All Time Reserves Draft | Quarters

The Beckenbauer before the war thing is a bit misleading though, Szepan was a more attacking player, maybe comparable to World Cup 1966 Beckenbauer. The versatility, the combination of technical and defensive ability was apparently there, but like with many of the pre-WWII greats, it often sounds as if they were Cruyff and Beckenbauer mixed into one.
I think that title has more to do with his leadership than his defensive ability. I doubt he's as good as Beckenbauer in defense, he won't be playing in defense for us either but in midfield, and we will be making use of his playmaking ability to the fullest. Did read somewhere though that he was played as a stopper as well at times and perhaps he could 'do a job' in that role but more of an all round presence in midfield from what I could decipher. But yeah you have to take these comments about these older players with a pinch of salt. We were comparing him and Rossi since the last couple of picks and both had a plethora of qualities listed as their key skills. But then, perhaps they were indeed that good, given that they are among what a handful of names that have made it from that generation and still get talked about. Not like we haven't seen such players in every generation, like @Gio said the other day, and if they were rated as the best names for a period of say a decade or so, it's possible they made a mark in all those facets of the game for it to be remembered. e.g. if someone describes someone like Davids 50 years from now they'll sure highlight a ton of qualities, etc which wouldn't be false.
 
All just description by people. If you describe Gerrard for instance, without seeing him play, you'd think he's Di Stefano and Edgar Davids combined.
An infamous Englishman who is considered by many Liverpudlians as the greatest human being of all time (with John Lennon coming close second and Jesus H. Christ barely making top-3 before being disqualified for his demigod nature) was known for his inimitable tactical discipline, ineffective Hollywood balls, unique diving technique (which earned him a nickname "Starfish") and an unmatched sense of self-importance. He will be forever remembered in the English football folklore for the defining moment of his career - after his inspiring "this does not fecking slip" speech he did fecking slip and cost his team and himself a league title. He also holds an impressive record of lasting 38 seconds in his last north-west derby. Steven Gerrard is a true legend of the game - even after his inevitable departure overseas you can hear the songs being sang about him all over the country.

A few quotes about him:
Arrigo Sacchi said:
I just have to say, Steven Gerrard's a great footballer, but perhaps not a great player
Sir Alex Ferguson said:
Steven Gerrard was not a top, top player
a redcafe expert committee said:
Anderson 4, Gerrard 0

Not sure about Di Stefano/Davids mix
 
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As for Szepan, they had me at 'beckenbauer before the war'. :D
Yeah, also found while doing a research
"Austrian Beckenbauer"
"Portuguese Beckenbauer"
"A libero that is even better than Beckenbauer"
"Polish Beckenbauer"
"Beckenbauer of the East"

etc.
They all sound great! :D
 
Yeah, also found while doing a research
"Austrian Beckenbauer"
"Portuguese Beckenbauer"
"A libero that is even better than Beckenbauer"
"Polish Beckenbauer"
"Beckenbauer of the East"

etc.
They all sound great! :D
I once had the Italian Beckenbauer in my team, but there's a good chance that there are more fancy Italian Beckenbauers around than the one I had.
 
Not sure about Di Stefano/Davids mix
“He has become the most influential player in England, bar none. Not that Vieira lacks anything, but Gerrard does more.” Alex Ferguson

“I can’t think of a striker in the world who has scored so many important goals, never mind a midfielder.” Thierry Henry

“I love Gerrard’s qualities as a player and a leader. Technically and tactically he is the best.” Gus Hiddink

“I am a huge fan of Steven Gerrard, He has the heart of a lion. He is a player I would like to have in my team.” Kaka

“For the job he performs, he is one of the greatest.” Ronaldinho

“Steven Gerrard would be the captain of my World XI dream team.” Francesco Totti

“I heard what Alex Ferguson saif about him being better than me. He’s probably right.” Patrick Vieira


“Is he the best in the world? He might not get the attention of Messi and Ronaldo but yes, I think he just might be.” Zinedine Zidane

