Thoughts On... Pavel Nedved?

[Rustin Cohle]

So I thought that this could be fun… I was thinking the other day how between us we all have a lot of football knowledge outside of United, but we rarely use it here, and when we do its usually to hate on a cuntish club or talk about a potential transfer. So I thought maybe once a week or fortnight we could talk about someone who doesn’t have any direct relation to United, but is a famous or underrated name in the world of football. We can just talk about their talents, whether they were ever close to joining us (or may yet in the future), or how much of a cunt they are. Could be someone past or present, a player or a coach. If this is a stupid idea just say so, but I thought it could be fun.

I’m gonna start with someone who I feel is really underrated in this country – Pavel Nedved. He absolutely tore it up in Serie A, but because he peaked later on his career (winning the Ballon D’Or aged 31), I think a lot of people forgot his talent (I was only 10 in 2003 though, so I may be misremembering). It doesn’t help that his peak came just after the fall of Football Italia, which had dominated the discussion on Serie A for so long. He never won a European trophy, having been a runner-up in both the UEFA Cup and the Champions League with Lazio & Juventus respectively, but he did at least get some personal recognition with the aforementioned Ballon D’Or.

So yeah, any thoughts on Nedved?

[dwr]

I didn't see much of him during his time in Italy but he always impressed me with his hunger and work-rate. He was a very tenacious so-and-so, with a much better passing range than the average winger. 
If I remember correctly he also had a very interesting knee. Can't remember the exact details, but it was the reason for his particular walking style. Maybe an extra joint or something...
It's a shame he never signed for us. Yes he was ostensibly a left-winger and we already had Giggs in that role but Nedved could have played anywhere in the attacking third. I think he would have worked out better for us than Veron anyway.

[smithy2]

Remember when we nearly signed Nedved a out a million times?

[Rorschach]

I was 18 in 2003 so I remember him well. He was seriously good. Very highly rated during his time at Lazio, so much so that Juventus paid 41 million Euros for him in 2001, which was a fucking big fee then. That said he didn't really peak until right at the end of his 20's and into his early 30's, which is pretty late. Absolute master at Juventus, replaced Zidane when he moved to Real Madrid and was a really important player at Juve, along with Trezeguet, Del Piero, Buffon, Cannavaro and Thuram.

Gabriel Batistuta was always someone I would have loved at United. I'm pretty sure he was linked to the club a few times but it was never going to happen. Phenomenal striker with a fantastic goal scoring record at Fiorentina and Roma. Seriously feared all around the world but generally whenever anyone talks about strikers from the mid-late 90's he seems to be a bit forgotten.

Talking of South American strikers, Martin Palermo. Absolute beast. Legend on Football Manager too but when he got a big shot in Italy with Villareal he got a severe injury and never really showed what he could do. Eventually went back to Boca Juniors and continued smashing goals in but if he'd not had that injury I'm convinced he'd have been a far bigger name in world football. He's Boca's all-time leading goalscorer with 236 goals.

[Deez]

Good idea for a weekly thread or something this. This was when Italian football was a superpower compared to what it is now, always loved watching Nedved play but that was some Juve team