t play in midfield then nor in any international tournament I can remember. But if you are going to invent rationale like he played in midfield to justify his measly stats at international level, it kind of proves how exposed you are.
A goal every 6 games is his international record. There’s no getting away from that, even on his birthday
[quote=“Locke, post: 624562”]
Better than Henrik Larsson?[/quote]
Francesco Totti, the best player ever to play the game, is by definition better than any other footballer past or present.
But he’s not.
Since I’ve been brought into this I’ll ask one question -
Why is Tottis goal scoring record at international level ok to us a benchmark for his ability rather than his fantastic club achievements but when it comes to Robbie Keane it’s ok to ignore international form and focus on club level?
For some reason I think it’s you that may have the flawed argument in this case.
He has always played in midfield for Italy. I think Trapattoni, who stated repeatedly that Totti was an offensive midfielder and played him there during his 4 year tenure as Italian coach would know better than some clown who likes to argue against cold hard facts.
A fact that Totti was deemed more important to Italy by a trio of coaches and a fact that he had a far greater impact at major tournaments than Del Piero ever did. Calling him ineffective at the 2006 WC just shows how ridiculous your argument is, he was selected in the team of the tournament, as a midfielder, scored 1 goal and had 3 assists. He was outstanding in the quarter final and the semi final, what made this more remarkable was that he was thought to have no chance of making the tournament after a leg break in February.
Trapattoni, Lippi and Zoff all rated Totti in terms of ability, performance and influence ahead of Del Piero, something you’re just outright failing to acknowledge.
A genius, a legend and a man who fights his own battles.