His Wiki
A versatile and well-rounded player who is regarded as one of the best midfielders of his generation, Gerrard is capable of playing in a number of positions.[145] A hardworking box-to-box player, he is usually deployed as a central midfielder, but he has also been used as a second striker, a holding midfielder, an attacking midfielder, a right back, and a right winger.[3][4][5]

Renowned for his pace, work-rate and stamina in his prime, his main attributes today are his vision, ball striking, and his accurate, varied passing range, which allows him to set the tempo of his team's play and create attacking chances.[149][152] He also possesses good technical and aerial ability, as well as notable defensive attributes.[149] In particular, Gerrard's tactical intelligence and ability to read the game allows him to break down the opposition's attacking plays.

 
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247px-Cesare_Maldini_-_AC_Milan.jpg


Cesare Maldini (1932-2016)

R.I.P.
 
Stobzilla & KM - 1. Enzo Francescoli 2. Fritz Walter 3. Juan Joya 4. Roger Marche 5. Nestor Goncalves 6. Larbi Ben M'barek 7. Branko Stankovic 8. Leonel Alvarez 9 Wladyslaw Zmuda
2. Downcast - 1. Luis Suarez 2. Rensenbrink 3. Osvaldo Ardiles 4. Gerrard 5. Vieri 6. Rep 7. Hulshoff 8. Frank De Boer 9. Buzánszky
3. RedTiger - 1. Gianni Rivera 2. Stielike 3. Bossis 4. J.Greaves 5. Donadoni 6. Lucio 7. Boban 8. Reuter 9. Sanchis
4. Sjor Bepo & Invictus - 1. Gérson 2. Förster 3. Riva 4. Kaltz 5. Wright 6. Orsi 7. Häßler 8. Marinho 9. Rossi
5. Tuppet - 1. Florian Albert 2. Thomas Muller 3. Blanchflower 4. Josef Bican 5. Roberto Perfumo 6. Bonhof 7. Morten Olsen 8. Leandro ferreira 9. Valentino mazzola
6. Aldo Staine - 1. Teófilo Cubillas 2. Mario Kempes 3. Pietro Vierchowod 4. Armando Picchi 5. Preben Elkjær Larsen 6. Amancio Amaro 7. Joan Segarra 8. Dunga 9. Fritz Szepan
7. Chesterlestreet - 1. Matthias Sindelar 2. Kazimierz Deyna 3. Grzegorz Lato 4. Wilhelmus "Wim" Jansen 5. Roberto Rosato 6. Zito 7. J. Armfield 8. B. Lennox, 9. Maldini Sr
8. Isotope - 1. Sandro Mazzola 2. Tostao 3. Ciro Ferrara 4. Gianluca Zambrotta 5. Ince 6. Just Fontaine 7. H.J. Dörner 8. Cambiasso
9. Skizzo & Pat_Mustard - 1. Uwe Seeler 2. B. Conti 3. Ruggeri 4. Lerby 5. Labruna 6. Hanappi 7. Khurtsilava 8. Gemmell
10. harms & Annah - 1. Zizinho 2. Keizer 3. Netto 4. D. Alves 5. Leonidas Da Silva 6. Streltsov 7. Clodoaldo 8. Byrne
11. green_smiley - 1. Dixie Dean 2. Dobrin 3. Luis Pereira 4. Israël 5. Romeo Benetti 6. Di Bartolomei 7. Jorginho 8. Magico Gonzalez
12. BBRBB - 1- Nils Liedholm 2. Júnior 3. Alain Giresse 4. Diego Godín 5. Thiago Silva 6. Nándor Hidegkuti 7. Héctor Rial 8. Maicon
13. Physiocrat - 1. Kaka 2. Zagallo 3. Modric 4. Cerezo 5. Evra 6. Taylor 7. W. Samuel 8. Mats Hummels
14. mazhar13 & Marty1968 - 1. W. Overath 2. H.G.Schwarzenbeck 3. H. Szymaniak 4. H. Crespo 5. F. Causio 6. M. Tassotti 7. K. Augenthaler 8. H. Haller
15. Edgar Allan Pillow- 1. L Brady 2. N Stiles 3. K Dalglish 4. I Rush 5. VR Andrade 6. Danny Blind 7. J Ceulemans 8. Michel
16. Enigma_87 - 1. Allan Simonsen 2. Schweinsteiger 3. Stojkovic 4. David Villa 5. Bratseth 6. Willi Schulz 7. Volodymyr Bezsonov 8. Bernard Dietz

