Greatest Soccer Players of all Time

shamrock55

A few different ones that i loved watching

dalglish
platini
zico
romario
keegan
All oldies i know but alot of the latest players have been named already

Rikand

Maldini
Gattuso
Casilles
Zanetti

cant decide on my fifth.... Gary Breen ?

osarusan

Juniorhurler wrote: »

One or two of these may not have been the best players I have ever seen, but are definitely my favorites.

Hristo Stoichkov

great great player.

Him and Romario were some combination.

shamrock55

Hugo sanchez
Careca
Emilio butragueno
jorge burrachaga

Deeper Blue

Messi
C Ronaldo
Ronaldo
Zidane
Henry

recylingbin

That I've seen play: More favs than best prob

Maradona
...
distance
...
Messi
Stoichkov
Van Bastard
Beardsley

BMMachine

G.Breen
G.Breen
G.Breen
G.Breen
G.Breen




more really though,
Rijkaard
Ronaldo
Maradonna
Messi
C.Ronaldo

not my lifetime-
Pele
Cryuff
Di Stefano
Beckenbauer
Zico

Liam O

If by best you mean most productive at the top level then with regards to attack it's Messi and CR above everyone I've ever seen by a mile. They even get as many assists as a top no.10 most seasons too.

Duck Soup

Pele
Best
Maradona
di Stefano
Messi

BMMachine

syngindub wrote: »

Zindane

find me his mexican non-union equivalent!

smackbunnybaby

I think the best player I have seen in the flesh is Dion Dublin.
Pure class.

jacool

Pele
Di Stefano
Cruyff
Puskas
Beckenbauer

not easy

jem

maradonna
Pele

messi

cruyff
Best

socrates
ronaldo (both)
zidane
zico
falco (brazil 1982)
van baston

romario
platini
gullit
king kenny
bobby charlton

gaps there for a reason. messi needs to win worldcup.

Dolph Starbeam

Messi
Ronaldo
C. Ronaldo
Maldini
Zidane

Sheepy99

WOW ! You guys are talking about "SOCCER" ?

OnTheCouch

We have all heard of the so-called best players of all time and if we were to choose a list of ten, I'm sure most people would be in agreement with at least 6-7 out of them.

However as another poster said, many of the greats we just read how good they were, we have not seen any live ourselves and the footage we have is fairly limited. For example, George Best, everyone has seen his top 20 goals, but how many games did he play that were not televised? And did he score even better ones that were not caught on camera? Just as some of his better performances were missed by all those who were not present in the stadium, by the same token, some of his poorer games will simply be forgotten in the annals of time, possibly increasing his legend. This is something that Wayne Rooney for example will never be able to benefit from, as every single professional game (bad and good) he has played will have been televised by someone.

My father reckons that Puskas and Cruijff/Cruyff were the best two players he ever saw play (on TV) and that Best was the greatest he saw live. Not hugely controversial one might imagine, but when I try to find footage of these players it is somewhat restrictive, so I find it hard to judge myself. Leaving aside the horrific and tragic Munich disaster, because Duncan Edwards had such a short career in terms of years played, one has to rely on testimony from others to have an idea just how great his potential was as there is so little video evidence of his matches out there.

Pele is the official 'safe' choice for greatest ever and it is undeniable that he was an astonishingly gifted footballer, but he also suffers to some degree from lack of footage compared to modern-day players. Legends such as Di Stefano, Beckenbauer, Moore, Garrincha, Neeskens, Netzer, Charlton, Eusebio also have this problem, as do 'lesser-known' greats from the era e.g. Gianni Rivera, Georgi Asparuhov, Paul Van Himst and Luis Suarez (Spain). Indeed perhaps the best way of judging a player at this time was looking at the amount of goals players like Jimmy Greaves, Denis Law and Gerd Muller got, as a goal is a goal no matter what period it was scored in. Some of their scoring feats are only now being matched by Ronaldo and Messi.

