Who is the greatest Italian player ever? (39 Viewers)

[bianconero]

Football is an organic organism, with each generation discovering new heroes and passions. We can only rely on our own imersion and conversion to it's creed, and that means what we ourselves have experienced, heard, seen! Even if that is on flickering screens, or on the lap of your grand-father; to dismiss this is facile and redundant.

Yes, vote for those who moved, thrilled, enthralled you: that is what football is about.

 

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[Bozi]

about baggio-yes he was a fantastic player BUT,while he set the world alight with his individual brilliance he did it to the detriment of his team mates most of the time. while i would say he was more talented than delpie that does not make him better! delpie shows a humility,a willing to work for the team, to sacrifice himself for the good of the collective, that is why IMO baggio was a great individual but truly great players win and baggio won very little.

though i still say scirea was the greatest, in a country lauded for their defensive players, he was the greatest of them all

 

[Meath]

Should have called him and asked him why he choked it up then.

The greatest players don't choke when all the pressure is on them, in my opinion.

Maybe you should check Italys games in World Cup 94 and see what player single handedly dragged Italy to the finals.

Also, if winning trophys makes someone a great player, check out the Liverpool lineup from 2005, Djimi Traore, Harry Kewell, Luis Garcia, Sami Hyypia Vladimir Smicer and Djibril Cisse are all better than Baggio!!!
So is Nicky Butt and Jesper Blomqvist. Even DAVID MAY has a Champions League winners medal! So David May is better than Baggio is some peoples opinion here.

 

[bianconero]

Baggio won very little; depends on how you define little?

 

[bianconero]

Maybe you should check Italys games in World Cup 94 and see what player single handedly dragged Italy to the finals.

Also, if winning trophys makes someone a great player, check out the Liverpool lineup from 2005, Djimi Traore, Harry Kewell, Luis Garcia, Sami Hyypia Vladimir Smicer and Djibril Cisse are all better than Baggio!!!
So is Nicky Butt and Jesper Blomqvist. Even DAVID MAY has a Champions League winners medal! So David May is better than Baggio is some peoples opinion here.

Ah, don't mind about B, he doesn't know much about football.

You are right.

 

[Fred]

Not necessarily, but I'm talking about common fucking sense, jokester.

I'm saying that if I listen to your idiocy, and can't vote or judge a player I've never seen play, then I could not vote for any of the players that played before WC '98. You are making no sense.

Is it not common sense that Mueller was better than Baggio, Delpie, Klose, or any other striker to live?

No, it's common fucking sense. Look at his strike rate and awards, both personal and team oriented. He was the best striker to ever live. But apparently he isn't because I never watched him play.

Look, do whatever makes you happy, but your argument is nonsense, and any non-Delpie/Baggio fanboy would agree with me.

Maybe he is\was but you cant say for sure,can you? you havent watched the damn guy play, relying on statistics and a few videos isnt enough.

I mean you cant have it two ways, by your logic statistics and videos are enough to pass judgement on a player you've never watched play.

Oh and for the record, i'm in no way a Del Piero fan. He's not even the best Italian player i've ever watched let alone the best Italian player in history.

 

[Bozi]

but you still seem to be missing the point that football is a TEAM game and truly great players can still win awards while not trying to be a one-man-team. baggio's skills lent him to being capable of destroying teams, but it also halted his own sides ability to function without him,when baggio didn't play,the team struggled. that is why baggio won so few (team) trophies

far too often we overlook industrious,hard-working players for the 5-minute sensation. while trophies won are not the only indicator of greatness, they are a yardstick to measure yourself against the true greats of the game who consistently perform well and know that sometimes you have to sacrifice yourself for the good of the team

 

[Lawnchair Bes]

Maybe you should check Italys games in World Cup 94 and see what player single handedly dragged Italy to the finals.

Also, if winning trophys makes someone a great player, check out the Liverpool lineup from 2005, Djimi Traore, Harry Kewell, Luis Garcia, Sami Hyypia Vladimir Smicer and Djibril Cisse are all better than Baggio!!!
So is Nicky Butt and Jesper Blomqvist. Even DAVID MAY has a Champions League winners medal! So David May is better than Baggio is some peoples opinion here.

none of them are italian

 

[HelterSkelter]

The fact that teams struggled without Baggio in their lineup is actually an argument in favour of his ability than against it TBH.

Also,Baggio's lack of team trophies is down to much more than his own skill.He changed clubs(Or had to) a lot,unlike a lot of players in this poll.Sure,you can use the 'He could never adjust in an enviornment here' against him,but then again,you could also use the 'he was capable of being brilliant almsot everywhere he went' for him too.He won team honours at the the two teams capable of winning trohpies ie Milan and Juventus.Fiorentina was where he became the player that he was,but they were never going to challenge for major trophies.Inter were Inter back then,and they were going through a regular case of Scudetto Phobia that haunted them for ever 16 years.And surely,you cant expect him to win trophies at Brescia and Bologna.Yet he made Bologna and Brescia achieve more than they could have.

