Gianluigi Buffon (16 Viewers)

Lion

Lion

King of Tuz
#24,503
Jan 24, 2007
31,786
#24,503
JuveJay said:
Yashin introduced a lot of the goalkeeping techniques you see today. Also a brilliant shot-stopper in a time when the ball was basically a rock. His agility was superb and he also saved a lot of penalties. But keepers were quite small then - Yashin himself was just over 6' tall. Our great goalkeeper Combi from the 30s was only 5'8". Planička, another great, the same. Up until the 60s it was common for keepers to be up to about 6'1", but the game was based a lot on shot-stopping and agility.

If you can innovate a position then it's difficult for anyone who follows to equally claim a position as the greatest.

It's interesting to see how being an ice hockey goaltender would impact on his agility and reaction times, as well as techniques and style. Much the same way that Peter Schmeichel incorporated handball techniques into his goalkeeping, like his 'spread eagle' charge against onrushing attackers.

Buffon was not an innovative keeper, but he has always had perfect fundamentals in pretty much everything, and a big personality to go with it. I think this and levels of concentration are equally what make a great goalkeeper. His penalty saving might only be a 7/10 but that's an art form in its own right. Average keepers can be expert penalty savers.

When you look at modern goalkeeping you'd suggest that Buffon's passing from tight areas but not be up to scratch for an elite keeper, but he's adjusted pretty well. He was an outfield player up until fairly late in his youth, but you can't re-train a style at 35+. I always remember in the early 90s when the back-pass rule was introduced, a few big keepers struggled because suddenly they had to kick a moving ball under pressure.

Now goalkeeping has become about sweeping, kicking and shot stopping. Less teams play authentic wingers with crosses coming towards the 6 yard box, so there are a few more keepers being 6'1". Plus everyone deals with the high ball by punching, such is the advancement of the ball technology. But the keepers are still 6'4"+ in general, as the perfect keeper would have that aerial ability and reach as well as being able to kick and have great agility.
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i've always admired buffon's positioning. his positioning/anticipation sense in his prime is equal to how good the greatest strikers like CR7 or van nistelrooy are.

how else do you explain him calmly just casually watching shots go wide without making diving efforts? the confidence to do that is staggering.

thats kind of why i thought we saw less spectacular saves from him compared to casillas. casillas i thought was a fanatastic keeper with supernatural reflexes. but reason you saw more saves from him is sometimes his positioning was suspect and he had to throw his body to make a highlight save. buffon tended to do less of that due to having greater anticipation in positioning, resulting in less spectacular saves.
 
campionesidd

campionesidd

Senior Member
#24,504
Mar 16, 2013
15,277
#24,504
Lion said:
i've always admired buffon's positioning. his positioning/anticipation sense in his prime is equal to how good the greatest strikers like CR7 or van nistelrooy are.

how else do you explain him calmly just casually watching shots go wide without making diving efforts? the confidence to do that is staggering.

thats kind of why i thought we saw less spectacular saves from him compared to casillas. casillas i thought was a fanatastic keeper with supernatural reflexes. but reason you saw more saves from him is sometimes his positioning was suspect and he had to throw his body to make a highlight save. buffon tended to do less of that due to having greater anticipation in positioning, resulting in less spectacular saves.
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His command of the defense was also second to none.
And he had some crazy saves of his own. That Lyon game was one of the best performances I've ever seen by a goalkeeper, and his performance in the 2006 World Cup was extraordinary.
 
Albo

Albo

Senior Member
#24,506
Apr 13, 2009
11,456
#24,506
Lion said:
ok joking aside let me tell you why he is number 1

longevity. buffon has been a world class player since 2000 till about 2017-2018. this is an insane consistency rivaled only by the likes of ronaldo and messi. even other keepers like casillas and kahn had shorter careers as top footballers. now you can argue that del piero also had a long career, but i am talking about being one of the best for a long time. and del piero doesn't even come close.

brand appeal. buffon has bigger name in world football than del piero.

leadership. buffon was a better leader than del piero.

impact. buffon due to being world class for longer, had a bigger influence on juventus' success than del piero

trophies. buffon won more trophies as a key player than del piero.

can you tell me what del piero was doing when he was 39? he was playing in india. want to know what buffon was doing? playing in CL final

- - - Updated - - -

just to be clear. i am not questioning del piero being anyone's favorite player. del piero was reason i started following juve.

but buffon is def the bigger legend
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Agree 100% on everything you said .

I'm sure if he left for Barca/Man UTD he would have at least 2-3 champions league , and there wouldn't been any goat debate !
To bad for him he played for shity squar (2007-2012) he wasted 5 good years , should have won 2-3 gk of the year .

Gigi on top of the world (After Italy won world cup) , he was 26/27 y old , decided to stay in Serie B , i know Alex and the rest did stay , but Gigi was no #1 in the world .
It's like prime Messi/CR7 staying in 2nd league , that would never ever happen .

GIGI for me is GOAT , ADP isn't !

I'm not hating on ADP , but for me Gigi is greatest ever , my favorite all time Juve player , i really love the guy .

I hated when some Juve "fans" dissed him when he left for some cheap likes/rts , he stayed with us when he was no .1 !
 
JuveJay

JuveJay

Senior Signor
Moderator
#24,507
Mar 6, 2007
72,310
#24,507
Fab Fragment said:
1607231735410.png

Is that Infantino (UEFA prez) next to Maradona? I recognize half of the old farts but not all.
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Yeah it is. From the ones you can see:
Top: Abbiati, Leonardo, Dida, Ronaldo, Materazzi, Gattuso, Vieri, Del Piero, Maldini, Trezeguet, ?, Ferrara, Dino Baggio, Suazo, Sforza(?), Mattias Grafstrom (FIFA)
Bottom: Mijatovic, Albertini, Buffon, Maradona, Infantino, Cordoba, Gygax
 
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