As a Leicester City fan, the key to understanding replacing Kante, is to recognise that it took TWO players, not one to do it: Ndidi AND Tielemans, (when on form). IMHO, it's Mahrez that we really haven't been able to replace at all, (yet).
@@neonyzr Ndidi wins the ball back and YT takes it forward - (that's how it worked in theory, and for a short while in practice, too, anyway). Kante did both, which is why replacing him with just a single player hasn't happened.
@@manu-nz7vc don’t think people remember how much of a good dribbler Kante was for Leicester regularly picked up the ball and drove into the final third to break the press
I believe Peter Schmeichel belong on the list. Took several years before United found a replacement in Van Der Saar. And on the national team his son is the only one close in ability.
That's because you are biased towards your own. United's decline had little to do with Barthez, who, ironically, was far harder for the French to replace at the national level, than Schmeichel was for United to replace at the club level.
Great shout for Neville Southall. And you missed out another fact. At one point he set the record for the number of minutes between goals conceded at international level for Wales (385 minutes). Wales missed out on a place in the 1992 Euros by just 1 point, behind Germany. And he conceded only two goals in 9 games for Everton's 1985 CWC campaign.
Yeah Lambert only started 7 league games terms in 14-15. Was never really given a chance considering Liverpool cross the ball much more now than when they had Crouch, Carroll, Lambert, Benteke...
I Remember the quote from Bill Shankly about Finney (who he always raved about) when someone came up to him after a particular match and told Bill that some up and coming player was "As good as Tom Finney," Quick as a flash Shanks responded: "Aye, but you've got to understand, Tom is nearly 60 now," :)
This is the level of list that only Alfie can make. I started watching football just when Southall was about to retire but even so it was quite a bit of fuzz around the name. I waited for the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo and Thierry Henry but was pleasantly surprised about the choice to include Patrick Vieira. Not only does Vieira fit your description better but the cause and effect of his departure made for much better content within the scope, there is of course the Robin van Persie who managed to replace Henry as a goal threat in a brilliant fashion for about 1,5 season or so.
Jan Molby called Cruyff the 2nd best player of all time. This was because when Cruyff signed for Ajax the second time he added to the average gate taking it to 41,000. Jan signed the next season and at the end of that season the average gate was 43,000...which is why Jan said Cruyff was the 2nd best player in the world :)
your mention of santos never producing the next pele made me think of another video idea... 7 of the best (or worst or most interesting) foreign messis: the "german messi" marko marin, the "croatian messi" alen halilovic, etc :D
Marin came up around the same time as Messi, nobody compared them in such a fashion. Halilovic was explicitly compared to Modric. Maybe they should make a video about the 7 dumbest commenters on TH-cam. It can be all about you.
How does a 38 year old score 21 goals in the top division from the wing? I know the game has changed a lot, but it sounds like there might be some lessons there.
He was naturally left footed playing mostly on the right for PNE (though he was known as a fine crosser with his right foot as well), and had experience of playing as the centre forward and getting goals. I don't know the ins and outs of that time, so I can't really speculate beyond that though.
The exit of Neymar is what caused all the drama over the last couple of years for Barça, getting into financial holes by trying to replace him with players that didn't fit the teams play style, and later on leading to the exit of Messi, because of these bad financial decisions over the years.
No. That is merely one of the effects. The cause is/was Barça's frivolous spending going back decades. When Cruyff took over, he wanted Barcelona to be equal to or better than Real, in all aspects. What followed was a quarter century long orgy of spending like Real, without money like Real. The Neymar situation was the proverbial "straw that broke the camel's back".
@DDeglane16 And boring. He was just one more while having way more potential. He was right to leave, but chose the wrong place to go. Just imagining what Guardiola or Klopp could've turned him into makes me pissed.
@@respectedlocalgentleman7108 what your saying is ignoring years of actual success and rich history Barcelona has had since Cryuff took over. Barcelona, in many ways, is the antithesis to RM Galactico. To say their entire history boils down to them wanting to spend as much like Real is just plain false, especially since not too long ago they assembled what was considered the greatest team in history from academy players who cost them nothing.
Tottenham is such hot garbage, though. They've yet to replace Bale or Modric. Lord only knows what sort of amateurs they'll put in goal and up front when Llorid and Kane go bye-bye.
Hey Alfie, I always enjoy the videos, keep it up! A question I've had while watching your videos is this: How many old matches do you actually watch? You're only a couple of years older than me, and yet you describe players from well before you were born as if you've been watching them week in and week out. Do you borrow a lot from characterisations and assessments of players that you read or hear, or do you genuinely watch lots of games from the 20th century? Just curious.
Makelele is the football equivalent to Chuck Berry. Almost certainly not the best blues guitar player ever, but everyone knows how Johnny B Goode goes. Legacy often trumps ability, only increasing with time.
Fabregas didn't actually immediately take the number 4 shirt from Vieira, he wore 15 still in 2005/06. Arsenal for years had not bothered to fill the numbers 1-11 after their previous incumbents left and it wasn't until 2006 when they moved to the Emirates where the numbers were changed. Cesc Fabregas changed from 15 to 4, Kolo Touré from 28 to 5 and Phillipe Senderos from 20 to 6. They didn't quite fill 1-11 as Ashley Cole left 3 absent for the entire season.
Neymar deserves a shout here as the fall of Barca all started when he left the club and Barca spent an insane amount of money trying to replace but have never been able to
As a season ticket holder at highbury, I saw a lot of that arsenal team, and to be honest, IMO Paddy Vieira isn't the player we miss the most... I think Bergkamp is. No one at arsenal has played the game like the ice man.
