Best /worst of the 1997/98 season polls

MATCH OF THE SEASON

Man Utd 3 Juventus 2 31% 

Arsenal 3 Man Utd 2 30% 

Man Utd 0 Arsenal 1 26%

GOAL OF THE SEASON

Dennis Bergkamp (Arsenal) v Leicester 53% 

Steve McManaman (Liverpool) v Celtic 26% 

Kevin Davies (Southampton) v Everton 11%

BEST PLAYER

Dennis Bergkamp (Arsenal) 59% 

Michael Owen (Liverpool) 24% 

David Ginola (Tottenham) 9%

BEST BUY

Emmanuel Petit (Monaco-Arsenal) 39% 

Alex Manninger (Grazer AK-Arsenal) 38% 

Kevin Davies (Chesterfield-Southampton) 16%

WORST BUY

Stan Collymore (Liverpool-Aston Villa) 77% 

Itzak Zohar (Royal Antwerp-Crystal Palace) 9% 

Teddy Sheringham (Tottenham-Man Utd) 7%

BEST NEWCOMER

Michael Owen (Liverpool) 61% 

Alex Manninger (Arsenal) 30% 

Rio Ferdinand (West Ham) 3%

BEST STRIKER

Dennis Bergkamp (Arsenal) 54% 

Michael Owen (Liverpool) 28% 

John Hartson (West Ham) 9%

BEST MANAGER

Arsène Wenger (Arsenal) 79% 

Danny Wilson (Barnsley) 9% 

Alex Ferguson (Man Utd) 8%

WORST MANAGER

Frank Clark (ex-Man City) 43% 

Howard Kendall (Everton) 39% 

Kenny Dalglish (Newcastle) 12%

BIGGEST MOANER

Kenny Dalglish (Newcastle) 38% 

Alex Ferguson (Man Utd) 35% 

Alan Shearer (Newcastle) 19%

UNSUNG HERO

Neil Redfearn (Barnsley) 43% 

Sammy McIlroy (Macclesfield) 37% 

Giuliano Grazioli (Stevenage) 11%

The Sun.

Premio Bravo 1997

Guerin Sportivo's award to the best U21 player in Europe.

