7 Footballers Who Had The SHORTEST Primes

[@JLvideocp]

Adriano's story is so sad, but also very important, because it showed everyone how mental health has a huge impact in every human, even footballers

[@Cold_Logic]

Adriano was the original Haaland

[@misakworkneh6917]

"every human" as opposed to "every robots"?😂

[@morkujinirukandji4820]

@@Cold_LogicAdriano wasn’t a tree trunk like Haaland. He could dribble and was very involved outside the box. Way better footballer than haaland

[@Ash-BRFC]

Football is the job of humans. Why people don't auto accept footballers as humans I don't know , so disrespectful

[@andrasszabo1570]

"every human, even footballers" 😂

[@redchampion]

Paco alcacer, one of the craziest and shortest primes I have ever seen

[@ballsinspector]

paco at dortmund was something else honestly

[@56postoffice]

That is true. If any player I thought would've gone on to bigger things, is that guy.

[@Tris2000]

True. Shame he didn’t stay at Valencia. Peter Lim was hardly going to turn down 30€m from Barcelona, with Munir on loan as part of deal. Much as I hate Lim, it probably made financial sense. Considering Alcácer’s prime went down so quickly, it may have even been the best decision, with hindsight. My guess is Alfie didn’t pick him because he did have a number of glorious years at Valencia. So probably not a one-hit-wonder like the others.

[@redchampion]

@@Tris2000 I am talking about his time at bvb more so

[@rikki6]

Fifa 14 legend

[@oh1yeah2]

Adriano's "I have a hole in my ankle and my soul" is actually poetically beautiful imo

[@youknowlos]

Beautiful and tragic 😢

[@MrAtzu]

Luka Jović could be a shout. He was unstoppable during the 18/19 season with Frankfurt, scoring 17 goals in the Bundesliga and 10 goals in the Europa League. Then Real Madrid signed him for €60 million and his career took a complete nosedive. Ever since moving to Los Blancos, Jović has never scored more than six league goals in a season.

[@rikki6]

He was so fun on fifa 19

[@escape2nirvana]

Totally forgot about him! Good shout

[@konzza]

I do like to see him mentioned here. Personally after watching couple of games from Frankfurt, i never thought that much of him as a footballer. He was a good fit for their high scoring 3 striker system and scored a lot, but more for being a willing runner, than actually having any other world class attributes.

[@tlcgottkaiserdermassen]

@@konzza Exactly. He was incredibly reliant on Haller and Rebic. When he din't have those two, he faltered.

[@maccabees1000]

@@tlcgottkaiserdermassen good shout, but he is still only 26, it looks unlikely, but he could still turn it around

[@bens4602]

Piatek is a shout, he was everywhere in 2018-19, had AC Milan fans chanting his name. Scored immense figures. Then went totally off radar.

[@lmd3556]

Brazilian here. You pronounced Grafite correctly 👍

[@silviofelix1991]

😅😅😅

[@ricardopperez]

Almost, the last "te" sound more like "cci" like in "Pucci". (btw, grafite is a racist nickname )

[@truthoverlies1820]

What does Grafite translate as?​@@ricardopperez

[@joaosantiago7010]

I can't say the same for the name of the club Goiás...😂😂

[@helloiamenergyman]

​@@truthoverlies1820Graphite. Probably in reference to the color of their skin

[@Leanbean4]

Man…how could I forgot about the cheeky girls 22 goals in 18 games for Real Madrid. What a time

[@JimTheFly]

That second Cisse goal vs Chelsea is still one of the greatest goals I've ever seen. That ball took at least a 45-degree turn in midair and he made it dip so much that he had to get it over a leaping Cech and under the bar, and it wasn't even close, but I swear if he was 2 feet to his left, that ball is curving so much that it doesn't go for a goal kick for for a throw-in. Absolutely memorable stuff.

[@bricktop.]

That strike was an utter MADNESS. All time banger of a goal fair play

[@JimTheFly]

@@bricktop. I swear I remember Cech just standing there like "... what the F can I do about something like THAT?"