Speaking as a Red, I agree about Neville Southall. A gem of a 'keeper. I also agree Alonso was as big a loss as Viera at Arsenal, only realised the magnitue of the loss after they left.. However Owen was already past his best due to knee injury when we he left, and judas Suarez and Sterling were always more interested in money. The efforts Klopp went to in order to keep Countinho are legion. Barca was his childhood club and nothing was going to stop him. At least we used the money well that time! Torres and Mascherano were odd decisions..
My grandad goes on about Finney, he lived across the road from him and used to watch him train. Said he was the best footballer he's ever seen and whenever I wind him up that Matthews was better he gets so riled up 😂
Alfie, again a terrific compilation. I do have a particular fondness for your work that goes beyond the pitch to expand on historical and political elements while maintaining a central focus on the football. One small nit: you make great use of photo sources, but sometimes your green square logo does wipe out something that belongs in the photo, as at 17:40 where the keeper appears to be wearing an HITC Sevens box on his shoulders!
Messi by far is the most irreplaceable player. Even in his worst season, he managed to outplay most of the elite players who where excelling in their respective clubs... He's never gonna be replaced...
I dunno about that, but it's definitely a massive challenge to replace one of the best players in the world. It would be easier to play Friday the 13th on NES without Jason getting anyone while playing as Debbie or George with the weakest weapon.
He is one of the best or even the best player in history. But no, he is not irreplaceable. He played with Ronaldinho, Iniesta, Xavi, Neymar, Suarez... He was never carrying his team like Suarez did in LFC, or Benzema now in Real Madrid...
Irreplaceable for Barcelona who catered the entire team around him. Yes he didn’t have to do all the work himself, except in that last season but look at him in PSG now. No hate for him, he’s the best naturally talented football we’ve ever seen but as he is now he’s not irreplaceable. In fact loads more players can do a better job than him at PSG.
13:57 Great touch in adding Johan Cruyff as he is probably the most influential footballer of all time and it is indeed his birthday, although i doubt that came into your decision making. Rest In Peace King Cruyff, your name lives on.
Everyone talks about Leicester’s attack the season they won the league, nobody talks about Wes Morgan and Rob Huth, who anyone would think were players past their prime only good enough for relegation candidates, yet they were the most solid CB’s in the league that season.
Almost everyone in that Leicester side was brilliant that season, that was half the reason we won the league. Few outside Leicester talk about the likes of Fuchs, Albrighton and Okazaki either, but they were minimum 7 or 8 out of 10 every week. I do think Mahrez and Vardy were and will be the hardest to replace though. I know a lot of neutrals think Kante, but I think Ndidi also topped the tackles and interceptions as well in the PL for 2 or 3 seasons since and I think Kante’s ability to “drive up the pitch” gets overplayed a bit. And I think we are still struggling to replace Mahrez now and we’ve lost so much going forward during Vardy’s lengthy injury this season too. I think in truth if you replace Kante with Ndidi there’s a lot more chance we still win the league than whoever we can realistically replace Mahrez or Vardy with. Ultimately quality defensive players are almost always easier to replace than quality attacking or creative players. Especially if you’re not a big club who can just go and buy almost anyone.
Another great video. Keep them coming buddy. A suggestion for next, similar, video ( I don't need to be credited :) - Irreplaceable manager . We all know about Sir Alex, Klopp, Pep, Cappelo but I am sure that you may surprise us
Unless you lived through it, it’s almost impossible to comprehend how good Luis Suarez was at Liverpool from ‘13-‘14. He obviously went on to do well, but it’s a shame he spent so many of his prime years carrying Messi’s water. He should have headlined his own team. What a player.
Ajax wanted to replace Cruijff with Tom Lund (Norways perhaps greatest ever player) in 1973. However the man, the myth, the legend that is Tommy rejected them to stay with his boyhood club.
As a Liverpool fan, you are absolutely right about Alonso. Alonso being there made Gerrard be the attacking midfielder he was, but once Alonso left Gerrard had to cover to do all the work in midfield because we didn’t have a good replacement for Alonso. So after Alonso, Gerrard was doing both the attacking and defending in that midfield.
Xavi Alonso is easily the most underrated footballer of the modern era, possibly ever. He literally invented the "deep lying playmaker position" and managed to match it with a legitimate defensive midfielder's ferocity. Everybody talks about that great era for Spain, but for my money? I would take the 2008 team over all the bigger name-laded squads that followed, because Alonso and Marcos Senna were the most impenetrable and dominating defensive midfield duo I ever had a chance to watch. Co-sign everything you said about Liverpool. I wouldn't go so far as to say he was better than Gerrard individually, but I will say that if Gerrard weren't English or if Liverpool were located outside of England...Stevie G would've been the one getting replaced and the team would've been built around Alonso. Pardon the thread jack.
Completely missed out Bobby Moore. West Ham went from one of the best teams in England at the height of the 60s to a yo-yo club after he left the club.
Mark Schwarzer at Middlesbrough. We got relegated the season after he left and it took us 9 years and many, many duds to find another solid keeper in the form of Darren Randolph.
Just an idea for a video, maybe during the summer would be for you to pick out 7 players you feel are due to have their real breakthrough season. Then we can track them throughout the season and laugh when they’re terribly wrong or think you’re a genius.
I would suggest that Liverpool have replaced Suarez with Mohamed Salah because Mo’s production in goals/ assists and his star power are similar to that of Suarez. Mo just also has 4 other world class attackers around him to also do the business
Well Liverpool is not heading into games believing Salah is there to win games. They have a whole team. Salah score when he does, you necessarily can't count on that. To be fair he is a great player who produces brilliant moments in games but still.
