Desp Posted August 22, 2023 Share Posted August 22, 2023 14 hours ago, RandomGuy. said: TBF while its true that Cantona had a huge part to play in Man U, and Fergusons, subsequent successes, its also correct to say hes over-rated IMO. Even at his peak was he ever close to being considered a top attacking player? Hes a EPL legend but hes nowhere near a legend of the game, which is how some people describe him. Jesus Christ I can only assume you never watched him play to come out with this nonsense. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VincentGuerin Posted August 22, 2023 Share Posted August 22, 2023 (edited) 20 minutes ago, Urban Spaceman said: whilst I dont disagree with the general thrust, being "routinely linked" with moves abroad is a bit tenuous of a supporting argument. Man U were pretty much top dog in Europe as well, other than Bayern and the two Spanish giants, so there were very little step ups available for him. But critically, those clubs were so well run they wouldn't have touched him with a barge pole due to the risk of his disruptive attitude. Fergie took a risk and it paid off, probably only he could keep Cantona in some sort of control. Although even he failed really. Know for a fact he was a massively disruptive influence at the club. particularly when he was suspended for so long and when they were winning. No. Serie A was still the most glamorous league at the time, and Cantona was linked with it all the time. This is not tenuous, it is a rebuttal of RG's (ludicrous) claim that Cantona was not seen as one of the best attacking players of his time. He was often linked with moves to the big clubs in the best league. In Cantona's time United were nowhere near top dog in Europe. They got knocked out the Champions League in the qualifiers and group stage by the likes of Galatasaray and Gothenberg, and were pumped out the UEFA Cup by Rotor Volgograd in the first round. Torpedo Moscow punted them out the CWC in the first round, too. They were miles off it. The only good run they had in Europe in his whole time there was his last season when they reached the semis. Italian clubs reached the CL final seven years running at that time (while England provided 0) and provided 8 UEFA Cup finalists in 8 seasons (England 0). Again, I'd venture that if you think the only step up available from Man Utd in the 90s was Bayern, Barca, or Real, then you're either quite young or have just forgotten what football was in the 90s. Serie A was the undisputed daddy. It's not even close. And being 'well-run' didn't stop Barca hiring Romario, Laudrup, Ronaldo, or Stoichkov, all of whom ran rings around the clubs that you reckon wouldn't stand for it. And, as for disruptive influences at Bayern, where do we fucking start? Edited August 22, 2023 by VincentGuerin 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GAD Posted August 22, 2023 Share Posted August 22, 2023 I always remember Cantona being a great player for the English league, but the English league wasn't the dominant behemoth it is now. I don't think any English team won the Champions league in the 90s until United did it right at the end, a few years after Cantona had left. Most of the best players in the world at the time seemed to play in Spain and Italy, with the English league being a bit of a retirement league for guys like Vialli and Gullit and that didn't really change until Cantona had retired. Cantona was still a top player though. To be honest, he probably would have been at a better club if it hadn't been for his various other issues. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
D Angelo Barksdale Posted August 22, 2023 Share Posted August 22, 2023 He was more than a man, he was Cantona. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Molotov Posted August 22, 2023 Share Posted August 22, 2023 Incoming graphic representation of how shite Cantona was from @RandomGuy.…… 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BFTD Posted August 22, 2023 Share Posted August 22, 2023 On 21/08/2023 at 08:30, forkboy said: Nevermind 40 years, it's close to 60 now. And long may it grow. Thankfully I wasn't alive/aware for the first twenty years. One sweet, glorious day, I'll be too dead to hear the wall-to-wall coverage on Scottish media of the centenary of THE INVENTORS OF FOOTBALL winning their only major tournament, and how this time, finally, it's absolutely, definitely COMING HOME VINDALOO VINDALOO. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kennie makevin Posted August 22, 2023 Share Posted August 22, 2023 14 hours ago, RandomGuy. said: TBF while its true that Cantona had a huge part to play in Man U, and Fergusons, subsequent successes, its also correct to say hes over-rated IMO. Even at his peak was he ever close to being considered a top attacking player? Hes a EPL legend but hes nowhere near a legend of the game, which is how some people describe him. Exactly, France had to ditch Cantona to become World & European champions and he was integral to a Leeds Utd side knocked out of Europe by Rangers..... Monsieur Eric was many things , footballing genius certainly not one of them. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RandomGuy. Posted August 22, 2023 Share Posted August 22, 2023 31 minutes ago, Desp said: Jesus Christ I can only assume you never watched him play to come out with this nonsense. It probably helps that i didnt, so i dont have nostalgia blinding me. He was clearly a proper maverick and will be remembered as a EPL great, but even in that era you had Ronaldo, Romario, Weah, Roberto Baggio, Batistuta all about. Cantona benefits from being the type of player people like to watch, which inflates their ability decades later. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VincentGuerin Posted August 22, 2023 Share Posted August 22, 2023 (edited) 13 minutes ago, RandomGuy. said: It probably helps that i didnt, so i dont have nostalgia blinding me. He was clearly a proper maverick and will be remembered as a EPL great, but even in that era you had Ronaldo, Romario, Weah, Roberto Baggio, Batistuta all about. Cantona benefits from being the type of player people like to watch, which inflates their ability decades later. You've just said you didn't watch him, so how the f**k would you know? For f**k's sake. Fucking weans! Only the age of Twitter would make "I never saw him play, but I think..." seem like a reasonable thing to say. Edited August 22, 2023 by VincentGuerin 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RandomGuy. Posted August 22, 2023 Share Posted August 22, 2023 7 minutes ago, VincentGuerin said: You've just said you didn't watch him, so how the f**k would you know? For f**k's sake. Fucking weans! Only the age of Twitter would make "I never saw him play, but I think..." seem like a reasonable thing to say. Because a magical thing was invented that allows people to watch players play years after the match has happened. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VincentGuerin Posted August 22, 2023 Share Posted August 22, 2023 4 minutes ago, RandomGuy. said: Because a magical thing was invented that allows people to watch players play years after the match has happened. You just confirmed in the previous post that you never watched him play. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dons_1988 Posted August 22, 2023 Share Posted August 22, 2023 Can I offer the suggestion that not being as good as ronaldo doesn’t exclude you from being considered a top player? Anyway, the argument seems to have moved from was he the most overrated player ever to was he considered an elite player. The original overrated statement is complete nonsense. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ranaldo Bairn Posted August 22, 2023 Share Posted August 22, 2023 1 hour ago, Desp said: Jesus Christ I can only assume you never watched him play to come out with this nonsense. I actually laughed myself into a coma reading that comment. Way to out yourself as being utterly clueless. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr Meeker Posted August 22, 2023 Share Posted August 22, 2023 I think the fact that so many Manchester United fans that watched him every week name him as their favourite player of that time speaks volumes for just how good he was. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RandomGuy. Posted August 22, 2023 Share Posted August 22, 2023 34 minutes ago, VincentGuerin said: You just confirmed in the previous post that you never watched him play. Im assuming people who are talking about "seeing him play" are on about seeing him play regularly at Man U, otherwise dragging someones age into it is all a bit pointless. Just now, Mr Meeker said: I think the fact that so many Manchester United fans that watched him every week name him as their favourite player of that time speaks volumes for just how good he was. It doesnt, at all. He'll obviously be adored by Man U fans and their judgement biased accordingly. If he'd played for Lazio instead of Man U then literally everyone on this thread saying he wasnt over rated wouldn't have that opinion. Its purely and simply nostalgia because you remember the EPL hype train showing you his best bits every week. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Molotov Posted August 22, 2023 Share Posted August 22, 2023 1 minute ago, Mr Meeker said: I think the fact that so many Manchester United fans that watched him every week name him as their favourite player of that time speaks volumes for just how good he was. Never mind the fans. Many players of that club who went on to become greats in the game going on record as saying Cantona had a huge influence on how they trained, prepared and played the game. Cantona was the catalyst for United winning that first title under Fergie. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VincentGuerin Posted August 22, 2023 Share Posted August 22, 2023 6 minutes ago, RandomGuy. said: Im assuming people who are talking about "seeing him play" are on about seeing him play regularly at Man U, otherwise dragging someones age into it is all a bit pointless. It doesnt, at all. He'll obviously be adored by Man U fans and their judgement biased accordingly. If he'd played for Lazio instead of Man U then literally everyone on this thread saying he wasnt over rated wouldn't have that opinion. Its purely and simply nostalgia because you remember the EPL hype train showing you his best bits every week. This is preposterous nonsense. You're on here lecturing folk about something you've openly told us you ken f**k all about. How many games involving Cantona do you reckon you've ever seen from start to finish? Age is perfectly relevant. To be serious for a minute, you're wading in with an ill-informed opinion and telling people who have seen this guy play loads and can remember doing so that you are right and they are wrong. This is pure 100% Twitter. Your brain has been abused. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr Meeker Posted August 22, 2023 Share Posted August 22, 2023 He was also good in the Oasis chap's video. Something Randomguy singularly fails to note. I'm going to tap out on this now as I'm supposed to be painting the shed and Mrs Meeker will not take kindly to the news I've spent my day discussing 1990s French footballers 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RandomGuy. Posted August 22, 2023 Share Posted August 22, 2023 7 minutes ago, Molotov said: Never mind the fans. Many players of that club who went on to become greats in the game going on record as saying Cantona had a huge influence on how they trained, prepared and played the game. Cantona was the catalyst for United winning that first title under Fergie. Thats all very lovely, it doesnt make him a better footballer than he was though. James Milner gets praised by Champions League winning Liverpool players for how professional he is and how he helped motivate them. 5 minutes ago, VincentGuerin said: How many games involving Cantona do you reckon you've ever seen from start to finish? Probably more than you in the past 10 years. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VincentGuerin Posted August 22, 2023 Share Posted August 22, 2023 (edited) 13 minutes ago, RandomGuy. said: Probably more than you in the past 10 years. Come on. Rough estimate. I watch old games all the fucking time, so you're probably incorrect, as well. Nineties fitba is my hobby. I've actually got West Ham v Blackburn from 1995 on right now. I'm watching all the games I can from their title-winning year. Edited August 22, 2023 by VincentGuerin 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.