[@vman99]

You can see the utter shock in the Chelsea fans too. They had no idea what happened and frankly neither did we.

[@bzilla-d4i]

We lost Toto Schillaci last month. R.I.P Legend 🇮🇹

[@GardinerAlan]

Woah woah woah Macheda scored against Sunderland in his next game after Villa. His prime lasted a whole week. How very dare you.

[@GreekHouseEffect]

His prime was for Panathinaikos actually. Lit Superleague Greece in fire

[@Sinanengin3468]

Guiza, in his third season as our third choice striker, was subbed on in buca away, the game was 3-3, guiza scored the goal that gave us the lead and went on to hug one of our disabled fans. We won the game and the league. He didnt met expectations in fener but we all remember and love him for that goal and that hug. Gracias matador.

[@leonardodelacruz3859]

He was actually one of the strikers I respected in the time. He was a born scorer and didn't care what team he was playing against. The other striker I respect a lot who was also underrated was diego tristan

[@Erredupizer]

Adriano, the ultimate Pro Evolution Soccer player of the PS2 era

[@J4MIE96]

Any time I hear Adriano, there's always someone who treats him like a video game character

[@samfisher2306]

I used to play with Inter back then. 4-4-2 system with Adriano and Ibra up front....scoring was too easy with that team 😅

[@alkendjakimi8768]

+zlatan, zanetti and stankovic?

[@滋榎本]

Prime Adriano was one of the most dominant and unstoppable players in the world at that time. Shame that prime didn't last longer but it's still unforgetable.

[@mrmeeseeks2534]

Alfie I genuinely think you’re one of the best football channels out there and I really hope you continue to grow and make more deep,intellectual videos(p.s I would really like it if u began making history videos and social issue videos) x

[@effkay3691]

Is that actually, really how he speaks?

[@Lucaz99]

@@effkay3691he has his own channel, you can see it there. If I remember correctly, yeah kinda. He talks a bit slower for these videos, you want everyone to understand you.

[@AfifFarhati]

Never seen someone on youtube with as much wide and obscure knowledge on football , crazy stuff...

[@John17489]

Streets won’t forget Adriano and Obafemi Martins duo in PES

[@fairphoneuser9009]

Adriano's prime and PES' prime was approximately at the same time!

[@YashMezzala]

PES 6 still the greatest football game

[@fairphoneuser9009]

@@YashMezzala *THE* all-time classic! ❤️

[@michaelward5370]

I just commented a little list of my own, I had Obafemi Martins on it! He looked like he was going to be an absolute superstar when he was at Internazionale!!

[@chlcrk]

@@michaelward5370 And yet he somehow wound up at Newcastle, where he would score belters then miss sitters. Still remember a glorious goal he scored at Spurs though

[@NKJonSnow]

Please do a vid on the 7 biggest teams that flopped. Teams that were expected to dominate and yet completely and utterly failed. I think of the galacticos and psg when I imagine this.

[@livwake]

He did one on worst pound for pound teams recently with those teams in

[@faeembrugh]

Leeds in the 1970s? Won a few trophies but missed out on plenty too!

[@Paufranne]

Atletico Madrid 2024-25. So much money spent. No better results.

[@herrerasauro7429]

Flamengo's 94 squad, the so called "Melhor Ataque do mundo" (best attack in the world) with Romário as a Ballon D'Or winner, Edmundo and Savio springs to mind

[@nyecrozier8663]

Arguably MSN era Barcelona, they were very successful domestically but only winning one Champions League with that team was a disaster

[@drex5160]

PES 6 Adriano was a cheat code 🚀

[@herrerasauro7429]

Having Adriano and Eusebio as strikers on your Master League was absolutely unfair

[@Emmanuel-lp9fp]

Please make a video on Ghana's downfall

[@MattSaysHello]

Alfie could you please do a video on games that have saved managers jobs. EG Ten Hag being saved by the FA cup win against Coventry and the Arsenal game against Chelsea.

