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| Friday 2 May, 2008 |
| Blog: Not so good, Christian |
| Christian Vieri's performance in Fiorentina's UEFA Cup exit confirmed that his career at the top level has come to an end, according to Richard Godden |
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From 1998 to 2002, there's little doubt in my mind that Christian Vieri was as good a striker as you could find in world football. For those of you who didn't have the pleasure of witnessing the human battering ram at his peak, think of a more consistent version of Luca Toni or Didier Drogba and then you are close to imagining what a fantastic player Bobo was.
The key word here is 'was'. As anyone who wasted over two hours of their life watching the snooze fest that was Rangers v Fiorentina last night will confirm, Vieri is a spent force. He looked like he was carrying a few extra pounds, but you would have been forgiven for thinking that he had concrete boots on such was his sluggishness. His first touch of the evening was to barely even make contact with the ball from just three yards out, while he finished the night by getting far too much on his penalty and ballooning it over the bar.
However, it was the stuff in between which was most embarrassing for the Viola No 32. When Fiorentina fans were praying that the ball would fall to star man Adrian Mutu - who, admittedly, did not have his best game either - it seemed to home in on Vieri each time. And on almost every occasion he either spooned the ball over or screwed it wide. He was proving to be more of a hindrance on the Gigliati's quest for a goal than he was a help.
The fact that Coach Cesare Prandelli has handed him just seven League starts this term shows how little he trusts his most experienced player and it remains to be seen whether Vieri will still at the Stadio Artemio Franchi next term. Perhaps he should have just stayed at Atalanta, where he seemed to have found his end of career level at the back-end of last season, but it's hard to be critical of someone who attempts to better himself.
Unfortunately, it's the end of the line for Vieri at the highest level. It's been a pleasure watching him, with his wonderful displays at the 1998 World Cup - when he outplayed both Alessandro Del Piero and Roberto Baggio - and a stunning goal for Atletico Madrid from virtually the corner flag being the standout moments for me. I'm sure you'll all have your own Bobo memories, but I hope his Baggio-esque penalty miss last night doesn't live long…
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I have long argued with my peers that Vieri’s golden years are long past him. I’ve watched Vieri since the World Cup in France in 1998 and back then he really was the ‘Riva’ of his day, a power house striker who was incredibly hard for opposition defences to mark out of a game. However it seems to me that ever since Vieri’s woeful miss against Korea in the World Cup in Korea 2002, he has been a shadow of his former self and of no reliable use to the teams which he has played for.
His behaviour at Inter in his last season was woeful demonstrating complete lack of self control for a mature player. His physical shape has long been questionable and his eye for goal and calm scoring ability has clearly long been lost as statistics speak for themselves. I couldn’t possibly count the number of the inexcusable and terrible missed chances I’ve seen Vieri commit in recent years.
What a relief it was then that Vieri missed the plane for World Cup 2006. Inzaghi went in his place and scored within the short 30minute opportunity he was given against the Czech Republic. Would anyone really have put faith in Vieri taking a penalty in the final against France or even playing well on the Finals stage?......in answer you only have to look at how Vieri played against Rangers in the recent UEFA Semi Final to judge. Forza Calcio!
Mike Iaconelli
That's something most people have known since 2004, Vieri is pretty close to totally useless. He can't finish, he can't even stand on his own feet at times, all he has is his name and his goal records from earlier, nothing else left. Euro 2004 showed exactly how useless he is.
Erik
I realise Christian Vieri is way past his prime. However, as someone living in the USA who has loved watching Vieri play over the years, the rumour of him possibly coming to MLS gets me really excited. I’d really pay some money to see him play when his team comes to New York. Or if he joined the NY Red Bulls, you’d bet I’d buy a jersey and start attending lots of home games.
Joe, Brooklyn, NY
That miss against South Korea in the 2002 World Cup was quite possibly the worst miss i have ever seen from a striker in world football, proving the belief that left footers are very much one sided, and started his decline in world football, and cost italy one of it's most embarrassing exits in a long time. Bye bye Bobo.. being Australian, and knowing Mark Viduka will be unavailable for our World Cup qualifiers in June, i would still have him in the green and gold after his brief stint in Australia as a kid.
Joe |
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