Del Piero, Baggio or Zola: Which Italy legend was better in their prime? | Extra Time
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- Опубліковано 6 лип 2024
- ESPN FC's Sebastian Salazar is joined by Alejandro Moreno and Frank Leboeuf to answer your questions in Extra Time, including:
(0:39) Who was the better striker for AC Milan: Hernan Crespo, Andriy Shevchenko or George Weah,
(1:37) The kind of style Frank would employ as a coach,
(2:56) The best Italian player in their prime: Alessandro Del Piero, Roberto Baggio or Gianfranco Zola,
(5:05) Frank's favorite French wine and the player he would compare it to,
(6:39) And would Ale rather see Atlanta United's Josef Martinez leave MLS or see Brescia's Mario Balotelli join the league?
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Zola and Del Piero have impacted their generations, I was especially a fan of Del Piero, but Baggio is on a whole different level, carried teams on his own, comparable to Maradona, and did it after so much injuries
Baggio is one of the very best footballers we have ever seen.
Is he though? He’s not top 10 might not even be top 20 all time
@@CJVP99 Well, that doesn't mean he's not been one of the greatest footballers of all time. Just think about how many footballers have existed in history... Baggio is ranked 16th, which is not bad at all. Anyway, if he were in position 30, we could still be talking about one of the best footballers ever, no doubt about that.
@@CJVP99You did not answer 😂
@@CJVP99 Name 20 forwards better than Baggio without making me laugh? 🤣
@@SonnyK248 R9, Van Basten, Henry, Romario, Zlatan, Suarez, CR & Messi (if they count as forwards), Lewa, Batistuta, Benzema, Eto’o, Rooney, Kane, Mbappe, Adriano, Pele, Eusebio, Di Stefano, Krmpes, Puskas, Hugo Sanchez, Weah, Muller,
Gave you 20+
Baggio because not only was he unbelievable but he also played his entire career with basically broken knees
And abused hamstring
I agree, plus if you have a look at his career he performed great in every team he played... what was his last team when he killed a ball coming so high and dribbled the goalkeeper with an auto pass?... that guy was a magician
@@litozcar Was Brescia
@@giacomomiceli8429 yep and was a young Pirlo assist for the record. Gracias Baggio
Yeah if he never as the knee problem he will be the legend of the legend u cant imagine whit is 2 knees good
Baggio was one of the best players of all time not just in Italy.
haha what a joke..
@@halfvolley11 oh are you thinking more Rooney?🤣
@@xaynreza6550 Same level as Rooney, but Messi and Ronaldo are 100000x times better. By the time Baggio scores 1 goal, Ronaldo scores 10.
@@halfvolley11he was literally voted in top 5 and top 10 player of all time across multiple publications by fans, professionals and coaches. U must be smarter than all of them. Idiota
@@halfvolley11 Rooney couldn't lace the boots of the man who laced Baggio's boots 🤦♂ Baggio won the ballon d'or. In Rooney's best season he never came close to that level.
Baggio has never been compared to Del Piero or to a lesser extent Zola. Baggio was on another level.
Lesser would imply he was Compared with zola more than del Piero
Zola was underated. Could have been as good as Baggio. He was brilliant at Napoli before they went bankrupt. He was an almost perfect replacement for Maradona (well nobody could perfectly replace him). Then he went on to join a weaker Parma side, where he didnt fit in well with ancelotti's plan.
@@_ajamad he was good but blew his chance (at international level) when he missed the penalty vs Germany in the 1st round in the 1996 Euros.....never really recovered from that....was good at clubs (esp in England) but you simply cannot compare that to a Baggio who scored 9 goals for Italy at World cups (in spite of the coaches! who rarely used him, crazy)
I would have to agree with you. Even though I'm a massive Del Piero fan. Baggio is in a class all in his own !!
Del Piero was Baggio’s understudy and never came anywhere close to Baggio’s skill level/talent, or ability to perform for his club and country. Scored some nice goals and had some skill but that was it
I think everybody knows that Baggio would have been considered top 5 GOATS if he won that World Cup and did not miss the penalty in the world cup final he was on the level of Maradona and Messi
As important as the world cup is, he still wouldn't be in the goat debate.