1. Ronaldo (Barcelona)

2. Raúl (Real Madrid)

3. Thierry Henry (Monaco)

4. Gianluigi Buffon (Parma)

5. Iván de la Peña (Barcelona)

6. Lars Ricken (Dortmund)

7. Jon Dahl Tomasson (Heerenveen)

8. Phil Neville (Man United)

9. Boudewijn Zenden (PSV)

10. Robert Ibertsberger (Austria Salzburg)

Lazio ratings 1997/98

6,53 Alessandro Nesta

6,52 Pavel Nedvěd

6,42 Vladimir Jugović

6,41 Alen Bokšić

6,32 Luca Marchegiani

6,28 Paolo Negro

6,24 Diego Fuser

6,15 Matías Almeyda, Giorgio Venturin

6,13 Guerino Gottardi

6,12 Dario Marcolin

6,05 Pierluigi Casiraghi

6,04 Giuseppe Favalli, Roberto Mancini

5,96 Giuseppe Pancaro

5,87 José Chamot

5,67 Giovanni Lopez, Roberto Rambaudi

5,54 Alessandro Grandoni

Real Madrid average ratings 1997/98

6,70 Hierro

6,59 Cañizares

6,55 Clarence Seedorf

6,45 Roberto Carlos

6,32 Predrag Mijatović

6,31 Fernando Redondo

6,20 Sanchís

6,14 Guti

6,11 Bodo Illgner

6,10 Zé Roberto, Raúl

6,05 Jaime

5,98 Morientes

5,93 Sávio

5,86 Christian Panucci

5,84 Karanka

5,80 Víctor

5,79 Christian Karembeu

5,77 Amavisca

5,76 Davor Šuker

Schalke average ratings 1996/97

6,54 Olaf Thon

6,40 Jens Lehmann

6,04 Marc Wilmots

5,98 Thomas Linke

5,89 Marco Kurz

5,87 Jiří Němec

5,82 Johan de Kock, Youri Mulder

5,73 Yves Eigenrauch

5,71 Mike Büskens

5,66 Martin Max

5,51 Andreas Müller

5,50 Radoslav Látal

5,42 Ingo Anderbrügge

Average ratings Borussia Dortmund 1996/97

6,58 Jürgen Kohler

6,52 Matthias Sammer

6,48 Júlio César

6,39 Stefan Klos

6,38 Andreas Möller

6,34 Jörg Heinrich

6,16 Karl-Heinz Riedle

6,15 Paulo Sousa

6,08 Paul Lambert

5,89 Lars Ricken

5,88 Stéphane Chapuisat

5,85 Stefan Reuter

5,82 Heiko Herrlich

5,73 Wolfgang Feiersinger

5,72 Martin Kree

5,62 René Tretschok

5,41 Michael Zorc

5,36 Knut Reinhardt

Average ratings Chelsea 1997/98

6,55 Frank Leboeuf

6,39 Dennis Wise, Gianfranco Zola

6,37 Gianluca Vialli

6,23 Roberto Di Matteo

6,20 Gustavo Poyet

6,13 Ed de Goey

6,11 Dan Petrescu, Mark Hughes

6,09 Andrew Myers

6,02 Steve Clarke

5,98 Tore André Flo

5,94 Michael Duberry

5,93 Frank Sinclair

5,91 Graeme Le Saux

5,81 Mark Nicholls

5,69 Eddie Newton

5,68 Danny Granville

Average ratings Roma 1996/97

6,22 Giorgio Sterchele

6,14 Francesco Statuto

6,13 Vincent Candela

6,11 Aldair

6,03 Giovanni Cervone

6,02 Jonas Thern, Abel Balbo

6,00 Daniel Fonseca

5,98 Francesco Totti

5,95 Marco Delvecchio

5,91 Amedeo Carboni

5,80 Marco Lanna

5,79 Damiano Tommasi

5,78 Francesco Moriero

5,77 Enrico Annoni, Fabio Petruzzi

5,68 Luigi Di Biagio

5,63 Omari Tetradze

Premier League: top rated players 1996/97

News of the World graded each game of the season.

7,42 Gianfranco Zola (Chelsea)
7,38 Dennis Bergkamp (Arsenal)
7,37 Dean Sturridge (Derby)
7,33 Patrick Vieira (Arsenal)
7,31 Paul McGrath (Derby), Paul Merson (Arsenal)
7,19 Juninho Paulista (Middlesbrough)
7,14 Kevin Pressman (Sheffield Wednesday)
7,13 Nigel Martyn (Leeds)
7,06 Tony Adams (Arsenal)
7,05 Colin Hendry (Blackburn)
7,00 Sol Campbell (Tottenham)

Today 16 years ago: Inter 0, Juventus 0.

Sent off: 77' Boksic. Att: 77.648 (L. 3.226.728.000).
Inter: Pagliuca 8,00 — Angloma 6,50, M. Paganin 5,50, Galante 5,75, Bergomi 6,50 (63' Pistone) — J. Zanetti 5,50, Sforza 5,50, Fresi 6,00, Djorkaeff 6,75 — Zamorano 5,25, Ganz 5,75. — coach: Hodgson 6,00. = average: 6,09 [satisfactory]
Juventus: Peruzzi 7,75 — Torricelli (12' Porrini 6,00), Ferrara 6,75, Montero 6,50, Dimas 5,75 (72' Iuliano) — Di Livio 6,50, Deschamps 6,50, Zidane 6,75, Jugovic 5,75 — Vieri 5,25, N. Amoruso 6,00 (67' Boksic 4,50). — coach: Lippi 6,25. = average: 6,17 [solid]

Today 16 years ago: Fiorentina 1, Juventus 1.

0-1 16' Del Piero, 1-1 49' Robbiati. Sent off: 56' Carnasciali. Att: 41.437 (L. 1.941.148.000).
Fiorentina: Toldo 6,50 - Carnasciali 5,00, Padalino 5,75, Falcone 5,50, Serena 5,50 - Piacentini 4,75 (46' Robbiati 6,75), Bigica 5,25 (46' Cois 6,00), Rui Costa 5,50, Schwarz 6,25 - Kanchelskis 5,25 (60' L. Amoruso 5,50), Batistuta 6,25. - coach: Ranieri 5,75. = average: 5,70 [disappointing]
Juventus: Rampulla 6,25 - Pessotto 5,25 (77' Pessotto), Ferrara 7,00, Montero 6,25, Iuliano 7,00 - Di Livio 6,00, (60' Lombardo 6,00), Zidane 5,25, Deschamps 6,50, Jugovic 7,50 - Del Piero 7,00, Padovano 6,00. - coach: Lippi 6,00. = average: 6,33 [good]

Today 16 years ago: Zeman's last match at Lazio.