I believe this was a problem until the 1980s, when mass coverage of games became commonplace. This is why I would still have to nominate Maradona as the best player ever, I don't really need to go into his talents here, but his sheer force of will I think gives him the edge over competitors, of course his dribbling and passing were out of this world as well. Plus, in order to come back to my argument, you can look at complete games from all stages of his career on YouTube and other similar sites and some of the things he could do (when he made it look like he was playing in a kids' match at times) would take your breath away.

Of course I never saw him live, his career was coming to an end when I first started taking an interest. So maybe I should be choosing from the array of talent that I have had the privilege of watching in the stadium: Messi, Xavi, Iniesta, Busquets, Lahm, Ribery, Falcao, Alaba, Kompany, Gerrard, Suarez, Ibrahimovic, Neuer, Owen, Scholes, Rooney, Hazard, Roy Keane, Schweinsteiger, Cannavaro, Hierro, Henry, Modric etc, but I don't think any of them surpass Maradona.

Today, I think Messi and almost certainly by this stage C. Ronaldo have a great chance of making the top ten greatest players when their careers finish, the only difference is I believe Messi could have a chance of breaking into the top five, whereas the Portuguese may have to 'settle' for the 6-10 spots.

K4t

PropJoe10 wrote: »

How has nobody mentioned Michael Laudrup yet?

Came in expecting Laudrup. Leaving satisfied.

Blazer

In players I've seen in no particular order.

Messi
Ronaldo
Zidane
Maradona
Maldini

I'm tempted to put Shearer in there as at his peak he was fantastic.
But also leaving out Zlatan/Baggio/Del Piero.
A top 20 would be more fair and only include players you've seen either live/watched etc.

uch

Has nobody Mentioned Gary Twigg yet ?

Liam O

OnTheCouch wrote: »

Today, I think Messi and almost certainly by this stage C. Ronaldo have a great chance of making the top ten greatest players when their careers finish, the only difference is I believe Messi could have a chance of breaking into the top five, whereas the Portuguese may have to 'settle' for the 6-10 spots.

They're both already in the top 5 at the very least. Nobody's done what they're doing before. Not sure how you can put Messi above Ronaldo by any significant margin. Ronaldo has also done it with multiple witch hunts against him from the media at a young age and his dad dying early in his career. Messi, despite the sometimes deplorable actions from his team and being as bad a cheat as Ronaldo has ever been on a good few occasions has gotten away relatively scot free from the media, maybe it's because of who they've played for as it doesn't suit the media agenda but I feel Ronaldo never gets near the credit he deserves for his career so far.

messinkiapina

In my lifetime

Maradona
Zidane
Messi
Romario
The real Ronaldo
The Portuguese Ronaldo
Ronaldinho
Keane (Yes, really!...He's the best player I've ever seen in that position...I'm not even being biased, because I don't like the guy at all)

That's not quite 5, is it?

Skylinehead

Liam O wrote: »

Not sure how you can put Messi above Ronaldo by any significant margin.

For me it's because Messi is two world-class players rolled into one. Not only is he a great goalscorer (like Ronaldo), he's also one of the finest last-third passers of the ball I've ever seen (unlike Ronaldo). I'd have both in the top 5 either way.

bullvine

messinkiapina wrote: »

In my lifetime

Maradona
Zidane
Messi
Romario
The real Ronaldo
The Portuguese Ronaldo
Ronaldinho
Keane (Yes, really!...He's the best player I've ever seen in that position...I'm not even being biased, because I don't like the guy at all)

That's not quite 5, is it?

Thats a great list, I'd add Figo to it as well

2ndcoming

Liam O wrote: »

They're both already in the top 5 at the very least. Nobody's done what they're doing before. Not sure how you can put Messi above Ronaldo by any significant margin. Ronaldo has also done it with multiple witch hunts against him from the media at a young age and his dad dying early in his career. Messi, despite the sometimes deplorable actions from his team and being as bad a cheat as Ronaldo has ever been on a good few occasions has gotten away relatively scot free from the media, maybe it's because of who they've played for as it doesn't suit the media agenda but I feel Ronaldo never gets near the credit he deserves for his career so far.

He just won the Ballon D'Or. This whole post is lunacy to be honest. Top 5 at the very least? What does that even mean? Better than Top 5? So good they should be counted on a different scale than all who came before? Ronaldo is a phenomenal player very slightly overshadowed by a more phenomenal player and his undeniable fondness for unnecessary theatrics, as demonstrated only a week ago in the most recent Classico.