Ashis Kumar Dan Another person I need to correct. That penalty did not cost Italy. If he made it, Brazil would have still won by converting the next pk. But had Italy won that WC and Baggio scored, he’d be just below Maradona as far performance in a particular WC.
@@znhait yes many people blame Baggio but no one talks about Baresi and Massaro’s terrible misses when it mattered most. Baggio’s spot kick may have been much different if those circumstances were changed. Like you said, even if he scored - Brazil were still likely to win with the next
@@aionvidz that's the burden being the star of the team. In WC 1994, he's the reigning Ballon d'Or. People didn't blame Baresi because if he failed it's still ok. But the best player in the world can't afford to miss. It also means that even Baresi status much lower than Baggio.
Same as Romario. Who should also be considered in the same category.
I'm from mexico and baggio was my idol and my favorit player in the world cup 1994. I really liked the way he played. Brazil was the best team but baggio was the best player in the world cup. I remember when i used to play in the school, i saw many kids saying they are roberto baggio while they were playing, and i knew, i was not the only one who like him.And i felt so bad when he failed the penalty vs brazil, nobody could'nt believe. He deserved to win the worl cup that year
Roberto Baggio. It makes me feel old to say this, but look him up kids. The question isn’t who won the World Cup. Or who thrived in another country. It is who was the best player. Much respect to Zola and Del Piero. But it’s the divine ponytail.
Baggio was sold by Juve because of Del Piero, fyi.
@@seven92023 your point?
Look up George Weah
Ivaylo Iontchev, I know. I get why they did it. Younger, potential, Baggio’s injury history etc. But in my opinion, Baggio was the best of the three.
@@smallshaq8062 Del Piero was better.
Whenever Baggio scores he makes me feel happier than winning the World Cup. I think this is the magic of football.
Baggio for sure. He's the only one among the three that's considered an all time great. In fact, if it weren't for injuries he'd be the greatest Italian footballer of all time. World Cup 94 is always used against him, but if you remember the tournament you'll know he was by far the best player in that tournament (the penalty in the final notwithstanding).
I love Del Piero, he was a genuinely world class player who had so many facets to his career. He's definitely a legend without a doubt. I just don't think you can mention him alongside the R9, Messi, CR7, Pele, Maradona, Zidane etc. Baggio in his prime is up there with those guys. That's how much he ran the show.
I love Zola and he was brilliant but was never among the top players in world football during his heyday.
transfer record breaker
Spot on
Baggio wasn't the best player in that world cup. I'd venture to say he wasn't Italy's best player.
@@jonpool9030 really
@@mnsalthard3110 yes absolutely. Franco Baresi was italy's best player in that world cup. It's only because attacking players get all the attention that people say Baggio.
Baggio is the best Italian player i have seen in my lifetime. I never got to see Rivera or meazza play they are probably the only Italian who were on baggio level.
My fave player ever is Alex Del Piero. Zola was a fantastic talent, top class. However, the answer is Baggio very easily. I think perhaps only Totti comes close.
Totti was overrated
1. Baggio
2. Del Piero
3. Zola
4. Totti
Totti was everything for Roma, the same was Zola for Chelsea before Chelski.
Without Totti, Roma would still be behind Lazio.
Baggio is the best fantasista italy ever had. Both Baggio and Zola are superb dribblers, very explosive. I didnt understand why Zola was under appreciated in italy, he did well with Napoli and Parma. He was almost a perfect player to fill in Maradona's role in napoli. Totti is a special player with his vision, passing and first touch. Del Piero was my fav player growing up. Yet admittedly a bit overated when compared to aforementioned names since he was never as good with the ball as baggio or zola and didnt have unique talent that Totti had. And Cassano could have been on par with Baggio or Totti if only he had the right mentality.
Therefore for me
1. Baggio
2. Totti
3. Zola
4. Del Piero
@@andrewjoyce9038 if you think that del piero was better than totti than you dont know of what you are talking about, in the national team del piero was the reserve of totti, plus del piero was very inconsistent, del piero luck was to play in a top team like juventus, totti could have gone to real madrid in 2004 but his roman heart prevale, totti was pure class, maybe baggio or mancini had more class
Baggio could have been better than Messi if it were not his knees. By far the best Italian player ever.
