The Next Superstar (Football)

[Wyfitms]

Agreed, a great has to win either the World Cup or regional championship (Euros, Copa etc) with his country at least once. I would also add he should not remain in his comfort zone but instead venture out to a different league to challenge himself.

 

Messi despite his outrageous skill has done neither of the above. C Ronaldo has competed in both EPL and La Liga so he did challenge himself and if the unlikely happens with Portugal winning either the WC or Euros, I would put him above Messi.

 

Don't bash me, I know CR7 has an attitude unlike the humble Messi but football facts should always be the determining factor for measurement.

 

i didnt really liked CR7 at the beginning (mostly because he seemed arrogant and was a manu player)

 

but he has developed himself to be one of the most dangerous players, and also consistent, which u can see from his records

 

so thumbs up for him there

 

but he still hasnt achieved any euro or WC honours yet...

http://youtu.be/rwmTy3SAMzk

 

goal machine at his best.

 

that haircut really

 

while he cannot reproduce consistently the type of 50 goals per season like CR7 and messi

 

but he can make goal scoring look very simple

 

just run onto the ball and shoot and goal

[Toothiewabbit]

that haircut really

 

while he cannot reproduce consistently the type of 50 goals per season like CR7 and messi

 

but he can make goal scoring look very simple

 

just run onto the ball and shoot and goal

Ya lor, he hardly made square or back passes. Everytime he receives a pass, he is full-on goal-bound [laugh]

[Wyfitms]

Ya lor, he hardly made square or back passes. Everytime he receives a pass, he is full-on goal-bound [laugh]

 

not to forget the way he likes to round keepers and tap the ball in

 

never seen another striker who does it so frequently.. almost like he is playing sunday soccer with mates

[Toothiewabbit]

 

not to forget the way he likes to round keepers and tap the ball in

 

never seen another striker who does it so frequently.. almost like he is playing sunday soccer with mates

He and the likes of Romario - cunning, deceptive, quick, nimble, velocity in short spaces - extinct leow

[Spring]

 

i didnt really liked CR7 at the beginning (mostly because he seemed arrogant and was a manu player)

 

but he has developed himself to be one of the most dangerous players, and also consistent, which u can see from his records

 

so thumbs up for him there

 

but he still hasnt achieved any euro or WC honours yet...

 

Ya I also don't like him previously and still don't!!

 

But I give him credit for his athleticism and hard work to be where he is cos he's not as gifted as Messi and to be on par with him is already a great achievement!!

Other thing in his favour is he tried EPL and thereafter plied his trade in La Liga which shows his ambition. I challenge Messi to go to EPL to prove his greatness!!!

[Ktglfc]

 

Ya I also don't like him previously and still don't!!

 

But I give him credit for his athleticism and hard work to be where he is cos he's not as gifted as Messi and to be on par with him is already a great achievement!!

Other thing in his favour is he tried EPL and thereafter plied his trade in La Liga which shows his ambition. I challenge Messi to go to EPL to prove his greatness!!!

 

A footballer can only be great if he puts in hardwork, hardwork and hardwork ...

No matter how much talent you have, if one don't put in hardwork, his talents would be just waste...

 

I respect CR and Messi .... these are the 2 greats that demonstrate talents and hardwork now :)

[Ah_cow]

 

A footballer can only be great if he puts in hardwork, hardwork and hardwork ...

No matter how much talent you have, if one don't put in hardwork, his talents would be just waste...

 

I respect CR and Messi .... these are the 2 greats that demonstrate talents and hardwork now :)

lol one of the legend entioned here, romario, if irrc he dun really go for training one.

[Wyfitms]

lol one of the legend entioned here, romario, if irrc he dun really go for training one.

 

that is pure talent, which cannot be trained

 

if he is more professional in his playing days, he might have scored 1,500 goals in his career!

[Scion]

if you played Championship Manager 15 years ago, you will know this player....

 

 

Depending on whose numbers you believe, he made anything between 50 and 100 appearances in his senior career. His CV includes Millwall, Cádiz, Plymouth, FC Haka, Panetolikos, FK Tonsberg and the Gambian side Samger FC. He won youth caps for one country and four senior caps for another, scoring once. The statistics are, using the measures by which anyone can assess itinerant footballers who prowl the world for work, nothing at all remarkable.