[@bjehulk]

Ole’s win over PSG in the Champions League in 2020 which saved his job too

[@panic_2001]

Probably nobody here knows him: Thomas Doll played for HSV in 1990/1991, went to Lazio for a lot of money after that season; and then things went downhill…

[@hijisfriend9030]

Nah, Indonesian knows him. Currently, He is coaching one of our big team, Persija Jakarta. He is quite a great coach so far.

[@paultapner2769]

Vaguely remember his name from the early days of Serie A on British channel four, but I'd totally forgotten him till I read this and didn't know what had happened to him.

[@AblemanSy]

In Germany most football fans know him because of his legendary press conference as Dortmund manager when he answered a stupid question with "that's all just bla bla bla is that!" But his prime were actually his 4 years with BFC Dynamo (the most successful club in GDR) before the fall of the wall. He was actually from the east.

[@johnnythemachine6949]

@@AblemanSy 'N Wörns und 'n Kovac, die sind nächstes Jahr gar nicht mehr hier, die sollen aber jetzt die Kohlen aussem Feuer holen!

[@justhuy7960]

Seeing Michu and Papiss Cisse in this video gave me strong nolstagia, that was the time I was in middle school and followed EPL every week, even came to class and discussed football with lads, can't believe it was already 12 years ago.

[@bababababababa6124]

This now has me wondering which players have had the LONGEST primes?

[@SilliusSodus]

Neuer, Modric, Thiago Silva, Buffon and many more. #1 might be Stanley Matthews tho.

[@danielkarmy4893]

@@SilliusSodus I'll add Vitorino Hilton to the list - still starting games, week in, week out, in League 1 for Montpellier, as an outfield player, when he was 43! I was actually genuinely surprised when he announced his retirement...

[@junthergauch3089]

Kroos the first one who comes to mind for me

[@ReadytoDiveIn]

Thomas Müller has been the greatest attacking midfielder in history. And still is.

[@barca.fan_11]

Kroos is that guy because if I asked y'all "when was Prime Kroos ?" I'd get as many different answers.

[@ThePB77]

Michu better be on this list

[@leobuscaglia5576]

He is and is on the top of the list. 😄

[@ThePB77]

@leobuscaglia5576 it really was that obvious wasn't it 🤣🤣

[@itspaintosee]

Albert Reira was amazing for Liverpool for that one year he was there. His stats might not have been amazing but he was a key part of Benetiz' team that year

[@tomhoey9008]

7 worst owners of EFL clubs since 2000

[@chlcrk]

Shall we have a look at the 75+ contenders?

[@gurururuwarararara8164]

Hicks & Gillett, Glazers, Kjell Inge Røkke, Vincent Tan, Farhard Mousiri (spelling might be wrong), Mike Ashley, Todd Bohely

[@welshfinn1]

You are the most erudite, informed and insightful football journalist that I have come across - this is another excellent video in a collection of excellent football videos. I really hope you find the recognition that such determined work deserves

[@phoenixj1985]

A brief moment of purple form that is never recaptured shall now forever be known as 'Chico Time'

[@ifan_1234]

on Thursday the champions of the Welsh premier league won 2-0 against Astana in the Europa conference. please make a video diving into the Cymru premier's history, the reason behind 4 of Wales' best clubs playing in England, and where the league could go from here 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿🙏

[@gwheregwhizz]

Imagine the joy this season watching Merthyr Town beating the English every week in Southern South and the fans not having to drive at 20 MPH to get to away games. Better than Tom Jones singing Delilah.

[@alexrn416]

We live in an era of unprecedented longevity in football video intros arent we Alfie?

[@KaijuofSteel]

That original tweet calling Benzema a “one hit wonder" is so out of touch You just don't casually become Real Madrid's 2nd and Champions League's 4th all time goalscorer

[@joejo4549]

It's deliberate to bait a response

[@HeracrossTheGreek]

It makes sense that this video is full of strikers since they are easier to evaluate. A non-striker inclusion could be Victor Moses. He was world class as RWB in 2016-17 under Antonio Conte in Chelsea, but average in every other club or season.