Baoltelli was Suarez's replacement but he was a pick of a panic bunch. Like Andy carroll for Torres, it wasnt well thought out and luckily, none of the people involved still work at the club.
Looking at it from a Wolves point of view, as I am admittedly prone to doing, my first thought was Steve Bull. I don’t think I will ever again see a player in a Wolves shirt score 306 goals in 561 games, and he is a player who has never truly been replaced like for like. He has had his successors, plenty of players have worn the sacred number 9 since, but none could live up to his legend. He’s been retired almost twice as long he played for us now, and still his name is sung from the terraces on a weekly basis.
P. Maldini, D. Bergkamp, Dennis Bergkamp, Cafu, Ronaldinho, N. Vidic, Rio Ferdinand, F. Totti, T. Henry, J. Terry, S. Gerrard, Frank Lampard, Wanye Rooney, Dani Alves, Neymar, Eden Hazard, G. Chielini
Neymar was most definitely irreplaceable for Barca. Since his departure Barca spent around 500 million to find him a replacement and every player they brought flopped
i think partey is slowly becoming the man Arsenal need... he has the ability to grab the game by the scruff of the neck... ability to cut passing lanes.. drive the ball forward from deep.. has a good passing range... almost the complete No 6/8 we were craving for after Vieira
I fully agree with all of your respective inclusions and indeed,Luis Suarez boss' massive impact which he made at Liverpool would never be replicated by the two players which they have signed,mainly Mario Ballotelli boss who was a flop at the club but not so for Rickie Lambert boss as he tried his very best to be in the starting line up for them but failed,good friend Alfie Potts Harmer!!!:-D
Here's a really obscure one for you: Neville D'Souza for Maharastra Football Team. He only won a single Santosh Trophy and three Columbo Cups with them but considerinf what he did in the Summer Olympics a player of his pedigree in Maharstra today would elevate it in popularity to unprecedented heights in India.
Cristiano ronaldo actually, he was a right midfielder when he scored 31 goals in 42 games i think, 18 assist i think also i dont remember the full stats
Also George Best was also top scorer as a left mid and as an attacking midfielder, scoring 28 goals, dont remember the full scope of that one either,but its something like that.
Day 16: Considering that the last player who played in the miracle of Bern died about 5 months ago, I would really like to see a video about the whole story between Germany and Hungary, especially because it meant so much to at least the German population
Michael Ballack going to Chelsea at a free transfer in 2006 should be on this list. The Bayern bosses tried to talk him down, after he didn't want to extend ... and then they finished 4th and missed out in the Champions League. That was the last time Bayern didn't qualify for the Champions League... The next summer, they spend big to get back there.
Good list overall but Ndidi is a fine replacement for Kante. nowhere near as good but still a good player. However, we STILL haven't replaced Mahrez and we have been trying
I also think cristiano ronaldo should have got a mention, manchester united never replaces ronaldo whether at right midfield, neither did they replace him at the left wing, cr7 got the premer league record goal scored in the league over george best, mostly playing as a right midfielder as well, having a few assist as well, its so bad that not even cr7 is able to replace cr7 as the current cr7 is a centre forward who the 2008 cr7 would absolutely destroy in terms of an overall imput in a game, the ronaldo of the late 2000 is just an untouchable prime, but i understand why you didnt pick him because if you did, you would have to pick messi,pele, maridonna, di stefano and sir bobby charlton, which might push cruyff from top 3, though i think cruyff is a bit underrated, great video i can see where your coming from.
Day 19 of asking awesome person Alfie to make a video on Detroit City FC and to look at a club with partial fan ownership, a historic stadium built during the great depression as part of President Roosevelt's Works Progress Administration, and a rowdy group of supporters known as the Northern Guard who are championing the fight for equality for all minority groups. Oh and also, we just beat MLS side Columbus Crew in the US Open Cup.
I think Dani Alves falls in this category very well. Dani Alves’s impact is not recognized much . FC Barcelona is still yet to find a good RB . Dani Alves was the final piece for Barca to European success. After Dani left Barca’s defense completely broke down. Barca got knocked out in each of their champions league campaigns since 2016 due lack of good RB which led to heavy defeats like 4-0 to PSG , 4-0 to Liverpool, the loss to Roma, and the 8-2, and they still suffer in defense due to that .
Lambert was fucking quality. Didn't fit Liverpool's style of play, and they only signed him as cheap bait to tempt their bigger Southampton targets to the club. Lambert was used by his boyhood club and done absolutely dirty. Should never have left Southampton but got absolutely shafted by them. Got him in, that opened the gates for them to get their real targets (Lallana and Lovren), and once those two were in, Lambert's usefulness to Liverpool was over.
when leiscster won pl it was the greatest shock in fc history, not just England´s, and genk is pronounced like henk tho spellefd w a g, like spanish j and g!
@@SKa-tt9nm common sense proves me right. Records are made to be broken. Football evolves, new players debut every year. Sure, some are special, but life goes on, seasons go on, teams move on. No player, president, manager, cleanning lady whatever... Nobody is irreplaceable. Thats not football exclusive. Its just life. Its how it works.