It speaks to the quality of Baggio and Zola that neither of them really gave a player as good as Del Piero a look in. It has to be Baggio for me. I love Zola, he was the reason I started following Chelsea as a boy and remains one of my favourite ever players. Emotion aside though, Baggio was something else.
"It speaks to the quality of Baggio and Zola that neither of them really gave a player as good as Del Piero a look in"
I'd like to know what makes you believe that? Zola was the starter at Euro 1996 when Del Piero was just 21, nothing exceptional. He played horribly and was widely suspected of being Sacchi's pet, at the expense of more deserving players like Chiesa and Casiraghi (Del Piero wasn't having a great tournament either).
After that Zola was never selected in any international tournament for Italy while Del Piero went on to feature in 4 more competitions, easily overcoming any competition Zola represented.
So where does that idea that Del Piero wasn't playing because of Zola come from? No idea whatsoever. I wish people would comment on actual events that happened rather than a perceived superiority of Zola because he played for Chelsea.
@@oldskoolmusicnostalgia
"I wish people would comment on actual events that happened..."
And I wish people would reply to comments in a timely manner rather than 3 years later, but here we are.
I couldn't remember the context for a comment made that long ago, but listening back it's immediately pretty obvious - there was no "comment on actual events that happened" about Del Piero.
I was commenting on the analysis done by each of the pundits. Neither even spoke about Del Piero. Leboeuf spoke about Zola from his memories with him, and Moreno spoke about Baggio's contribution to the 1994 WC. Neither had any analysis or anecdote about Del Piero. The two older guys were good enough that in a 2 minute sound byte they didn't get to the later player. Moreno still put Del Piero second, but no story about him.
That's all - it's not that deep. Del Piero is an undisputed legend.
the ponytail divine 🙌
3. Del Piero he win the WC 2006
2. Zola the Greatest Chelsea player
1. Baggio is the greatest Italian player of all 🙏😎
Maldini is the greatest Italian player of all time
I’m going Baggio. I saw him at inter totally transform their style of play into something watchable. He was simply amazing.
Don't compare Del Piero with Baggio or Messi ..compare him only with Maradona
It says everything about baggio that in this comment section everyone is pro baggio, despite two other world class players
ESPN fc should just declare that they have nothing to talk about!!
Putting Baggio in the same sentence as Zola and Del Piero is like asking who's better between Zidane and Pogba - simply a foolish question.
Baggio was a very special player, for a time he was even the best player in the world and carried Italy all the way to the World Cup final in 1994 (missed a penalty, but that has no bearing on the man's immense talent).
Del piero far better than all
Del piero is way better before and after his injury
Actually Baggio would be Zidane, del Piero would be Platini and Zola would be Pogba.
@@oldskoolmusicnostalgia
Not a bad comparison though I'd say the difference between Zidane & Platini is way smaller than that between Baggio & Del Piero, then also the difference between Platini & Pogba is bigger than the difference between Del Piero & Zola.
Baggio 100% i mean he was so dominant like this is not even a question
You say this like it’s an easy choice. Del Piero was a monster.
@@junaldinho100 i see where ur coming but nah man
Priince Brvce_LUHG_ lol it is an easy unanimous decision mate
When and with which club was Baggio dominant
@@jonpool9030 with Juve and Bologna he destroyed everybody
Baggio no question 👌
Baggio - unanimous decision.
Totti
I remember all three players well, and in his prime Baggio was just on another level. Him and Maldini are the best Italian players I have seen in my lifetime.
And Barrssi
Is there a comparison aside from the fact they played in the same position? Baggio wins hands down.
There are n were many great n skillful players. And Roberto Baggio was something special...
Baggio has Ballon d'Or and FIFA World Player of the Year. Enough to say.
I love all three. But,Baggio is better a mile. Why?
1)Baggio won both ballon d'or and Fifa best Player, the two did not.
2) Baggio has scored more career goals than both.
3) Baggio has more world cup goals than both.
4) Baggio is the only Italian to score in 3 different world cup(shows of longevity of class).
5) Baggio has more techinal ability than both.(Check his WC 1990 goal)
6) Baggio was the most expensive transfered player during his time the two were not.