[@RyuzakiTaiyou]

Best German players in the premier league of all time. (Day 690) Alternativly you could do "Best German players who played outside the Bundesliga" or something like that if you prefer. I will not give up until the video is made or Alfie himself tells me to stop. Everyone else telling me that will be ignored. If you don't believe my number, just go back to the previous videos. I'm at the bottom most of the time, but I'm there.

[@beno1129]

I genuinely admire your perseverance.

[@gurururuwarararara8164]

​@beno1129 Same. At this point I just feel like Alfie won't make the video until his day count reaches 1000. If it gets to 1000, and Alfie STILL won't make this video, Imma get rid of this subscription 💔

[@beno1129]

​@@gurururuwarararara8164 Yeah I agree that Alfie should at the very least respond to the request and confirm whether he'll be doing it or not.

[@gofannon1943]

I’d skip it because I loathe Klinsmann more than any other player or manager in history. USMNT is still recovering from his hellishly poor and selfish leadership.

[@gurururuwarararara8164]

@beno1129 100%. At this point, I'm beginning to think Alfie is somewhat diabolical

[@rezarfar]

Trying to call Benzima a "one hit wonder" is beyond ridiculous 😂. Dude was legitimately a world class top 10 player for 80% of his career and at one stage, managed to get to the very top of that ranking, but in reality he was always competing on that top level.

[@brokendoll3368]

I honestly doubt that he was top 10 for even half his career unless your "top 10" includes at least 10 honorable mentions, but I agree that he was very good for way too long to even think about putting him on the list for half a second.

[@benhoughton7009]

@@brokendoll3368there’s a reason Madrid kept him for 14 seasons…

[@rezarfar]

@@brokendoll3368 This is a take I'd expect from someonewho has never even touched a ball with their feet.

[@rogerioceni2640]

He was a top player for longer than Rooney (who ironically would qualify for the “shortest peaks” if using the same logic as people who say that about Benzema).

[@ninjalectualx]

No one called him that though

[@michaelay4900]

Video suggestion Day 9: 7 pairs of footballers that fit the "regen" idea the best (one retired, one rise up with similar background in position, nationality, ability etc)

[@silviofelix1991]

He did a video whose idea is very similar to that. I don't remember the title but has Donnarumma on the image.

[@ninjalectualx]

Players everyone thought were irreplaceable but weren't

[@classicbananamilk]

man that wolfsburg season as a whole was lightning in a bottle, unbelievable

[@HonestWatchReviewsHWR]

That Cisse goal against Chelsea is still one of the best I've ever seen in the Prem.

[@kobiowujubriladedeji4803]

An Updated Top 100 greatest players of all time will be nice. A lot has happened in football in 6 years

[@sydwellmyataza]

Would for you to a video on my country South Africa 🇿🇦 on the state of our football

[@willcomrie2853]

Adriano had an absolute hammer of a left foot.

[@ChrisMeerkat]

Unprecedented longevity? Stanley Matthews, Teddy Sheringham not to mention all the goalies that played into their 40s.

[@HITCSevens]

An unprecedented era of longevity, not unprecedented isolated examples.

[@danielkarmy4893]

Hey Chris! I've gradually been compiling a record through the last seven or so years of all players (professional at club level, regardless of the level at which they ended their careers, and inclusive of amateurs at international level but international only) who have been known to have played beyond the age of 40. I have 1,203 entries thus far, the majority of which concern players who were active during the 2000s, 2010s and 2020s; as of course I'm sure you'll know, there is John Goodall, the doyen of the early years of league football, who played until 1913 aged 50, and the great Arthur, Lord Kinnaird, who retired in 1890 aged 43, then Ned Doig the legendary goalkeeper who hung up the gloves in 1908, at 42. Between the 1910s and the 1980s, just looking through now, I find an average of perhaps 30 to 40 entries per decade, then 78 for the 1990s, 256 for the 2000s, 618 for the 2010s, and 368 for the 2020s so far. Note that we are not yet halfway through the current decade. :)

[@ChrisMeerkat]

@@danielkarmy4893 Great research, hats off! Goalies tend to last longer so it would be interesting to know how many of those veterans were outfield players. ,👍

[@tomnolan5574]

A very enjoyable video as always, but I don't know how Schillaci is not the top of this list. His prime was only for one season, and he reached his absolute peak during a few short weeks when he became the most iconic star of arguably the most iconic football tournament of all time. When he sadly died last month, even people with a passing interest in football seemed to remember the name. Few players with primes that went on for years would have been as well remembered.

