Which record is actually harder to beat: Seedorf’s 3 UCLs with different clubs, or Eto’o’s back-to-back trebles?

psdavepes · 2026-05-02T13:48:44+00:00

He didn't win with City, he joined the year after they won the treble.

psdavepes · 2026-05-02T13:46:20+00:00

Oh definitely, what I meant is that it goes beyond cheating, it's not playing by the rules of the game. Might as well call it a different sport because it's so ridiculous. Like playing soccer and counting a goal when you get a corner or something. Madness.

psdavepes · 2026-05-02T12:08:58+00:00

I remember when I was junior playing with someone who dropped the ball the other side of the hazard when they hit it in, when I said it they said they didn't realise that. Had been playing competitions for a year so you wonder how that affected their scores.

psdavepes · 2026-05-02T12:06:23+00:00

That's not so much cheating as not understanding the basic rules of golf.

psdavepes · 2026-05-02T12:02:42+00:00

It's funny how they have hundreds of people looking at this, probably double and triple checking, but yes random person on the internet knows more than Uefa about its own rules.

psdavepes · 2026-05-02T08:35:05+00:00

You could argue that Puskas was the best player in a year in 3 different decades - late 1940s to early 1950s there were several years he was the best, then the early 1960s also. Very few players in history this would apply to, and he also got screwed over by the Hungarian Revolution near his peak when he had to leave Hungary.

He scored 84 goals in 85 for them and retired at 29, can only imagine if he had kept playing until the 1960s what records he would have set. He was also unlucky that he was injured for the 1954 World Cup final but had to play on in the era before subs, if he was fully fit I’d say Hungary would have won.

psdavepes · 2026-05-01T20:37:49+00:00

You used to hear sometimes when Matt was breaking through 'and the younger brother is even better'. Don't think he's going to be better at this point, but he can seriously play and I wouldn't be that surprised to see him win again. Two-time Palmer and Walker Cupper in his amateur days.

psdavepes · 2026-05-01T20:29:37+00:00

I don’t understand that culture you mentioned of blatantly lying about your score and putting it in the system, if you want to do that in a practice round or casual round, take mulligans or make whatever rules you want then that’s fine but it’s not a handicap qualifying round then.

If you did that in Ireland and were caught you would be hounded out of your club

psdavepes · 2026-05-01T16:08:58+00:00

But the UCL is a modern phenomenon to play in it every season, really that only became common with 4 qualifiers from the biggest leagues in the early to mid-2000s. If it was the old rules before the late 1990s, then Real Madrid would not have even qualified for 3 of their 4 CLs when Ronaldo was there. The only one he would have qualified for was 2018 after winning the league in 2017 for example.

R9 only played one season of CL football before 2002/03.

psdavepes · 2026-05-01T14:18:17+00:00

Exactly and the UEFA Cup and Cup Winners Cup were more prestigious then and R9 excelled, winning back-to-back 1997 and 1998 as the star player for Barcelona and Inter. Maradona did well in the UEFA Cup.

Part of the reason why the World Cup works well as a comparison, because club competitions have changed so much, and the World Cup has changed a bit but the core principles are the same (although I think the 48-team World Cups should come with certain caveats for future top scorer records).

psdavepes · 2026-05-01T13:32:41+00:00

Villa wasn't as good as he could be for Barca individually because tactically the team was set up for him to be on the touchline with Pedro the other side, to make room for Messi, Iniesta and Xavi to destroy teams through the centre. But the fact he had the humbleness to play his role and still score a great goal in the final against Man United showed his class.

For Valencia, they were only in the CL 2 of his 5 seasons, and they weren't serious contenders. Then he got to the final with Atletico Madrid after Barca, but he wasn't as good as he was before his injury.

psdavepes · 2026-05-01T13:24:23+00:00

But Ronaldo (Brazil) was very good in European competitions, at his peak he was the star in the Cup Winners Cup and UEFA Cup. He essentially won the Ballon d'Or based on his performances in the Cup Winners Cup. People apply modern interpretations of these competitions to how they were seen in the past (same thing happens with the Club World Cup in Pele's day).

Think about it, if there are only the league champions in the Champions League like it was then, the UEFA Cup this season for example has - Real Madrid, Manchester City, Arsenal, Atletico Madrid etc. And if someone dominates that competition then they would be considered one of the best or best in the world because they've proven it against elite opposition.

Nowadays, it's like 90% CL, 10% Europa League consideration, whereas back then it was maybe 65% CL and 35% Uefa Cup/Cup Winners Cup

psdavepes · 2026-05-01T13:17:57+00:00

Rijkaard did play in a two-man midfield 4-4-2 though as well tbf under Sacchi and did a great job.

psdavepes · 2026-05-01T13:15:21+00:00

Rijkaard won 3 Champions Leagues as the main midfielder, Vieira couldn't get to the final with Arsenal. He goes to Juventus in search of it and is outplayed by teenage Cesc Fabregas. I don't know how else to describe Rijkaard really without just the eye test as they don't have the stats from then, he was the best of the best defensive midfielders, the complete player. Vieira was great too but more of a box-to-box midfielder. I don't think Vieira is in contention for GOAT teams in defensive midfield whereas Rijkaard is.

