Lautaro Martinez

[wera]

Lautaro is about 5 goals in CL away from being a top 3 Ballon d'or for this season

I hope he shows up against Atletico and make everybody see he is HIM

 

[rfU]

Vieri was never healthy 3 seasons in a row.

During Baggio and van Basten time teams would normally score under 60 goals a season, quite an impossible task to reach 20 for players, let alone three years on the trot. Van Basten wasn't far off but got injured frequently.


Shevchenko is an interesting one, yeah, but Milan wasn't always as competitive when he signed and was more in his prime and his numbers started to decrease when they signed Inzaghi and they were sharing goals.


Batistuta on the other hand was a genuine monster and the only focal point of attack but his 20+ consecutive seasons came in his final seasons with Fiorentina plus a 4th with Roma who had an impressive attacking line and scored tons.

Even if you make this number 15 goals or more, you'll miss out some great scorers (like Trezeguet that you mentioned or Abel Balbo) and the list would be modern heavy.

Should we also not consider level of competition? The quality of the league has dropped since, serie a no longer boasts the best players in the world like 20 years ago. We lauded Kaku for dominating the league in the 2020s yet he embarrassed in EPL and Europe. To me its a tad unfair to right now place Toro in the same echelon as the old time greats who were up against tougher competition, inspite of what his stats show. I reckon the likes of Bam Bam and Balbo (and my boy Cruz) could tally similar numbers in this era, under Inzaghi ball. But credit to Toro, more impressive is his captaincy, consistency and durability.

As far as penalties go...

Would be a good idea experiment with Sommer.

 

[brehme1989]

I don't think Lukaku did any better in Serie A than he did in PL.

All that changed was the dynamics of his team. Look at him at Roma for example. Compares well with his PL stints.

 

[IM21]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1763609219259883710

 

[RickyMaravilla'sRightFoot]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1763609219259883710

If Maradona was still coach he’d leave Lautaro at home for Higuain and Papu Gomez

 

[Gal]

Many teams of today would likely have no issues with some of those of the past, largely because they are far more professional, have far better training, diet, medical help and tons of other science to help them to be at their peak performance and the teams as whole has much better technical abilities and the rules of today would also largely be at their favour. A player like Materazzi would never find himself into a modern top team today, as he lived and survived largely because of the fact the sport allowed more physical and more brutal contact, that reality allowed players as talented as a piece of wood to excel as back then there was incredible little requirement for defenders to actually posses footballing qualities. Vieri would also have much the same struggles we seen with Lukaku, many teams would simply have hard finding a use as he simply wasn’t the sort of player in high demand today.

That sort of player worked in their time, but would find it incredibly difficult to find their way to the top today, largely because of the way football has changed.

 

[brakbrak]

. Vieri would also have much the same struggles we seen with Lukaku, many teams would simply have hard finding a use as he simply wasn’t the sort of player in high demand today.

What a load of bullshit. Vieri was not only a clinical scorer, he was great technically as well. He wasn't particularly fast but he wasn't slow either plus his strength would actually work well as Target man. Great strikers like Vieri would adjust to today's game no problem.

 

[Gal]

What a load of bullshit. Vieri was not only a clinical scorer, he was great technically as well. He wasn't particularly fast but he wasn't slow either plus his strength would actually work well as Target man. Great strikers like Vieri would adjust to today's game no problem.

I would not exactly define Vieri as great technically that is really an over estimate of the mans ability, he did well for size but that’s about it. Also last bit is really the biggest none statement ever written, someone isn’t fast but also not slow.

Teams don’t really use target men the way they did when Vieri played, the closest we seen of a target is Haaland but he is a bit more than just that.

 

[brehme1989]

What a load of bullshit. Vieri was not only a clinical scorer, he was great technically as well. He wasn't particularly fast but he wasn't slow either plus his strength would actually work well as Target man. Great strikers like Vieri would adjust to today's game no problem.

Vieri's burst of acceleration was actually incredible until his 2002 injury.

Guy was a tank.
Then of course we saw Adriano and the definition of a tank changed


Technically he was okay, well above average, but I think people would complain a bit about that aspect of his skillset in the modern game.

With that being said, strongly disagere that Vieri would struggle like Lukaku. Vieri, if healthy over his entire career, and assuming that'd start in 2012 or something, would have been the best striker in the game and we'd be talking about who's second.

