It was one of our greatest European nights considering we never won the thing so good enough for me
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Had a few completed editions in mid 90’s that are probably worth a few quid now. Loved collecting them at the time but do wonder how much I spent on the packs 
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Platini. France became a football power because of him.
Juventus went to the next level in Italian and European football took.
Platini was undoubtedly at one time the best player in the world.
Delivered the euros in 84 and was inspirational in the 82 WC.
Could of won that tournament. Lovely footballer and great vision.
Made the modern day free kick a new weapon in the game too that has been emulated since.
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I’d go Platini as well because he was the stand out player for France in the Euros where he was top scorer and was the key player in Juventus success.
Zico was obviously also class and both were great attacking midfielders who would have walked into on top team.
But because Platini won so much with Juventus and was the best France player, who also won the Balon d’or three times, it makes him the slightly better player.
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Ah so hard to choose between the two but I’d go for Platini only because he what he won in a more competitive league and the amount of goals he scored from midfield was phenomenal.
Definitely the greatest French player ever and also a part of the France team which for me between 1982-86 was even better than the French world cup winning teams.
Both Platini and Zico were probably the best free kick takers in the game at the time, unfortunately most of my memories of the two are from the tail end of their careers and I was lucky enough to see both of them up close on a couple of occasions.
The world cup of 1982 was my first that I can remember ( Argentina 78 was on way to late for me had to be in bed by 10pm in those days!),
Brazil the greatest team ever not to win the trophy and so close between France, West Germany Poland and Italy.
My hero Maradona getting kicked about constantly and a glorious win for Italy with the greatest goal scoring celebration from Marco Tardelli.
Sorry went off on a tangent there, but to answer your question, Michel Platini just slightly ahead.
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@Stroller @InvincibleDB10 and anyone else of the era it would be interesting to know your views of the class of footballers around the end of the 70s all through the 80s compared to now.
Maybe I’m seeing it through rose tinted glasses but this was the time when growing up and getting into football was a really exciting time for me
The plethora of world class talent was everywhere and for me personally moving to Italy in the mid 80s I saw most of the top talents of the day.
So I don’t know if it’s because the game has changed or whether I’m not invested in football as much as I used to be but today’s players bar a very small handful do not come close to anyone of our younger generation.
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It’s nice to look back and think that things were better than they are now but realistically it’s different rather than better.
Footballers would earn not much more than the average wage and even the best players were on a few hundred pound a week.
Going to a match then was a completely different experience.
It was affordable for most people and supporters stood rather than having seats.
But now it’s more like going to a theatre than a football match
Players used to be more loyal to their clubs and although there were transfers, the fees were a fraction of what they are now.
I remember one of the first games I was taken to as a schoolboy in the seventies between West Ham v Man U had world class players like Hurst, Moore, Peters, Charlton, Best and Law.
But what made it interesting was that it was a mid table match and probably cost around £5 to get in.
Another big difference was that clubs usually had about sixteen players so the first team remained the same, with little rotation.
This meant supporters had more of a connection with the players as the team would be almost the same for several seasons.
Going to watch a game was far more accessible and was exciting but for kids going to games now it’s probably just as exciting although in a different way.
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A few reasons for this now imo. Every club knows the exact same players around the world now.
The Bosman rule opened up freedom of travel and clubs were able to recruit more easily. This in effect finished domestic leagues around the world.
major international tournaments dont excite now as the game is played more or less by the same tactics everywhere.
Theres no longer Brazilian flare or Dutch style of play etc. The odd individual in a well organised side wins now.
France last WC prove this. Very talented squad but more a well oiled machine than risk too flair.
England last Euros went this route but fell short by being pragmatic. Philips became a key starter which restricted the roles of Grealish and Foden.
Players like Ribbery and Thomas Muller have been seen as big players in coaching set ups in the last decade and its all a bit dull.
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Couldn’t have hit the nail on the head any better. I don’t think any countries have identifiable styles of play anymore. Footballs become a bit too rigid and monotonous. All of the worlds top coaches basically dictate where their players pass, move, receive, shoot. You name it it’s all just one really well oiled machine now.
Academies are churning out the same type of player. Extremely physically impressive with an ability to fit a very specific role in a system.
Football lost a lot of its personality and it’s been replaced by great athletes who probably could have been incredible talents but a lot of that is coached out of them from a young age now.
Saw a clip not long ago of Tuchel screaming at one of his players for doing flicks and tricks in training. He called them useless and said they don’t accomplish anything. He may well have been right but you coach that magic out of a player he’ll never get it back
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How good was Beppe Signori at his peak?
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Very exciting and different to Baggio but again an unitalian style of player.
Very fast and direct player but with a deceptive touch.
Very good finisher and difficult opponent to knock off the ball.
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You know I loved Bruno Conti from the 80s. Watched a few Italy games from back then and he was just so good and dangerous on the ball. Totally unlike any Italian of his era
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Yeah another one who wasn’t traditional Italian player.
Lot of style and good close control. Unfortunately for him the Italian team was more restricted then.
A bit like causio back in the day. Always had something more in him.
I still can’t believe that Italian squad of 1990. No squad ever had more talent. Just never performed with the pressure. Annoys me now 30 years later.
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Ah little Beppe one of the great Italian strikers, he reminded me of Ian Wright in the way he played and also because he was playing in a period when there were some fantastic forwards so he didn’t play as much as he should for the national team.
I seem to remember he played further back and as a winger for Italy under Saachi.
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I have an early abiding memory of Bruno Conte against Poland in the world cup semi with a beautiful cross for Paolo Rossi to make it 2-0, my dad and me going absolutely crazy in front of the TV.
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Can you imagine any player these days taking the amount of knocks he did and still stay on his feet.
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Could you imagine how good he’d be if he played today with better recovery, better science and a much greater understanding of nutrition.
I think he’d be too maverick to stick to all of the training structures but just imagine if he treated his body like a temple and had the benefit of all of the science and medical advancements too.
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As much as it pains me to say this it would have been better for him personally if he didn’t go to Naples, there were too many outside influences corrupting him which would never happen now.
I still think he would have flourished in the English league football wise but certainly not lifestyle wise, it would have been too restricting.