Nobody’s disputing Diego wasn’t a great player
He was just utterly brilliant. All with a shattered ankle.
You seemed to belittle his reputation a while ago,
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No. He was the best of his era. His era involved playing against less organised teams while being played on bad pitches and more lenient refereeing.
My point is that the game has changed so much that there’s no point in comparing Maradona with Messi for example
I am watching Valencia now and they appear as organized as a cattle stampede
I’m not watching but you’d imagine they have some sort of overall plan all the same. Even listening to footballers who played in the 80s and 90s all they mention is hard work and getting to the ball first
Graeme Souness ridiculed the notion of tactics the other night
They weren’t as good as Marseille
Liverpool would have beaten that Milan team
How good a player was Michael Laudrup in his pomp?
He was before my time but seems to be held in very high regard. A lot of continental midfielders from the last decade or two would have referenced him as their idol growing up.
Johan Cryuff summed him up
One of the most difficult players I have worked with. When he gives 80–90% he is still by far the best, but I want 100%, and he rarely does that.
Had it all the lad, except the right attitude
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A very classy player - explosive when he was younger, but adapted his game to be become more of a ball playing central midfielder as he lost his pace later in his career
Joined Juventus at a bad time - they were on a serious downslide after '85
Suffers a bit in terms of how he’s viewed historically because he didn’t play for Denmark for a few years including Euro '92 due to falling out with the manager
Arguably cost them World Cup qualification in '94 as I think he only returned for the last two or three games of that campaign, missing the games against Eire
Was very good in the 1998 World Cup which was his last act as a player
Of that Barcelona team of Cruyff I think I’d rate Stoichkov ahead of him however, though Laudrup’s longevity was superior
His brother was also a fantastic player but wasted his best years playing for Rangers
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Hristo referred to by some as the “Maradonna of the Carpathians
Was that term not more associated with Hagi?
Incidentally Hagi played the season before the 1994 World Cup with Brescia in Serie B - mental when you think about it as he was one of the best players in the world
I wonder did Graeme Souness ever think of signing him or Brian Laudrup for Liverpool
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I’d put Romario ahead of him as well.
Christ, Cryuff had some difficult personalities in that dressing room.
Different types of players
Romario was a finisher
Laudrup was a winger/midfielder while Stoichkov was the most rounded of the three as a player - he was equally good playmaking and finishing and had that intangible inspirational leadership factor like Maradona had
Stoichkov will always be an idol in Barcelona in the way the other two aren’t
I don’t recall Laudrup being heavily involved with Barcelona in 93/94 however which was Romario’s first season with Barca
That precipated his move to Real Madrid
Not sure if he played in the 1994 European Cup final when they lost 4-0 to Milan, I don’t think he did though open to correction
I wouldn’t look particularly kindly on the character of any player who moves from Barcelona to Real Madrid
Bernd Schuster was another one who did that - he was a very arrogant character who also refused to play for his national team
Romario didn’t stay with Barca for very long - not even sure if he did two full seasons with them - I think he went back to Brazil shortly after they stuffed Manchester United 4-0 in November 1994
Embarrassing error on my part.
You are correct on Hagi.
Yeah Romario shagged off back to Brazil after they won at USA 94. I suppose he had nothing to prove in Europe and was fond of the booze and other things.
He(Laudrup) wasn’t picked in the 4-0 drubbing and Romario had been signed so he was effectively sacked by Cryuff who didn’t fancy his attitude.
There is validity to what you say about Stoichkov, I remember him as being a little ill disciplined though for a leader.
Figo is another who crossed the Barca/Madrid divide. Now he was a player. What a player
Cruyff was a highly difficult character himself obviously
But so were all three mentioned above - Laudrup, Stoichkov and Romario
All four were highly arrogant in their own way
To listen to old footballers involved in punditry you’d think that difficult characters in football is a modern phenomenon which is bullshit
Ironically a lot of these same pundits were difficult characters themselves