(By the way Zola missed a Penailty in 1996 (Italy knocked out) and Del Piero missed a couple of sitters on Euro 2000 finals- for the Penality nay sayers.)
Sorry this one is clear cut. Baggio all day long!
Baggio had to win the golden ball in 1994 but the system gave it to Stoichkov ...... Without injuries he could easily win 2/3.
If you know Baggio you can only be compared with the best ever and not with Totti or Zola. considering the period in which his muscular system was still valid is one of the few total players all time, after and until the end of his carrier he has been pure magic to anyone who loves football.
sorry fot my english. Cheers
Completely agree!
Correction for no 2.. Del Piero was second highest Goal Scorer for Italian Player ever, only behind Silvio Piola.. in carrier, Del Piero scored total 343 goal (include 290 Goal for Juventus + 27 Goal for Italy )
Baggio was 4th place in all time Italian player top scorer with 318 Goal (all carrier), Piola was first with 364 Goal, and Del Piero was second..
As for the first question:
Shevchenko was the best striker of those three, Crespo doesnt deserve a mention seeing as he only spent 1 year. Weah was amazing but Shevchenko was something else!
Yeah unfortunately I think his time at Chelsea tends to overshadow his achievements at Milan but he was amazing.
I was stunned when he said Weah lmao. Weah was great but its a well known fact that the best 3 strikers Milan ever had were 1. Van Basten 2. Shevchenko and 3. Nordahl. After that Weah and Inzaghi
Baggio is the best Italian player all the time!
Baggio. As phenomenonal as the other two are, Baggio was on another level
Baggio è a livello di Maradona extraterrestre
Baggio is one of the bestest dribbler I've ever seen. His dribbling made me forget messi altogether. 🙏
Baggio is the best player to have ever lived !
Baggio was so special...the best
THis is not serious - in Italy nobody would put Zola in the same bracket as the other two.
Because the Italians have not seen Zola at his best.
@@BruceLiverify That is lies English people and PL fans tell themselves. Zola was very good for Napoli and the winner of titles in an exceptional Parma team, then he came home to Cagliari and still played excellently. Every Italian fan of the time knows of his quality but is also plainly aware that del Piero is well above.
@@oldskoolmusicnostalgia I'm Italian, and I don't think so
The one and only Baggio 👍
Baggio for sure! He was in another level even playing his entire career with broken knees.
Baggio might be the best Italian player of all time... and if you have him at least in the correlation, just shows how underrated he is. Brilliant artist
Baggio was Messi level good.. he is a football purist.
Not even close. Messi is at the top 12 years.
Nice joke
He was sensational but no one is messi level
100% agree, only kids who never seen Baggio play will disagree!
What a stupid thing to say 😂 no one is on messi level you fool
I love how everyone agreed Baggio was the best from these 3 players, The main reason I believe is Baggio it's because Baggio played great at every level club, country, and Championsleague. Del Piero and Zola were more Italian league or club level players they were never great at Country level
Baggio is so good.zola not even same level
Of course my idol Baggio!!!!
Baggio for me because I started watching football from 1990 and so far Zola, Del piero, Totti and Pirlo came close to matching his technique but still his talent of scoring and assisting when the team needs it the most is incomparable.
And baggio missing the penalty yet still beloved by all Italians shows how highly rated he is!
Baggio is the best fantasista italy ever had. Both Baggio and Zola are superb dribblers, very explosive. Totti is a special player with his vision, passing and first touch. Del Piero was my fav player growing up. Yet admittedly a bit overated when compared to aforementioned names since he was never as good with the ball as baggio or zola and didnt have unique talent that Totti had. And Cassano could have been on par with Baggio or Totti if only he had the right mentality.
Therefore for me
1. Baggio
2. Totti
3. Zola
4. Del Piero
I'm italian..guys the 90% of italian fans aggree with this:
1. Baggio (absolute best skills)
2. Totti (second best talent)
3. Del Piero ( intelligence, technique and palmares)
4/5. Zola/Mancini
Comporing Totti to Del Piero is like today comporing Zaniolo to Dybala. Both is too good, but ones play in harder level. Thats my opinion, Totti still a big legend.
Baggio was probably tier above both and could have been better had it not been injuries through his career ..