Anyway,

My Top 5 in my generation.

Zidane
Maldini
L. Ronaldo
Messi
Henry

I couldn't offer more than the standard Pele, Cruyff, Maradonas for the older lists as I didn't experience it. Surprisingly few votes for Best!

Boskowski

Messi
Maradona
Messi
Messi
Messi

Edit: This to make my point, other fantastic players in no particular order
Christiano Ronaldo
Zidane
Ronaldinho
Stoichkov
Schuster

Old :eek:, but not old enough to have an opinion on
Pele
Cruyff
Beckenbauer
Best

8-10

Sheepy99 wrote: »

WOW ! You guys are talking about "SOCCER" ?

If you're not you're in the wrong forum

jmayo

Just from ones I have seen ...

Maradona has to be no 1

Messi
Zidane
Ronaldo (the real bloke not the poser)
Baggio

The thing is soccer was invented and player before me and before these guys so you have to add greats like Pele, Cruyff, Garincha, Puskas, Di Stefano, Beckenbauer, Eusebio, Best.

And I know some will argue the game is now faster, players need be sharper and defenders are fitter meaning more opposition.
And to counter that argument I will argue the balls were different, the boots were heavier and the opposition could kick the living cr** out of the best players.
And they did.

Take Your Pants Off

jmayo wrote: »

Just from ones I have seen ...

Maradona has to be no 1

Messi
Zidane
Ronaldo (the real bloke not the poser)
Baggio

The thing is soccer was invented and player before me and before these guys so you have to add greats like Pele, Cruyff, Garincha, Puskas, Di Stefano, Beckenbauer, Eusebio, Best.

And I know some will argue the game is now faster, players need be sharper and defenders are fitter meaning more opposition.
And to counter that argument I will argue the balls were different, the boots were heavier and the opposition could kick the living cr** out of the best players.
And they did.

Which ones the real bloke and which ones the poser ??

dirtyden

Maradona
Messi
Zidane
Van Basten
Matthaus

Maradona by a country mile the best that I have seen, then Messi, closely followed by Zidane. After that I could have made an argument for 10 other players to fill out a top 5 but I did not see enough of matthaus or vam basten in any lists so I included them.

jmayo

Take Your Pants Off wrote: »

Which ones the real bloke and which ones the poser ??

The original or as some label the poor lad "the fat one".

Granted the poser, the one who spends a lot of time with his hair, would be probably vying for no 6 spot of the greatest players of the last 30 odd years.
He would have climbed ahead of the likes of platini in my estimation.

OnTheCouch

Liam O wrote: »

They're both already in the top 5 at the very least. Nobody's done what they're doing before. Not sure how you can put Messi above Ronaldo by any significant margin. Ronaldo has also done it with multiple witch hunts against him from the media at a young age and his dad dying early in his career. Messi, despite the sometimes deplorable actions from his team and being as bad a cheat as Ronaldo has ever been on a good few occasions has gotten away relatively scot free from the media, maybe it's because of who they've played for as it doesn't suit the media agenda but I feel Ronaldo never gets near the credit he deserves for his career so far.

Not to make this into another Ronaldo-Messi thread, as it's been done a million times already, but I do believe that when both their careers are finished, Messi will be retrospectively ranked higher. Although we'll only know this in ten years time or so.

Of course there is always a tendency (not saying this is your case but anyway) to rate the players from your own generation higher. Who can really tell or say with any authority that Puskas and Di Stefano were superior or inferior to Messi/Ronaldo today? My father's generation would probably find them superior, but that does not mean to say they are correct.

Too Tough To Die

Messi is a clear level above Ronaldo, let's be honest. We don't need to wait until their careers are over to say with confidence who will be remembered as the better player, it's pretty obvious.

Nerdlingr

Their lack of success, or being a driving force for their team, in the international arena is the only thing stopping Messi and Ronaldo being on a equal par with/ over taking Maradona, Pele and Zidane imo.