 

[brehme1989]

A player like Materazzi would never find himself into a modern top team today, as he lived and survived largely because of the fact the sport allowed more physical and more brutal contact, that reality allowed players as talented as a piece of wood to excel as bac

Okay I didn't want to respond to that post, but you took the worst possible example here.

Materazzi was as skilled as any winger in the modern game is. Probably has better crossing, shooting and passing than your average top league winger as well.

Just because he was a nightmare for strikers in a time where defenders were allowed to play in such manner doesn't mean that he was clueless as a player.

You're confusing Materazzi with the likes of Paolo Montero, Mark Iuliano, Bruno Cirillo, Vinnie Jones, Martin Skrtel, Martin Keown, Stuart Pearce, Abelardo or DMs like Nigel De Jong, Roy Keane and Joey Barton.

Materazzi, just like guys such as Chiellini, Sergio Ramos and Pepe, was a genuine baller. He just had a mental-case agenda. For example Materazzi would go berserk against Shevchenko because that's pretty much the only way anyone could handle that guy


If Materazzi was playing now he'd be somewhere between Manchester City and Real Madrid... Or in Acerbi's or De Vrij's spot.

 

[rfU]

If Materazzi was playing now he'd be somewhere between Manchester City and Real Madrid...

Rubbish, he was too much of a nutcase, a walking yellow/red lol also painfully slow. Would largely depend on who he's partnered with and under the right manager he would thrive. Loved the guy lol

As for Vieri, if there's any striker you want on the end of a pass it's Bobo. And he doesn't need to bully his way to the goal, he had world class positioning and awareness. Goals galore.

However stamina wise I think he would struggle in yhe modern game.

 

[armendsh]

Its crazy how this new generation dont know how good were the players back then
For example Maicon he was fukin beast , he could play in attack and crush you, while getting in defence and not letting you to breath
the players nowdays are all shit, no wonder Acerbi is like a god in Seria A, acerbi in 2000s and 2010s he would make only the bench
While now hes the best defender in seria or fi can say OVERALL in the world, momentaly you cant compare him to no one

 

[Nero Indigo]

I would not exactly define Vieri as great technically that is really an over estimate of the mans ability, he did well for size but that’s about it. Also last bit is really the biggest none statement ever written, someone isn’t fast but also not slow.

What he means generally is that he was quick thinking. When someone isn’t hesitant as a striker, it creates the illusion that the player is faster than he really is
and a lot of defences have problems with these types of players. Vieri was a master of this and he was able to play combinations with a lot of support strikers and his anticipation and positioning was elite. His processing in the goal zone was amazing, he was freaking strong and was deadly in one on ones (I don’t think I can remember him fluffing a one on one chance) great at heading and a superb penalty taker.

I agree he wasn’t great technically on the ball compared to some of the other strikers of his time, but he had above average control of the ball, was an expert at using body feints and turnarounds or using the ball’s forward momentum from an incoming pass to beat a player. His one touch game was also elite with both his feet and head, especially loved when he used his head (pause). Let’s not even forget his left foot: the fury of a cannonball or the finesse of a catapult, deadly accurate either way, from close or from a distance. And even then, he could use both feet.

Look man, Prime Vieri would have broken most of these defences in this modern game easily. Peeps must’ve watched his twilight late injury days to think he wouldn’t hold up in today’s game and even then I feel he would still be a menace

 

[thatdude]

What a load of bullshit. Vieri was not only a clinical scorer, he was great technically as well. He wasn't particularly fast but he wasn't slow either plus his strength would actually work well as Target man. Great strikers like Vieri would adjust to today's game no problem.

Agreed, I don’t see Vlahovic as any more technical for example.

 

[armendsh]

Agreed, I don’t see Vlahovic as any more technical for example.

Nor Lautaro , nor halaand, they all are crap
For Example Berbatov or Ibrahimovic are like gods to these now best strikers in the world, i wont even start with David villa, Torres, Aguero, Drogba , shevchenko, Ronaldo etc
Hell even Mirko Vucinic is better than these newdays Strikers

 

[Nothing]

Nor Lautaro , nor halaand, they all are crap
For Example Berbatov or Ibrahimovic are like gods to these now best strikers in the world, i wont even start with David villa, Torres, Aguero, Drogba , shevchenko, Ronaldo etc
Hell even Mirko Vucinic is better than these newdays Strikers

Prime Luca Toni would play at City instead of Haaland and killed EPL. Lewandowski was the last good striker in the last decade imo.

