Eric the King is not regarded by the French as a legendary player

Originally Posted by The Return of JC

Hardly surprising considering his best years were outside of France and he did next to nothing at international level.

Wasn't his scoring record for France a goal every other game? Not too shabby, then he never really got picked once he was in his prime

That isn't the impression I got from this



Think he was highly regarded but his disciplinary problems prevented him from greatness. Think the French were gutted he wasn't at Euro 96

did he call the french manager a shit bag and throw his shirt at him? I also remember him criticising most french players during his exile He's hardly the golden boy of france is he.

The four French strikers for Euro 96, just after Eric's triumphant return and us winning the double:
Djorkaeff, Dugarry, Loko, Madar

Djorkaeff is the only one of the four with a decent international record, scoring 28 in 82. Loko had 7 from 26, Madar 1 from 3 and Dugarry 8 from 55, which points at him being a French Emile Heskey.

Eric scored 20 in 45 but was punted along with Papin and Ginola as France turned to youth. Clearly worked paying dividends in 98 and 2000, proving yet again that you can win stuff with kids.

Having said all that, £#%&! the frogs, he's still our legend.

Family Fortunes would have been much better if they'd done a survey of just one person for each question.

Originally Posted by dunk

Mainly because we massively overrate him due to the influence he had and the timing of his arrival, and his love for the club.

Wow.

20 goals in 45 for France was pretty good. Led United to the Double Double in 1996 and got ignored for the Euros, which was a bit bizarre.

Those saying France isn't really a football country are spot on, they don't really know much about it except in Marseille and even they consider Tony Cascarino a legend.

Originally Posted by dragflick

Not sure if...

only caught the two tb£#%&!ingplum

Originally Posted by Zorg

20 goals in 45 for France was pretty good. Led United to the Double Double in 1996 and got ignored for the Euros, which was a bit bizarre.

Those saying France isn't really a football country are spot on, they don't really know much about it except in Marseille and even they consider Tony Cascarino a legend.

he'd had major fallouts with the FFA and slagged off the 96 manager.

Originally Posted by Zorg

20 goals in 45 for France was pretty good. Led United to the Double Double in 1996 and got ignored for the Euros, which was a bit bizarre.

Those saying France isn't really a football country are spot on, they don't really know much about it except in Marseille and even they consider Tony Cascarino a legend.

Didn't the book referred to above claim that Eric was offered a place in the 1996 squad, but declined??

Not saying I actually believe that, mind......

I think we might slightly over rate him as a footballer but it was his presence as well, something they might not know about. I was talking to a few frenchies a year back and when I told them I was from manchester the first thing they said was king Eric. They've had some over rated players that we don't see as greats too, deschamps and Trezeguet.

Originally Posted by Fountz

I know mate, but he was OUR superior @#%&! !! YHBR

Not Eric! The french boyfriend character was a superior @#%&!.. Eric's the best player I've ever seen and I rate him higher than Zidane, aside from being cool as £#%&!.

Originally Posted by dunk

Mainly because we massively overrate him due to the influence he had and the timing of his arrival, and his love for the club.

Bullshit Duncan. 10 x the player most of his contemporaries were (Bergkamp for instance).

Underrated if anything.

Originally Posted by Zorg

20 goals in 45 for France was pretty good. Led United to the Double Double in 1996 and got ignored for the Euros, which was a bit bizarre.

Those saying France isn't really a football country are spot on, they don't really know much about it except in Marseille and even they consider Tony Cascarino a legend.

and 'Magique' Waddle

Originally Posted by carlosartorial

Bullshit Duncan. 10 x the player most of his contemporaries were (Bergkamp for instance).

Underrated if anything.

Bergkamp was a bloody great player, tbf. Also a bit @#%&!ish, but he is Dutch

Originally Posted by Fountz

...not really a football country.

Like asking my Mum.. who were the best, The Velvet Underground or The Stooges ??

her/their opinion is a complete irrelevance.

for the record, its the stooges

Originally Posted by carlosartorial

Bullshit Duncan. 10 x the player most of his contemporaries were (Bergkamp for instance).

Underrated if anything.

This.

Originally Posted by red in cumbria

Didn't the book referred to above claim that Eric was offered a place in the 1996 squad, but declined??

Not saying I actually believe that, mind......

Yes...that book would also have us believe that "He should have been France's centre-forward when they became world champions in 1998, but when he understood that his role would be subordinate to Zidane's and Djorkaeff's, he pulled out." This statement to me is really strange as by then he'd already retired

Originally Posted by no fun

for the record, its the stooges

yeah that's what she said.. didn't rate the Velvets at all after White Light White Heat

Originally Posted by dodger

Not Eric! The french boyfriend character was a superior @#%&!.. Eric's the best player I've ever seen and I rate him higher than Zidane, aside from being cool as £#%&!.