Hamon

Yeah, I know. I'm not a fanboy, it only makes me sad to see such a good player (Mata) off the pitch in a match like this one.

Mata doesn't deserve this; Oscar will maybe have a great game, but Mata is better than him anyway.

Eto'o's career as world's best began in 2003 and ended in 2011; call it short... Torres, on the other hand, while being 3 years younger than Eto'o, in late 2008 was already finished.

Couldn't agree more with you.

He played quite well, quality movement and good key passes (his performance rated 7.3/10 by WhoScored), but his finishing has been really bad: it seems to me like lack of self-confidence. Anyway, goals or not, to think that Samuel Eto'o on his days used to play in such a beautiful way that would make today Hazard's level only average, makes me really sad; now Eto'o doesn't have the power, mental and physical, to play like that anymore. I can say for sure that the last time I've seen REAL Samuel Eto'o play on a football pitch has been 29 May 2011, with a final decided by his double. Almost 3 years ago.

Oh my God..

Actually, Eto'o not only lead Inter during 2010/2011 season, he WAS the team during that season. Most of Inter fans rate Eto'o as the second best forward they ever had in modern football after Ronaldo de Lima, and that's not bad considering that Inter had so many great offensive players in their squad. Ibra NOW is the best player out of the three, but the fact that he still hasn't catched Eto'o's goals record and Eto'o's goals stats, despite the latter practically retired from professional football in 2011, shows how big the gap was between him and Eto'o in his prime. Drogba also in his prime used to dominate Ibra: both him and Eto'o would have never done such woeful perfmormances as Ibra did with Barça against Inter itself during 2010 Champion's semifinals; indeed, at San Siro he got subbed by Abidal, while at Camp Nou he stopped every single Barça offensive action with his offsides, before Piqué replaced him as a striker doing much better stuff than him and also scoring. Absolutely ridicolous from a guy supposedly worthing Eto'o + 70 mln Euros.

Not only pure class, but also strong and not "girly" at all. These are the players I really like.

Very good post, I completely agree with you, especially about Ibrahimovic. Eto'o during his Mallorca and Barcelona era was unreal, and during his Inter time he was amazing: with Inter he played perfectly in every single position of the attacking line and even as a right/left back; during his second year at Inter he was also literally a "one-man team": he was so beastly that Inter, only without him, failed to qualify for the Champion's League of the next two years. It's true that Eto'o never scored such powerful goals as Drogba's, but it's also true that Drogba never left 3,4 men on the ground putting the ball in the net after flashy dribblings like Eto'o did plenty of times in his Barça and Inter days. It's a matter of different physical and technical qualities. As for Eto'o vs Ibra, I think that the best solution is to ask both Barcelona and FC Inter fans, who had them both in their prime: ask them who was better between them and who they would choose in their team... Furthermore, as I've already said, I clearly pick, in his prime, Drogba over Ibra everytime.

Mourinho: 'Eto'o is not the type of striker obsessed only with scoring. He gives an important contribution to the way we want to play.' http://inagist.com/all/404339991641223169/

And the fact that this Eto'o is the 40% at most of what he used to be, tells you how beastly he was. Keep it on Sammy.

Eto'o, Willian, Cahill, Azpi.

You can see that Willian is truly class.

351 goals in Eto'o's career between national team and clubs. Such a legend.

Well, Cristiano Ronaldo is a monster for sure: 387 goals in 644 games so far speak for him, but he never got close to what Ronaldo de Lima used to be. I personally think that, at the end, Cristiano will be placed between R9 and the likes of Eto'o/Drogba/Ibra in an hypothetical order. Anyway, I'd personally choose a prime Eto'o and a prime Drogba over CR every time

I agree, Ronaldo in his prime was literally superhuman: Maradona and Pele's level here. Despite all the problems and injuries he has suffered, he managed to score 414 goals in 616 games, with a ratio that Eto'o, Drogba and Ibra can only dream of. Also, before his problems, at mere 20 years old, he already had scored 200 goals in a little more than 200 games. Insane.

I think there are games in which Mourinho should play Eto'o and Torres together, especially in home games against solid defenders; this 4-2-3-1 is module good, but it has not been set in stone by God.

Someone should tell him that even Oscar can be subbed.

Better than Torres today: him and Willian gave some "fresh air" to the squad, while Torres and Oscar (why he never gets subbed is beyond me) played very bad. Still, he is the shadow of the beast he once was: at that time he would have scored two on two today with the chances he had (even if it has to be said there was a penalty on his first attempt).