Yet statistics are exactly what Cherno Samba will be remembered by after the self-styled “Championship Manager Legend” announced his retirement from football on Monday at the age of 29. A Gambia-born forward who became one of the most vaunted properties in English football by his early teens – Michael Owen is said to have telephoned Samba personally while Samba was on a bus home from school, urging him to sign for Liverpool – his promise prompted the computer game’s creators to make sure they were ahead of the curve.

The Millwall academy player was given scores that reflected his clear ability and potential to become one of the world’s best. You booted up the 2001-02 version of the game, made a beeline for a young, cheap Samba, and sat back while he fired you to glory amid febrile scenes in your back room.

It had been naggingly obvious since Samba’s departure from Millwall in 2004, having been paraded in front of the Premier League’s top clubs while concurrently allowing his own talent to drift, that the facts would never do justice to the figures. While his career atrophied, his name reverberated around halls of residence and caused a buzz in student bars.

Everyone has their own story of Cherno Samba, and perhaps a far more personal one than they might have had if they had actually known him: the virtual version would be unfazed at the prospect of becoming your first-choice striker at 16 and would be the guaranteed bail-out option to take you exactly where you wanted to be, regardless of your team’s level – usually finding the time to take England to 2006 and 2010 World Cup glory, too.

This has been a curious period for those who follow the Championship Manager (now Football Manager) cult. The American analogue to Samba, Freddy Adu, recently returned to his home country with Tampa Bay Rowdies after failing to make the grade at Serbian minnows Jagodina or the moderate Finnish club, KuPS.

At Jagodina, there had been the hope his exploits in the video game might attract supporters to their stadium – and local fans who met Adu were quick to thank him for his services to their all-night sessions in front of the computer. Imaginations may have been captured but Adu, struggling for fitness, made one substitute appearance in the domestic cup before being quietly released. Sometimes it does not do to get too close to your heroes.

Yet it is the blurring between fantasy and reality that has given the video game its allure down the years and created its legends. Samba’s and Adu’s characteristics were ascribed according to real, visible evidence of potential – from where anything could happen. If either had enjoyed something close to their projected career trajectory, the satisfaction and amusement in taking them to heights Lionel Messi could barely envisage would be far less.

They are far from the only players to have made a name through overly generous talent attribution, although it should be pointed out that the games have a highly impressive record in anticipating future stars – just one example being a young Zlatan Ibrahimovic, who was available for peanuts from Malmo at the turn of the century. Names that inspire particular affection include Tonton Zola Moukoko, widely regarded as the poster boy for Football Manager prodigies but now plying his trade in Sweden’s lower leagues, and the Sweden midfielder Kennedy Bakircioglu, who has enjoyed a perfectly good career with clubs such as Ajax and Racing Santander but performed like a combination of Eusébio and Bobby Charlton in the virtual world.

Those scouring lower down the leagues could spend £10,000 on the Kingstonian attacking midfielder Geoff Pitcher, a journeyman suddenly rendered capable of scoring and creating from virtually any angle, while eastern Europe tended to be worth a punt too. Maksim Tsygalko, who retired at the age of 26 in 2009, would become a world beater after being plucked from Dinamo Minsk, while the Dynamo Kyiv striker Viktor Leonenko, usually a competent deputy to Andriy Shevchenko and Serhiy Rebrov, would outshine both if you could agree a fee.

The tales are many and the myths will endure – into what Samba hopes will be a fruitful coaching career. In his retirement statement, he thanked the media for their role in his life as a player. “I might not be where I am today without their exposure and writing about me,” he said. “My sincere gratitude to them as I consider them partners in football development.”

It is a curious thought that, while Samba’s potential led to his heady computer game exploits, his high-profile presence on the game may to some extent have helped him maintain his career as a player. The notion of a “Championship Manager Legend” may lead us to marvel at the short leap from actuality to imagination, but it also prompts the thought that success and failure are not always what they seem, either.

 

 

[Karoon]

Difficult lah, all these next ______.

 

Between ages 14 to 21 lots of things happen to teenagers. Even with the best type of guidance and daddy network, the likes of jordi cruyff, paul dalglish and charlie sheringham struggle. Most times pointless to follow them. Just wait for the finished product to emerge.

