I feel old, I remember watching that goal on TV like it was yesterday!
My first season watching, I still remember the Van Persie near post goal and the Henry header at the Emirates. Lehmann time wasting at the end to take the piss.
The last remnants of 4-4-2 Wenger where we still beat the big clubs. Less said about what happened vs PSV and that he made of his biggest mistakes, Almunia #1 
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It’s good, but not that good!
false 9 meta, relax 
I like it but for those who don’t it’ll surely pass at some point like every other trend 
wait a second is that Nicolas Jackson what the f-
Striker market has been like this for quite some time now 
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PL - Henry, RVN, Owen, Shearer, Hasselbaink
La Liga - Raul, Makaay, Kluivert, Morientes, Tristan
Serie A - Ronaldo, Batistuta, Vieri, Trezeguet, Shevchenko
Bundesliga - Amoroso, Elber, Pizarro, Klose,
Just a random list from say… 01/02. Depth of strikers is completely in the bin lol
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If I had to rank them…
#1 Serie A - Ronaldo, Batistuta, Vieri, Trezeguet, Shevchenko
#2 PL - Henry, RVN, Owen, Shearer, Hasselbaink
#3 Bundesliga - Amoroso, Elber, Pizarro, Klose,
#4 La Liga - Raul, Makaay, Kluivert, Morientes, Tristan
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To be fair, in that era - the likes of Mbappe, Salah would have been strikers
Serie A one was definitely clear of the rest.
I didn’t even include:
Crespo, Luca Toni, Montella, Di Vaio… sure I could probably think of more too
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They would have been wingers in a 4-4-2 in the same way Pires was for Arsenal.
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Makaay was so good, not someone that gets mentioned much but the Dutch sure had some striking talent that time
Bergkamp supporting Kluivert, RVN, Makaay… crazy list.
@Bl1nk must have been some time to be a fan. With the midfield you had too… the defence… the goalkeeper. Just a complete team they were probably the second best team in WC 98 after Brazil. I know France won but think Brazil and Netherlands were the two best teams and that semi final should have been a final.
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Salah definitely, but not so sure on Mbappe.
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Mbappe would be an Henry I reckon. Seems the logical conclusion anyway based on their playing styles
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Yeah, that’s what I was thinking re Mbappe.
For Salah, I see him playing on the right of midfield, like a better Ljungberg, if he was playing around 02-04.
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Makaay is one of the finest and the deadliest finishers I’ve ever seen. Him, Van Nisterooy, Trezeguet… The first touch, the wolleys, they made it look too easy.
Yeah, Holland had a decent pallete of 9s at the time… A guy like Van Nistelrooy couldn’t get much space in the team before Kluivert declined. Brilliant strikers like Hasselbaink and Makaay were just backups, Hoodijdonk was always around…
Absolutely not my favourite non Arsenal related football teams of all times. Nope. Not at all.
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Mate it still hurts me we didn’t bring home the 1998 World Cup or 2000 Euros.
Team was absolutely stacked with talent back then.
1998 Semi final we played really well v Brazil but Kluivert didn’t have a good day.
2000 vs Italy was just shambolic. Lost on pens after missing 2 pens during 90 minutes and playing with 11vs10 all game. Bottlejob.
But yeah the striking talent that period was amazing.
Makaay, they called him The Phantom for a reason. Invisible most of the game but popped up with a lot of goals. Maybe that’s why his legacy is forgotten slightly.
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I actually think Italy - Netherlands at Euro 2000 featured one of the best defensive performances ever from Cannavaro haha. He was a monster that game. I rewatched it a while ago, I can’t believe Netherlands didn’t win but if any team in the world is going to play for a 0-0 it’s that Italian team lol
Maldini-Overmars battle was great too. He was giving Maldini all sorts of problems but Maldini adjusted and bossed it eventually.
But you were definitely the best team in Europe around those times. Italy and France the other top teams in that period.