[Football] Bryan Robson:"The greatest talent that England has ever produced"

[Butch Willykins]

Gary Lineker reckons had Bryan Robson been fit throughout Mexico 86 or Italia 90 we'd have won one of them.

Not sure I totally agree, but still one hell of a player.

 

[Seagull58]

Whatever happened to Duncan Edwards? Lost in the Munich disaster and getting forgotten over the years. By all accounts he WAS the best player England ever produced, endorsed by just about anyone who was alive at the time. Not enough Premier League action of him recorded by Sky TV to compare with anyone since. In fact, Sky would probably create a conspiracy theory that he didn’t exist.

The players of the time may say that but he passed away at 21 years old. Nowhere near enough playing years for him to be in any objective discussion about the greatest players. As for Bryan Robson, one of the best English box-to-box midfielders ever but not in the conversation for best English footballer. I'd put Gazza ahead of him and he is also some way from the top.

 

[Nobby Cybergoat]

Gary Lineker reckons had Bryan Robson been fit throughout Mexico 86 or Italia 90 we'd have won one of them.

Not sure I totally agree, but still one hell of a player.

We were poor in 82 when he played ... but yes maybe he'd have taken a pen instead of Waddle in 90. 86 we were going out in that QF whatever. Diego wasn't going to be denied

 

[Marlton and Hove Albion]

Gary Lineker reckons had Bryan Robson been fit throughout Mexico 86 or Italia 90 we'd have won one of them.

Not sure I totally agree, but still one hell of a player.

I think football is almost a different game to 40 years ago. Pitch conditions, player conditioning, number of subs, what tackles were ok vs. today, tactical formations, media expectations and wages that turn heads. He was a brilliant player in the games I remember. Not sure there can ever be consensus on a Top 10 of anything - music, restaurants, cars, movies.

 

[HastingsSeagull]

Good player, top 50 yes. Top 20 probably not.

 

[Seagull58]

Drunkard who wasted his talent.

That's a vicious one! By many accounts the guy has hollow legs and could drink his contemporaries under the table but he played a very high standard of football throughout his career and had an amazing engine so it's very contentious to say he wasted his career through booze. Nowhere near the best English footballer. However, in today's game with current player conditioning and diet, allied to the carpets they play on, he would be Kante on steroids, worth 2 players, if he followed the dietary rules.

 

[Swansman]

Well that's just the problem with all great players of long ago, we'll never know just how good they were, as of course they haven't been pitted against players of the modern day.

Well that's just the problem with players of today, we'll never know just how good they are, as of course they haven't been pitted against the great players of previous eras

Send the current version of... I dunno, Pascal Gross maybe, back 35 years and he would be considered one of the best players to ever walk the planet. But its not really fair to compare without taking "what if players back then had the same level of coaching, same level of tactical understanding, if there was the same knowhow about optimising the physical attributes of the player and same demands to behave properly off the pitch?" into the equation.

Only have to look at a compilation of classical goals... attacking players allowed to accelerate freely, players needing to recover after a short sprint and failing to track back, pressure without any support. Technically the difference is not massive but physically and tactically players from back in the day would be eaten alive today.

 

[GT49er]

It's daft trying to pick out the best of all time; times are different. Where do you start? Robson, Greaves or Charlton? Or Scholes, Gerrard, Shearer, Lineker, Bobby Moore, Duncan Edwards, Dixie Dean, Herbie Roberts, Charlie Buchan ...............

Not so much 'where do you start' as 'where do you stop'!

 

[Harry Wilson's tackle]

That's a vicious one! By many accounts the guy has hollow legs and could drink his contemporaries under the table but he played a very high standard of football throughout his career and had an amazing engine so it's very contentious to say he wasted his career through booze. Nowhere near the best English footballer. However, in today's game with current player conditioning and diet, allied to the carpets they play on, he would be Kante on steroids, worth 2 players, if he followed the dietary rules.

All that booze weakens the muscles and explains why he missed so many important games through 'injury'. I thought that was an abuse of his own talent at the time. No reason to change my view. If he were a player today he would either be as you say, or playing in tier 3.

 

[wellquickwoody]

Drunkard who wasted his talent.

Ouch! Personal agenda?

 

[Nitram]

For that type of player I would rate Colin Bell higher.

 

[Herr Tubthumper]

Above average, but not much more. He also injured a lot of the time; he hardly played in the two seasons when United won the title.

 

[GREASED WEASEL]

Send the current version of... I dunno, Pascal Gross maybe, back 35 years and he would be considered one of the best players to ever walk the planet. But its not really fair to compare without taking "what if players back then had the same level of coaching, same level of tactical understanding, if there was the same knowhow about optimising the physical attributes of the player and same demands to behave properly off the pitch?" into the equation.

Only have to look at a compilation of classical goals... attacking players allowed to accelerate freely, players needing to recover after a short sprint and failing to track back, pressure without any support. Technically the difference is not massive but physically and tactically players from back in the day would be eaten alive today.

I remember Bryan Robson very well

If you rate Biss

Then this fella was better

Physically your having a laugh,no rolling around back in those days

I appreciate you're young,but you don't know what your talking about

 

[Swansman]

I remember Bryan Robson very well

If you rate Biss

Then this fella was better

Physically your having a laugh,no rolling around back in those days

I appreciate you're young,but you don't know what your talking about

Excessive rolling around is not done for physical reasons but usually for other (disgusting) reasons.

The players are faster, stronger and has more stamina than they ever did in the past. Its absolutely ridiculous to believe that the overall fitness of footballers has decreased compared to 40 years ago.

 

[GREASED WEASEL]

Excessive rolling around is not done for physical reasons but usually for other (disgusting) reasons.

The players are faster, stronger and has more stamina than they ever did in the past. Its absolutely ridiculous to believe that the overall fitness of footballers has decreased compared to 40 years ago.

So you dismiss Pele,Cruyff, Zidane,Gascoigne

Pascal Gross is better than these players,nonsense

Out of the current modern day footballers Ronaldo & Messi can be included in that company

 

[Swansman]

So you dismiss Pele,Cruyff, Zidane,Gascoigne

Pascal Gross is better than these players,nonsense

Out of the current modern day footballers Ronaldo & Messi can be included in that company

I dont dismiss any of them. Give them modern day training and they would be excellent but make a copy of their 1960s to 80s (arguably 90s) selves and they would be outran, outmuscled and outthought. No doubt.

 

[MJsGhost]

The players of the time may say that but he passed away at 21 years old. Nowhere near enough playing years for him to be in any objective discussion about the greatest players. As for Bryan Robson, one of the best English box-to-box midfielders ever but not in the conversation for best English footballer. I'd put Gazza ahead of him and he is also some way from the top.

Exactly this.

By the end of the 98/99 season, 19-year-old Michael Owen had already scored 37 goals for Liverpool. If he'd been lost in a plane crash then, people might be saying the same about him. As it is, we see him for what he was - a decent forward for sure, but not in the conversation for 'best ever'.

Duncan Edwards may have gone on to be the best ever, but we'll never know.

It's all moot anyway - we know England's best ever footballer is/was Jonny Crumplin!

 

[GREASED WEASEL]

I dont dismiss any of them. Give them modern day training and they would be excellent but make a copy of their 1960s to 80s (arguably 90s) selves and they would be outran, outmuscled and outthought. No doubt.

So how many games did you go to the 1980's

To make you such an expert?

 

[Swansman]

So how many games did you go to the 1980's

To make you such an expert?

None. Also didnt have a Commodore 64, yet I know my current computer is quicker thanks to development.

 

[GREASED WEASEL]

None.

OK we'll leave it there