Paolo Maldini appreciation thread

[Tonearm Terrorwrist]

The guy is a legend, full stop. This weekend will be the great man's final game, at home to Roma.

Over 900 competitive appearances for Milan.
126 for Italy
5 times European Cup/Champions League Winner
7 times Serie A Champion

I don't know what else he has won. Pretty sure he was in the 94 World Cup 'Dream Team.'

This guy is easily one of the best defenders of the last 20 years and would rival Roberto Carlos as the best left back, depending on what you preferred out of a left back.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z3WeVch62t4

Well done, Maldini.

 

[Twizzle]

here here

sad to see him finish actually, he seems ageless

he actually retired last season and Milan talked him to playing for one more year

whats most amazing is that all his games were for Milan, most guys like to spend their twilight in a lesser league because its so hard to maintain such a high level of competitiveness at the age of 40

This will be his last game at the Sans Siro against Roma, next week is the final round in Serie A Milan will be at Fiorentina.

 

[Tommy Smith]

Maldini sh*ts on Carlos from dizzying heights.

He's the best left back ive ever seen. When you think of the true greats over the last 20 years, names like Baresi, van Basten, Zidane and Ronaldo (the Brazilian one) spring to mind straight away. And Maldini belongs right in that category in terms of greatness.

 

[CC_Eagle]

Over 900 games?

Wow.

Surely that's some kind of record?

 

[Mong]

Change Maldini to Di Cannio and i will get excited abut it all..

 

[Tonearm Terrorwrist]

Maldini sh*ts on Carlos from dizzying heights.

I said it depends on what you wanted out of a left back you stupid soap dodger.

 

[Matt23]

Absolute legend, one of the all time greats

 

[Tommy Smith]

I said it depends on what you wanted out of a left back you stupid soap dodger.

LOL Hmm, do i want the greatest left back of the last 25 years in my team or an erratic attacking winger who couldn't defend.

"On the one hand, Carlos was a great attacker but on the other Maldini is perhaps the best FB the game has seen. Gee, i need a good attacking player, but that said, i'll still pick Maldini because he's a 1000 times better."

Yeah, depends on what you're after alright. :crazy:

 

[pennywisealfie]

A lot of people here probably know that i was obsessed with Italian Football in the early 90s and my fave Italian team was Juventus, but it was no fun being a fan of any team besides Milan because their defense was impenetrable. Baresi was the leader of that defense, as he was the best defender of all time IMO, but Maldini was on the same level and has kept that going for Milan for another 32048709324 seasons.

Another great stat is that Maldini has been apart of 5 European Cup/Champions League winning sides and has played in 8 finals. How many players besides the old Real Madrid players of the 50s can claim that?

 

[Tonearm Terrorwrist]

LOL Hmm, do i want the greatest left back of the last 25 years in my team or an erratic attacking winger who couldn't defend.

"On the one hand, Carlos was a great attacker but on the other Maldini is perhaps the best FB the game has seen. Gee, i need a good attacking player, but that said, i'll still pick Maldini because he's a 1000 times better."

Yeah, depends on what you're after alright. :crazy:

Are you debating Roberto Carlos' worth you stupid f**king dirty pom merkin?

 

[shiznit]

i didnt watch Maldini early in his Career so i cant comment on that part of his career.

what i really found startling about the guy was that he was a proactive defender rather than your normal reactive defender.

in other words... he would cut moves off before they got going instead of waiting for it to happen and the chasing it down.

i think a hallmark of playing milan was the fact nothing happened down the left side... you would be looking forward to seeing your great attacking wingman tearing milan apart... come to the game... you would barely even know if the bloke was on the field. of course you end up blaming the attacking player for going missing but in actual fact more often then not it was Maldini just locking one side of the field down...

 

[Tommy Smith]

Are you debating Roberto Carlos' worth you stupid f**king dirty pom merkin?

LOL Always reverts to abuse. So boring, so dumb.

Are you actually trying to argue that there might be a situation where one would choose Roberto Carlos over Paolo Maldini? :crazy: Please go ahead and explain when "depending on what you preferred out of a left back" you might choose Carlos.

It's not like cricket where you might prefer to play an extra spinner on a turning wicket. It's football, and Maldini is a much better player so you'd pick him every time.

NFI. Sticky to Rugby League...

 

[Tonearm Terrorwrist]

So, let me get this straight. You are saying the FIRST CHOICE left back for THE BEST TEAM IN THE WORLD for a good 6 years was no good? World Cup winning left back, World Cup runner up left back, was no good? Brazil just happened to have NO OTHER left back so they just had to go with the hack that was Roberto Carlos?

Stick to wanking over the EPL and leave the rest of the football world alone.

 

[Tommy Smith]

So, let me get this straight. You are saying the FIRST CHOICE left back for THE BEST TEAM IN THE WORLD for a good 6 years was no good? World Cup winning left back, World Cup runner up left back, was no good? Brazil just happened to have NO OTHER left back so they just had to go with the hack that was Roberto Carlos?

Stick to wanking over the EPL and leave the rest of the football world alone.

LOL Again, no idea.

Find a quote where i said Carlos was no good. You won't be able to.

Carlos was a fantastic player. That is obvious. But i'd still pick Maldini over him every time.

Roberto Baggio was a great player. But id pick Johan Cruyff over him every time. Gabriel Batistuta was a great player. But id pick Diego Maradona over him every time. Lothar Matthaus was a great player. But id pick Franco baresi over him every time.

You get the picture? There are great players and then there are the true all-time legends of the game (in this case Maldini) who is just flat out a better footballer and would be chosen ahead of Carlos by 99.9% of managers.

 

[Tonearm Terrorwrist]

Maldini sh*ts on Carlos from dizzying heights.

That is not acknowledging Roberto Carlos' talent, you stinky soap dodger.

 

[Tommy Smith]

That is not acknowledging Roberto Carlos' talent, you stinky soap dodger.

LOL So you've changed your story from me saying he was no good to "not acknowledging his talent":lol:

That's a good one. I do apologise for failing to 'acknowledge' his talent. Even though that was irrelevant because the bottom line is that i said Maldini was a better player who you'd pick ahead of Carlos every time.

Simple. You fail. Deal with it.

 

[shiznit]

Roberto Carlos just reminds me of the Galactico era at Madrid... i remember him more for taking free kicks then anything.

 

[hybrid_tiger]

Roberto Carlos was one of the most overrated players going around. And his free kicks weren't even that good - he hit a good one probably one in every 5 or 10 attempts.

The guy couldn't defend for sh*t