7 Greatest Debut Seasons of All Time

From Jude Bellingham's flying start to life at Real Madrid to Erling Haaland scoring 52 goals and winning the treble at Manchester City, HITC Sevens takes a look at some of the greatest debut seasons in the history of football.
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[@jamesfilosa6277]

The fact that Ronaldo is universally loved despite having played for both Barca and Real, and Inter and AC Milan, speaks volumes of him as a player.

[@scotty8003]

and a man too, i think, hes a loveable chap

[@kaihiggins725]

Watch his injury vs Lazio. The reaction of the Lazio players says it all. Most naturally gifted player of all time just unlucky with injuries. And yes I’m saying naturally he was better than Messi etc however that injury in 1998 I think changed him forever and he was never the same again. But please for those laughing at me saying natural ability he was better than Messi, go and watch an overweight Ronaldo in 2011. He was unbelievable even if he couldn’t run

[@euphoriaggaminghd]

​@@kaihiggins725I still don't know about better than messi but I always thought without those injuries it would be r9 or messi being the favourites as the best players ever. I mean R9 was unplayable

[@theviper542]

@@euphoriaggaminghd r9 was more gifted but obviously messi is a better overall player than r9 or anyone ever for that matter

[@azieldaly2965]

​@@theviper542 How was he more gifted?

[@Artax-jv8zt]

One of the many things I like about this channel, is that Alfie doesn't pretend football didn't exist before the premiership.

[@jttro2658]

I mean true but at a bit biased to not have Keegan on the list as a ballon d'or winner his debut sesaon.

[@masonhudson-dale486]

@@jttro2658it wasn’t that great of a season considering he won the ballon dor tho

[@jttro2658]

@@masonhudson-dale486 sure its not the greatest ballon d'or season however having dude who came second over him and Keegan not in the HM

[@dj71162]

@@jttro2658 Messi won the Ballon d'Or in his first season at Inter Miami. It doesn't tell the full story.

[@hitthurdeaux]

@@jttro2658 Keegan 1977-78 was easily his worst season at Hamburg. That 1978 Ballon d’Or is probably the worst ever awarded. Keegan was very popular at the time and his transfer was similar to Neymar going to PSG in terms of the attention it grabbed- that’s the main reason why he won it. I’m fairly sure he didn’t win a trophy in 1977-78 with Hamburg, nor did he play in the World Cup. That Ballon d’Or should’ve been down to Rensenbrink or Dalglish.

[@jamesknapp4309]

Dwight Yorke’s 98/99 season deserves an honourable mention. 48 goals and assists in 52 games and winning the treble. He was incredible that season winning the golden boot in both the premier league and the champions league.

[@viandramonisyaf8623]

Yeah, i'm disappointed Alfie didn't at least gave him an honourable mention. Perhaps he forgot 😂.

[@hitthurdeaux]

Doesn’t get mentioned enough. United’s version of Diego Milito

[@gm2407]

His first two seasons at United Dwight was at his career peak. Was excellent.

[@doylersafl8728]

7 greatest professional debut games

[@kostaurus]

7 worst debut games as well - shoutout to Jonathan Woodgate and Moises Caicedo haha

[@FearsomeVoid]

Or club legends who had bad debut seasons for their club.

[@Lukita-yh4kz]

Messi’s Argentina debut 😂

[@GreekHouseEffect]

Recoba at Inter

[@firmanimad]

In light of Kane performing brilliantly while Bayern flounders, I have an idea: the best individual seasons for players while their team performed dissapointingly.

[@suryansdash5830]

messi 2011-12 comes to mind, barca didnt win either UCL or la liga. Same with cr7 2014-15

[@firmanimad]

on second thought Kane could also feature for Tottenham multiple times lol

[@firmanimad]

Other candidates include: Defoe in Sunderland 2015/16, Ali Al Habsi in Wigan 2013, sure there are many others

[@HumanProblem]

De gea at united too

[@Veaseify]

Andreas Kopke won the 1993 Bundesliga player of the year award keeping goal for Nurnburg - who were relegated...