I feel that Arsenal were more impacted by the retirement of Bergkamp and the sale of Thierry Henry than Viera's departure. But that's how opinions work not everyone has the same lol
Vítor Baía, with a twist. Left Porto for Barcelona in 1996, and was replaced in the following years by a total of 6 goalkeepers that would be starters at a stretch (Correia, Silvino, Wojniak, Eriksson, Krajl, Hilário, maybe a couple more that never established themselves) until Baía himself returned following a nagging knee injury and a falling out with Van Gaal in 99. Then he suffered a career threatening knee injury, missed almost two full seasons with Porto missing him on the field as well, until he was fully rehabbed and added a UEFA Cup and a Champions League (making him the last player to win all 3 European competitions, at least until someone does CL + Europa + Conference) before retiring a few years later at age 38. So, maybe not for this list with that twist (if it's one guy we could not replace at that era, it was Mario Jardel), but it's an interesting career trajectory for a future list - player leaves for a bigger club with a hole nobody could fill, then returns to unexpected levels of success.
Cristiano Ronaldo should surely be on here can you imagine how many more trophies that Man Utd could have won had he not left in 2009' and that famous Aguero goal to win Man City the league with basically the last kick of game in 2012 would have likely have been completely meaningless because a Ronaldo led Man Utd would have had already wrapped up the title before that point. There's no doubt that Man United selling Ronaldo had a huge impact on the club and they have failed to reach those heights again when they were the dominant force in the EPL and a major force in the champions league something they are light years from these days.
I think this video is more of a shout out to other greats instead of the all time greats, if you look at it, you can say the same for pele, neither santos nor brazil replaced pele, lionel messi will most likely never be replaced by barcelona or argentina, di stefano was not replaced in his time he was replaced in the other century by cr7 and raul, so di stephano would have to be there, napoli and argentina did not replace maridona right away either, maybe never for napoli, 35 years before messi came no one could have done what maridona did for argentina, george best could not be replaced right away either as it was not until cantona appeared 15 or so years later, and sir bobby charlton wasnt replaced in either england or manchester united until wayne rooney nearly 40 years later and still in england theres not real replacement for bobby charlton at all, so taking this into account i understand why cr7 wasnt picked in this 7.
As a Leicester City fan, the key to understanding replacing Kante, is to recognise that it took TWO players, not one to do it: Ndidi AND Tielemans, (when on form). IMHO, it's Mahrez that we really haven't been able to replace at all, (yet).
How is tielemans a kante replacement
@@neonyzr Ndidi wins the ball back and YT takes it forward - (that's how it worked in theory, and for a short while in practice, too, anyway). Kante did both, which is why replacing him with just a single player hasn't happened.
Only having this if you include Drinkwater otherwise this is no bueno.
@@phillippatryndal4255 difference is yt is much more of a threat going forward than kante
@@manu-nz7vc don’t think people remember how much of a good dribbler Kante was for Leicester regularly picked up the ball and drove into the final third to break the press
I believe Peter Schmeichel belong on the list. Took several years before United found a replacement in Van Der Saar. And on the national team his son is the only one close in ability.
Thomas Sørensen was quite good. Not on the level of Kasper and Peter, but he was pretty solid in my opinion, and deserve praise.
That's because you are biased towards your own. United's decline had little to do with Barthez, who, ironically, was far harder for the French to replace at the national level, than Schmeichel was for United to replace at the club level.
SMÂIKAL
Tom Finney 👋👋 Football did not begin with the Premier League. Good shout with big Nev too 👍
Great shout for Neville Southall. And you missed out another fact. At one point he set the record for the number of minutes between goals conceded at international level for Wales (385 minutes). Wales missed out on a place in the 1992 Euros by just 1 point, behind Germany. And he conceded only two goals in 9 games for Everton's 1985 CWC campaign.
A god among men
Very sweaty
I think Balotelli was Suarez’s actual replacement but if anything he was worse than Lambert
So it proves that he's irreplaceable 😂
Yeah Lambert only started 7 league games terms in 14-15. Was never really given a chance considering Liverpool cross the ball much more now than when they had Crouch, Carroll, Lambert, Benteke...
Suarez replacement is Salah.
@@sagnasswe2114
Different positions, different roles
@@AppreciateMnisi yup but both became goal machines.
I Remember the quote from Bill Shankly about Finney (who he always raved about) when someone came up to him after a particular match and told Bill that some up and coming player was "As good as Tom Finney," Quick as a flash Shanks responded: "Aye, but you've got to understand, Tom is nearly 60 now," :)
This is the level of list that only Alfie can make.
I started watching football just when Southall was about to retire but even so it was quite a bit of fuzz around the name.
I waited for the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo and Thierry Henry but was pleasantly surprised about the choice to include Patrick Vieira. Not only does Vieira fit your description better but the cause and effect of his departure made for much better content within the scope, there is of course the Robin van Persie who managed to replace Henry as a goal threat in a brilliant fashion for about 1,5 season or so.
Ay my name is alfie
Jan Molby called Cruyff the 2nd best player of all time. This was because when Cruyff signed for Ajax the second time he added to the average gate taking it to 41,000. Jan signed the next season and at the end of that season the average gate was 43,000...which is why Jan said Cruyff was the 2nd best player in the world :)
Perfect day for mentioning Johan, since today he wouldve turned 75
Still extremely honoured to have been able to meet him
Henrik Larsson at Celtic 🙁
Unfortunately Henri Camara didn’t quite make the cut.
I actually know Neville Southall, he did a little bit of training with my old teams GK when I was like 13 as his son played for my team
your mention of santos never producing the next pele made me think of another video idea...
7 of the best (or worst or most interesting) foreign messis: the "german messi" marko marin, the "croatian messi" alen halilovic, etc :D
Marin came up around the same time as Messi, nobody compared them in such a fashion. Halilovic was explicitly compared to Modric. Maybe they should make a video about the 7 dumbest commenters on TH-cam. It can be all about you.