Del Piero and Zola are magnificent players.. but Baggio is on football's Olympus!
"Ah, da quando Baggio non gioca più
Oh no, no! Da quando mi hai lasciato pure tu
Non è più domenica"
Roberto Baggio. Without a shadow of a doubt. Del Piero, Zola, Totti etc were all excellent, but Baggio was on another level. Politics and people's jealousy seriously got in the way of his career though...
Baggio was from another leve!
Roberto Baggio all day
What an insanely easy question. Baggio obviously.
Baggio first and Del piero second. And that's no question. Zola is great though
Roberto Baggio the best
Baggio - and its not even close. If he played in today's era, he would be up there with Ronaldo and Messi.
Having played vs Baggio and Del Piero I couldn’t even begin to think how to compare them. Impossible. Both incredible players.
Wait, are you the Polish guy?
Roberto baggio undeniably... But del piero was amazing also... But zola i havent a clue why hes compared to those two legends
Roberto baggio the best italian player ever
All three were amazing players, and had fantastic club careers. They are three of the best Italian players ever and some of the best number 10s of their generations, but Baggio tops it as he's one of the best players of all time, and played better than either of them for Italy, and starred at three World Cups, coming close to winning two of them. All three were incredibly technically gifted and skilful creative second strikers, who could score and assist with either foot and take stunning free kicks, but Baggio was at a different level technically and in terms of dribbling, and he could score and create at will. Probably Zola was the best at assists and free kicks, and Del Piero had the best work-rate and was the most verastile and successful at club level, and Baggio and Del Piero were better at goalscoring. Frank is a bit biased here towards Zola, as they played together at Chelsea, but it's not easy as they were all exceptional players.
In my humble opinion Baggio scored the 2nd best world cup goal ever 1990 v Czech's. I don't think any Italian fan would answer the question....who was the best ?..Baggio, Del Piero or Zola...they would say....why don't we have players like that now? Italy were so blessed to have a few of the best no 10's ever. Baggio was my favorite player of the early 90's.. Del Piero late 90's...Zola came to UK so we saw him 1st hand...so I am not going to say who was the best..they were all the best
Baggio by far!
Robbi Baggio was a class art
I'll just say it simply. I'm Asian and I know Roberto Baggio is a soccer hero, but the other two don't know. Need more explanation?
No contest, Roberto Baggio easily!!!
Baggio the best italian player
Baggio
Del Piero was the better of the 3. Juve sold prime Baggio because of him.
Shevchenko was the best striker for Milan.
del piero was very very inconsistent not of the calibre of baggio, totti, zola or mancini. Baggio had many injuries and he had 2 and 3 years when he was not him, this is why he ended his career with bologna and brescia but for the rest hat down to baggio incredible player
@@ferrinter7956 :)))))))))))) Baggio the most inconsistent player ever!
I've been watching football since the early 90s. Baggio was magical and mesmerising. There's a romance in a sense that he's a genius but misunderstood by his coaches (except perhaps Mazzone) yet delivered. Zola and Del Piero were probably on the same level, but Baggio was definitely one notch higher, and he did this with one leg only. Buffon, Totti, Pirlo, Maldini and Baresi were the other Italian players closest to Baggio's talent in the past 40 years. Had Del Piero not injured himself prior to the 98 WC, we might well spoken of him in the same breath as these players. Unfortunately, he never recovered from that injury.
Baggio by a country mile.
Not really a conversation ,Baggio by a distance when in his prime.
The Divine Ponytail Roberto Baggio is on his own level above the rest ... but Del Piero was supposed to be the new Baggio but injuries stopped him ... Zola was great but no where on the level of Del Piero or Baggio
Easily baggio. Fair play to del piero, Zola, cassano, boban, rui costa, nakata, recoba and other 10s at that time great talents everyone one of those players were better than James, ozil, coutinho, and other modern 10s but baggio talent wise was another level. I’d put totti just below baggio. Players on that level just never seem to do anything wrong with the ball, I’d put baggio on Michael laudrup, Zidane, ronaldinho tier.
So just because Zola happens to play in England, you fools think he can be compared with Alex ?
This is not even a question. It's an insult to Baggio.