[@segafreak2000]

I might be very biased because it was for my own club, but whenever I think of a great debut season, Diego for Werder Bremen in 06/07 comes to mind. God, what a fun season that was to watch, even though we narrowly missed out on the Bundesliga title that year. He took the league by storm right from the first minute.

[@JayTechZM]

Diego at Bremen I've just got a tear in my eye😢

[@hitthurdeaux]

It really was such a shame he went to Juventus. I remember thinking at the time he signed that it was a mistake. 3 top class if not world class seasons and then he never returned to that level. Though he was amazing in 2012 Europa League and he helped Flamengo win the 2019 Copa Libertadores.

[@samtheman1893]

fun season indeed (Stuttgart fan here...)

[@segafreak2000]

@@samtheman1893 At least unlike us Bremen fans, you have something to celebrate again this season, I guess. XD

[@kostaurus]

Brilliant video as always Alfie! I do have to say that I was a bit surprised not to hear at least an honourable mention to what I think was one of the most ridiculous and most underrated debut seasons in recent years, which is Dusan Tadic at Ajax - the man joined from Southampton without that much hype, and that Ajax team was actually pretty meh and hadn't won not just the Eredivisie but any trophy at all in years, and failed to even make the Champions League group stage for three seasons in a row before he joined. The moment he joined Ajax, Tadic was instantly made captain and they started stomping all opposition in the Netherlands, won the league, won the cup. Tadic was the Eredivisie top scorer AND top assist provider, and the top assist provider in the Champions League where he carried them to the semi-finals (after they got knocked out of Europa League qualifiers by Rosenborg the previous season). 38 goals and 23 assists in 56 games, and absolutely ridiculous impact in his first season. Just wanted to give a shoutout to one of my favourite players! Thanks for the video Alfie, haven't missed an upload in years :D

[@johnbakker4828]

I instantly thought of Tadic too, should have been in the list in my opinion. His impact on Ajax was really extraordinary. By the way, in Tadic' first season it was still De Ligt who wore the captain armband. Tadic got it the next season after De Ligt had gone to Juventus.

[@kostaurus]

@@johnbakker4828 Haha you're right about De Ligt actually. It's kinda crazy that in a team that had Tadic, Huntelaar, Blind and other super experienced players, a 19 year old kid was given the armband. De Ligt was legit such a crazy talent back then, still a top player obviously but the hype was unreal ~5 years ago.

[@romanalper6823]

My friend, you “thinking about these things for unjustifiably long periods of time“ is the reason we watch your videos! Thank you for your work and keep it up!

[@sp4cem4n70]

I want to meet the MARCA journalist who wrote the article describing Modric as the worst signing.

[@Louisjamson]

He wasn’t wrong at the time he looked absolutely hopeless in the first season

[@ishaandw]

It was fan voted I believe

[@r4h4al]

That's even worse than Rory Jennings about Haaland.

[@studentloandebt7598]

I want to meet the journalist that said Vitor Roque is better than R9 at the same age

[@Anishninho_baller]

​@oysr4h4al it's not tho. Fans voted it

[@raenico5285]

Rooney at Everton & UTD should have gotten a shout out. Same for Bellingham's current Madrid debut campaign. CR7 at Madrid and Neymar at PSG too. Heck, Lukaku at Everton too maybe but maybe that's both recency & PL bias

[@jamesfilosa6277]

I guess Bellingham is a future contender, especially if he keeps performing in big games and they win the double...

[@kageryu311]

Lukaku in his first season at inter should be have been mentioned. Also Samuel Eto'o at Inter in his first season.

[@MarcantonioStanga]

Modric being named as worst signing was done in a fan-voted poll that was vote-bombed by Barcelona fans who were trolling the poll since Alex Song, having signed for Barcelona from Arsenal, was leading the poll. In reality, he had a decent if unremarkable first-season by most accounts.