 

[brehme1989]

Rubbish, he was too much of a nutcase, a walking yellow/red lol also painfully slow. Would largely depend on who he's partnered with and under the right manager he would thrive. Loved the guy lol

How's that relevant to anything I said about Materazzi being technically gifted?

Sergio Ramos was walking yellow card and Pepe was a sitting red card... They played together under many managers and it went quite well for them.


Materazzi, given his playing attributes, would have been one of the most sought after central defenders in this era. That's the truth. And everyone's gone softer now, so he'd also adapt after a few reds and yellows.

 

[brehme1989]

Prime Luca Toni would play at City instead of Haaland and killed EPL. Lewandowski was the last good striker in the last decade imo.

There were some great strikers honestly but the game is also different so you need to be able to understand how that translates.

Lewandowski is definitely a generational striker.

Benzema as well.
Luis Suarez is another.
Our old boy Dzeko was another great striker in his prime, but he wasted his time in Manchester.
Aguero was a great forward that wasted his entire career in Manchester City of all places.
Higuain was another phenomenal striker that wasted the end of his career on poor choices, both career and life.
Ibrahimovic was an amazing player, even if you guys love to hate him for his attitude.

These guys would be playing for top sides in any era.

Then I think 2nd level would have these guys:
Icardi as well was phenomenal as a striker and was unlucky to be in a shitty club situation at Inter.
Falcao was a very good all-around striker.
Kane is overrated but he's also a very capable striker.
Cavani was a very good striker as well, despite the frequent misses.
Griezmann is an amazing forward.
Alexis Sanchez as well, amazing forward.
Tevez, very good forward.
Lukaku had potential but he couldn't shine at a top club or in big moments.
Salah as a wide forward is having a great time at Liverpool but we've seen in him in other systems and his wastefulness just shows.

These guys could have been the main forward at top teams if the system was right, but most would have had better luck at teams that don't compete. Or as the secondary name in the striker partnership.


Then you have guys like Morata, Aubameyang, Diego Costa, Mario Gomez etc that got overrated as fuck just because there was a relative drought of important strikers for years at the top level.

Giroud on the other hand is your typical cult striker that gets a bunch of goals but gets unnoticed and ignored by the history books, but in this era he shines a bit.
But you still had reliable scorers such as Huntelaar, Aduriz, Ben Yedder, Immobile, Bacca (for while it lasted), Mandzukic (till he moved to Serie A), Belotti, Aspas, Vardy...
There used to be more of these guys out there and enough to spread around all over the leagues. A top scorer from a bottom half team is extremely rare now, used to be much more frequent in other eras. Out of these, only Aspas, Belotti and Vardy didn't play for one of the important sides of their respective league (Vardy won one of course).


There's definitely less great strikers now but the 2nd tier seems adequately populated. The problem arises when lots of those 2nd tier guys are elevated to top tier status and some random guy after a good couple of seasons is overrated.

[Don't want to mention Cristiano or Messi here, but they could be mentioned I suppose]


I'm not sure how Haaland translates in older eras, but I trust he'd still be an important striker with his characteristics. Not considered the best in the world, but definitely a difficult player to compete against. The only one that I think would still be dominant is Kylian Mbappe, provided that he'd be in the right environment, just like Thierry Henry for example was at Arsenal but he wasn't really that good anywhere else. Not comparing the two, as people often do, I think Mbappe is far more complete and dangerous as a player, but Henry had a killer instinct whereas Mbappe doesn't seem to possess it.

 

[Nothing]

There were some great strikers honestly but the game is also different so you need to be able to understand how that translates.

Lewandowski is definitely a generational striker.

Benzema as well.
Luis Suarez is another.
Our old boy Dzeko was another great striker in his prime, but he wasted his time in Manchester.
Aguero was a great forward that wasted his entire career in Manchester City of all places.
Higuain was another phenomenal striker that wasted the end of his career on poor choices, both career and life.
Ibrahimovic was an amazing player, even if you guys love to hate him for his attitude.