Putting aside for a while the Blue Colours (otherwise it would obviously be a plebiscite for The Drog), I'm asking you this question: who do you think has been the best between these three absolute champions? In their own personal way everyone of them has written the history of modern football, and this day I'm asking you who would you pick, at their respective best form, and why. Let make this be a pure, genuine football discussion. :dude: Didier Drogba So far, for Didier, these are the stats: -) Clubs - 577 caps, 256 goals -) Ivory Coast - 98 caps, 63 goals -) Total - 675 caps, 319 goals ---------------------------------------------- Few personal records: first african player ever to score 100 goals in EPL; all time top scorer of Ivory Coast; foreign player who scored more goals in Chelsea's shirt. ---------------------------------------------- Best personal club season: 2009/2010 season (Chelsea): In that season Drogba scored 37 goals and delivered 16 assists in 44 total appearances. He thus directly contributed to realize 53 of the 142 goals scored by the team: it means that the 37,3% of Chelsea's goals has been directly made by Drogba. Samuel Eto'o So far, for Samuel, these are the stats: -) Clubs - 583 caps, 294 goals -) Cameroon - 114 caps, 55 goals -) Total - 697 caps, 349 goals ---------------------------------------------- Few personal records: only player in football history to have done two "Trebles", furthermore with two different clubs; Cameroon all time top scorer; African Cup all time top scorer. ---------------------------------------------- Best personal club season: 2010/2011 (Inter): In that season Eto'o scored 37 goals and delivered 17 assists in 53 total appearances. He thus directly contributed to realize 54 of the 104 goals scored by the team: it means that the 52% of Inter's goals has been directly made by Eto'o. Zlatan Ibrahimovic So far, for Zlatan, these are the stats: -) Clubs - 557 caps, 280 goals -) Sweden - 94 caps, 46 goals -) Total - 651 caps, 326 goals ---------------------------------------------- Few personal records: only player to be Serie A top scorer with two different clubs (Inter and AC Milan); only player to have scored in Champions League with six different teams; only player to have won the Super Cup of four different nations. ---------------------------------------------- Best personal club season: 2012/2013 (PSG): In that season Ibrahimovic scored 35 goals and delivered 18 assists in 47 total appearances. He thus directly contributed to realize 53 of the 101 goals scored by the team: it means that the 52,4% of PSG's goals has been directly made by Ibrahimovic. --------------------- Personally, my order is: - At their peak: 1) Eto'o 2) Drogba 3) Ibrahimovic. - Now: 1) Ibrahimovic (probably Ibra is at his peak right now) 2) Drogba 3) Eto'o. Anyway, sure they are three legends. :tophat: Let me know what you all think.

I really wonder how strong this team could be with Eto'o and Essien at their peak: I can tell you that Chelsea would be the best team in the world, no doubt about that. Sadly, time flows and because of age with 2 years of "golden retirement" (Eto'o) and bad injuries (Essien) they're not world's best in their role anymore. Yet, class of someone once top tier still remains, and this evening Eto'o and Essien showed it, obviously alongside with the rest of the team. Great, great performance from the whole team.

You know, when someone is the worst player on the pitch especially because of being brainless that can happen.

Ibrahimovic is one of the biggest "non-senses" in the football history: with his qualities he does great things in friendlies or average level games (like today's one), but when it really counts he basically does nothing. I remember that even with Inter he was big in groups games, but when knockout games started he used to become not only useless but also detrimental to the team; how to forget then his major epic fail with Barcelona? Or his knockout games with AC Milan against Spurs, when he was absolutely the worst on the pitch. In regular leagues he dominates since the majority of teams are average level: against them he can use indeed his physical and technical qualities, but when the frequency and level of the game rise, he tends to disappear in mediocrity. I'd like to think this one will be "his year" for real, but it has been almost ten years so far it always ends up in the same, identical way.

Excuse me, but Buffon is average since almost 4/5 years: there are plenty of GK way better than him in Serie A and in the other top leagues. Drogba is great anyway, one of my favourite players in absolute terms and at my eyes the 3rd best african player ever (or 2nd, depending on how you want to consider the 1st one).

During 2010/2011 season Eto'o delivered 37 goals + 17 assists: nobody did better than that with an italian team in the last 10 years at least. If only we could have even a 50% of that player, the EPL title of this year would be quietly in Chelsea's pocket.