@Isotope
 
“He has become the most influential player in England, bar none. Not that Vieira lacks anything, but Gerrard does more.” Alex Ferguson

“I can’t think of a striker in the world who has scored so many important goals, never mind a midfielder.” Thierry Henry

“I love Gerrard’s qualities as a player and a leader. Technically and tactically he is the best.” Gus Hiddink

“I am a huge fan of Steven Gerrard, He has the heart of a lion. He is a player I would like to have in my team.” Kaka

“For the job he performs, he is one of the greatest.” Ronaldinho

“Steven Gerrard would be the captain of my World XI dream team.” Francesco Totti

“I heard what Alex Ferguson saif about him being better than me. He’s probably right.” Patrick Vieira


“Is he the best in the world? He might not get the attention of Messi and Ronaldo but yes, I think he just might be.” Zinedine Zidane

His Wiki


I get your point - you are right, obviously, just couldn't resist to put those Sacchi and SAF quotes :D
 
Sure, SAF, Zidane, Vieira and Totti know nothing about football :D
 
The difference between Starfish and some old geezer who has made it into the "legend" category, is not only that a huge amount of Starfish's performances are readily available for anyone who wishes to study them - but also the immense amount of both rubbish and pretty decent comments made about him by people like us: If you were to read up on Starfish fifty years down the line, not having watched any footage of him, you'd get a balance you won't get with most older players - just by scraping beneath the surface. With older players scraping beneath the surface is incredibly difficult, because there are hardly any sources available.

But as both Aldo and Gio suggest, the fact that NN has made it into said "legend" category is telling in itself. You normally don't do that unless there's something about you which truly stands out.

And the Davids point above is also a good one. But let's stick to Starfish: Even if you read the most hyperbolic description of him, you'd still get an idea about what sort of player he was. And Starfish, who was a flawed player in many ways, was nevertheless a potentially devastating one too - he deserves to be mentioned among the best players in his (roughly) position, in his generation. in other words, if you picked Starfish in a draft based on hyperbolic descriptions of him, and claimed he was insanely good - you wouldn't be randomly bigging up someone who was miles off the description in his very best incarnation. Starfish could be insanely good on his day.
 
