90's Serie A - Draft Thread

[Moby]

nahealai's next pick :

Andrea Fortunato
Could have been an Italian legend before his life was cruelly took from him by a debilitating illness. The most exciting Italian talent in the early part of the decade, he was superb in his one year with Juventus and was arguably going to oust Maldini from the no.3 position, as ludicrous as that may seem now. A real shame what happened to him.

My pick :

Gianluca Signorini
A key member of the Genoa dream team, captaining them through their golden years. The #6 shirt at Genoa was retired as a tribute to him.

zlatan_Ish : 1. Maldini 2. Albertini 3. D. Baggio 4. Ince 5. Mihajlovic 6. Fuser 7. di Vaio 8.Galli 9. Massaro

Fergus' son : 1. Zidane 2. Zanetti 3. F. Inzaghi 4. Sensini 5. Almeyda 6. Minotti 7. Francescoli 8. Marchegionni 9. Asprilla

Lifaboy : 1. Van Basten 2. Donadoni 3. C.Ferrara 4. Favalli 5. Berti 6. Bergkamp 7. Mussi 8. Negro 9. Konsel

Anderson18 : 1. Ronaldo 2. Simeone 3. Totti 4. Winter 5. Panucci 6. 7. 8. 9.

baconlars : 1. Matthäus 2. Vialli 3. Savicevic 4. Torricelli 5. Chiesa 6. Julio Cesar 7. Giannini 8. Toldo 9. Carboni

Fergies Gum : 1. Baggio 2. Djorkaeff 3. Pagliuca 4. Tassoti 5. Apolloni 6. Moriero 7. Careca

Thisistheone : 1. Rijkaard 2.Costacurta 3. Veron 4. Klinsmann 5. Zambrotta 6. Lentini 7. Jugović 8. Taffarel 9. Ravanelli

Brwned : 1. Rui Costa 2. Thuram 3. Crespo 4. P.Sousa 5. Blanc 6. Sosa 7. Angloma 8. Branco 9. Fiore

Red head red : 1. Del Piero 2. Cannavaro 3. Vierchowod 4. Bierhoff 5. Moller 6. Rossi 7. Helveg

Paolo Di Canio : 1. Baresi 2. Deschamps 3. Vieri 4. Montella 5. Buffon 6. B. Laudrup 7. Katanec 8. Bokšić 9. West

Anointed One : 1. Batistuta 2. Desailly 3. Bergomi 4. Platt 5. Pessotto 6. Scifo 7. Recoba 8. Ferri 9. Delvecchio

AldoRaine18 : 1. Nesta 2. Nedved 3. Brehme 4. Di Livio 5. Tacchinardi 6. Seedorf 7. Stankovic 8. Caniggia 9. Amoroso 10. Signorini

nahealai : 1. Signori 2. Mancini 3. Montero 4. Conte 5. Peruzzi 6. Balbo 7. Simone 8. Evani 9. Tudor 10. Fortunato

Isotope : 1. Gullit 2. Zola 3. Kohler 4. Iuliano 5. Dunga 6. Völler 7. Candela 8. Conceição 9. Mannini 10. Jonk

KM : 1. Cafu 2. Boban 3. Benarrivo 4. Hassler 5. Salas 6. Couto 7. Di Matteo 8. Zamorano

Stretford Kid : 1. Weah 2. Davids 3. Aldair 4. Leonardo 5. Ayala 6. Lombardo 7. Zenga 8. Ortega 9. Gascoigne 10. Casriraghi

 

[KM]

I'll pick Luca Marchegiani and Stefan Schwarz.

 

[Moby]

Marchigianni was picked by Feergus' son, mate.

 

[Anointed One]

ALESSANDRO BIRINDELLI

​

 

[Paolo Di Canio]

Massimo Carrera

"La Bandera"signed for Juventus in 1991 and deployed as a right back under Giovanni Trapattoni, his outstanding performances for Juve in his first season earned him a place in Sacchi's Italy squad

In 1994 due to the arrival of Marcello Lippi he was deployed as a sweeper and became a cornorstone of the team, after 166 caps he won the Scudetto, the Coppa Italia, The Champions League, The Uefa Cup and the European Supercup

He then transfered to Atlanta in 1996 and became captain and leader

 

[Brwned]

This draft's been a colossal feckup so far...