[@SKa-tt9nm]

Excellent point.

[@10minutesfacts66]

Darko Pancev could have been included. Second best player in the world ( a lot of them say he was n.1 ) Golden boot and top goalscorer at the time when he joined Inter.

[@SKa-tt9nm]

That’s a fair shout. He had 3 great years at zvezda and was never the same after the butcher defenders of 90s serie A were done with his knees. A shame. He was a great talent. Should have gone to Barca and partnered up with Stoichkov.

[@bzilla-d4i]

The driving force in that 07/08 Wolfsburg squad was the incredible Marcelinho Paraiba, probably the most underrated Brazilian playmaker of all time.

[@johnnythemachine6949]

Yes but he left the season before Wolfsburg won the Bundesliga. He was replaced by the Bosnian playmaker Zvjezdan Misimovic, who also had an excellent season with 38 G/A in all competitions

[@AndrewBrown-fq6vp]

Even with Messi playing in the MLS, Christian Benteke was top scorer this year for DC United!

[@bzilla-d4i]

If you're talking about long primes, look no further than Paolo Maldini, Cafu and Alessandro Costacurta, the 3 of them were winning the Champions League at the ages of 39, 37 and 41. With a 34 year old Inzaghi and Ronaldo also being part of that Milan squad in 2007.

[@ymca4547]

Interestingly, Ronaldo does not have a CL winners medal. Was cup-tied.

[@ezraezra2928]

@@ymca4547 He played for Real Madrid during the first half of the season.

[@vman99]

Cisse’s goal vs Chelsea still shocks me all these years later. Idk how you hit a football like that.

[@deborahluck539]

❤ALFIE! Good morning and hopefully all is well……Here in Las Vegas enjoying your info! Once again I am surely becoming a football nerd!!!!! Keep up the great job ❤❤❤

[@ChubbyChecker182]

That Grafite Goal is amazing, and the English Commnmentator too, thanks Alfie

[@prenolinlinseinaidoo3977]

Honestly I think Ronaldinho should be here, 2004 to the end of the 05/06 season and that's it, from the world cup onwards he was a shadow of himself

[@Fmfcg]

Prime neymar > prime ronaldinho

[@SKa-tt9nm]

@@Fmfcg😂😂😂

[@JaffaJannu]

Spain actually has 5 exclaves in Morocco. 3 of them are military base and some rocky islands.

[@maciejbala477]

weird knowledge increased

[@rohithraman6488]

Papiss Cisse and Nikica Jelavic were two similar players in 2012. Both arrived in England during the January transfer window (Cisse to Newcastle, Jelavic to Everton) both were in red hot form for the next few months and you could say both of them never hit those heights after that

[@lucastarg]

Your pronunciation of Grafite is correct, specially for the southeastern region of Brazil (states like São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro)! However, GrafiTE, stressing the last syllable, is also correct and the way it would be pronounced in the south. The northeastern region of the country would be a mix of both. source: am Brazilian, born and raised in the northeast.

[@seandelap8587]

I can remember when Frederico Macheda scored 2 vital late goals for Man Utd against Aston Villa to win the game 3-2 during the title run during the 2008/09 season thinking that he was going to become a vital member of the team but that was basically the entire highlight of his career those 10 minutes he just seemed to have faded into complete obscurity after that dramatic moment

[@michaelward5370]

Few more: Eyal Berkowitz (West Ham) Janiszlai (Man Utd) Renato Sanches (Rennes) Obafemi Martins (Internazionale) Andy Carroll (Newcastle United) Paulo Wanchope (Derby County)

[@justhuy7960]

did you mean Januzaj ?