[Scion]

CR7 is 30 and Messi is 28.... they will likely decline in a couple of years' time

 

when they retire, probably we will have to wait for many years before we see another such extraordinary players again

 

because right now, there don't seem to have any younger players that come close to their levels

 

not Neymar (maybe his international record comes close to their scoring feats)

 

not Hazard

 

not Muller

[Spring]

CR7 is 30 and Messi is 28.... they will likely decline in a couple of years' time

 

when they retire, probably we will have to wait for many years before we see another such extraordinary players again

 

because right now, there don't seem to have any younger players that come close to their levels

 

not Neymar (maybe his international record comes close to their scoring feats)

 

not Hazard

 

not Muller

 

Somebody will normally step up another gear and takeover from the 2 superstars I'm quite sure.

Maybe not up to their level but would still be heads n shoulders above the rest.

 

Every generation has a star like Ronaldo, Rivaldo, Baggio, Zico, Zidane in the not too distant past.

At this stage, Bale could be one and perhaps Neymar, Hazard or an average player may suddenly outshine his peers, we shall see and this is what intrigues all of us.

[Scion]

 

Somebody will normally step up another gear and takeover from the 2 superstars I'm quite sure.

Maybe not up to their level but would still be heads n shoulders above the rest.

 

Every generation has a star like Ronaldo, Rivaldo, Baggio, Zico, Zidane in the not too distant past.

At this stage, Bale could be one and perhaps Neymar, Hazard or an average player may suddenly outshine his peers, we shall see and this is what intrigues all of us.

 

agreed...

 

but they have to score plenty of goals and assists to be at least on the same level as these 2

 

40+, 50+ goals in all competitions per season, for many seasons

[Spring]

 

agreed...

 

but they have to score plenty of goals and assists to be at least on the same level as these 2

 

40+, 50+ goals in all competitions per season, for many seasons

 

Wow, that's a really high bar of 40-50+ goals

In EPL, if u can score 30+ it's considered excellent already.

Actually, I hope to see Messi in EPL one day and see if he can replicate what he does in La Liga.

 

Even Suarez has not been able to score 40-50 goals in a season consistently but maybe cos Barca front 3 shares the goals. Anyway, I await the next superstar!!

[Scion]

wait a minute... hazard is still so young

 

this guy is only 2 years younger, and he's the new Hazard?

 

 

 

TOP STORY: Spurs chase 'new Hazard'

After the emergence of Erik Lamela on top of the standout performances of Christian Eriksen and Harry Kane, one would think that Tottenham are well stocked with young attacking players. While that may be true, too much is never enough when it comes to such a commodity.

 

That's why it's little surprise that Spurs are tracking Lille playmaker Sofiane Boufal, dubbed "the new Eden Hazard," according to the Star. The 22-year-old has scored three times in eight Ligue 1 appearances for the French club, after joining from Angers last season.

 

The British publication reports that Boufal had been a summer target, but that the North London club pursued other targets instead.

 

 

[Scion]

the next Zlatan....

 

 

 

Real Madrid and several Premier League clubs are watching a 17-year-old striker ambitiously labelled "the next Zlatan Ibrahimovic" after scoring six goals for AIK Solna in the Swedish Allsvenskan league. However, AS reported that Alexander Isak is happy to stay put and continue his development for the time being. That makes a move unlikely for now.

 

 

[Galantspeedz]

 

i didnt really liked CR7 at the beginning (mostly because he seemed arrogant and was a manu player)

 

but he has developed himself to be one of the most dangerous players, and also consistent, which u can see from his records

 

so thumbs up for him there

 

but he still hasnt achieved any euro or WC honours yet... 

 

 

 

1yr on... so now how?

wait a minute... hazard is still so young

 

this guy is only 2 years younger, and he's the new Hazard?

 

 

 

 

new hazard now at southampton.... likely next year go liverpool 

[Scion]

wow... must watch this name liao

 

 

Manchester United circle for "next Ronaldo"

 

Gonçalo Guedes was scouted by Manchester United last weekend with the Benfica starlet, donned "the next Ronaldo," being lined up for a move to Old Trafford next summer, according to the Mirror.

The Red Devils are tracking the 19-year-old, who has transformed himself from a wide man to a central attacking force for Rui Vitoria's side this campaign.

Any move won't be easy, however, as the Lisbon giants hold all the cards with five years to run on Guedes' current deal. That said, with agent Jorge Mendes behind the scenes, a big-money move is not likely to be too far away.