With all due respect to the other players in this poll,they spent major chunks of their careers at teams that were capable of challenging for major trophies.Out of the 22 years of Baggio's professional career,only 7 were spent at trophy challenging teams(9 if you include Inter).The rest werent.Del Piero etc won many more team honours,but thats because they've spent almost their entire careers at trophy challenging teams.Also,Del Piero was at Juventus during one of the club's most succesful periods under Lippi,so team trophies were always going to come his way.No disrespect meant to Del Piero though.He is still one of the greatest italian players ever,but not THE greatest.

Baggio did brilliantly for Italy at major competitions btw.He scored the goal of the tournament at Italai 1990,took Italy to the WC final in 1994 despite not being fully fit,and he deserved much more playing time than he got at France 1998.He was one of Italy's best players in the group stages,and he should have started the 2nd round and QF too..even though initially,he went to the tournament as a sub for Del Piero.

And no,he did not make Italy lose the 1994 WC.Massaro and Baresi missed their penalties before Baggio took his.Italy were 3-2 down when Baggio stepped up,and Even if Baggio had scored his,Brazil would have still won had they converted their last penalty.Baggio was as guilty as Di Natale at Euro 2008.Does anyone say that 'Di Natale cost italy a Semi Final place'?Fuck no.

 

[Bozi]

oh i never said he was the man who lost italy the final in 94, i am not that dumb. i also did not say that teams struggled without him in their line-up, what i said is that they relied on him far too heavily, they were one-man teams and when he did not play(as in was quiet and played not well)then they were lost.
you say that he only spent 7 years at scudetto challenging clubs,well 7 seasons challenging is a lot and he only won 2! plus if he was the greatest player in italian history surely clubs would have built their success around him?
the simple fact is baggio was an enigma,tremendously talented but offloaded by all the top clubs because they simply could not achieve success with him in their teams
the other players in this list have been successful and ahve been at their clubs for so long because they helped to bring success and have adapted their games so that the team comes first 90% of the time,success is not simply being skillful but also humble

 

[ESS-Juventino]

I think Paolo Maldini should be added to the list!

 

[HelterSkelter]

oh i never said he was the man who lost italy the final in 94, i am not that dumb. i also did not say that teams struggled without him in their line-up, what i said is that they relied on him far too heavily, they were one-man teams and when he did not play(as in was quiet and played not well)then they were lost.
you say that he only spent 7 years at scudetto challenging clubs,well 7 seasons challenging is a lot and he only won 2! plus if he was the greatest player in italian history surely clubs would have built their success around him?
the simple fact is baggio was an enigma,tremendously talented but offloaded by all the top clubs because they simply could not achieve success with him in their teams
the other players in this list have been successful and ahve been at their clubs for so long because they helped to bring success and have adapted their games so that the team comes first 90% of the time,success is not simply being skillful but also humble

That WC94 part wasnt aimed at you Bozman.The rest was though.

I guess we'll just agree to disagree.

 

[Red]

I think Paolo Maldini should be added to the list!

Look harder.

 

[Seven]

IMO Baggio never even came close to Del Piero when talking about sheer ball control. The way Del Piero can run and control a 50 meter pass at the same time is stunning. Baggio was never able to pull it off like that. He might have been the better player when he finally did have the ball between his feet though.

But let's be frank: Baggio never fulfilled his potential, Del Piero did.

 

[Bozi]

IMO Baggio never even came close to Del Piero when talking about sheer ball control. The way Del Piero can run and control a 50 meter pass at the same is stunning. Baggio was never able to pull it off like that. He might have been the better player when he finally did have the ball between his feet though.

But let's be frank: Baggio never fulfilled his potential, Del Piero did.

but surely he was the greatestestist footballer player to ever kick a ball in the goal?

i am in total agreement with you on this seven, even though our choice of best italian may differ we are not blinded to the fact that baggio was not the legend he COULD have been

 

[Bjerknes]

No way people here could answer this question unless you're Tifoso Lou, but I wouldn't trust his opinion so yeah... nobody.

Voted for Scirea just to see the results.

 

[Bjerknes]

Jozy Altidore.

Agreed.

 

[Bjerknes]

@ Alen

I voted Scirea. Because he won every competition he ever played in, because he was a loyal and classy player, because he never took a single red card, but most importantly, because this guy revolutioned the way central defenders participated in the game.

Before him, central defenders were just markers and destroyers; if in possession, they'd just kick the ball as far as possible. Scirea was the first central defender to do something with the ball, often being the first passer in a build-up. Heck, he even scored 32 goals in his carreer, which was pretty sensational for a defender. IMO, Scirea did in Italy what Beckenbauer did in Germany.

I really wish I could've seen him play live...

Agreed if I had to pick a player.

As much as I love Del Piero, Baggio is the best Italian Player on that list. If the guy was born in Brazil Or Argentina he would be mentioned in the same breath as Pele or Maradona.

Hardly. Baggio was fantastic but he's not at that level. Come on now.

Baggio won very little; depends on how you define little?

You could say the same thing about Zico for instance, but we are judging the best player, not club legend. Championships and Cups should be taken with a grain of salt in this discussion.

 

[Joaco]

Voted for Scirea

 

[Enron]

I'd have to agree with that. If Del Piero hadn't been robbed by Keller in the last World Cup my vote might have been for Baggio.