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1. Stobzilla & KM - 1. Enzo Francescoli 2. Fritz Walter 3. Juan Joya 4. Roger Marche 5. Nestor Goncalves 6. Larbi Ben M'barek 7. Branko Stankovic 8. Leonel Alvarez 9 Wladyslaw Zmuda
2. Downcast - 1. Luis Suarez 2. Rensenbrink 3. Osvaldo Ardiles 4. Gerrard 5. Vieri 6. Rep 7. Hulshoff 8. Frank De Boer 9. Buzánszky
3. RedTiger - 1. Gianni Rivera 2. Stielike 3. Bossis 4. J.Greaves 5. Donadoni 6. Lucio 7. Boban 8. Reuter 9. Sanchis
4. Sjor Bepo & Invictus - 1. Gérson 2. Förster 3. Riva 4. Kaltz 5. Wright 6. Orsi 7. Häßler 8. Marinho 9. Rossi
5. Tuppet - 1. Florian Albert 2. Thomas Muller 3. Blanchflower 4. Josef Bican 5. Roberto Perfumo 6. Bonhof 7. Morten Olsen 8. Leandro ferreira 9. Valentino mazzola
6. Aldo Staine - 1. Teófilo Cubillas 2. Mario Kempes 3. Pietro Vierchowod 4. Armando Picchi 5. Preben Elkjær Larsen 6. Amancio Amaro 7. Joan Segarra 8. Dunga 9. Fritz Szepan
7. Chesterlestreet - 1. Matthias Sindelar 2. Kazimierz Deyna 3. Grzegorz Lato 4. Wilhelmus "Wim" Jansen 5. Roberto Rosato 6. Zito 7. J. Armfield 8. B. Lennox, 9. Maldini Sr
8. Isotope - 1. Sandro Mazzola 2. Tostao 3. Ciro Ferrara 4. Gianluca Zambrotta 5. Ince 6. Just Fontaine 7. H.J. Dörner 8. Cambiasso 9. Sol Campbell
9. Skizzo & Pat_Mustard - 1. Uwe Seeler 2. B. Conti 3. Ruggeri 4. Lerby 5. Labruna 6. Hanappi 7. Khurtsilava 8. Gemmell
10. harms & Annah - 1. Zizinho 2. Keizer 3. Netto 4. D. Alves 5. Leonidas Da Silva 6. Streltsov 7. Clodoaldo 8. Byrne
11. green_smiley - 1. Dixie Dean 2. Dobrin 3. Luis Pereira 4. Israël 5. Romeo Benetti 6. Di Bartolomei 7. Jorginho 8. Magico Gonzalez
12. BBRBB - 1- Nils Liedholm 2. Júnior 3. Alain Giresse 4. Diego Godín 5. Thiago Silva 6. Nándor Hidegkuti 7. Héctor Rial 8. Maicon
13. Physiocrat - 1. Kaka 2. Zagallo 3. Modric 4. Cerezo 5. Evra 6. Taylor 7. W. Samuel 8. Mats Hummels
14. mazhar13 & Marty1968 - 1. W. Overath 2. H.G.Schwarzenbeck 3. H. Szymaniak 4. H. Crespo 5. F. Causio 6. M. Tassotti 7. K. Augenthaler 8. H. Haller
15. Edgar Allan Pillow- 1. L Brady 2. N Stiles 3. K Dalglish 4. I Rush 5. VR Andrade 6. Danny Blind 7. J Ceulemans 8. Michel
16. Enigma_87 - 1. Allan Simonsen 2. Schweinsteiger 3. Stojkovic 4. David Villa 5. Bratseth 6. Willi Schulz 7. Volodymyr Bezsonov 8. Bernard Dietz

@Skizzo @Pat_Mustard @whoeverhastheirpick
 
Well we've gone back and forth on this all draft. We alluded to it earlier, but then went back and forth some more. We out it off for a few rounds, half hoping someone would make the decision for us...but in the end, here we are.
 
Anyway when it comes to quotes regarding comparisons with Beckenbauer, there is simply only one that holds any weight.
"I am the European Figueroa." - Franz Beckenbauer. :)
 
He's counted among many lists of greatest Argentinian and South American players of all time, an idol of Di Stefano, and a key cog of one of the greatest forward lines of all time.