@@respectedlocalgentleman7108 I would be honored to make the top 7 but I think I'd be lucky to get an honorable mention
How does a 38 year old score 21 goals in the top division from the wing? I know the game has changed a lot, but it sounds like there might be some lessons there.
That is easy: Playing no defense, and waiting for the ball!
He was naturally left footed playing mostly on the right for PNE (though he was known as a fine crosser with his right foot as well), and had experience of playing as the centre forward and getting goals. I don't know the ins and outs of that time, so I can't really speculate beyond that though.
The exit of Neymar is what caused all the drama over the last couple of years for Barça, getting into financial holes by trying to replace him with players that didn't fit the teams play style, and later on leading to the exit of Messi, because of these bad financial decisions over the years.
No. That is merely one of the effects. The cause is/was Barça's frivolous spending going back decades. When Cruyff took over, he wanted Barcelona to be equal to or better than Real, in all aspects. What followed was a quarter century long orgy of spending like Real, without money like Real. The Neymar situation was the proverbial "straw that broke the camel's back".
@DDeglane16 And boring. He was just one more while having way more potential. He was right to leave, but chose the wrong place to go. Just imagining what Guardiola or Klopp could've turned him into makes me pissed.
@@respectedlocalgentleman7108 what your saying is ignoring years of actual success and rich history Barcelona has had since Cryuff took over. Barcelona, in many ways, is the antithesis to RM Galactico. To say their entire history boils down to them wanting to spend as much like Real is just plain false, especially since not too long ago they assembled what was considered the greatest team in history from academy players who cost them nothing.
Kyle Walker for Tottenham. Since his departure, RB has been a consistent weakness in the Tottenham XI
Tottenham is such hot garbage, though. They've yet to replace Bale or Modric. Lord only knows what sort of amateurs they'll put in goal and up front when Llorid and Kane go bye-bye.
Trippier was his replacement
Hey Alfie, I always enjoy the videos, keep it up!
A question I've had while watching your videos is this: How many old matches do you actually watch? You're only a couple of years older than me, and yet you describe players from well before you were born as if you've been watching them week in and week out. Do you borrow a lot from characterisations and assessments of players that you read or hear, or do you genuinely watch lots of games from the 20th century? Just curious.
Makelele is the football equivalent to Chuck Berry. Almost certainly not the best blues guitar player ever, but everyone knows how Johnny B Goode goes.
Legacy often trumps ability, only increasing with time.
Fabregas didn't actually immediately take the number 4 shirt from Vieira, he wore 15 still in 2005/06. Arsenal for years had not bothered to fill the numbers 1-11 after their previous incumbents left and it wasn't until 2006 when they moved to the Emirates where the numbers were changed. Cesc Fabregas changed from 15 to 4, Kolo Touré from 28 to 5 and Phillipe Senderos from 20 to 6. They didn't quite fill 1-11 as Ashley Cole left 3 absent for the entire season.
Entirely irrelevant as Faggrabass didn't replace Vieira, nor was he ever a "4" by playing style and pitch positioning.
Neymar deserves a shout here as the fall of Barca all started when he left the club and Barca spent an insane amount of money trying to replace but have never been able to
As a season ticket holder at highbury, I saw a lot of that arsenal team, and to be honest, IMO Paddy Vieira isn't the player we miss the most... I think Bergkamp is. No one at arsenal has played the game like the ice man.
Well, while I was glad to see the vacuum from Vieira’s departure not papered over, it was your inclusion of Mr Finney that made this video special. 👍
When you say but, you could show a picture of Nicky Butt. I feel like this comedy is at an appropriate level for this channel.
Haven't replaced suarez? Alfie are you daft??
Don't diss my man Divock
But soon there will be another problem. Who's going to replace Divock?
Divock!? What're you smoking mon!??? No comparison whatsoever can be made there Chucky-boy.
@@Anthony-tu7oz you're right. Divocks a level above Suarez.
Peter Schmeichel is number 1 for me. We didn't replace him for about 6/7 years when we got Van Der Sar.
Yeah, even the great sir Alex had a few hangover signings right after Schmeichel left.. it only felt steady and stable when Van Der Sar arrived.
@@vaestkusten6041 Indeed. Taibi, Bosnich, Howard, Carroll. None of them was good enough. I guess Alfie was got to go with the hipster choices though.
But he did get replaced. It took a while but he did get replaced. The point of this video are players who were not replaced.
Barthez was an able replacement
But you did eventually replace him.
Speaking as a Red, I agree about Neville Southall. A gem of a 'keeper.
I also agree Alonso was as big a loss as Viera at Arsenal, only realised the magnitue of the loss after they left..
However Owen was already past his best due to knee injury when we he left, and judas Suarez and Sterling were always more interested in money. The efforts Klopp went to in order to keep Countinho are legion. Barca was his childhood club and nothing was going to stop him. At least we used the money well that time!
Torres and Mascherano were odd decisions..
Every player your club signs from another club, is by your own logic, is a Judas
My grandad goes on about Finney, he lived across the road from him and used to watch him train. Said he was the best footballer he's ever seen and whenever I wind him up that Matthews was better he gets so riled up 😂
😂😂😂
7 players who constantly punch above theyre weight
If Origi isnt on that list, that is a disgrace
Alfie, again a terrific compilation. I do have a particular fondness for your work that goes beyond the pitch to expand on historical and political elements while maintaining a central focus on the football. One small nit: you make great use of photo sources, but sometimes your green square logo does wipe out something that belongs in the photo, as at 17:40 where the keeper appears to be wearing an HITC Sevens box on his shoulders!