I pick Brazilian international Alemao, one of the best players in Maradona's Napoli side and ultra-consistent throughout his career.

zlatan_Ish : 1. Maldini 2. Albertini 3. D. Baggio 4. Ince 5. Mihajlovic 6. Fuser 7. di Vaio 8. Galli 9. Massaro

Fergus' son : 1. Zidane 2. Zanetti 3. F. Inzaghi 4. Sensini 5. Almeyda 6. Minotti 7. Francescoli 8. Marchegionni 9. Asprilla

Lifaboy : 1. Van Basten 2. Donadoni 3. C.Ferrara 4. Favalli 5. Berti 6. Bergkamp 7. Mussi 8. Negro 9. Konsel

Anderson18 : 1. Ronaldo 2. Simeone 3. Totti 4. Winter 5. Panucci 6. 7. 8. 9.

baconlars : 1. Matthäus 2. Vialli 3. Savicevic 4. Torricelli 5. Chiesa 6. Julio Cesar 7. Giannini 8. Toldo 9. Carboni

Fergies Gum : 1. Baggio 2. Djorkaeff 3. Pagliuca 4. Tassoti 5. Apolloni 6. Moriero 7. Careca

Thisistheone : 1. Rijkaard 2.Costacurta 3. Veron 4. Klinsmann 5. Zambrotta 6. Lentini 7. Jugović 8. Taffarel 9. Ravanelli

Brwned : 1. Rui Costa 2. Thuram 3. Crespo 4. P.Sousa 5. Blanc 6. Sosa 7. Angloma 8. Branco 9. Fiore 10. Alemao

Red head red : 1. Del Piero 2. Cannavaro 3. Vierchowod 4. Bierhoff 5. Moller 6. Rossi 7. Helveg 8. ? 9. ? 10. ?

Paolo Di Canio : 1. Baresi 2. Deschamps 3. Vieri 4. Montella 5. Buffon 6. B. Laudrup 7. Katanec 8. Bokšić 9. West 10. Carrera

Anointed One : 1. Batistuta 2. Desailly 3. Bergomi 4. Platt 5. Pessotto 6. Scifo 7. Recoba 8. Ferri 9. Delvecchio 10. Birindelli

AldoRaine18 : 1. Nesta 2. Nedved 3. Brehme 4. Di Livio 5. Tacchinardi 6. Seedorf 7. Stankovic 8. Caniggia 9. Amoroso 10. Signorini

nahealai : 1. Signori 2. Mancini 3. Montero 4. Conte 5. Peruzzi 6. Balbo 7. Simone 8. Evani 9. Tudor 10. Fortunato

Isotope : 1. Gullit 2. Zola 3. Kohler 4. Iuliano 5. Dunga 6. Völler 7. Candela 8. Conceição 9. Mannini 10. Jonk

KM : 1. Cafu 2. Boban 3. Benarrivo 4. Hassler 5. Salas 6. Couto 7. Di Matteo 8. Zamorano 9. Schwarz

Stretford Kid : 1. Weah 2. Davids 3. Aldair 4. Leonardo 5. Ayala 6. Lombardo 7. Zenga 8. Ortega 9. Gascoigne 10. Casriraghi

 

[Buchan]

Birindelli.

Alemao

These two were going to be my final two picks!

 

[Moby]

This draft's been a colossal feckup so far...

To be fair it has been better than I expected. Slow yes, but people have shown good motivation for a period I am sure everyone had to research for specially at this stage.

Also, why the hell did red head man go AWOL?

 

[Moby]

Thisistheone picks José Chamot

zlatan_Ish : 1. Maldini 2. Albertini 3. D. Baggio 4. Ince 5. Mihajlovic 6. Fuser 7. di Vaio 8. Galli 9. Massaro

Fergus' son : 1. Zidane 2. Zanetti 3. F. Inzaghi 4. Sensini 5. Almeyda 6. Minotti 7. Francescoli 8. Marchegionni 9. Asprilla

Lifaboy : 1. Van Basten 2. Donadoni 3. C.Ferrara 4. Favalli 5. Berti 6. Bergkamp 7. Mussi 8. Negro 9. Konsel

Anderson18 : 1. Ronaldo 2. Simeone 3. Totti 4. Winter 5. Panucci 6. 7. 8. 9.

baconlars : 1. Matthäus 2. Vialli 3. Savicevic 4. Torricelli 5. Chiesa 6. Julio Cesar 7. Giannini 8. Toldo 9. Carboni

