The best team you've ever seen playing

devilish

Juventus fan who used to support United
Joined
Sep 5, 2002
Messages
63,538
Mine was AC Milan in the late 80s-early 90s. It had a magnificent defense (Tassotti-Baresi-Costacurta-Maldini), midfield (Ancelotti, Donadoni, Rijkaard, Gullit and Colombo) and possibly the finest striker of his generation (Van Basten). That team would chew any team I've ever seen playing.

Second best team must be Italy of the 90s (without Sacchi messing in) and Guardiola's Barcelona.
 
Difficult for me to say given my age, but in club football Pep's Barça. International Spain by default.
 
Barcelona under Guardiola for me, 2010-11 being the very peak season for watching them.
 
Ive always said that early 90s Milan team for me too. They were something else.

The other great teams for me have been the late 90s Juventus, Guardiola's Barcelona and our mid 00s offering. LVG's Ajax were pretty good too.
 
Guardiola's Barcelona peak years. Magic.
 
Yeah, would have to give it to Pep's Barcelona too.
 
Are we talking single season or over an extended period of time ?

Because if it's the former then that Bayern Munich side managed by Heyneckes in 2012/ 2013 was probably the best team I've ever seen, better than even Pep's Barcelona IMO. Partly because teams did eventually find a way to negate Guardiola's tactics to an extent by sitting in deep banks, stifling Messi with hardman tactics, keeping their passing carousel in front of you and countering on the break.

But Bayern Munich was just extremely well rounded despite a very basic, almost old fashioned 4-4-2 layout. Extremely high work rate, superb genenpressing - even better than Dortmund IMO, great defensive organisation and in general just defending as a team than as individuals, Ribery and Robben on the flanks - both of them tracking back to make up numbers, Muller in the final third with his predatory instincts and general industriousness, Martinez and Schweinsteiger controlling the center of the pitch, Lahm and Alaba rampaging up and down the flanks, Neuer in goal. One would be hard pressed to find any major weaknesses with the team or the system, or something you could exploit consistently.

If I'd to choose a team to face any opposition, they'd probably be my first choice.
 
Pep's Barca. No other team dominated every game they played as much as them.
 
Revan said:
Pep's Barca. No other team dominated every game they played as much as them.
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I agree - the 2010 team in particular

I've never been more frustrated watching our league winning sides chase his players around.....it might have been the possession based element of their play which made it more frustrating
 
Guardiola's Barcelona team. The most dominant team I've seen, they played beautiful football and had the magic of one of the best players in history. Amazing.
 
Pep's Barca with a HUGE preference to the 08/09 season. Glorious to watch it as a work in progress. Made mincemeat of the 06-09 United, which as far as I'm concerned is the most dominant Premiership team assembled, 3 titles, 2 CL finals(and a depleted defence semi-final loss in the other), cup runs galore all while playing attractive football for the most part.

I value being able to go in all the competitions you enter over brilliant CL or League runs thus putting them two above the likes of mid 2000's Milan, Arsenal, or the current dominant Juventus, though this could be a good run for them in the CL.
 
Havent seen that Milan play but for me Peo's Barca by a mile, if yiu have 2 of the best midfielders ever, and imo the GOAT in theur prime, there's no stopping you. Even the Barca of this season has been better than most teams in the past two decades, the brilliance of Messi makes their whole team better. Since United play this way, I acknowledge their quality a lot more, sometimes it seems impossible to just break a defensive team open, Barca did it for fun.
 
devilish said:
You haven't seen AC Milan of the late 80s and early 90s don't you?
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Sacchi's Milan only managed to win the league once, I'd hardly call them dominant. Capello's were a different side and whilst dominating the league, on my managed one CL and no domestic cups. Peps Guardiola won 3 La Ligas, 2 CLs and 2 Copa Del Reys, including a treble in a 4 year period. That's by far the most dominant I've ever seen.
 
ChrisG11 said:
Sacchi's Milan only managed to win the league once, I'd hardly call them dominant. Capello's were a different side and whilst dominating the league, on my managed one CL and no domestic cups. Peps Guardiola won 3 La Ligas, 2 CLs and 2 Copa Del Reys, including a treble in a 4 year period. That's by far the most dominant I've ever seen.
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I thought you're referring to how they played the game. Apologies.

Kindly note the talent the Serie A had during the late 80s and the mid 90s. At one point the situation was so ridiculous that top world class players like Hagi, Dunga, Gazza, Batistuta, Laudrup and Maradona were playing with small or mid sized Serie A clubs. The standards were so frigging high that top class players like Berkamp, Pancev, Gazza and Rush couldn't even make the grade and were sold to other clubs with much disgrace.

If you want to compare it to today's standards it would be like having Muller playing with Spurs, Iniesta playing with Everton and Ibrahimovic playing with Bolton.
 
devilish said:
I thought you're referring to how they played the game. Apologies.

Kindly note the talent the Serie A had during the late 80s and the mid 90s. At one point the situation was so ridiculous that top world class players like Hagi, Dunga, Gazza, Batistuta, Laudrup and Maradona were playing with small or mid sized Serie A clubs. The standards were so frigging high that top class players like Berkamp, Pancev, Gazza and Rush couldn't even make the grade and were sold to other clubs with much disgrace.