Messi by far is the most irreplaceable player. Even in his worst season, he managed to outplay most of the elite players who where excelling in their respective clubs... He's never gonna be replaced...
I dunno about that, but it's definitely a massive challenge to replace one of the best players in the world. It would be easier to play Friday the 13th on NES without Jason getting anyone while playing as Debbie or George with the weakest weapon.
He is one of the best or even the best player in history.
But no, he is not irreplaceable. He played with Ronaldinho, Iniesta, Xavi, Neymar, Suarez... He was never carrying his team like Suarez did in LFC, or Benzema now in Real Madrid...
@@milosilic23 lol he’s irreplaceable trust me, but Real Madrid have already found a cr7 replacement in benzema
Irreplaceable for Barcelona who catered the entire team around him. Yes he didn’t have to do all the work himself, except in that last season but look at him in PSG now. No hate for him, he’s the best naturally talented football we’ve ever seen but as he is now he’s not irreplaceable. In fact loads more players can do a better job than him at PSG.
@@antonypavon1777 Benzema is yet to win a Champions league without Cr7. So is he really a Replacement?
13:57 Great touch in adding Johan Cruyff as he is probably the most influential footballer of all time and it is indeed his birthday, although i doubt that came into your decision making. Rest In Peace King Cruyff, your name lives on.
Pele and Puskas were a lot more influential in terms of the all-time picture. Cruyff is key to the modern era.
John Terry for Chelsea FC has yet to be Replaced at the Heart of Defence … ⚽️
Thiago Silva. I know he’s v old but he can play the game easily into his 40’s.
chelsea literally won the champions league as a defensive side
Ferdinand/Vidic better examples. United spent hundreds of millions on expensive replacements and all have failed.
Everyone talks about Leicester’s attack the season they won the league, nobody talks about Wes Morgan and Rob Huth, who anyone would think were players past their prime only good enough for relegation candidates, yet they were the most solid CB’s in the league that season.
I alway rated Huth when he played for Boro tbh
Almost everyone in that Leicester side was brilliant that season, that was half the reason we won the league.
Few outside Leicester talk about the likes of Fuchs, Albrighton and Okazaki either, but they were minimum 7 or 8 out of 10 every week.
I do think Mahrez and Vardy were and will be the hardest to replace though. I know a lot of neutrals think Kante, but I think Ndidi also topped the tackles and interceptions as well in the PL for 2 or 3 seasons since and I think Kante’s ability to “drive up the pitch” gets overplayed a bit. And I think we are still struggling to replace Mahrez now and we’ve lost so much going forward during Vardy’s lengthy injury this season too.
I think in truth if you replace Kante with Ndidi there’s a lot more chance we still win the league than whoever we can realistically replace Mahrez or Vardy with.
Ultimately quality defensive players are almost always easier to replace than quality attacking or creative players. Especially if you’re not a big club who can just go and buy almost anyone.
Another great video. Keep them coming buddy.
A suggestion for next, similar, video ( I don't need to be credited :) - Irreplaceable manager . We all know about Sir Alex, Klopp, Pep, Cappelo but I am sure that you may surprise us
Unless you lived through it, it’s almost impossible to comprehend how good Luis Suarez was at Liverpool from ‘13-‘14. He obviously went on to do well, but it’s a shame he spent so many of his prime years carrying Messi’s water. He should have headlined his own team. What a player.
Ajax wanted to replace Cruijff with Tom Lund (Norways perhaps greatest ever player) in 1973. However the man, the myth, the legend that is Tommy rejected them to stay with his boyhood club.
As a Liverpool fan, you are absolutely right about Alonso.
Alonso being there made Gerrard be the attacking midfielder he was, but once Alonso left Gerrard had to cover to do all the work in midfield because we didn’t have a good replacement for Alonso. So after Alonso, Gerrard was doing both the attacking and defending in that midfield.
Xavi Alonso is easily the most underrated footballer of the modern era, possibly ever. He literally invented the "deep lying playmaker position" and managed to match it with a legitimate defensive midfielder's ferocity. Everybody talks about that great era for Spain, but for my money? I would take the 2008 team over all the bigger name-laded squads that followed, because Alonso and Marcos Senna were the most impenetrable and dominating defensive midfield duo I ever had a chance to watch. Co-sign everything you said about Liverpool. I wouldn't go so far as to say he was better than Gerrard individually, but I will say that if Gerrard weren't English or if Liverpool were located outside of England...Stevie G would've been the one getting replaced and the team would've been built around Alonso. Pardon the thread jack.
Completely missed out Bobby Moore. West Ham went from one of the best teams in England at the height of the 60s to a yo-yo club after he left the club.
Mark Schwarzer at Middlesbrough. We got relegated the season after he left and it took us 9 years and many, many duds to find another solid keeper in the form of Darren Randolph.
Another fantastic video. Thank you
Each Club’s & National teams best player in their history. Thank You for this channel, it’s fun and educational!
Just an idea for a video, maybe during the summer would be for you to pick out 7 players you feel are due to have their real breakthrough season. Then we can track them throughout the season and laugh when they’re terribly wrong or think you’re a genius.
I love how this list has 3 defensive midfielders from the modern game and in the modern game it is arguably the most important position
You uploaded this on cruyffs 75th birthday. What a legend 🏆
That’s so cool! I just made a video about Preston North End and while my video is not great, it’s awesome how you mentioned Finney.
Man.... I just like the way how HITC explain how irreplaceable Suarez is to Liverpool😻
Shevchenko should be on the list. Milan still hasn't found a striker like him.