Fergies Gum : 1. Baggio 2. Djorkaeff 3. Pagliuca 4. Tassoti 5. Apolloni 6. Moriero 7. Careca

Thisistheone : 1. Rijkaard 2.Costacurta 3. Veron 4. Klinsmann 5. Zambrotta 6. Lentini 7. Jugović 8. Taffarel 9. Ravanelli 10. Chamot

Brwned : 1. Rui Costa 2. Thuram 3. Crespo 4. P.Sousa 5. Blanc 6. Sosa 7. Angloma 8. Branco 9. Fiore 10. Alemao

Red head red : 1. Del Piero 2. Cannavaro 3. Vierchowod 4. Bierhoff 5. Moller 6. Rossi 7. Helveg 8. ? 9. ? 10. ?

Paolo Di Canio : 1. Baresi 2. Deschamps 3. Vieri 4. Montella 5. Buffon 6. B. Laudrup 7. Katanec 8. Bokšić 9. West 10. Carrera

Anointed One : 1. Batistuta 2. Desailly 3. Bergomi 4. Platt 5. Pessotto 6. Scifo 7. Recoba 8. Ferri 9. Delvecchio 10. Birindelli

AldoRaine18 : 1. Nesta 2. Nedved 3. Brehme 4. Di Livio 5. Tacchinardi 6. Seedorf 7. Stankovic 8. Caniggia 9. Amoroso 10. Signorini

nahealai : 1. Signori 2. Mancini 3. Montero 4. Conte 5. Peruzzi 6. Balbo 7. Simone 8. Evani 9. Tudor 10. Fortunato

Isotope : 1. Gullit 2. Zola 3. Kohler 4. Iuliano 5. Dunga 6. Völler 7. Candela 8. Conceição 9. Mannini 10. Jonk

KM : 1. Cafu 2. Boban 3. Benarrivo 4. Hassler 5. Salas 6. Couto 7. Di Matteo 8. Zamorano 9. Schwarz

Stretford Kid : 1. Weah 2. Davids 3. Aldair 4. Leonardo 5. Ayala 6. Lombardo 7. Zenga 8. Ortega 9. Gascoigne 10. Casriraghi

 

[VivaJanuzaj]

Is it fergie's gum turn? Hasn't been online for a couple of rounds now, or bacolanr's?

 

[Moby]

He was here few hours back saying he would pick soon. But yeah let's skip him for now.

 

[baconlars]

Ok, I'll post my pick in a minute or two. I was going to pick Chamot

 

[Brwned]

Delighted with my team. Rui Costa, easily one of the most creative players of the decade, in behind the superb all round threat of Ruben Sosa and the penalty box expertise of Crespo. Both of my strikers had 20+ goal seasons in Serie A, only red head read can say the same*. Crespo's one of the very few who managed to score 25+ goals - Van Basten, Signori, Batistuta, Ronaldo and Bierhoff are the only others. Thuram and Blanc were superb defenders at their peak as they showed in '98, Angloma was voted the best right back in Europe at Inter (Blanc, also at Inter, was named one of the two best centre backs in Europe the same year) and Branco is one of the 25 most capped Brazilian players of all time...and Brazil don't do poor fullbacks. In midfield you have Alemao (who'll link up seamlessly with fellow countryman Branco) providing balance and consistency, Fiore offering tireless energy and plenty of quality on the ball and Paulo Sousa (named the 15th best player in the world in his first season at Juve) providing the class.

For those unfamiliar with Ruben Sosa, here's a glimpse of him at his best:



Never a bad time to watch Branco's classic free kick in '94...



* 13 players in total with 20+ Serie A goal-seasons, all of whom have been picked aside from Protti who retired after one season in Serie A.