Teammate of Angel Labruna

200px-Pedernera_argnationalteam.jpg


Adolfo Pedernera
 
1. Stobzilla & KM - 1. Enzo Francescoli 2. Fritz Walter 3. Juan Joya 4. Roger Marche 5. Nestor Goncalves 6. Larbi Ben M'barek 7. Branko Stankovic 8. Leonel Alvarez 9 Wladyslaw Zmuda
2. Downcast - 1. Luis Suarez 2. Rensenbrink 3. Osvaldo Ardiles 4. Gerrard 5. Vieri 6. Rep 7. Hulshoff 8. Frank De Boer 9. Buzánszky
3. RedTiger - 1. Gianni Rivera 2. Stielike 3. Bossis 4. J.Greaves 5. Donadoni 6. Lucio 7. Boban 8. Reuter 9. Sanchis
4. Sjor Bepo & Invictus - 1. Gérson 2. Förster 3. Riva 4. Kaltz 5. Wright 6. Orsi 7. Häßler 8. Marinho 9. Rossi
5. Tuppet - 1. Florian Albert 2. Thomas Muller 3. Blanchflower 4. Josef Bican 5. Roberto Perfumo 6. Bonhof 7. Morten Olsen 8. Leandro ferreira 9. Valentino mazzola
6. Aldo Staine - 1. Teófilo Cubillas 2. Mario Kempes 3. Pietro Vierchowod 4. Armando Picchi 5. Preben Elkjær Larsen 6. Amancio Amaro 7. Joan Segarra 8. Dunga 9. Fritz Szepan
7. Chesterlestreet - 1. Matthias Sindelar 2. Kazimierz Deyna 3. Grzegorz Lato 4. Wilhelmus "Wim" Jansen 5. Roberto Rosato 6. Zito 7. J. Armfield 8. B. Lennox, 9. Maldini Sr
8. Isotope - 1. Sandro Mazzola 2. Tostao 3. Ciro Ferrara 4. Gianluca Zambrotta 5. Ince 6. Just Fontaine 7. H.J. Dörner 8. Cambiasso 9. Sol Campbell
9. Skizzo & Pat_Mustard - 1. Uwe Seeler 2. B. Conti 3. Ruggeri 4. Lerby 5. Labruna 6. Hanappi 7. Khurtsilava 8. Gemmell 9. Pedernera
10. harms & Annah - 1. Zizinho 2. Keizer 3. Netto 4. D. Alves 5. Leonidas Da Silva 6. Streltsov 7. Clodoaldo 8. Byrne
11. green_smiley - 1. Dixie Dean 2. Dobrin 3. Luis Pereira 4. Israël 5. Romeo Benetti 6. Di Bartolomei 7. Jorginho 8. Magico Gonzalez
12. BBRBB - 1- Nils Liedholm 2. Júnior 3. Alain Giresse 4. Diego Godín 5. Thiago Silva 6. Nándor Hidegkuti 7. Héctor Rial 8. Maicon
13. Physiocrat - 1. Kaka 2. Zagallo 3. Modric 4. Cerezo 5. Evra 6. Taylor 7. W. Samuel 8. Mats Hummels
14. mazhar13 & Marty1968 - 1. W. Overath 2. H.G.Schwarzenbeck 3. H. Szymaniak 4. H. Crespo 5. F. Causio 6. M. Tassotti 7. K. Augenthaler 8. H. Haller
15. Edgar Allan Pillow- 1. L Brady 2. N Stiles 3. K Dalglish 4. I Rush 5. VR Andrade 6. Danny Blind 7. J Ceulemans 8. Michel
16. Enigma_87 - 1. Allan Simonsen 2. Schweinsteiger 3. Stojkovic 4. David Villa 5. Bratseth 6. Willi Schulz 7. Volodymyr Bezsonov 8. Bernard Dietz

@harms @Annahnomoss
 
Anyway when it comes to quotes regarding comparisons with Beckenbauer, there is simply only one that holds any weight.
"I am the European Figueroa." - Franz Beckenbauer. :)

Another funny concept "the next Zidane": Mourad Meghni, Gourcuff, Nasri...
 
@Invictus will kill me, he wanted him so badly but we went the other direction....tbf he cant blame no one but himself, who in the right mind listens my advice:D

hqdefault.jpg
 
He's counted among many lists of greatest Argentinian and South American players of all time, an idol of Di Stefano, and a key cog of one of the greatest forward lines of all time.

Teammate of Angel Labruna

200px-Pedernera_argnationalteam.jpg


Adolfo Pedernera
Was surprised to see him not picked till now. After Moreno the best player of that team from what I've read, and for some the best in that team technically speaking.