[@michaelward5370]

@@justhuy7960, yeah, that's the one!

[@Bartleby1892]

Wanchope is a legend and record scorer for Costa Rica, so he doesn't belong here. Sanches is tricky, I thought his prime was at Benfica.

[@justhuy7960]

@@michaelward5370 as an Man United fan I think Januzaj had some great moments when he played for Sociedad but definately only played ok when he was at Man United.

[@williamcross210]

Renato Sanchez was huge in leading Lille to the Ligue Un title a few years ago

[@Omar_Little]

Adriano was game-breaking on FM05

[@CallumWatson-p2l]

Pes 6

[@C-Valentine97]

Great video!

[@bigmusiksosa7591]

Krzysztof Piątek... Streets wont never forget...

[@krismac7695]

That Chico reference was a real blast of nostalgia, plucked from absolutely bloody nowhere.

[@meelooxavier6502]

<a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="703">11:43</a> I definitely remember "Salvatore della patria". Italia '90 was the first World Cup I followed as a kid

[@lokmansahat6220]

Please make a video on the rise and fall on Malaysia football especially Malaysian national football team.

[@John17489]

Adriano a harsh inclusion as his downfall was caused by his father’s death, affecting his mental health and in turn his decline

[@AblemanSy]

Doesn't change the fact that his prime was short.

[@louiswigston748]

I was in the away end when cisse scored that brace. The second is still the best goal I’ve ever seen live. Unbelievable.

[@Hyde_Hill]

Vincent Janssen. He was insane that half season at AZ that got him the Tottenham transfer. Then went downhill and recovered a bit later.

[@frankscomiccastle4928]

How about Marco Negri for that one season in Rangers ?

[@LienLeon]

I was going to suggest Negri! Now that was a drop off.

[@CallumWatson-p2l]

Jelavic too

[@benjamineckford1718]

Michu in 2012-13 was amazing, loved watching him

[@HappyCodingZX]

Tony Yeboah's second season at Leeds was mental, he seemed to get nominated for goal of the month every time it came around.

[@AblemanSy]

But he was outstanding for Frankfurt before that.

[@HappyCodingZX]

@@AblemanSy yes, but I wouldn't have called him one of the best strikers in the world at that time, just one of the best in the Bundesliga. In that one season at Leeds he was truly world class.

[@rohithraman6488]

Video suggestion - 7 Best "Streets Will Never Forget" Premier League Teams (eg. Southampton 2014-15, Middlesbrough 2003-04, Newcastle 2011-12)

[@SYKim_94]

Now we need a video of 7 players who started “late” but became great

[@Trargent_08]

Reminds me of Taibi ( Man Utd Goalkeeper ) he peakes for like ... 1 match.

[@King_Goat_JJ]

That Newcastle team with Cisse, Ba & Ben Arfa is peak Barclays football & streets will never forget

[@mr.e.8292]

Pavel Pogrebnyak could have been at least a funny shout. Fastest player to score his first five goals in the Premier League only to then only score another 6 over the entirety of a calendar year and a bit

[@WilliamJMartinj]

You should include Mario Götze too. He flourished during 2012-2013 season with Borussia Dortmund. Then Bayern Munich bought him the next season and he performed well and score against his former club. Then he won the World Cup with Germany and score during the Final game vs Argentina and was named Man of the match! But eventually he flopped since then and never make a big impact!

[@williamcross210]

Götze didn't so much flop as he fell victim to myopathy which caused some of his muscles to not function properly

[@AblemanSy]

He was already absolutely stunning in the 10/11 campaign at age 18 when they won the Bundesliga. He never really played great for Bayern.

[@johnnythemachine6949]

Götze never reached his potential but he also never fell that deep like many others in that list. I mean he's still a regular for one of the better teams in the Bundesliga right now (Frankfurt) an recently made his 300th Bundesliga appearance and scored in the same game

[@ThePedrovv]

Grafite pronunciation spot-on mate 👌

[@TheBanditSlick]

Should have asked Endrick about Papiyo, I'm sure he would have had something for you.

