Re: Silva - best since Bell?
The problem with threads like these, generally comes with the older generation not wanting to let go of the thought/memories of Bell being our greatest player ever. I was never fortunate enough to see him play live, so it's virtually impossible for me to compare him with any of our current crop. I can only go off what people tell me about him, which while always being endless praise, I have to view some of that as a nostalgic view.
He was undoubtedly a very talented player, but for me, and this may be well wide of the mark, he was only "one of the greatest" among City fans. I've said it before on here, if we look back at lists of greatest players, European footballer of the year nominees and winners, World player of the year nominees and winners, he's nowhere to be seen. In future generations of football fans, when today's squad have long retired, I personally feel, that the likes of Yaya and Silva will have made a much more significant impression on football fans of all clubs, than Bell has done, which for me tells it's own story. They will most probably be remembered as two of the worlds elite footballers during their careers. I'm sure someone will correct me if I'm wrong, but they have both made shortlists for the Ballon d'or and been nominated for Fifa world team of the year?
I'm not using this as a stick to beat Bell with, just maybe to offer a more neutral view, rather than the cliched "blue tinted specs" As a previous poster said a few pages back "Colin Bell will always be our best player" if that is the mindset and it seems a commonly held view on here, how can it ever be fair to debate who is/was better player.
The view also that he was vastly superior to Gerrard is one I definitely struggle to comprehend, if it were to be true, he would surely receive much more praise and recognition than he does and before anyone tries angling towards a media bias, it would take one hell of biased view to erase a player of that caliber from the memories of ex players, pundits, journalists and fans, for him to not be up in all the lists ranked alongside the likes of Moore, Charlton, Banks, Greaves, Matthews, Gascoigne, Keegan etc....it certainly leaves me, a fan of the younger generation with an awful lot to ponder when considering our greatest ever player.