[@MrRobot_X_X]

The fact that Haaland didn't win the ballondor last season still baffles me.

[@CFCMAMO1]

100%. Absolutely robbed.

[@jayjay-zb8zg]

HAALAND IS NO 1 NO DEBATING IN THIS LIST 3RD IS CRIMINAL

[@glencurtis6052]

Didn't get a kick in either final, you have to score in those games to win it

[@thetruth4654]

@@glencurtis6052 So? He still scored 12 goals in 11 matches in europe. the truth is had it been in reverse, had Haaland won the wc and Messi won a treble(Messi would still have won the award) Messi is the goat, but he shouldn`t have won the ballon d`or ahead of Haaland.

[@CognizantCheddar]

@@glencurtis6052 Not even a remotely supportable argument relative to the award's history.

[@AtTheBridgePod]

Wayne Rooney for Manchester United against Fenerbahce was one of the greatest debuts of all time, a beautiful hat trick completed by a free kick.

[@colincolin5696]

Erling haaland coming to the premier league where arguably most footballers fail due to the quality of the league being so high, he scored more goals than he had premier league games.. scored more hatricks than most players scored goals and won a treble in his first season… people seem to ignore that. If he done that at Madrid people would be going crazy.

[@jayjay-zb8zg]

HAALAND IS NO 1 NO DEBATING IN THIS LIST 3RD IS CRIMINAL

[@joegallagher9238]

It’s cause it was against most peoples favourite clubs, he dominated every prem team that season except Brentford so every premier league fan hated him cause he dominated them, also city aren’t a well liked team for obvious reasons. It’s the part of the reason Tim Duncan isn’t part of the goat conversation in the nba because he plays a more ‘boring’ style, a lot of greatness is generated by excitement as much as actual numbers

[@archaicrapture]

Madrid has great PR. Hence why Bellingham may win the Ballon D'or for this season. That's about it. Image Rights are part of signing for Madrid. It's a good campaign but [meh] that's about it.

[@davids8127]

Yeah city is an oil club not getting recognition from journalists, but still giving it to Messi was a joke

[@joegallagher9238]

@@davids8127 agreed I get why everyone ignored a lot of city’s achievements but what haaland did was nothing short of historic messi while yes cemented his legacy it just goes to show that 25% of the time the balon d’or is even more biased and narrative driven then usual

[@capio78]

Ravanelli at Boro 31 goals in a largely medicore side with a few superstars, hattrick on his debut v Liverpool. 2 cup finals.

[@T.E.S.S.]

why did you end the Cruyff segment mid-sentence? 😂

[@l8631]

It's Alfie. He probably went on a massive tangent 😂😂😂

[@nmarcus7233]

😂😂😂😂

[@skyzaid263]

Desperately need a vid about New Zealand's only professional football club Wellington Phoenix. 6-7 years ago they almost got kicked out of the Australian League for being so bad. But this season despite barely signing anyone, mainly just promoting academy players they were widely predicted to finish bottom of the table. With just 8 games left in the season they're currently 5 points clear at the top of the table. Just last week they beat the 3rd placed team away from home despite 5 key players being injured and having to rely on their younger players. There were 7 players in the starting lineup aged 21 and younger, including 3 more on a 6 man bench, extremely impressive.

[@calculator17]

Your continuous "Adu" gag never fails to make me chuckle. I hope you can keep inserting it into as many videos as you can! (Can someone make a compilation of all of them?)

[@ryany6776]

Yeah the Adu reference gets me every time, hope he keeps doing them.

[@senorpython2262]

#1 Eden Hazard at Real Madrid

[@FearsomeVoid]

Yes.

[@lyndxnjoel6917]

on "pure" football! He's the GOAT 🤡

[@hello-friend990]

Please Alfie, never stop starting with Freddy ADU. I'm asking this as a long time subscriber, at least for the last 5 years

[@Sek_Man]

Viktor Gyökeres has had a fantastic debut season so far for Sporting as well

[@soumyadeepbanerjee964]

Was surprised to not see Cruyff at no 1

[@brunobernardicoutinho1741]

I love the constant puns with Freddy Adu. Please never stop.