Spoiler

Signori
Van Basten
Balbo
Baggio
Sosa
Batistuta
Inzaghi
Montella
Protti
Chiesa
Bierhoff
Ronaldo
Del Piero
Amoroso

 

[baconlars]

Luigi di Biagio

zlatan_Ish : 1. Maldini 2. Albertini 3. D. Baggio 4. Ince 5. Mihajlovic 6. Fuser 7. di Vaio 8. Galli 9. Massaro

Fergus' son : 1. Zidane 2. Zanetti 3. F. Inzaghi 4. Sensini 5. Almeyda 6. Minotti 7. Francescoli 8. Marchegionni 9. Asprilla

Lifaboy : 1. Van Basten 2. Donadoni 3. C.Ferrara 4. Favalli 5. Berti 6. Bergkamp 7. Mussi 8. Negro 9. Konsel

Anderson18 : 1. Ronaldo 2. Simeone 3. Totti 4. Winter 5. Panucci 6. 7. 8. 9.

baconlars : 1. Matthäus 2. Vialli 3. Savicevic 4. Torricelli 5. Chiesa 6. Julio Cesar 7. Giannini 8. Toldo 9. Carboni 10. di Biagio

Fergies Gum : 1. Baggio 2. Djorkaeff 3. Pagliuca 4. Tassoti 5. Apolloni 6. Moriero 7. Careca

Thisistheone : 1. Rijkaard 2.Costacurta 3. Veron 4. Klinsmann 5. Zambrotta 6. Lentini 7. Jugović 8. Taffarel 9. Ravanelli 10. Chamot

Brwned : 1. Rui Costa 2. Thuram 3. Crespo 4. P.Sousa 5. Blanc 6. Sosa 7. Angloma 8. Branco 9. Fiore 10. Alemao

Red head red : 1. Del Piero 2. Cannavaro 3. Vierchowod 4. Bierhoff 5. Moller 6. Rossi 7. Helveg 8. ? 9. ? 10. ?

Paolo Di Canio : 1. Baresi 2. Deschamps 3. Vieri 4. Montella 5. Buffon 6. B. Laudrup 7. Katanec 8. Bokšić 9. West 10. Carrera

Anointed One : 1. Batistuta 2. Desailly 3. Bergomi 4. Platt 5. Pessotto 6. Scifo 7. Recoba 8. Ferri 9. Delvecchio 10. Birindelli

AldoRaine18 : 1. Nesta 2. Nedved 3. Brehme 4. Di Livio 5. Tacchinardi 6. Seedorf 7. Stankovic 8. Caniggia 9. Amoroso 10. Signorini

nahealai : 1. Signori 2. Mancini 3. Montero 4. Conte 5. Peruzzi 6. Balbo 7. Simone 8. Evani 9. Tudor 10. Fortunato

Isotope : 1. Gullit 2. Zola 3. Kohler 4. Iuliano 5. Dunga 6. Völler 7. Candela 8. Conceição 9. Mannini 10. Jonk

KM : 1. Cafu 2. Boban 3. Benarrivo 4. Hassler 5. Salas 6. Couto 7. Di Matteo 8. Zamorano 9. Schwarz

Stretford Kid : 1. Weah 2. Davids 3. Aldair 4. Leonardo 5. Ayala 6. Lombardo 7. Zenga 8. Ortega 9. Gascoigne 10. Casriraghi

 

[Moby]

Amoroso as well. 22 goals in the 98-99 season.

 

[KM]

Marchigianni was picked by Feergus' son, mate.

fecker spelled it wrong, that's why I couldn't find any result while searching for it.

Alright I'll chose Michael Konsel

 

[Moby]

Konsel was taken by Lifaboy as well.

 

[KM]

feck's sake, I'll pick Giovanni Cervone.

 

[baconlars]

So are we waiting for anderson18, or should I PM lifaboy?

 

[Moby]

Anderson has quit. It's Lifaboy's turn.

 

[Moby]

This is what I have ended up with. Happy tbh. Variety, versatility, creativity, flair, and solid at the back. Both fullbacks very accomplished on both sides of the pitch. Any comments?

 

[Fergus' son]

Delighted with my team. Rui Costa, easily one of the most creative players of the decade, in behind the superb all round threat of Ruben Sosa and the penalty box expertise of Crespo. Both of my strikers had 20+ goal seasons in Serie A, only red head read can say the same*. Crespo's one of the very few who managed to score 25+ goals - Van Basten, Signori, Batistuta, Ronaldo and Bierhoff are the only others. Thuram and Blanc were superb defenders at their peak as they showed in '98, Angloma was voted the best right back in Europe at Inter (Blanc, also at Inter, was named one of the two best centre backs in Europe the same year) and Branco is one of the 25 most capped Brazilian players of all time...and Brazil don't do poor fullbacks. In midfield you have Alemao (who'll link up seamlessly with fellow countryman Branco) providing balance and consistency, Fiore offering tireless energy and plenty of quality on the ball and Paulo Sousa (named the 15th best player in the world in his first season at Juve) providing the class.

