Best player you can say you saw live


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I never seen Bobby Moore. What were his strengths and weaknesses? Journalists have compared Terry, Ferdinand and most recently Stones to him but those 3 have not had the same 'success internationally'. Would you regard any of them 3 close 'to a Bobby Moore '? Genuinely interested because the day Moore died I was at a youth cup game or resereve game at Roker Park with my Dad in the Main Stand and always remember people around us devastated . Minute silence was observed unbelievably.
When I was at uni in the London's East End in the early 70's I lived behind West Ham's ground and so I often took the opportunity on the spur of the moment to go to the match.

Bobby was nearing the end of his career those days but you could see by his relaxed composure that he had an instinct for reading the game. By this I mean that he knew where all his team mates were at any time and where all the opposition was too. The playing area at Upton Park was very restricted those days and to give you and idea of it the depth of each goal was only about two or three feet. Bobby seemed thrive in that environment and could stroke a ball up field 30 yards or so with great accuracy and have it land on a sixpence. In many cases the sixpence was usually just at the feet of Trevor Brooking who was no mean player himself and a very effective goal scorer. On other occassions the recipient of Bobby's pass was our very own "Pop" Robson who also knew exactly what to do with a ball like that.

As a defender well just look up the old footage of Bobby versus Pele from the 1970 Mexico World Cup he did that sort of thing on a weekly basis . Sliding tackles that swept the ball away from the attacker without making any contact with them and the recovering his footing to take the ball up field .

Weaknesses? Well any of my Ammer mates at the time would be the first to tell you that although Bobby had a great gift for football and was by all reports a very nice guy he wasn't the sharpest tool in the box. Sadly when his playing days were over and despite his World Cup success he found it very difficult to earn a crust and shortly before he died I understand that he was obliged to flog cut price jeans around the pubs from the boot of his car in order to earn a living just like "Only Fools and Horses"

I think that Joe Public's reaction to his untimely death was not only borne out of respect for what he had achieved as a footballer but out of the sense of guilt that arose from how we had all rather ignored such a great player during the final years of his life
 
When I was at uni in the London's East End in the early 70's I lived behind West Ham's ground and so I often took the opportunity on the spur of the moment to go to the match.

Bobby was nearing the end of his career those days but you could see by his relaxed composure that he had an instinct for reading the game. By this I mean that he knew where all his team mates were at any time and where all the opposition was too. The playing area at Upton Park was very restricted those days and to give you and idea of it the depth of each goal was only about two or three feet. Bobby seemed thrive in that environment and could stroke a ball up field 30 yards or so with great accuracy and have it land on a sixpence. In many cases the sixpence was usually just at the feet of Trevor Brooking who was no mean player himself and a very effective goal scorer. On other occassions the recipient of Bobby's pass was our very own "Pop" Robson who also knew exactly what to do with a ball like that.

As a defender well just look up the old footage of Bobby versus Pele from the 1970 Mexico World Cup he did that sort of thing on a weekly basis . Sliding tackles that swept the ball away from the attacker without making any contact with them and the recovering his footing to take the ball up field .

Weaknesses? Well any of my Ammer mates at the time would be the first to tell you that although Bobby had a great gift for football and was by all reports a very nice guy he wasn't the sharpest tool in the box. Sadly when his playing days were over and despite his World Cup success he found it very difficult to earn a crust and shortly before he died I understand that he was obliged to flog cut price jeans around the pubs from the boot of his car in order to earn a living just like "Only Fools and Horses"

I think that Joe Public's reaction to his untimely death was not only borne out of respect for what he had achieved as a footballer but out of the sense of guilt that arose from how we had all rather ignored such a great player during the final years of his life
I watched a rerun of the Mexico 70 Brazil-England game a while ago - the full game - I never really saw Moore in his heyday but what a game he had that day, and up against possibly the greatest international side in history - I actually think the England side of 1970 was a far better side than 66
 
I never seen Bobby Moore. What were his strengths and weaknesses? Journalists have compared Terry, Ferdinand and most recently Stones to him but those 3 have not had the same 'success internationally'. Would you regard any of them 3 close 'to a Bobby Moore '? Genuinely interested because the day Moore died I was at a youth cup game or resereve game at Roker Park with my Dad in the Main Stand and always remember people around us devastated . Minute silence was observed unbelievably.

 
I watched a rerun of the Mexico 70 Brazil-England game a while ago - the full game - I never really saw Moore in his heyday but what a game he had that day, and up against possibly the greatest international side in history - I actually think the England side of 1970 was a far better side than 66
Pele was and still is an absolute gentleman but I believe that he was completely sincere when after that game he said that Moore was the greatest defender he had ever played against.
 
Zidane and stoichkov on the same pitch at Euro 96 at sid james

Was at that game too. In hindsight Zidane was probably the best player I've seen live but I thought he was pretty anonymous in that game and the tournament in general.

Shevchenko for me. Saw him play for Milan and he was different gear.
 
Pele was and still is an absolute gentleman but I believe that he was completely sincere when after that game he said that Moore was the greatest defender he had ever played against.
Possibly the greatest game I've ever seen by a player who ended up on the losing side
What a fitting final that game would have made
 
Dennis Bergkamp for me. I remember he took a touch of the ball and took 4-5 players out of the game.

Still my favourite player of all time
 
Was at that game too. In hindsight Zidane was probably the best player I've seen live but I thought he was pretty anonymous in that game and the tournament in general..

He was, I was so looking forward to seeing him as well

The day I saw Messi he was like Charles Charlie Charles from the Harry Enfield sketch, as if the ball was glued to his boot
 
The giant hammer that you may have caught sight of the West Ham players carrying in the 1964 Cup Final footage was actually housed in the student union bar at I suppose what would have then be called West Ham College of Technology.

It was still there a few years later when I went (by then North East London Polytechnic) and I remember it being chained to the wall after several "thefts" by visiting university rugby teams. Naturally on such occassions our own rugby squad would be ordered to retrieve the thing which they duly did although what interest they had in football I don't know .
 
Messi or Ronaldo or Halom.
Followed by Zidane or Best or Edwards.
Then Haghi, Henry, Bergkamp, Valeron, Valderama, Fransescoli or Dalglish.
Nivver seen Maradona or Pele or Beckenbaur or Cruyff or Platini.
 
Based on achievements in the game, my best would be Cristiano Ronaldo, Zidane, Klinsmann. Ronaldo and Zidane were both in very ordinary international games, though, and don't stand out as memorable.

Best performance seen, probably Cantona, although Henry and Bergkamp formed the best partnership.

Best goalie - either Schmeichel or Neuer.

Most prolific, in terms of goals per minutes played - Ian Helliwell (I saw him twice against York City. First time he came on as a late sub and scored, second time he scored early and was injured inside the first 10 minutes. By my reckoning, that would give him an average of nine goals per game, if only I ever saw him play a full 90 minutes)
 
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