I would suggest that Liverpool have replaced Suarez with Mohamed Salah because Mo’s production in goals/ assists and his star power are similar to that of Suarez. Mo just also has 4 other world class attackers around him to also do the business
Well Liverpool is not heading into games believing Salah is there to win games. They have a whole team. Salah score when he does, you necessarily can't count on that. To be fair he is a great player who produces brilliant moments in games but still.
BEST GERMAN PLAYERS IN EPL EVER
Kingsmlim
Would love to see a series on the best player ever from every club in the 92
7 greatest free kicks of all time
Baoltelli was Suarez's replacement but he was a pick of a panic bunch. Like Andy carroll for Torres, it wasnt well thought out and luckily, none of the people involved still work at the club.
Wait, you're saying Southall over Schmeichel?! I haven't watched any of the latter, but I'm still surprised
Looking at it from a Wolves point of view, as I am admittedly prone to doing, my first thought was Steve Bull. I don’t think I will ever again see a player in a Wolves shirt score 306 goals in 561 games, and he is a player who has never truly been replaced like for like. He has had his successors, plenty of players have worn the sacred number 9 since, but none could live up to his legend. He’s been retired almost twice as long he played for us now, and still his name is sung from the terraces on a weekly basis.
P. Maldini, D. Bergkamp, Dennis Bergkamp, Cafu, Ronaldinho, N. Vidic, Rio Ferdinand, F. Totti, T. Henry, J. Terry, S. Gerrard, Frank Lampard, Wanye Rooney, Dani Alves, Neymar, Eden Hazard, G. Chielini
Alan Campbell is a ready made replacement for kante
Neymar was most definitely irreplaceable for Barca. Since his departure Barca spent around 500 million to find him a replacement and every player they brought flopped
Coincidentally it's Johan cryuff's birthday today
i think partey is slowly becoming the man Arsenal need... he has the ability to grab the game by the scruff of the neck... ability to cut passing lanes.. drive the ball forward from deep.. has a good passing range... almost the complete No 6/8 we were craving for after Vieira
I fully agree with all of your respective inclusions and indeed,Luis Suarez boss' massive impact which he made at Liverpool would never be replicated by the two players which they have signed,mainly Mario Ballotelli boss who was a flop at the club but not so for Rickie Lambert boss as he tried his very best to be in the starting line up for them but failed,good friend Alfie Potts Harmer!!!:-D
Here's a really obscure one for you: Neville D'Souza for Maharastra Football Team. He only won a single Santosh Trophy and three Columbo Cups with them but considerinf what he did in the Summer Olympics a player of his pedigree in Maharstra today would elevate it in popularity to unprecedented heights in India.
Sit down, son.
It’s like that song in FIFA 22
“I wanna be the only one you need.”
7 irreplaceable footballers... 3 of them are French defensive midfielders... I guess top defensive midfielders from France are really one of a kind 👍🏾
Curious...has a midfielder ever been top scorer in a domestic league season?
Technically cr7. He was right midfielder
Zico must have managed that at some point
Lampard was Chelsea's top scorer on more than one occasion.
Cristiano ronaldo actually, he was a right midfielder when he scored 31 goals in 42 games i think, 18 assist i think also i dont remember the full stats
Also George Best was also top scorer as a left mid and as an attacking midfielder, scoring 28 goals, dont remember the full scope of that one either,but its something like that.
As a colombian... i wanna to say, Falcao at Atl Madrid and Monaco... and Thierre Henry in Monaco as well i guess.
Big Nev was a great goalie, no doubt, but William Ralph Dean is the best Everton player of all time, bar none.
But if he is the "greatest goalkeeper of all time" then why isn't he in as high regards for his position ? Speaking as a goalkeeper here lol
That's not how you spell Tony Hibbert
The Cryuff story is pretty funny when you think about it. Ajax dropped the ball that 2nd time around omg 😂
Players that seemed irreplaceable, but were replaced by someone even better, Keegan by Dalglish for example.
Laughed to hard at that Eddie Howe bit lol
Key lesson here.. You don't have to replace a player if you can still win a different way
Day 251: Indonesia XI If All Eligible Players Had Declared For Them.
That'll be the lowest viewed video ever.
no one cares 😂
that is big IF. and who in the right mind want to play for u guys.
Keep dreaming bocah
@@JayAnuar factos
Day 16: Considering that the last player who played in the miracle of Bern died about 5 months ago, I would really like to see a video about the whole story between Germany and Hungary, especially because it meant so much to at least the German population
Ah man. those Suarez years at Liverpool...
Interesting vídeo, love this kind of content. Day 4 of asking for a video about Democracia Corinthiana.
Alex Ferguson. United. Not a player but boy have they spent a massive amount to replace him, on coaches, players and managers.
Kante was a Ball winning or Box to Box midfielder... 😪
Ndidi is an anchor man, half back
Purely different roles
What about 7 players who didn't seem irreplaceable but turned out to be irreplaceable
Michael Ballack going to Chelsea at a free transfer in 2006 should be on this list. The Bayern bosses tried to talk him down, after he didn't want to extend ... and then they finished 4th and missed out in the Champions League. That was the last time Bayern didn't qualify for the Champions League... The next summer, they spend big to get back there.
But they did end up replacing Ballack tho
@@hananidrisi6436 And Real ended up replacing Makelele... without ever missing the Champions League...
Kolo toure doing 2 unbeaten season dispite being unable defend how do you replace that for it make sence
7 Coaches who were genuinely irreplaceable
For me, idrissa gana gueye would have been the perfect replacement for n kolo kante at lecister city back in 2016.
Goated channel
Makélélé also indirectly helped end Ron Atinkson's career which is good.