Baggio was magic in the knockout stages of the 1994 World Cup. That’s where greatness is achieved.
Baby Yoda Up In This Mofo...so that means we should completely ignore his brilliance in the 1994 WC..
Olivier Kahn also screwed up in 2002 WC final against Brazil, why was he named the Best Goalkeeper of the Tournament then?
Baggio 1990,94 world cup could be debated best player in both then played unbelievably to keep Brescia up. Easily the best
Love Del Piero and Zola, but c'mon.
It's Roberto Baggio all day long.
Baggio was clearly superior at his prime
My idol , Best italian player ever
And one of the best player of all time
Baggio without a doubt
I love Frank man.. Dude is madd Humble
Baggio the greatest Italian of all time
Maldini
Baresi
Giuseppe Meazza
Buffon
Baggio for sure 🇮🇹
Ive seen all of them play, and I can Saftely say, Roberto Baggio by a longshot. The other two a great but Baggio was on another level
look up Baggio corner goal kicks lol next lvl and he did it at will and with 1 nee
he was the best
Baggio absolutely
The greatness of a player is quantifiable on what he leave to people memory and how much he will continue to be lovel overall by anyone. Roberto Baggio is that player that stand, for talent and football poetry, in front of Maradona and all other immortals of football history.
"You know this man? I had the luck to play with him at Brescia, this man was doing what you do today, but without both the knees and at 39y/o.
If you're lucky you will become half of the player he was."
Pep Guardiola to Leo Messi, personally introducing Roberto Baggio to Messi inside Barca locker rooms.
"Roberto will become the n°1, for sure the best of the 90's, probably more"
Diego Armando Maradona.
Baggio all day ,night and decades
Talent wise i'd say Bobby Baggio but Del Piero was MUCH more effective..We're talking about a guy who formed one of THE great serie A partnerships with David Trezeguet..World Cup winner,UCL winner,Serial Serie A winner..I just feel that Baggio underwhelmed alot at major points in his career but his natural talent was unreal..I really love Baggio as a player..he was such a master with the ball but i'll go with Del Piero for the multi-faceted game.
Robby* statistics will tell otherwise.
@@mrmijunte10 del piero scored more than baggio
Baggio my favorite player ever. Zola was also fantastic. Its really hard to choose, but baggio ze best.
1.Baggio
2.Del Piero
3.Zola
Baggio is a beast. The man is on another level.
Feels strange seening Frank on the right side
Shouldn’t we be adding Totti, Vieri... and maybe Inzaghi? I would argue at top form that Totti is the best of them all
You obviously did not watch Baggio play. Inzaghi and Vieri completely different positions, so that tells me you are clueless. No hate, just get to know the game you love.
yup shud be baggio totti and del piero, inzaghi and bobo deserve a shout too, especially bobo
Inzaghi was just very effective at scoring. Skills wise he doesn't compare to others mentioned
mrmijunte10 whether they were advanced attacking midfielders, center forwards or strikers... I’m strictly speaking from a goal scoring and offensive output production stand point. All the above mainly became inbox players at some point in their career.
And way... thanks for the education
Zola was player of the century for Chelsea. Hey Frank Chelsea did not have much history before Zola play for them.
Baggio.....one of the greatest ever
i watch him and all the others except Pelè, and Baggio (88-94) is one of the few "total" player all time and he is in Top 10 ever. Without a knee after 94 he was no longer effective as before but it was pure magic.
Football with him told the most beautiful story ever. lucky those who enjoyed it.
To us Italians, history has taken away 2 of the strongest players ever. Baggio after 1994 at 28 and DelPiero at 24 (the only one who manages to stay behind Ronaldo "the true" and like him he became another player after that injury.). We have so much regret for this but life is also this. w Football
Roberto most charming Baggio for sure. Please find something else for debate
Baggio is the greatest Italian and among the best European to play the game. With all due respect to Del Peiro & Zola technical abilities Baggio is class above of them. He even won Bllon D'or an WOlrd Player of the year an INDIVIDUAL trophy. You can make a case between Del Peiro vs Totti but not with Baggio.