[@ninjalectualx]

Haha last month's joke, what a callback

[@chlcrk]

I was tempted to say "Cisse? Really?" but... yeah. His first half season at Newcastle got us inches away from the Champions League, only for him to spend most of the following 4 seasons with us struggling to stay onside

[@leonanthony683]

The people we need to get rid of in football is the the people saying "he's the next Messi", rooney, Ronaldo etc they're the real issue because it is beyond unfair to put that kind of pressure on young players that have barely made it out of their teens. And no one knows the damn future.

[@oh1yeah2]

My good man... Güiza is Spanish, not Italian, so his name isn't pronounced as in Pizza, and the pichichi trophy isn't pronounced Pickicki. Otherwise top video as always with weird obscure references just as we like it

[@heavyballs00]

Would be pronounced Dani 'Hoo-ee-tha', G's at the start of Spanish words sound more like a harsh 'H', also the same as Girona being pronounced 'Hee-ro-na'.

[@AblemanSy]

And Mallorca isn't Parma.

[@johnnythemachine6949]

@@AblemanSy I think he said Palma, wich is the capital of Mallorca

[@TiagoFerreira-zp9gi]

What are you even talking about Mário Jardel prime? The dude was top scorer for 3 different teams...

[@victormartins1191]

Alfie is right about Grafite, at least the southeastern part of Brazil - where he is from - pronounces his name “Grafić”. As you go north and west, it starts to be replaced but “Grafiti” - like the street painting, but with a short T. He is now a commentator on TV and his peers usually call him, affectionately, “Grafa”

[@AblemanSy]

About that Grafite-goal: Yeah, one of them was Philipp Lahm, but the others were Andreas Ottl, Christian Lell and Breno. And the goalkeeper was Michael Rensing. Not that great! The goal is still absolutely stunning and one of the funniest moments I have seen (as I hate Bayern with a passion).

[@Chris-ni4mk]

It’s a classic story, really: boy meets club, boy wins a bucket load of trophies, and boy... realizes he’s won so many that lifting yet another trophy might strain his wrists. Such was the predicament of Real Madrid’s own Enrique “Papín” Pachín, the man who made an art form out of quietly exiting stage left before victory could slap him on the back yet again. For years, Pachín dutifully donned the all-white kit of the Spanish giants, running circles around the opposition like a butterfly ("Papillon" if you’re feeling fancy) flitting gracefully from one defensive position to another. But it seems that, after a while, Pachín grew... weary of success. I mean, how many times can one man hoist La Liga trophies without feeling just a little fatigued? Some speculate he had a running bet with a teammate on how fast he could retire, while others say he had a philosophical crisis: what’s the point of winning when you’ve won everything there is to win, twice? Of course, there were rumors. That a shadowy cabal of “youthful legs” was out to get him, for example, creeping up in the form of younger, faster, and slightly shinier players. Some claim he was replaced by a newer model with extra stamina and a free year’s supply of liniment balm. Others suggest he was haunted by visions of Real Madrid’s lineup evolving into a legion of single-role specialists, rendering his all-in-one style as outdated as last season’s mullet. Poor Pachín, realizing he might be relegated to the bench, made a noble sacrifice: he voluntarily stepped aside. Let the newbies have the spotlight. (Besides, all that cheering was awfully loud for someone who’d prefer a quiet stroll to the tune of “What happened to Papillon?”) Then again, maybe the truth is simpler: maybe he just fancied a break. After all, can you imagine the exhaustion of winning practically everything and then being asked to do it all again, day after day? And for what? More silverware? No, for the man who once fluttered across the pitch like a butterfly, the only true victory was in the art of knowing when to fly away. So here’s to Pachín, the gentleman who gracefully bowed out of Madrid’s limelight with the speed of a man who’d seen enough goals, trophies, and young upstarts to last a lifetime.

