Moving to Italy ruined his career I think. Could never carry the weight of replacing Nedved and the massive price tag.
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I think it was Angulo that Valencia had who we signed in 2004 but he decided at the last minute that he couldn’t do it and backed out. Would have been great business.
27 or 28 and in the prime of his career. Very good utility player could play in so many positions.
Yeah, I think he was one of the highest rated midfielders on the world at the time when Valencia got to those 2 CL finals in two years.
Was named the best midfielder in the CL in those two seasons.
As soon as he left them he basically disappeared from the top scene.
About Angulo, I never thought much of him really. Yeah I do remember those rumours but was quite underwhelmed at the time. To me he always looked tidy, in different roles, but was never really impressed by him. Maybe just haven’t been paying much attention to him really.
Didn’t know he was actually that close to us up until now btw, I thought those were only rumours at the time.
Although, I not sure we get Hleb a year later if we sign Angulo.
This brought me back to those times… Incredible how EFFORTLESS it looked for us to get top talent for cheap at the time. Even after assembling the Invincibles, and the generation of 98 or so, we were getting guys like Hleb, Van Persie, Adebayor, Nasri, Rosicky, Sagna (Fabregas and Clichy a bit earlier; Song and Diaby in the background) etc etc either for peanuts or some modest fees.
I think if we just had the ability (we have now) to keep that group of 2008 or so and just to add a couple of decent, reliable, squad players to them we would be an absolute European powerhouse in those times (on elevel with Barca, Real etc).
It’s devastating how much our recruitment deteriorated so quickly after Dein left. Horrible. The period od 2008 until 2018… Surreal drop off to the decade before.
What Edu and Arteta are doing now, no matter how good it was, it looks like an amateur job compared to how easily Dein and Wenger (and the team around) used to get top talents for nothing at the time.
The market has changed obviously, but I still think we can be more effective and proactive in adding top talent to the squad.
Not sure how I went from Mendieta to this… Maybe he should be the new DOF?
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Outrageous player.
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Redondo, what a player.
By all accounts he was one of the best midfielders in the world in those days.
All the oldie Madrid/Argentina fans are regularly putting him in the all time best Argentina/Madrid line ups. Love watching his clips, an insane combo of a player. A DM who was one of the best dribblers ever lol. An absolute dominator.
Doesn’t get nearly enough recognition today as he should. Such a shame his career at the top level was cut down due to injuries.
Crazy this guy was a DM. Has to be one of the most elegant players ever.
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His son looks like a baller from some highlights I’ve seen.
I think he went to Miami with Messi.
That Brazil team was a joke. Shame we didn’t get to see more of Romario and Ronaldo together, especially on the 98 WC.
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Moratti just didn’t have a clue what he was doing. How great Crespo was at Parma/Lazio it didn’t make any sense to sign him with Vieiri in the team. Too similar players. Inter in those years are a prime example of how to waste resources and how not the run a football club.
Yeah.
They only got lucky after the calciopoli when everyone got those punishments. Withouth that they would never be able to get into such a succesful run. They started winning titles because there was almost no competition left and that got them some stability and that’s why they managed to attract Mourinho.
Juve got got back and they went back to their old ways. Their transfer policy has always been horruble.
Surely there are lot of people involvled who don’t have clue what they’re doing and they’re just collecting their pay because they have to be at the club.
Withouth going further into theit bad buys and stuff, just imagine letting all time legends like Pirlo, Seedorf (to their town rivals 
), Ronaldo, Cannavaro etc leave in a space of a few years.
It’s mad how bad their transfers were at the start of the century, up until the Calciopoli. Not even Chelsea, PSG, City or United were ever that bad I think.
What a decline. Look at the difference in quality of these two teams line ups. Insane quality across the pitch and now both teams are completely average
1999/00
October 2024
The talent is better than it’s ever been. Remember that.
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Roberto Carlos is in so much of this video, attacking and defending.
Legend.
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I wonder how different life would have been for Real Madrid had they not sacked Del Bosque, kept Makelele…
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What a brilliant player.
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He’s the reason Rivaldo never got the chance at AC Milan. That’s how good he was.