Zola was the player of the century for Chelsea. Chelsea has no too much history prior in 20th century
Baggio 100% BUT i would have Mancini 2nd what he could do and did with the unfancied sides like Samp and Lazio tell you everything.
if we are talking about class, baggio, mancini and totti are olmost on the same level
@@ferrinter7956 I respectfully disagree with you. Baggio is in another level, and Totti was also better player than Mancini.
@@edofonte76 i respect your opinion but im old enough to have seen all three of them playing football and i can tell you without any doubt that techniclly mancini was 2nd to no one, one of the most underated players ever, if he played for real or juve the world of football would have give him more credit
@@ferrinter7956 I am also old enough and watched them three. I don´t discuss that Roberto Mancini was an underrated player, he probably was (together with some more like Gianfranco Zola, just to mention one of the best talents Italy football has ever produced). This said, the question here is not to say what Mancini could have achieved had he played for a better team. Here the thing is to compare him to Roberto Baggio. You mentioned Mancini is just as classy as Baggio (or really close). Did I get you right? However, my understanding tells me this is not correct. Why? If you check Baggio´s career, he was not of many of his coaches´s like, who susbstituted him or even sat him on the bench (Trapattoni, Lippi or Capello, just to mention a few). BUT he was so classy that he demonstrated in every game what he was capable of. It is not a coincidence that he scored the goal of the tournament in Italy WC 90, he was awarded with the Golden Ball and FIFA World Player in 1993, he was second behind Stoichkov in the Golden Ball 1994, and his brilliant performance in USA 94, distroying Bulgary in seminfinals with two goals (the first simply spectacular). Apart from that, he played with only one knee throughout his career, which proves that if he had played with the two of them he could probably have been in the football history olympus. Therefore, what Baggio achieved was 100% thanks to his class (free kicks, dribbling skills, magical touch and assists, dominating his two feet, ball control, etc). His highest leven was in fact close to Maradona, this agreed among football experts. In his last period playing for Brescia, he was simply amazing. He trotted on the football pitch but he was still the best (protecting the ball, assisting and still scoring astonishing goals). Mancini´s performance on international level (playing for Italy) was quite poor, and never reached a decent level. Coincidence or not? I don´t really know, but that makes me think that as good as a player as you consider him, he should have proved more things. For one reason or another, he never signed for a champion team (Sampdoria was a great team, though). Inter of Milan signed Baggio when he was already 31, which has a lot of merit and speaks by itself. In conclusion, my humble opinion is that Baggio is on another level. The greatest talent in Italian´s football history (agreed not only by me, but by most of football expers and, of course, millions of Italians. Anyway, Mancini was a great player. A pleasure to discuss with a person like you, respectful above all.
@@edofonte76 i give my personal opinion about baggio, before 1993( the ballon dor) he was the best in the world, no doubt about that, i would say, same level of ronaldo and even messi, after that cause of injuries, he got very inconsistent, reason of that juventus sold him to ac milan, he never really came back as he was before 1993, in 1994 if it was not for that late goal against nigeria, his world cup would had been a disaster, where i come there is a saying, become famous a go to sleep, sorry to say but is applies a bit to baggio, in 1994 world cup zola deserved much more than him to play but because of his name sacchi refused to put on the bench, especially in the final where baggio was clearly not fit to play, he put pressure on sacchi and the results we all know what happened, as for mancini, well for me he was a genius, his only problem, well for sure his attitude, in the national team he had big fight with azeglio vicini and with sacchi, reason he was absent in the national team, of course this is just my opinion, i respect yours for sure, for me baggio if it was not for injuries he would had achieved much and much more
Mentioning Zola in the same breath as Del Piero and The divine ponytail Baggio is a total disrespect in itself.
What are you talking about bro? Zola was extremely underrated because he played in a foreign team and in that time Serie A coaches were reluctant to consider players that were playing abroad. This said, Zola was BY FAR the most talented between the two and Del Piero was always in a kind of way "protected" because he played in a big club such as Juventus. He could perform badly but he was always granted a place in the National Team over other players like Zola and he, Del Piero, systematically disappointed with the Italian shirt. If Zola had more consideration you would be talking about one of the greatest players ever because that guy had tremendous abilities second only to Baggio himself in the history of Italian Football.
He was just extremely underrated, but people who really know football history and understand football itself, know who was better