{"id":3170,"date":"2017-07-02T12:30:15","date_gmt":"2017-07-02T11:30:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.talesfromthetopflight.com\/?p=3170"},"modified":"2017-07-02T01:42:05","modified_gmt":"2017-07-02T00:42:05","slug":"contrary-rant-legends-matches","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.talesfromthetopflight.com\/2017\/07\/02\/contrary-rant-legends-matches\/","title":{"rendered":"On The Contrary Rant: Legends Matches"},"content":{"rendered":"

Food for thought before I get started: the official dictionary definition of the word legend is an extremely famous or notorious person, especially in a particular field.<\/em><\/p>\n

There is a clich\u00e9 that exists stating \u201cthe word legend is thrown about a lot these days\u201d but there\u2019s always an element of truth in these clich\u00e9s, otherwise they wouldn\u2019t be so widely used. This thought occurred to me as I read through the line ups for a Barcelona Legends v Manchester United Legends friendly match.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m not going to run through the full list of players and assess whether or not they deserve the moniker but let\u2019s pick out a simple few from each side.<\/p>\n

LEGENDS!<\/h3>\n

Firstly, let\u2019s acknowledge those that have earned the right to be called a legend.<\/p>\n

From Barcelona – Juliano Belletti, Edgar Davids, Gaizka Mendieta, Ronaldinho, Rivaldo, Patrick Kluivert and Ludovic Giuly.<\/p>\n

From Manchester United – Karel Poborsky, Dimitar Berbatov and Dwight Yorke.<\/p>\n

Each of these players have done something in their careers to elevate them to legend status \u2013 whether that is at the club they were representing on this day or in World Football as a whole.<\/p>\n

LEGENDS?<\/h3>\n

Let\u2019s have a look at a few of the more tenuous selection.<\/p>\n

Barcelona<\/h3>\n

Francesco Coco \u2013 23 appearances while on loan at Barcelona. Won two league titles at AC Milan despite only making 56 appearances over a 7 year period.<\/p>\n

Jesus Mariano Angoy \u2013 9 La Liga appearances for Barcelona in five seasons. Most famous for marrying Johan Cruyff\u2019s daughter. Yes, really.<\/p>\n

Frederic Dehu \u2013 who? 11 appearances for Barcelona before being sold on after just one season at the club. One league and two cup medals in a 16-year career.<\/p>\n

Manchester United<\/h3>\n

Russell Beardsmore \u2013 56 appearances over seven years at the club. His last appearance on a team sheet was as an unused substitute in the 1991 European Super Cup final.<\/p>\n

Jesper Blomqvist \u2013 A man who made only 25 appearances for Manchester United and his biggest impact was being replaced by Teddy Sheringham in the 1999 Champions League Final.<\/p>\n

Danny Webber \u2013 the proud owner of 3 senior appearances for Manchester United, two in the league cup and one from the bench in the Champions League.<\/p>\n

Legend or Cult Hero?<\/h3>\n

Some may feel I\u2019m being a bit harsh here but I think it\u2019s important to distinguish between a legend who has earned their status for their ability and a cult hero who won over the hearts and minds of the fans. Then there are those that are neither and were simply ex-players, or more pertinently formerly involved with the club.<\/p>\n

The Clich\u00e9 of a Legends Match<\/h3>\n

In the immediate aftermath of a legends match you\u2019ll always see references to a player who has let themselves go. A bit of needle between two players who are taking the whole thing a bit too seriously. A humorous stumble over a ball form a completely unchallenged position and then, of course, BBC Sporf or LadBible will send out a 7 second clip of a recently retired player skinning a 50 year old veteran with the caption \u201cOOOF, he\u2019s still got it!\u201d<\/p>\n

Bring Back Masters Football<\/h3>\n

Of course, the occasion was all for a good cause. I don\u2019t wish to rain on that parade, I just like a good moan sometimes! I can\u2019t be the only one who misses Indoor Masters Football though, can I? No one was kidding themselves there, it was all good-natured fun and we all knew half of them only turned up for the fully paid corporate piss up afterwards!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Food for thought before I get started: the official dictionary definition of the word legend is an extremely famous or notorious person, especially in a particular field. There is a clich\u00e9 that exists stating \u201cthe word legend is thrown about a lot these days\u201d but there\u2019s always an element of truth in these clich\u00e9s, otherwise […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":76,"featured_media":1497,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[648],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\nOn The Contrary Rant: Legends Matches<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.talesfromthetopflight.com\/2017\/07\/02\/contrary-rant-legends-matches\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"On The Contrary Rant: Legends Matches\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Food for thought before I get started: the official dictionary definition of the word legend is an extremely famous or notorious person, especially in a particular field. There is a clich\u00e9 that exists stating \u201cthe word legend is thrown about a lot these days\u201d but there\u2019s always an element of truth in these clich\u00e9s, otherwise […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.talesfromthetopflight.com\/2017\/07\/02\/contrary-rant-legends-matches\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Tales From The Top Flight\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/talesfromthetopflight\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2017-07-02T11:30:15+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2017-07-02T00:42:05+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.talesfromthetopflight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/opinion.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"750\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"350\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" 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