[@hisham_hm]

Brazilian here: yes, Alfie's pronunciation of "Grafite" is correct. Brazil is huge and has multiple accents, though, so pronouncing it as if it was Spanish (arguably easier for foreigners) would also be a common pronounciation in places such as Curitiba in southern Brazil.

[@GeeQiu]

I would include some of Leverkusen's 2002 squad with diego placente and yildirai basturk in the main roles. Also, most of what leaves monaco in recent years seems to go downhill: Anthony Martial, Tiemouye Bakayoko, Benjamin mendy, etc.

[@theshaman8672]

Brazilian here. You >almost< got Grafite's name eight. Only thing wrong is the stress syllable: You pronounced it like "GRA-feetch", but it is "Gra-FEEHTCH"

[@hqcf]

I remember Chico, but for those who have no idea who he is, you should have also mentioned he had an actual song called "Chico Time," hence the reason for the reference!

[@andresguerrero5586]

Love how you nailed “grafite”; next one should be “pichichi.” In Spanish “ch-“ it’s pronounced differently. Thank you for what you do.

[@wisnuzaene]

whoa HITC becoming prime Endrick mentioning Pepillo out of all people

[@pascalheadley1495]

Could've had Lys Mousset's 3 month Premier League purple patch for Sheffield United in 2019. Signed for £10 million and was initially red hot, scoring 6 times by November. His decline from there was something to behold. Didn't score again for the Blades then went on loan to Salernitana before signing for VfL Bochum then out on loan again to Nimes in the French 3rd division, before having his contract terminated. Ooof.

[@MCKevin289]

My girlfriend is Brazilian and she says your pronunciation of grafite was good for a gringo.

[@beejj6190]

I wish people would differentiate between footballing and physical prime. i.e. You have players who get their best results - while not in what is seen as their physical prime. Or those getting their best results while younger than their physical prime. I say it's more accurate to describe their *most productive footballing period* ... and then see how / if that dovetailed with their [generally perceived] *physical prime* ....

[@tudorandrei1998]

Honorable mentions: Krzysztof Piątek Andrea Belotti Paco Alcacer Wout Weghorst Anderson Renato Sanches

[@BugleCoops]

Geoff Thomas MBE, good career in an age of largely average English footballers (and Graham Taylor) and always seemed a genuinely decent guy but nine caps in a year culminating in THAT miss against France was definitely his prime... He was never quite the same after that game. And yes, I'm a Palace fan.

[@pavlikmorozovgaming468]

Naah calling the early 2010s PL "the best league in the world" is criminal

[@georgechappell2169]

For me as Leeds fan, I questioned if Bamford was even good enough for the top of the Championship, then becoming one of the best strikers in the Prem and then back to playing like he had cinder blocks for boots all 18 months.

[@carnifex2005]

I'd add Yoann Gourcuff to the list. He was so great with Bourdeaux when they won the title.

[@WillKinna]

video idea: 7 best non european or south american players of the modern era

[@MustafaAshah-el9nc]

I’m really really going to put this comment once because I don’t have the time at the moment to comment repeatedly on videos but I think it would be really interesting to look at where every player finished who came second in the European golden shoe and who came second in the ballon d’Or and where they went because we remember the players who won gold shoes and Ballon d’Ors but we don’t really remember those who were just a few points behind and I think it would be interesting to share the light and some people that almost switch the pinnacle of their professionfaded away at the final moment to a even greater player and see where they went and what they are up to

[@johnnythemachine6949]

90% of the Ballon d'Or runner-ups are legends and superstars in their own right. The most recent Ballon d'Or runner ups who haven't won a Ballon d'Or (yet) are the following guys: Erling Haaland, Sadio Mané, Robert Lewandowski, Virgil van Dijk, Andrés Iniesta, Gianluigi Buffon, Frank Lampard, Deco, Thierry Henry, Roberto Carlos and Raul

[@NaZtRdAmUs]

Adriano was a beast he did us proud at Inter.

[@danielkarmy4893]

'With respect to those four' - well, three. Ravel Morrison by no means deserves respect in any form...

[@PradeepPurple]

Sid Lowe, he would be my first guess to dig history books of Spanish football!