[@faeembrugh]

A remarkable (and remarkably brief) debut was Marco Negri at Rangers. He scored 23 goals in his first ten games and 33 overall by the time the season was only half-way through. He then got injured and more or less disappeared leaving everyone to wonder if they had imagined the whole thing.

[@Pepepepesjdje]

The only thing that holds haaland back is that he hasn’t scored or assisted in a semi-final for city, let alone a final. He was very quiet in the biggest games

[@TrevorParsnips]

His presence was enough. The aura he carried gave space to others. He couldn't be called "clutch" in those games as the term is commonly understood to mean, but his contribution was comparable to the player who assists the assister, his movement and the danger he radiated allowed city to flourish in all those big matches near the end of 22/23. And this is coming from a salty man Utd fan

[@Pepepepesjdje]

@@TrevorParsnips I knew that, but it doesn’t change anything I said. He still scored 0 goals and made 0 assists in every semi final and final he played in

[@TrevorParsnips]

@@Pepepepesjdje if that's your point then your point is pointless

[@Pepepepesjdje]

@@TrevorParsnips and when did I ask for your opinion? It’s completely fair to point out a striker blanked in every big knockout game when the topic is greatest debut seasons, nothing pointless about it. Go away, stop being weird

[@TrevorParsnips]

@@Pepepepesjdje nobody asked me but you can't stop me, I'm here to stay baby! Lalalala I'm having a cool time tee hee hee but you expressed a silly opinion, y u doo dat huh? You should watch even more football and talk to cool people like me and educate yo self, my opinion is better than yours, you're renting space in this comment section and IM your landlord baby, I'm the real chief here! 💩

[@nmarcus7233]

That R9 season was scary for a 19 year old

[@FootballFunfacts-xs2ep]

He is so amazing. nice video bro

[@lenworth11]

Your videos are wonderful !! ... well researched, informative, balanced & always more than worth the time haven't over to them ... simply the best of their type ... 'thank you' is not enough !!

[@bb-double-yuh]

I love that you included Romário on here, as he is my favorite player. His game was so simple yet so exciting and effective; just get the ball into the back of the net. 🙌🔥

[@RyuzakiTaiyou]

Best German players in the premier league of all time. (Day 607) 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.

[@tm_yt496]

bro been asking for almost 2 years

[@BadselS]

Pathetic

[@thetruth4654]

Alfie let this man rest, and fulfill this video request

[@euphoriaggaminghd]

607 days 😭😭😭 just got a 7 video that's gonna be 20 minutes or so

[@bigwhitewill4974]

First person I thought of was Michu! Glad to see him mentioned. Biggest one season wonder perhaps, everyone thought he was going to be the next big thing

[@joseclima9519]

congrats for the work man 👏👏 to see someone outside from Brazil to talk about the romario's career in brazil is incredibly rare

[@finest_fern2411]

I think Suarez first season at barca winning a treble being integral in it is one of the best first seasons. Imo ofc

[@neilbirch8431]

What a player Ronaldo was. He was the greatest, the best that ever lived

[@joaojesus5332]

With all the recurring Freddy Adu mentions and how they are different, providing us with insights according to the topic of the video, I feel that eventually I will know how his full career went down. A chronological in-order compilation of his mentions might be a narrative of his career, in fact.

[@sympa_is_misanthropic]

These streets will always remember Michu. 👋🏾

[@carltonleboss]

If you're counting debut seasons in a league, Kevin Phillips' debut Premier League season for Sunderland deserves a shout.