For those unfamiliar with Ruben Sosa, here's a glimpse of him at his best:



Never a bad time to watch Branco's classic free kick in '94...



* 13 players in total with 20+ Serie A goal-seasons, all of whom have been picked aside from Protti who retired after one season in Serie A.

Spoiler

Signori
Van Basten
Balbo
Baggio
Sosa
Batistuta
Inzaghi
Montella
Protti
Chiesa
Bierhoff
Ronaldo
Del Piero
Amoroso

Good team, well constructed.

Just thought I would point out that the 25+ goal season from Crespo wasn't actually in the 90's, Crespos best tally then was 22. Inzaghi managed 24 when at Atlanta.

 

[Fergus' son]

Konsel was taken by Lifaboy as well.

And that was spelt correctly!

Anyone around to PM my picks to?

 

[Moby]

And that was spelt correctly!

Anyone around to PM my picks to?

Go on. I'll be here.

 

[Anointed One]

-------------Batistuta-------------Delvecchio-------------
-------------------------Recoba--------------------------
---------------Platt------------------Scifo----------------
-------------------------Desailly--------------------------
Pessotto-------Ferri-----------------Bergomi-------Birindelli
-------------------------Keeper---------------------------

OR

------------------------Batistuta-------------------------
Recoba-----------------------------------------Delvecchio
---------------Platt------------------Scifo----------------
-------------------------Desailly--------------------------
Pessotto-------Ferri-----------------Bergomi-------Birindelli
-------------------------Keeper---------------------------



Thoughts?

 

[Fergus' son]

-------------Batistuta-------------Delvecchio-------------
-------------------------Recoba--------------------------
---------------Platt------------------Scifo----------------
-------------------------Desailly--------------------------
Pessotto-------Ferri-----------------Bergomi-------Birindelli
-------------------------Keeper---------------------------

OR

------------------------Batistuta-------------------------
Recoba-----------------------------------------Delvecchio
---------------Platt------------------Scifo----------------
-------------------------Desailly--------------------------
Pessotto-------Ferri-----------------Bergomi-------Birindelli
-------------------------Keeper---------------------------



Thoughts?

I say the first one.

 

[Moby]

-------------Batistuta-------------Delvecchio-------------
-------------------------Recoba--------------------------
---------------Platt------------------Scifo----------------
-------------------------Desailly--------------------------
Pessotto-------Ferri-----------------Bergomi-------Birindelli
-------------------------Keeper---------------------------

OR

------------------------Batistuta-------------------------
Recoba-----------------------------------------Delvecchio
---------------Platt------------------Scifo----------------
-------------------------Desailly--------------------------
Pessotto-------Ferri-----------------Bergomi-------Birindelli
-------------------------Keeper---------------------------



Thoughts?

Both look good but the second provides more width and variety so I would go with that one. Some might say width is overrated, but to me it is pretty crucial in tight games such as these.

 

[Buchan]

Both of my strikers had 20+ goal seasons in Serie A, only red head read can say the same*.

Ahem...

 

[Brwned]

Good team, well constructed.

Just thought I would point out that the 25+ goal season from Crespo wasn't actually in the 90's, Crespos best tally then was 22. Inzaghi managed 24 when at Atlanta.

Says here he scored 25 in 99-00, 26 in 00-01. Not that it'll make a difference to how people see Crespo anyway.

Right enough, I just saw Mancini and Signori and stopped there! Be interested to see how you fit them all in because it seemed to me Mancini was more a Teddy Sheringham-type creative forward than an attacking midfielder who'd play in behind a front two.

 

[Fergus' son]

Says here he scored 25 in 99-00, 26 in 00-01. Not that it'll make a difference to how people see Crespo anyway.

Right enough, I just saw Mancini and Signori and stopped there! Be interested to see how you fit them all in because it seemed to me Mancini was more a Teddy Sheringham-type creative forward than an attacking midfielder who'd play in behind a front two.

Ah, on his own page it says he scored 22. Splitting hairs though, you're right, just wanted to mention Inzaghi who was one of the most prolific strikers in the league.

Signori, Balbo, Mancini and Conte, a lot of firepower but there's three forwards in there and one attacking midfielder, going to be difficult to balance but with the skill set of those players it should work out. Signori is arguably the best striker in the draft.