Lazio 1, Bologna 2.
0-1 41' K. Andersson, 1-1 47' Casiraghi, 1-2 60' Nervo. Att: 31.560.
Lazio: Marchegiani 6,00 - Negro 5,25, Nesta 6,50, Fish 5,25, Gottardi 4,00 - Fuser 6,00, Okon 5,50, Nedved 5,50, Rambaudi 5,25 (69' Buso) - Casiraghi 7,00, Signori 5,25 (78' Protti). - coach: Zeman 5,50. = average: 5,59 [failing]
Bologna: Antonioli 7,25 - Tarozzi 6,25, Torrisi 6,00, Mangone 6,00, Paramatti 6,25 - Magoni 6,25 (91' Cardone), Marocchi 6,50 (65' Shalimov), Scapolo 6,50 (78' Bergamo), Nervo 7,00 - K. Andersson 7,25, Kolyvanov 6,25. - coach: Ulivieri 7,25. = average: 6,50 [very good]

Today 16 years ago: Udinese 4, Sampdoria 5.

0-1 5' Mancini, 0-2 10' Montella, 0-3 18' Mancini, 1-3 23' Amoroso, 1-4 33' Mancini, 2-4 44' Cappioli, 3-4 61' Amoroso, 3-5 73' Montella, 4-5 93' Bia penalty. Att: 11.639.
Udinese: Turci 6,17 — Sergio 4,83, Calori 4,50 (57' Gargo 5,83), Bia 5,00, Al. Orlando 4,67 (28' Compagnon 5,50) — Cappioli 6,00, Rossitto 5,17, Desideri 4,67 (17' Giannichedda 5,33), Stroppa 5,67 — Poggi 6,00, Amoroso 7,17. — coach: Zaccheroni. = average: 5,46 [poor]
Sampdoria: Ferron 6,17 — Balleri 6,17, M. Mannini 5,83 (46' Sacchetti 6,00), Mihajlovic 6,50, Pesaresi 6,00 — Verón 6,33, Franceschetti 6,17, Laigle 6,50 — Karembeu 6,50 (54' Carparelli 6,17), Montella 7,50 (81' Iacopino), Mancini 8,33.  — coach: Eriksson. = average: 6,47 [very good]

Memory Lane: Serie A 1996/97.

6,91 Peruzzi (Juventus)
6,67 Taibi (Piacenza)
6,58 Pagliuca (Inter)
6,52 Buffon (Parma)
6,50 Deschamps (Juventus), Pinato (Atalanta)
6,48 Thuram (Parma)
6,46 Di Livio (Juventus)
6,40 Antonioli (Bologna)
6,38 Montero (Juventus)

Referees:
6,46 Trentalange
6,40 Messina
6,36 Collina

Today 15 years ago: Italy 0, England 0 ("the Italian Job")

Sent-off: 77' Di Livio. Att: 65.962 (Stadio Olimpico, Rome).
Italy: Peruzzi 6,25 — Nesta 6,00, Costacurta 6,00, F. Cannavaro 6,38, Maldini 6,25 (32' Benarrivo 5,75) — Di Livio 5,50, D. Baggio 5,50, Albertini 5,25, Zola 5,12 (63' Del Piero 6,17) — Vieri 5,62, F. Inzaghi 4,75 (46' Chiesa 6,00). — coach: Maldini 4,75. = average: 5,75 [disappointing]
England: Seaman 6,62 — Campbell 6,38, Adams 6,00, Southgate 6,25 — Beckham 6,50, Ince 6,75, Batty 6,38, Gascoigne 6,12 (88' Butt), Le Saux 6,12 — Sheringham 6,38, Wright 6,00. — coach:  Hoddle 7,00. = average: 6,32 [good]

England qualified for the 1998 WC; Italy had to face Russia in a playoff round.

Serie A, top rated players 1997/98.

Average ratings, Gazzetta dello Sport.

6,63 Bierhoff (Udinese)
6,58 Totti (Roma), Winter (Inter)
6,57 R. Baggio (Bologna)
6,53 Pagliuca (Inter)
6,52 Buffon (Parma)
6,50 Konsel (Roma)
6,49 Nedved (Lazio)
6,48 Davids (Juventus).