[@nachoalvarez7171]

Yes so much, to a lesser extent Andy Johnson and Charlie Austin, two strikers with loads of goals for relegated teams

[@benlane7282]

He isn’t though

[@MrMinisavage]

No salah when he scored 32 premier league goals as a winger, breaking the PL scoring record, while getting Liverpool to a CL final in his first season is crazy

[@hakon8220]

Was he supposed to have continued on in the Johan Cruyff segment? The tone of his voice seemed odd for an ending.

[@ryannurse2890]

The video seems to be missing a chunk, it suddenly cuts off mid-sentence at 20:04

[@YeTism]

17/18 Salah. He has such high expectations because of that season

[@T.E.S.S.]

try watching the video

[@lucasapinya8832]

@@T.E.S.S.😂😂😂😂

[@advenco344]

@@T.E.S.S.Salah’s debut season was better than Haaland’s debut season who Alfie put in 2nd.

[@yemi3266]

​@@advenco344 nah because he didn't win any trophies

[@arze1226]

It might be really hard to do, long hours of time spent looking up the info, stats, stuff like that. But maybe, since you did top 7 on every position since 2000s you could do "top particular skill" style of top 7 players since 2000's. Like top 7 destroyers, top 7 poachers, top 7 tacklers, top 7 sweeper keepers. It will be hard to make it happen but personally i'd find it really really interesting.

[@FearsomeVoid]

Great video as always. The Brazilian Ronaldo is and will always be my favorite player. The reason why I started paying attention to football as a kid.

[@SirPootaso]

Good video, Alfie! I completely concur with the 1st place. Ronaldo was a freak of nature that year, nobody could hold it when he started running towards the goal. He scored, he would take free kicks, penalties, he assisted, he was everywhere on the field. I'm a life long Real Madrid fan, but that didn't stop us at high school from talking for hours about him and celebrate the same way. Still glad Madrid got to win that league, we really needed it, but Ronaldo was the star of the show all along. I love him because he later played for us, with great merit and some astonishing games to his name, but wasn't as good. Nobody was. Not Messi, not Cristiano, not anyone. The best player of all time for me, even if it only was for one season.

[@tsybze]

Quality vid mate👌

[@jaafarchaoui185]

You should do this with players changing continents it would look interesting. And also DO A VIDEO ON LARBI BEN BAREK I HAVE BEEN ASKING FOR 4 YEARS

[@owenfitzgerald5928]

Might be harder to research but I would like to see an international version of this so like players who had a brilliant first international tournament

[@senorpython2262]

Samuel Eto’o at Inter Milan

[@QD1OF1]

R9 the reason I started playing the beautiful game! JOGA BONITO!

[@masterpeace7722]

I think salah's debut season was much better than atleast Agüero. His season put liverpool on the map again i don't think they would have been in top 4 without him meaning no 18-19 champion league

[@ScheppundFries]

true. It was also way better than Haalands 22/23 season.

[@advenco344]

@@ScheppundFriesYup. Salah only scored 1 penalty that season compared to Haaland’s 8 and was playing in a much weaker Liverpool team yet carried them to a UCL final. He did that as a winger too. It’s so much more impressive considering the context. It shouldn’t be discounted just because he didn’t win anything that season.

[@ScheppundFries]

@@advenco344 yeah, he scored 31 non-penalty goals that season, the joint most with Suarez. And the eye test! So much better than Haaland, and he scored many pretty goals. It's not even close for me.

[@yemi3266]

​@@ScheppundFries nah Haaland won a treble plus was the best player in the world he definitely had the better season

[@ondank]

I feel really bad for Petr cech. His debut Chelsea season saw him signed as a back up for cudicini but had to step in immediately due to the latters injury. He set a record for most clean sheets and most consecutive minutes without conceding. He only conceded 15 goals in the league, which is still a PL record. This all led to him winning a Golden gloves and PFA team of the season. Semis of champions league and league cup win rounded out a stellar season for a man who didn't come in with big expectations. It's almost impossible to compare the impact of a goalkeeper to an outfield player but he feels like someone most comparable to aguero as an honourable mention seeing as he also came in and was a huge, huge part in a historic title win.