If you want to compare it to today's standards it would be like having Muller playing with Spurs, Iniesta playing with Everton and Ibrahimovic playing with Bolton.
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It wasn't me that made the initial post, although I was born in 1993 so I couldn't comment on the teams themselves, I can only make a case based on past clips and stats.

Whilst you may be right about the difficulty of the league, as I believe Serie A was largely competitive throughout the 90's, the Champions Leagues that Barcelona won were a lot harder than those of that Milan side. It's not to say they couldn't have done it as we'll never know, just as we don't know how successful Barcelona would have been with a more competitive La Liga, but I think that's got to be taken into consideration as well. I saw Barcelona dominate the best sides in the world on a regular basis, and the only way they were denied the 2010 CL was through a spirited backs against the wall job from Inter.
 
ChrisG11 said:
It wasn't me that made the initial post, although I was born in 1993 so I couldn't comment on the teams themselves, I can only make a case based on past clips and stats.

Whilst you may be right about the difficulty of the league, as I believe Serie A was largely competitive throughout the 90's, the Champions Leagues that Barcelona won were a lot harder than those of that Milan side. It's not to say they couldn't have done it as we'll never know, just as we don't know how successful Barcelona would have been with a more competitive La Liga, but I think that's got to be taken into consideration as well. I saw Barcelona dominate the best sides in the world on a regular basis, and the only way they were denied the 2010 CL was through a spirited backs against the wall job from Inter.
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The Serie A was the CL back then or pretty much the equivalent to it. The majority of world class players were there. If you take the ballon d'or between the 80s until the mid 90s, 12 out of 15 were given to players who were playing or would be soon playing in the Serie A. Its not the anomaly we've got today were we've just have 2 great players a head above the rest (Ronaldo and Messi). Im referring to a wider number of players including Rossi, Papin, Van Basten, Platini, Gullit, Weah, Sammer, Mattheus etc.

The competition in the Serie A was so tough that it was nearly impossible to focus on many targets at one go. However between the late 80s and mid 90s AC Milan still managed to win as many CLs as Barcelona did in their golden era.

I admire Barcelona's magic however Sacchi's AC Milan was a more complete team. There's no way Messi would be able to make his magic work against the likes of Baresi and Maldini.
 
Let me just give you a top 5 list
(1) Guardiola's Barcelona
(2) United 2006 - 2009
(3) Brazil 2002
(4) Rijkaard's Barcelona
(5) The first Galacticos ( they weren't dominant per say, but watching the likes of Figo,Ronaldo,Beckham,Zidane and Raul etc play together was amazing, it was arguably the greatest thing ever assembled on paper, i used to enjoy watching them play,even if i am a Barca man myself.)


Totally unrelated but it might interest you guys to know that our present era is actually a "Galactico" era, i didn't think people took the "Van Gaalacticos" thing seriously :(

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galácticos
 
devilish said:
The Serie A was the CL back then or pretty much the equivalent to it. The majority of world class players were there. If you take the ballon d'or between the 80s until the mid 90s, 12 out of 15 were given to players who were playing or would be soon playing in the Serie A. Its not the anomaly we've got today were we've just have 2 great players a head above the rest (Ronaldo and Messi). Im referring to a wider number of players including Rossi, Papin, Van Basten, Platini, Gullit, Weah, Sammer, Mattheus etc.

The competition in the Serie A was so tough that it was nearly impossible to focus on many targets at one go. However between the late 80s and mid 90s AC Milan still managed to win as many CLs as Barcelona did in their golden era.

I admire Barcelona's magic however Sacchi's AC Milan was a more complete team. There's no way Messi would be able to make his magic work against the likes of Baresi and Maldini.
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Let's not let nostalgia get the better of us. I'm sure the Serie A was tough to win back then, but I refuse to believe that there was as many world class teams in Italy as there was around the world in Europe when Barcelona won it. If that's not what you're referring to I apologise, but then I'm not sure what your point is if so as Sacchis side specialised in the European Cup and Capello's the league.

To say Messi wouldn't be able to play against Baresi and Maldini is also a bit farfetched. Both of these will have come up and been bettered by these world class players at some stage in his career, and Messi is arguably the greatest ever. To dismiss him as easily as that is a bit naive in my opinion.
 
Stack said:
Brazil 82
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Yep me too, it was also at a time when I was young and just loved watching football. Maybe that's a factor as to why I still remember them as the most exciting team I have watched.
 
devilish said:
The Serie A was the CL back then or pretty much the equivalent to it. The majority of world class players were there. If you take the ballon d'or between the 80s until the mid 90s, 12 out of 15 were given to players who were playing or would be soon playing in the Serie A. Its not the anomaly we've got today were we've just have 2 great players a head above the rest (Ronaldo and Messi). Im referring to a wider number of players including Rossi, Papin, Van Basten, Platini, Gullit, Weah, Sammer, Mattheus etc.

The competition in the Serie A was so tough that it was nearly impossible to focus on many targets at one go. However between the late 80s and mid 90s AC Milan still managed to win as many CLs as Barcelona did in their golden era.