These guys would be playing for top sides in any era.

Then I think 2nd level would have these guys:
Icardi as well was phenomenal as a striker and was unlucky to be in a shitty club situation at Inter.
Falcao was a very good all-around striker.
Kane is overrated but he's also a very capable striker.
Cavani was a very good striker as well, despite the frequent misses.
Griezmann is an amazing forward.
Alexis Sanchez as well, amazing forward.
Tevez, very good forward.
Lukaku had potential but he couldn't shine at a top club or in big moments.
Salah as a wide forward is having a great time at Liverpool but we've seen in him in other systems and his wastefulness just shows.

These guys could have been the main forward at top teams if the system was right, but most would have had better luck at teams that don't compete. Or as the secondary name in the striker partnership.


Then you have guys like Morata, Aubameyang, Diego Costa, Mario Gomez etc that got overrated as fuck just because there was a relative drought of important strikers for years at the top level.

Giroud on the other hand is your typical cult striker that gets a bunch of goals but gets unnoticed and ignored by the history books, but in this era he shines a bit.
But you still had reliable scorers such as Huntelaar, Aduriz, Ben Yedder, Immobile, Bacca (for while it lasted), Mandzukic (till he moved to Serie A), Belotti, Aspas, Vardy...
There used to be more of these guys out there and enough to spread around all over the leagues. A top scorer from a bottom half team is extremely rare now, used to be much more frequent in other eras. Out of these, only Aspas, Belotti and Vardy didn't play for one of the important sides of their respective league (Vardy won one of course).


There's definitely less great strikers now but the 2nd tier seems adequately populated. The problem arises when lots of those 2nd tier guys are elevated to top tier status and some random guy after a good couple of seasons is overrated.

[Don't want to mention Cristiano or Messi here, but they could be mentioned I suppose]


I'm not sure how Haaland translates in older eras, but I trust he'd still be an important striker with his characteristics. Not considered the best in the world, but definitely a difficult player to compete against. The only one that I think would still be dominant is Kylian Mbappe, provided that he'd be in the right environment, just like Thierry Henry for example was at Arsenal but he wasn't really that good anywhere else. Not comparing the two, as people often do, I think Mbappe is far more complete and dangerous as a player, but Henry had a killer instinct whereas Mbappe doesn't seem to possess it.

Oh yeah forgot to mention Aguero and Suarez. Contrary to the striker in current era, i think current/post 2010 wingers or wide forwards are superior to the 00's wingers. Maybe Giggs was the only good one. Robben, Prime Ronaldo, Salah and Bale are more superior to the likes Pires, Beckham, Figo, Camoranesi lol. Yeah football has been evolved so much.

 

[brehme1989]

Oh yeah forgot to mention Aguero and Suarez. Contrary to the striker in current era, i think current/post 2010 wingers or wide forwards are superior to the 00's wingers. Maybe Giggs was the only good one. Robben, Prime Ronaldo, Salah and Bale are more superior to the likes Pires, Beckham, Figo, Camoranesi lol. Yeah football has been evolved so much.

Salah over Figo is heresy. Even Cristiano as a winger over Figo is heresy.

Figo was one of the best players in the world and one of the greatest of all time. Salah is one of the best performers in a system, he struggles anywhere else. Egypt isn't doing any better with him labelled as world class for example, they actually stopped winning.

Beckham wasn't a traditional winger. But the rest, I guess so. Teams hardly used wingers in the 2000s, it was in the early years as the remnants of the 90s style, but teams were either 4-4-2 or 3-5-2 at the time. Wingers came to the show in the late 2000s again after the 4-2-3-1 and 4-3-3 formations got popularized.

Guys like Figo, Nedved, Giggs, Robben (belongs in this era), Ribery, Ronaldinho (yes, he was a winger) and so on would definitely give a run for the money of the next gen of great wingers which would include Hazard, Sanchez, Di Maria, Bale, Salah, Mane, Mahrez etc.

Main difference is that in the modern era your wingers are like Vinicius Jr, Coman or Sterling and less like Overmars and McMananaman which was the 90s archetype, that followed with the likes of Sydney Govou, Santiago Solari, Maxi Rodriguez and your guy Camoranesi whose style was slowly fading away as wngers were expected to cut inside and also score more rather than play on the line and mostly distribute.