 

[Buchan]

Mancio was a terrific striker when deployed there, but his best position was behind the front two in my opinion.

I have been trying to address the defensive midfield area of my team with three or four rounds now, but either my first choices were snapped up, or I had to pounce on other players for fear they'd be snapped up too. I'll have to rack the brain for one. In fact, I had a right gem of a defensive midfielder chosen but he only played 39 games in Serie A in the 1990s due to his time in Italy being distributed between the 1980s and 1990s. One bloody game short! I should have submitted him and said nothing!

 

[Fergus' son]

Mancio was a terrific striker when deployed there, but his best position was behind the front two in my opinion.

I have been trying to address the defensive midfield area of my team with three or four rounds now, but either my first choices were snapped up, or I had to pounce on other players for fear they'd be snapped up too. I'll have to rack the brain for one. In fact, I had a right gem of a defensive midfielder chosen but he only played 39 games in Serie A in the 1990s due to his time in Italy being distributed between the 1980s and 1990s. One bloody game short! I should have submitted him and said nothing!

Go on then, who was it?

 

[Moby]

Ah, on his own page it says he scored 22. Splitting hairs though, you're right, just wanted to mention Inzaghi who was one of the most prolific strikers in the league.

Signori, Balbo, Mancini and Conte, a lot of firepower but there's three forwards in there and one attacking midfielder, going to be difficult to balance but with the skill set of those players it should work out. Signori is arguably the best striker in the draft.

Erm, statistically probably. But I would put Batigol ahead of the rest by a mile and a half. There doesn't exist a way of scoring he doesn't know. Yes he had Rui Costa working behind him, but he was a machine and one of it's kind. To me, Batigol before the turn of the millennium and Ronaldo after it, don't separate by much!

 

[Fergus' son]

Erm, statistically probably. But I would put Batigol ahead of the rest by a mile and a half. There doesn't exist a way of scoring he doesn't know. Yes he had Rui Costa working behind him, but he was a machine and one of it's kind. To me, Batigol before the turn of the millennium and Ronaldo after it, don't separate by much!

Yeah, I did mean stats wise.

Ronaldo is better than Batigol though.

 

[Brwned]

Mancio was a terrific striker when deployed there, but his best position was behind the front two in my opinion.

I have been trying to address the defensive midfield area of my team with three or four rounds now, but either my first choices were snapped up, or I had to pounce on other players for fear they'd be snapped up too. I'll have to rack the brain for one. In fact, I had a right gem of a defensive midfielder chosen but he only played 39 games in Serie A in the 1990s due to his time in Italy being distributed between the 1980s and 1990s. One bloody game short! I should have submitted him and said nothing!

I wanted Cerezo too! Class player. There were a couple of other decent centre mids I came across today that were the same. Ancelotti played just 33.

 

[Moby]

Ronaldo at Madrid and Batigol at Viola, hmm, a bit tough if you ask me. And considering Batigol wasn't playing with players half as quality as the ones Ronaldo had in the Galacticos setup, it becomes really close.

Ronaldo at Barca was at a level that was beyond the chasing pack, but I think Batigol at his pomp would give the Madrid Ronaldo more than a chase.

 

[Thisistheone]

A
Signori is arguably the best striker in the draft.

Batistuta all the way. If the chance comes later, I'd choose him over any other forward. Not to take anything away from beppe but batigol was sensational.

 

[Fergus' son]

Ronaldo at Madrid and Batigol at Viola, hmm, a bit tough if you ask me. And considering Batigol wasn't playing with players half as quality as the ones Ronaldo had in the Galacticos setup, it becomes really close.

Ronaldo at Barca was at a level that was beyond the chasing pack, but I think Batigol at his pomp would give the Madrid Ronaldo more than a chase.

Ronaldo at Barca and Inter and for Brazil, in the 90s, is a far better player than Batigol IMHO, and that's not a slight on batigol at all.

 

[Buchan]

Go on then, who was it?

Brwned got it. Toninho Cerezo. An absolute gem of a player and would have been a perfect foil for Conte in my midfield. Gutted it never came to pass.

 

[Buchan]

Thinking about it, I could deploy Tudor as a defensive midfielder, but that would be counter-productive and take away from his fine partnership with Montero, which was one of the best partnerships in the world in the late 1990s.