Good list overall but Ndidi is a fine replacement for Kante. nowhere near as good but still a good player. However, we STILL haven't replaced Mahrez and we have been trying
Number 1 should be Cristiano Ronaldo at United and he's not even on the list?!!!What are you on??!!
Nope Messi . Man U still got to the champions league final without cr7 and still won the premier league a few times after he left
I also think cristiano ronaldo should have got a mention, manchester united never replaces ronaldo whether at right midfield, neither did they replace him at the left wing, cr7 got the premer league record goal scored in the league over george best, mostly playing as a right midfielder as well, having a few assist as well, its so bad that not even cr7 is able to replace cr7 as the current cr7 is a centre forward who the 2008 cr7 would absolutely destroy in terms of an overall imput in a game, the ronaldo of the late 2000 is just an untouchable prime, but i understand why you didnt pick him because if you did, you would have to pick messi,pele, maridonna, di stefano and sir bobby charlton, which might push cruyff from top 3, though i think cruyff is a bit underrated, great video i can see where your coming from.
Don't think you can even put Lord Miggy in the same breath as Jon fucking Flanagan ngl
Day 19 of asking awesome person Alfie to make a video on Detroit City FC and to look at a club with partial fan ownership, a historic stadium built during the great depression as part of President Roosevelt's Works Progress Administration, and a rowdy group of supporters known as the Northern Guard who are championing the fight for equality for all minority groups. Oh and also, we just beat MLS side Columbus Crew in the US Open Cup.
7 footballers that got ratio'd on twitter
7 footballers that got cancelled
Day 433: Ways to fix VAR with your suggestions
Didn’t Real Madrid have Cambiasso before he went to Inter? What happened there. He could’ve been the “new Makelele”
I think Dani Alves falls in this category very well. Dani Alves’s impact is not recognized much . FC Barcelona is still yet to find a good RB . Dani Alves was the final piece for Barca to European success. After Dani left Barca’s defense completely broke down. Barca got knocked out in each of their champions league campaigns since 2016 due lack of good RB which led to heavy defeats like 4-0 to PSG , 4-0 to Liverpool, the loss to Roma, and the 8-2, and they still suffer in defense due to that .
To this day I still can’t believe we signed Rickie lambert after our best season in years
Lambert was a totally dry signing ha ha! Weird one that tbh.
Lambert was fucking quality. Didn't fit Liverpool's style of play, and they only signed him as cheap bait to tempt their bigger Southampton targets to the club. Lambert was used by his boyhood club and done absolutely dirty. Should never have left Southampton but got absolutely shafted by them. Got him in, that opened the gates for them to get their real targets (Lallana and Lovren), and once those two were in, Lambert's usefulness to Liverpool was over.
Comments section :
" Do the best car parking spaces at the Venezuelan 2nd Division grounds by order of shade availablity on a hot day"
3:16, that referee wanted to play
The streets won’t forget Rickie Lambert.
when leiscster won pl it was the greatest shock in fc history, not just England´s, and genk is pronounced like henk tho spellefd w a g, like spanish j and g!
No player is irreplaceable.
The 19:54 video above proves you wrong. Also - common sense proves you wrong.
@@SKa-tt9nm common sense proves me right. Records are made to be broken. Football evolves, new players debut every year. Sure, some are special, but life goes on, seasons go on, teams move on. No player, president, manager, cleanning lady whatever... Nobody is irreplaceable. Thats not football exclusive. Its just life. Its how it works.
I feel that Arsenal were more impacted by the retirement of Bergkamp and the sale of Thierry Henry than Viera's departure. But that's how opinions work not everyone has the same lol
Vítor Baía, with a twist. Left Porto for Barcelona in 1996, and was replaced in the following years by a total of 6 goalkeepers that would be starters at a stretch (Correia, Silvino, Wojniak, Eriksson, Krajl, Hilário, maybe a couple more that never established themselves) until Baía himself returned following a nagging knee injury and a falling out with Van Gaal in 99. Then he suffered a career threatening knee injury, missed almost two full seasons with Porto missing him on the field as well, until he was fully rehabbed and added a UEFA Cup and a Champions League (making him the last player to win all 3 European competitions, at least until someone does CL + Europa + Conference) before retiring a few years later at age 38.
So, maybe not for this list with that twist (if it's one guy we could not replace at that era, it was Mario Jardel), but it's an interesting career trajectory for a future list - player leaves for a bigger club with a hole nobody could fill, then returns to unexpected levels of success.
Cristiano Ronaldo should surely be on here can you imagine how many more trophies that Man Utd could have won had he not left in 2009' and that famous Aguero goal to win Man City the league with basically the last kick of game in 2012 would have likely have been completely meaningless because a Ronaldo led Man Utd would have had already wrapped up the title before that point. There's no doubt that Man United selling Ronaldo had a huge impact on the club and they have failed to reach those heights again when they were the dominant force in the EPL and a major force in the champions league something they are light years from these days.
I think this video is more of a shout out to other greats instead of the all time greats, if you look at it, you can say the same for pele, neither santos nor brazil replaced pele, lionel messi will most likely never be replaced by barcelona or argentina, di stefano was not replaced in his time he was replaced in the other century by cr7 and raul, so di stephano would have to be there, napoli and argentina did not replace maridona right away either, maybe never for napoli, 35 years before messi came no one could have done what maridona did for argentina, george best could not be replaced right away either as it was not until cantona appeared 15 or so years later, and sir bobby charlton wasnt replaced in either england or manchester united until wayne rooney nearly 40 years later and still in england theres not real replacement for bobby charlton at all, so taking this into account i understand why cr7 wasnt picked in this 7.