[@mateuszmitura557]

How about a "goals" series? 7 most iconic goals 7 most important goals 7 players with best top 10 goals of their respective careers 7 most ridiculous goals And so on and so on... I think it's an endless source of material and would love to hear your take on some of these topics

[@mkhoicute]

Your thumbnail made me believe that you would actually featured Jude in this Anyway, great vid as always, Alfie

[@rahulrego3257]

Van Dijk could very well have featured in this list, had he not signed midway through the season, transforming Liverpool from CL contenders to among the best sides in Europe almost single-handedly while partnering Joe Gomez and shouldering the defensive responsibility that Trent and Robertson left while attacking

[@MJScrivens89]

Another great piece, as usual. I was thinking, how about club records that will never be beaten as a topic? Being a Wolves fan, it was Steve Bull’s 306 goals that was the catalyst for that particular thought, because I’m pretty sure no one will ever top that at Molineux.

[@DomenBremecXCVI]

Did Alfie get himself a drawing tablet? Awesome! Can't wait for more circles!

[@ZachCooper88]

Very good video! Have you thought of doing a manager version of this video? It would be good to see who you find!

[@benwatson6432]

Love your videos, I was thinking of a idea for a video . Longest time between playing your local rivals . Stoke haven't played port Vale for ages about 20 years I believe, with them looking like getting relegated and stoke too, it will be another few years. I have 0 other examples

[@TomJenkinson-di8eg]

Technically not a club debut season but bamfords FULL debut season in the prem is a good one where nobody thought he could do it and he scored 17 goals

[@Dylan-yb9tj]

Personally, I'd argue bringing a ucl championship to a team that hadn't one it in over a hundred years of existence is more impressive then bringing a la liga after 14 years.

[@wolfpackpete6408]

Eto'o at Inter deserves an honourable mention too! Millito scored more goals, plus the 2 in the CL final, but Eto'o also scored vital goals along the way. Inter Milan perhaps got the best deal ever when they received £69m + Eto'o for Ibrahimović. I think Barça were the first Spanish team to win the treble of La Liga, Copa del Rey, and Champions League... not even the Real Madrid side of the 1950s achieved that. Eto'o was part of that, scoring the first goal in the CL final, and 36 for the season. The following season Inter Milan were the first Italian team to win the treble, and Eto'o was part of that too.

[@yemi3266]

Facts👏

[@kimuyu]

As an Arsenal fan, seeing Frimpong and Johann Djourou at 5:45 gives me PTSD. Peak banter era.

[@michaelmatt9752]

17:53 That Barca kit looks so clean.

[@GreekHouseEffect]

I know these lists are usually quite challenging, but imo number 1 was a no brainer.

[@ronakshrestha5988]

The modric being worst signing is half truth and paints wrong picture of his debut. Just another example of media misleading the truth and it actually becoming a truth

[@Benny_000]

Would have expected Van Persie's first season at Man Utd in this list as well. He basically made them champions and played some of the best football of his life!

[@leemcdonald1342]

Hello, Alfie. Could you consider a video how analytics affect modern association football, please?

[@jmrgomes]

If the current run of form continues, and all goes as I hope (I’m a Sporting CP fan), redo the video in a couple years time and you’ll have to include this year’s Viktor Gyökeres debut for Sporting! The man is a beast as well as a goal scoring machine and his numbers are just incredible!

[@tonsolerigarcia]

20:02 Weird vocal inflexion there Alfie, did you cut something and forgot to re-record?

[@TheNVLS]

Never questioned your lists, but “all-time” is a huge stretch!

[@Luckymag-if4dw]

Crazy thing is that between in 1997 after that season he won the Copa America at Bolivia while being its best player and scoring the winning goal against Bolivia's greatest ever team at La Paz of all places st minute 80. All that shit at 19/20 years

[@hello-friend990]

It's been 9 years since Leicester won the league. We're getting old 😞

[@prosper123]

Diego militio at inter deserves a shout, especially because he came from a club as small as genoa, when he was already 30 years old.