I admire Barcelona's magic however Sacchi's AC Milan was a more complete team. There's no way Messi would be able to make his magic work against the likes of Baresi and Maldini.
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This is not true
 
dxadel said:
This is not true
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Rio and Vidic did a decent job against him the first and only time we knocked them out and they weren't as good as Baresi + Maldini. Also AC Milan of that time had players like Rijkaard and Ancelotti in midfield whose more or less as good as our own Keano and Robson were. Beating AC Milan's defense was tough, very very tough.

Also I can't find anyone in Barcelona's defense capable to keep Van Basten and Gullit at bay.
 
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devilish said:
Rio and Vidic did a decent job against him the first and only time we knocked them out and they weren't as good as Baresi + Maldini. Also AC Milan of that time had players like Rijkaard and Ancelotti in midfield whose more or less as good as our own Keano and Robson were. Beating AC Milan's defense was tough, very very tough.
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And the other times, when Messi tore us apart? Messi has also torn defenders like Ramos/Silva in their prime apart, not sure if he'd do the same to those Milan greats but it sure wouldnt be easy for them to stop him.
 
devilish said:
Rio and Vidic did a decent job against him the first and only time we knocked them out and they weren't as good as Baresi + Maldini. Also AC Milan of that time had players like Rijkaard and Ancelotti in midfield whose more or less as good as our own Robson and Keano were. Beating AC Milan's defense was tough, very very tough.
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Thats just 1 game, besides what happened the next year? I am in no way trying to downplay the Milan team of the 1989/90 season which was voted the "best club side of all time" by WSM, they were probably a great side (before my time) yet the likes of Rui Barros still managed to penetrate their defence and score 2 goals, now if a player like that can achieve a brace against THAT defence then surely a certain Argentine who is arguably the greatest ever would still find a way to penetrate and score, now i am fully aware that football is not mathematics, and 1+1 doesn't always equal 2 in football,but i am also under the impression that you don't get that "arguably the greatest ever " tag by being a "good" player - it doesn't matter what era Messi is in - he will still be great.
 
Sammyjunn said:
And the other times, when Messi tore us apart? Messi has also torn defenders like Ramos/Silva in their prime apart, not sure if he'd do the same to those Milan greats but it sure wouldnt be easy for them to stop him.
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By that time our team was taking its long and painful route to decline. Scholes and Giggs were getting old, Fletcher got injured, Tevez left/sent on the bench and Lazyoff took over etc.

I am not diminishing Messi's talent. Actually Im highlighting it. You need a quality defense and midfield to keep him at bay. However AC Milan had that quality defense and midfield. Did Barca have the defenders to keep Van Basten and Gullit at bay though? How would Puyol or Shakira's husband fare against them.....hmm.
 
dxadel said:
Thats just 1 game, besides what happened the next year? I am in no way trying to downplay the Milan team of the 1989/90 season which was voted the "best club side of all time" by WSM, they were probably a great side (before my time) yet the likes of Rui Barros still managed to penetrate their defence and score 2 goals, now if a player like that can achieve a brace against THAT defence then surely a certain Argentine who is arguably the greatest ever would still find a way to penetrate and score, now i am fully aware that football is not mathematics, and 1+1 doesn't always equal 2 in football,but i am also under the impression that you don't get that "arguably the greatest ever " tag by being a "good" player - it doesn't matter what era Messi is in - he will still be great.
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and Michael Mifsud literally humiliated Evans and Pique while playing at Coventry. Flukes do happen (although I still think that Mifsud was a good player who could have done better if he only wasn't that greedy)
 
Pep's Barcelona without a doubt.

The play was breathtaking at times, the Iniesta, Xavi and Messi keep ball, pass and movement was on another level, they made a style of football that Id never seen in my life.
 
devilish said:
and Michael Mifsud literally humiliated Evans and Pique while playing at Coventry. Flukes do happen (although I still think that Mifsud was a good player who could have done better if he only wasn't that greedy)
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Evans and Pique = Baresi and Maldini?
 
Pep's guardiola without a doubt. Overwhelming in their dominance of play and sheer technical quality.

Juve in the mid 90s in second. Such a complete team bursting with quality in depth in every position with a great mix of attacking and defensive balance.
 
devilish said:
and Michael Mifsud literally humiliated Evans and Pique while playing at Coventry. Flukes do happen (although I still think that Mifsud was a good player who could have done better if he only wasn't that greedy)
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In Messi's case, the fluke was letting Rio and Vidic do a job on him.

Once, before he really catapulted into the great he is now whilst playing for a team in the nadir of its cycle.
 
Guardiola's Barcelona they just killed us and did that to all bar 2 teams.
We played some great football 2006-2009
Spain 2008 -2010
 
B20 said:
In Messi's case, the fluke was letting Rio and Vidic do a job on him.

Once, before he really catapulted into the great he is now whilst playing for a team in the nadir of its cycle.
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I disagree. Messi can be stopped like any other player. Even Maradona could be stopped and we're talking here about the best player the world have ever seen. It only need an effort from a quality defense and midfield. AC Milan had that.
 
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