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The Three Best that you have seen playing live


cidered abroad

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9 minutes ago, BigTone said:

West Indies cricket team at an Ike & Tina Turner concert at Adelaides Apollo Stadium circa 76.

What did the windies sing? ?

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Football-wise, the best performance I've ever seen live was Juan Mata playing for Chelsea. I forget the opposition. A friend is a season ticket holder. He had a spare and I was at a loose end.

I've seen higher profile players play in the flesh but, one presumes, not their best games but Mata was bang on form and everything he did, on and off the ball, was absolute quality.

Others have mentioned De Bruyne v us and that was a great performance too.

The other one I'd mention, albeit at Championship level is Tom Cairney a few years back (another mate is a Fulham fan and I used to do quite well out of free spares for West London clubs!). Clearly not Premier League standard opposition so not a fair comparison but I've never seen anyone control the midfield to quite the same degree. 

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3 hours ago, Son of Fred said:

Ray Wilkins-

Best passer of a ball I've seen.

Allan Lamb-best player of fast bowling I've seen 'in the flesh..consummate ease-just pips Viv Richards.

Ralph Knibbs-best centre I've seen live,,, literally glided around the pitch & oozed class...to have never played for England was a crime against rugby.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Arr Mu worked with Ralph Knibbs for a while.  He did I a copy of "Hearsay" by Alexander O'Neal on tape!!  

1 hour ago, Offside said:

 

David bloody Kelly 

I still hate him

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In terms of footballers at the Gate...

Hoddle, even at 35(?) for Swindon and playing deep his passing and reading of the game was superb.

Similarly, an aging Ruud Gullit in a pre season against Chelsea, just simply the best player on the pitch by a mile. Always had time and space and was pinging passes around, short, long, high and low with incredible accuracy and technique.

Suarez for Ajax, again in a pre season friendly. Scored two worldies, nobody got near him.

Outside of football, i had the fortune to play in a net session at Glos against the touring West Indies side in 91. I faced a delivery each from Walsh and Ambrose. I managed to get something on Walsh's delivery (2 step run up), it probably would of gone to the slips but Ambrose did not hold back and nearly took my head off. I barely even had time to move the bat or my feet. He certainly had that aggresive edge to him, i even got a stare down! 2 world class sportsmen without a doubt.

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17 hours ago, cidered abroad said:

It's still a couple of days before we start thinking about Stoke so how about the three best sportsmen/women that you have seen live. One must be Football!

Mine are:

Football - John Charles of Wales, Leeds United and Juventus. I saw him for Leeds at Ashton Gate. A giant of a player in stature and ability. Played centre half and centre forward with amazing skill.

Cricket - Ray Lindwall, fast bowler for Australia who I saw in 1953 at Nevil Road against Glos. I dreamed of being a fast bowler like him. I never was but in heaven when I saw him.

Rugby - Barry John a Welsh fly half. Built on the slight side but what a brilliant player. Saw him at Cardiff against England.

Football - I've seen Messi, both Ronaldos, Ronaldinho, Gerrard, Lampard etc. Suarez and Eto'o at the Gate were both incredible on their days. 

Cricket - I've seen the best cricketers over the last 25 years or so (Lara, Tendulkar, Warne, McGrath etc). It was a privilege to see Courtney Walsh and latterly Kane Williamson at Glos, but I had a bizarre run of going to Tests at home and abroad in which Strauss scored eight of his 21 Test tons. 

Ryder Cup - Ian Poulter's heroics at Gleneagles in 2014 was awesome to witness. The definition of talismanic. 

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1 hour ago, Gazred said:

 

Similarly, an aging Ruud Gullit in a pre season against Chelsea, just simply the best player on the pitch by a mile. Always had time and space and was pinging passes around, short, long, high and low with incredible accuracy and technique.

Huge dose of nostalgia just hit me then reading that. I was a season ticket holder in the Dolmon stand back then in my youth and I'd never sat in the Williams stand before.... Until that game. Felt odd watching the game from a different side. 

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Does anyone remember Lomana Tresor Lua-Lua playing for Colchester at Ashton Gate in late 90's early 00's? The best individual performance I can remember from any player.  On one chance he seemed to dribble round our entire team about 3 times before Phillips pulled off a wonder save. He received an ovation from the City fans as he got to his feet and the game was still being played. That kid was bonkers good

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For football just too many, but I have to agree that De Bruyne wins top accolade. Just in another class.