[@slothy120]

1:02 great to see a young Harry Kane on the bench next to Jamie Vardy. Nigel Pearson set him on the path to greatness.

[@samuelbruun1371]

Teemu pukki very underrated first season was a very doubted free transfer to norwhic and went on to break the championship scoring record and carried norwhich to promotion

[@HamzaTalksFootball]

Surprised Van Persie at United didn't get a mention, even if it was an honourable one. Great vid as per though. 👏🏽

[@akudeobiora]

Hey, can you attempt 7 of the best players to play with both Ronaldo and Messi(the 2 greatest players of this generation) You can even switch it up by making it the 7 best and 7 worst

[@CharlesOffdensen]

Preben Elkjær joined the mediocre team of Verona in the summer of 1984. He made them champions singlehandedly against the referee-supported super-star team of Juventus (having players like Scirea, Marco Tardelli, Boniek, Cabrini, and Paulo Rossi, among others). In the same season, Juventus won the UCL, and Maradona was already playing for Napoli, Zico was at Udinese and Inter had Rummenigge. But that's nothing compared to the way Elkjær actually played. Go watch a game with him. And HITC Sevens didn't even mention him in this video.

[@tochukwuemechebe4814]

Alexis sanchez had an incredible first season at arsenal hitting 26 goals in all comps if I'm not mistaken

[@dazzaMusic]

Funny fact: Mourinho said to Bobby Robson that he wanted Pizzi who had been scoring all season to start in the Uefa final and have Ronaldo on the bench because he thought he would play well, Bobby Robson said “but do you want to win? Start Ronaldo.”

[@davidpyott3710]

Very good

[@rahulrego3257]

Video idea: Players who made incredible career comebacks . Not the ones that returned to their home club, but players who suddenly raised their game after a long decline.

[@ShupU12]

Think you should have at least 1 keeper. Allison 2018-19 was key in turning the team to European champions and won 3 golden gloves in one season

[@jamesgsamu1]

The "what if" of el phenomenon

[@FearsomeVoid]

Greatest what if in sports history.

[@franciscovcm3910]

cr7 at madrid deserves a mention

[@yemi3266]

Facts he was very unlucky with injuries & he still had 33 goals in 35 games. Like 10 assists & helped Madrid get 96 points which was their best ever at that time

[@mixtv2212]

Bellingham in the cover but Alfie didnt mention him in top 7😅

[@joegallagher9238]

Season hasn’t finished

[@soundscape26]

It's mostly foreshadowing

[@OddityHQ]

I’m obviously very bias but it’s crazy to not have Salah in the 7 the expectations were that he’d flop and he broke goalscoring records in his first season scoring more goals than Aguero ever managed in a season

[@andrewtansley]

Amongst Brazilians, if you are smoking a joint with a group and you have been holding it for too long, someone will say “passe a bola Romário” pass the ball Romário! (FYI- pronounced homario)

[@eesafredericks2122]

More like "GRrho-mário" and I'm not even Brazilian or Portuguese

[@eesafredericks2122]

But this is hilarious 😭😭😭😭

[@eesafredericks2122]

I love how Portuguese sounds Some words sound like you're taking a nap mid sentence 😭🤣

[@hitthurdeaux]

@@eesafredericks2122 I hate it. It sounds like a drunk German trying to speak Spanish

[@advenco344]

Salah 17-18: 43 non-penalty goals and 15 assists Haaland 22-23: 45 non-penalty goals and 9 assists So Salah had more combined non-penalty goals and assists in a much worse team as a winger. Also, he turned up in the UCL semi finals while Haaland didn’t. Salah also was performing well in the UCL final before he was forced off injured. It’s not his fault Liverpool we’re still building so they couldn’t mount a title challenge meanwhile Haaland came into a man city team that won 4 out of the last 5 Premier league titles. Salah’s debut season was far more impressive than Haaland’s debut season when considering the context. Trophies won are a team achievement.

