2002-04 was easily better than them. He had a short peak but was still an amazing player.
Francesco Totti
- Thread starter KirkDuyt
- Start date
Francesco Totti was 'easily' better than Zinedine Zidane between 2002 and 2004.....
Do you genuinely think this? And I forgot about Ronaldhino.... I would include Michael Ballack in names ahead of him. Easily.
This is the Zidane who hits that ridiculous volley to win the CL at Hampden Park....
Zidane scored that goal in 2002
I said between 2002-04
Ronaldinho became really good after 2004
You don't recall Ronaldhino at 2002 WC... ?
England do. Ashley Cole certainly does.
Ballack was awesome. Awesome.
Zidane was still quality at this time....
Have you even watched football back then?
Ronaldinho was so inconsistent in his early days.
In 2004-2005 season is when the whole world was starting to take notice that he might be one of the world's best
https://www.xtratime.org/forum/156-world-football/127045-totti-vs-zidane.html
Here's a Totti v Zidane thread from 2004
Italian football really has produced some fantastic no.10s in the last 30 years. Baggio, Zola, Del Piero, Totti. Their ilk will be missed. Now it’s all pace, pace, pace.
Ummmm so ronaldiniho won FIFA world player of the year in 2004... And that award was given out based on performances in the previous calender year.
So basically according to all the managers and captains of international teams the best player in the world between Jan 2003 and december 2003 was Ronnie. . Which comes after being in the best xi in the 2002 world cup... So basically it's bullshit to say he only became really good after 2004... (He retained the award in 2005...)
But did it really count for the whole year? In Season 2003-04 he scored 22 goals in total for barca - 15 in la liga, 3 in CdR and 4 in uefa cup
Barca finished second that year in La Liga and got knocked out by Celtic in 1/8.
First half of the 2004/05 season is what got him the WPOTY award
His first season at barca he was inconsistent as feck despite scoring 22 goals.
His second season was the season we got to see the real Ronaldinho
If you can’t appreciate Totti you can’t aprectiate football. You are probably the same people that thought Berbatov was shit, never thought Hagi was that good and probably never heard of Stoichkov, they are the players who I love. They are what football was all about Imo.
Totti’s career can be split into two parts, before ankle injury (1993-2005) and after injury (2006-2017). He clearly was never the same player after, he transitioned from a world class 10 into a good forward.
Totti circa 2000-2004 was as good as any other player on the planet. He carried Roma to a league title in 2001, and came within only 1 point of Juventus in 2002. Then he carried a relatively poor Roma side to another title challenge in 2004. This was around the time when Serie A was arguably the best league in the world.
The one big criticism of Totti was his inconsistent international career. He was great at Euro 2000, but flopped at the 2002 World Cup and 2004 Euros. Italy at the time was one of the best national teams on the planet, so he didn’t suffer the same disadvantage as he did when playing for Roma.
Totti circa 2000-2004 was as good as any other player on the planet. He carried Roma to a league title in 2001, and came within only 1 point of Juventus in 2002. Then he carried a relatively poor Roma side to another title challenge in 2004. This was around the time when Serie A was arguably the best league in the world.
The one big criticism of Totti was his inconsistent international career. He was great at Euro 2000, but flopped at the 2002 World Cup and 2004 Euros. Italy at the time was one of the best national teams on the planet, so he didn’t suffer the same disadvantage as he did when playing for Roma.
Totti gets overrated. Same thing goes for Del Piero... both suffered big injuries but even in their prime whilst undoubtedly world class and more consistent in club football than many of their peers - in international football their legacies aren’t great.
Even by simple eye test I don’t rate them higher than Zidane or Dinho.
Del Piero was more effective than Totti though in CL but if Totti had played for a bigger club this perception might have changed. I actually preferred the older version of Totti... his technique became more and more consistent.. joy to watch.
Carried a relatively poor team my ass. I would've taken that Roma side over the Invincibles. They were fecking great. Just unlucky they were competing with what was by far the best team in the world(milan)
And he didn't really flop in 2002 either. FIFA wanted us out and they got us out. Failed to do so in the group stage, so they sent the most hilariously and obviously corrupt ref in history* to do the job in the round of 16.
*promptly reduced to second most hilariously and obviously corrupt ref in history after the QF. That whole world cup was a joke
Neither should you. They weren't as good as those two, though comparing them at their best, it's close. Del Piero at his best was nearly as good as Ronaldo. Totti was right up there with Zidane and Dinho.
Last edited:
Del pierro says hi
Hi Alex. You weren't as good as Totti, sorry
Except for 97/98, but you were probably on the juice that season
If we are going to judge Italian players solely by how they performed for the national team, then I rate Pirlo higher than both Totti and Del Piero.
Poor relative to their rivals. Roma did not have as much talent as those Milan or Juve sides.
They had more talent than juventus in 00/01 i think, and yeah, they were obviously worse than milan, but they still managed to push them nearly to the wire. They were close
Not bad
Should have got two men in the wall, the second lad would probably have been decapitated mind you.
Totti
Might still be better than anything we’ve been deploying at AM this season!
Might still be better than anything we’ve been deploying at AM this season!
Absolute beast of a player, another example of a player looking after themselves and adapting their game as they got older in order to prolong their career.
Exactly. And either Totti is dead certain of his technique, or he's a mean, take no prisoners mo fo.That defender was brave trying to put his head on it
That keeper is a joker
Actually wept during his final game for Roma and I'm not even a Roma fan. The definition of a flawed genius with his temper as well, far more entertaining than todays hyper efficient robots.
Did any other player had a zone of the field named after him? (Del Piero)
The real shame is ACL in 1998 never the same
Another shame was Summer ballon d'or instead of him
The real shame is ACL in 1998 never the same
Another shame was Summer ballon d'or instead of him
Heading the ball needs to be banned
The journo Palmeri tweeted yesterday that he played against Totti and stopped him one on one a couple of times. Maybe Palmeri should also consider playing as a defender then.
He should play in every charity match and only focus on scoring as many chips as possible.
I would say Messi was way more a wide forward, he wasn't a striker.
I would take him over Gerrard.
I love Gerrard, but I think peak Totti was probably a better player. At least over the course of a season. Gerrard for the singular match occasion. And that's no slight on Gerrard's week to work contributions.
In Totti's case, it made him smarter though
Hilarious. Maybe he could join Milan for 10 years
He'd do a better job than Bruno, maybe we should sign him.