Watched a lot of Cricket over the years, and privileged to have seen many of the modern greats. The very best (in my opinion) of all time, has to be Viv Richards. Technique, elegance, absolute control. Simply the finest batsmen there's ever been.

A narrow second has to be Tendulkar. Saw what I believe was his first test century scored in England, at Edgbaston versus England in '96. He wowed the world that day, and everyone knew that a very special talent had arrived.

But I can't leave it there without mentioning Beefy. Back in the days of the Weston super Mare festival, this was 79/80 I do believe, he turned out for Somerset against iirc Worcester. Saw him thump it all over the park that day in imperious, almost nonchalant fashion. Today's new breed of white ball supermen aren't a new phenomenon because 40 years ago there was Botham. He preceded them all. Unfortunately he fell short of a century that afternoon. He was caught on the boundary for I think 94, going for the maximum to chalk up a ton. Never mind, a wonderful innings and a cherished memory.

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59 minutes ago, Loïs said:

Does anyone remember Lomana Tresor Lua-Lua playing for Colchester at Ashton Gate in late 90's early 00's? The best individual performance I can remember from any player.  On one chance he seemed to dribble round our entire team about 3 times before Phillips pulled off a wonder save. He received an ovation from the City fans as he got to his feet and the game was still being played. That kid was bonkers good

Yes I remember that game. Sebok was given the job of marking him and nobody had any idea what to do. 

Rumour was that Pulis ??? tabled a £1 million bid just afterwards. Whether that's true or not I have no idea. He would probably be the last player Pulis ??? would have signed. 

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22 hours ago, cidered abroad said:

It's still a couple of days before we start thinking about Stoke so how about the three best sportsmen/women that you have seen live. One must be Football!

Mine are:

Football - John Charles of Wales, Leeds United and Juventus. I saw him for Leeds at Ashton Gate. A giant of a player in stature and ability. Played centre half and centre forward with amazing skill.

Cricket - Ray Lindwall, fast bowler for Australia who I saw in 1953 at Nevil Road against Glos. I dreamed of being a fast bowler like him. I never was but in heaven when I saw him.

Rugby - Barry John a Welsh fly half. Built on the slight side but what a brilliant player. Saw him at Cardiff against England.

Great thread &very difficult to limit to three. It’s not until you start thinking about it you realise the quality you’ve been lucky enough to witness. 
 

david silva Man City home game 

Glenn Hoddle v us first division 

Alan border , Aussies  v Gloucester , tour match 1985 
 

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Cricket : AB De Villiers. An absolute legend of a player. Could defend 100 balls and score one, and then as if by magic shift gear to attack and score 50 off his next 20 balls. Exquisite timing and technique. A joy to watch.

Football : Probably Zico, although it was at Wembley in the cheap seats so we could basically see the fencing and none of the game.

Rugby : Dan Carter. A machine. Not a human.

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24 minutes ago, steviestevieneville said:

david silva Man City home game 

 

Was talking to a guy at a wedding that I was best man for. He's a Liverpool fan going back to the 80s's. 

He said the 3-2 game where they beat man city at home the year they almost won the league ( Gerrard slip season) he said in that game, Silva had the best individual performance he'd ever seen at Anfield by any player home or away. Considering the players he would have seen play, that's quite a compliment. 

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4 hours ago, Kingswood Robin said:

Best, Charlton and Moore, all in city shirts - in the pro celebrity match before the 1986 FRT final (got the pictures to prove it! )

If only.

Thanks for the reminder. Our group was sat on a wall outside the stadium a couple of hours before ko. Bobby Moore walked past us and we all cheered and clapped him. Five minutes later, Bobby Gould stopped and we had some banter with him. Was he at Gas then?

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1 hour ago, The Batman said:

Was talking to a guy at a wedding that I was best man for. He's a Liverpool fan going back to the 80s's. 

He said the 3-2 game where they beat man city at home the year they almost won the league ( Gerrard slip season) he said in that game, Silva had the best individual performance he'd ever seen at Anfield by any player home or away. Considering the players he would have seen play, that's quite a compliment. 

I thought he was unbelievable that night. Difficult to choose between him & KDB that night , plus Aguero’s finish . 
Silva just seemed on another level though 

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