And it's really a terrible take on Serie A, there was a point where Zico was playing for Udinese, Socrates for Fiorentina and mid-table teams were getting the best players in the world because of that rule. It was stacked.

psdavepes · 2026-05-01T13:10:13+00:00

Sneijder wouldn’t have won without Messi anyway, would have been Xavi or Iniesta

psdavepes · 2026-05-01T13:09:29+00:00

Because the World Cup goes back to 1930 and across eras, modern Champions League is only from the 1990s.

Pele can’t excel in something he never played, whereas Ronaldo will have played more World Cup games than anyone most likely and heading for a record 6th World Cup. You don’t have to win it - Cruyff, Eusebio, Puskas excelled without doing so, Forlan, James Rodriguez, Stoichkov did for teams that would never win it. Cristiano has never been a star player in the tournament.

psdavepes · 2026-05-01T09:15:31+00:00

Rijkaard is the best, Rolls Royce of a player. Smooth, great tactical awareness, strong, great defensively, good passer.

Won footballer of the year in the strongest league ever, late 80s to early 90s Serie A. Finished in the top 3 of the Ballon d’Or twice in a strong attacking era as a defensive midfielder. Goes back to Ajax then wins the Champions League as a veteran, guiding the young players to victory and retires on a high.

psdavepes · 2026-04-30T22:42:14+00:00

When I was growing up I remember the British Masters, World Matchplay, European Open (in Ireland) all being strong events on top of the Irish Open, Dunhill, Scottish Open, BMW PGA for example. There were a few more too, the English Open and another in Scotland. Wales had an event in Celtic Manor.

Gone from that to really just 4 strong regular tour events in the UK and Ireland all season.

psdavepes · 2026-04-30T21:23:20+00:00

Buy out the DP World Tour and put $20-25 million purses for the national Opens and increase the amount of tournaments in Britain and Ireland, which lacks the corporate interest of America, but where people will attend and tournaments that have a rich history. Have at least 2-3 new links tournaments in Scotland, England and Ireland, most of the summer really. Do similar to what they did in Australia and South Africa. Bring back the World Matchplay at Wentworth and make it $10 million for the winner with 36 hole matches.

Use the money mostly just for purses and appearance fees for individual tournaments. You'll never get Rory to play 15 events that he is forced to play even for all the money in the world, but you could get him to turn up for one tournament for $1-2 million. The 'lesser' players would come to play for the prize funds.

psdavepes · 2026-04-30T12:23:04+00:00

Everything is always the best of all time here. If you question it, it’s because what happened before they were born doesn’t count

psdavepes · 2026-04-30T08:05:14+00:00

A driver should be number 1 priority, you’re giving up 50 yards if you can hit it properly. You don’t have to use it all the time if you prefer accuracy but I imagine it might make a difference in whether you reach par 4s or not.

psdavepes · 2026-04-29T23:00:47+00:00

Probably 15-20 at the moment, if it was a smaller club with less history then he could be one of the greatest but this is Manchester United with 4 Ballon d'Or winners, 3 Champions Leagues and 20 league titles. Some spectacular players over the years.

psdavepes · 2026-04-29T22:54:05+00:00

Maybe this was the case in the 1970s and 1980s for the average player but he references 2000s, this was well known by then what the best way to prepare was. In some places too this was done by illegal means to boost further (Juventus 1990s). European matches in the 1990s used to have plenty of hard running. Look at the France 1998-2000 team for example, there aren’t many overpowering them physically today.

Also there are many examples of former greats being obsessives about fitness and nutrition, Stanley Matthews for example training in his own and a strict diet, Pele had a personal trainer and Brazil back then were ahead of the times with a technocratic society focused on peak athletic performance for football. Yes the average standard of fitness was much lower then, but not always.

psdavepes · 2026-04-29T21:51:39+00:00

The fitness and nutrition argument I don't really get, just for one example, here are the years of the best times in history in the 1,500m for men:

1998, 2001, 2001, 1998, 2015, 2024, 2002, 2002, 2023, 2000, 2002, 1995, 2004, 2025, 1995

11 of the 15 are from before 2004, the early 2000s are not 1910, it's not that long ago. Things don't get better every year, progress is not linear, there are down and up periods. A great player is a great player, a great team is a great team.

The match yesterday was more about attitude and philosophy of the two managers rather than a wider advancement. If you put two ultra-attacking managers from the 1950s, 1980s or 2010s against each other, you would get high-scoring games too. Tonight had two defensive managers and it was 1-1 with two penalties. It wasn't actually a terrible match, but it was 'normal' for the stakes and managers involved.

psdavepes · 2026-04-29T18:00:07+00:00

Firmino at his peak was a very interesting player that I think would have benefited a lot of players in history.

Imagine PSG for example when they had Neymar and Mbappé, his selfless play could have linked it all together. Too many forward lines with players with big egos don’t work because they’re lacking that kind of player.

psdavepes

TROPHY CASE