[@hitthurdeaux]

This is where the power of narrative comes into play. Haaland arrived as a globally renowned, world class player that was expected to succeed and help City win trophies by being the last piece of their puzzle. Salah arrived to comparatively little fanfare since most English fans were unaware of how good he had been in Roma. Thus, Salah, his form, and his numbers took everybody by surprise (even us Serie A fans didn’t expect him to explode like that). Couple this with the fact that Liverpool didn’t win anything- not crowning great form with a major trophy really damages future mainstream popular perception of a player’s season. Contrast that with Haaland. The expectations were met (read: shattered), the glory was achieved (to maximum effect), and the narrative for the season read cleanly and beautifully. Trophies and narrative. Sometimes it’s that simple.

[@advenco344]

@@hitthurdeaux Yup, you put it perfectly. Narratives are such a powerful tool. That’s why politicians focus on that more than policy, because of its ability to influence the masses.

[@dusanterzin8139]

2000/01 season-Marcus Stewart shocked Pl when he scored 19 goals.

[@crisperdeanda9227]

You forgot to mention Hugo Sánchez for Atlelico Madrid and also Real Madrid. With the latter team scoring all his goals in first touch.

[@hitthurdeaux]

That season of the 38 first touch goals was not his first season at Real Madrid though

[@BALHAM69]

#thepeopleschannel a video on the Bangladesh premier league and the rise of Bashundhara kings would be good A team who went into the top flight after promotion and won the last four league titles now! Are they the next Newcastle? Are they a team to keep a eye on next few years? Thanks Alfie 😊

[@azalikmar2]

Van dijk? Not even first season. But first half season. CL final and made the team of the season even though he only played after january… But also Haaland won the treble so yea

[@89Ayten]

Dalglish and Haaland are all you all need to know about L'Équipe and their award. Quit lending them authority by mentioning them all the time. Start your own publication and give out your own award.

[@Luckymag-if4dw]

The worst is that Dalglish wasn't even a top 5 player in the world... imagine having Zico, Falcao, Socrates, Kempes, Maradona besides the other europeans. Literally Zico was clear cut the best player in the world between 79 and 83 and he wasn't even eligible. These awards have always been political, before they were simply eurocentric (ironic given the greatest football nation ain't in europe) and nowadays they are just plubicity based popularity contexts. Personally I don't give a fuck about a ballon d'or, football is a team game I want my club to succeed and then I can have my own opinion on how good players are don't need other people sayong that guy is the best, I can judge that this ain't an exact science

[@bodelieriwan2773]

It still is incomprehensible for me how Haaland didn’t win that balon d’or… hahaha that guy broke more records in that year than messi or Ronaldo in their prime

[@JotaFilip]

That Haaland Ballon Dor was robbed god damn

[@Strangegloves]

Pappis Cisse!!! I mean yea he signed in January.....but 12 in 13 with some absolute worldies!! Anyone who can't remember go watch...he didn't score average goals at that point.....

[@keirrobinson4156]

You missed out Kris Boyd's 2005-06, when he transferred to Rangers in January and finished the campaign as the top scorer for both clubs.

[@BIadelores]

In retrospect it was the right call due to all the injuries he'd later go on to have, but without the element of foresight, I'm still shocked that Barca didn't extend Ronaldo beyond his first season. At the time, he was worth every penny

[@hitthurdeaux]

If I recall correctly, the story went something like Ronaldo and his agents wanted to re-negotiate his contract, talks stalled, and Inter pounced by meeting his release clause. Serie A back then was like the Premier League today- few players were going to turn down a move to Italy. Ronaldo’s 1997-98 season gets overshadowed by the previous one but it was phenomenal as well.

[@zuffin1864]

The follow up to this would be "7 most surprising breakout seasons" for either teams or players. I'd imagine Leicester 2016 would win the teams one lol