Too Tough To Die

Nerdlingr wrote: »

Their lack of success, or being a driving force for their team, in the international arena is the only thing stopping Messi and Ronaldo being on a equal par with Maradona, Pele and Zidane imo.

What about Zidane's lack of success at club level? Whatever about Ronaldo, he's won far, far less than Messi. Why does a few weeks in a summer trump week after week of consistency. Ronaldo and Messi > Zidane who shouldn't be mentioned in the same breath as Pele and Maradona.

Nerdlingr

Too Tough To Die wrote: »

What about Zidane's lack of success at club level? Whatever about Ronaldo, he's won far, far less than Messi. Why does a few weeks in a summer trump week after week of consistency. Ronaldo and Messi > Zidane who shouldn't be mentioned in the same breath as Pele and Maradona.

Lack of success?!! Zidane has won the champions league, seria A, la liga, uefa cup, intercontinental cup ...etc etc. What you on about? World Player of the year three times. Has won a world cup and a Euro's. Being the inspriation and driving force for any team he's played in. The man is a legend of the game and is on a par with Maradona and Pele. He's done it both internationally and domestically.

Kunkka

Too Tough To Die wrote: »

What about Zidane's lack of success at club level? Whatever about Ronaldo, he's won far, far less than Messi. Why does a few weeks in a summer trump week after week of consistency. Ronaldo and Messi > Zidane who shouldn't be mentioned in the same breath as Pele and Maradona.

Zidane lack of success at club level? What the ****.

Too Tough To Die

Nerdlingr wrote: »

Lack of success?!! Zidane has won the champions league, seria A, la liga, uefa cup, intercontinental cup ...etc etc. What you on about? World Player of the year three times. Has won a world cup and a Euro's. Being the inspriation and driving force for any team he's played in. The man is a legend of the game and is on a par with Maradona and Pele. He's done it both internationally and domestically.

One La Liga title in a side that should have won many, many La Liga titles. How many has Messi won?
2 Serie A titles, fair enough. That's okay, not amazing, but not bad.
One CL win, that was fantastic. Should have won more, was on the losing side more than once in CL finals where you'd expect a player of his ability to shine. Eclipsed by Messi here, again.
He has actually been on the losing side in more finals more often than he has been on the winning side.
A few truly iconic moments have papered over the reality of his career. Great player, but on a par with Pele, Maradona and Messi? Ridiculous.

Belongs on the same level as Xavi and Iniesta.

UEFA Cup, Intercontinental cup? Don't make me LOL.

Seve OB

Roy Keane
Ray Houghton
John Aldridge
Liam Brady
Paul McGrath

Kunkka

Too Tough To Die wrote: »

One La Liga title in a side that should have won many, many La Liga titles. How many has Messi won?
2 Serie A titles, fair enough. That's okay, not amazing, but not bad.
One CL win, that was fantastic. Should have won more, was on the losing side more than once in CL finals where you'd expect a player of his ability to shine. Eclipsed by Messi here, again.
He has actually been on the losing side in more finals more often than he has been on the winning side.
A few truly iconic moments have papered over the reality of his career. Great player, but on a par with Pele, Maradona and Messi? Ridiculous.

Belongs on the same level as Xavi and Iniesta.

UEFA Cup, Intercontinental cup? Don't make me LOL.

Zidane won more then Maradona at club level & I'm pretty sure he won more then Pele too..... while his international career was far more successful then Messi....

Zidane won everything he could have won I really don't see your argument at all. He was the main reason France won their first & only world cup. He was an absolute magician & leader on the pitch

Nerdlingr

Too Tough To Die wrote: »

One La Liga title in a side that should have won many, many La Liga titles. How many has Messi won?
2 Serie A titles, fair enough. That's okay, not amazing, but not bad.
One CL win, that was fantastic. Should have won more, was on the losing side more than once in CL finals where you'd expect a player of his ability to shine. Eclipsed by Messi here, again.
He has actually been on the losing side in more finals more often than he has been on the winning side.
A few truly iconic moments have papered over the reality of his career. Great player, but on a par with Pele, Maradona and Messi? Ridiculous.

Belongs on the same level as Xavi and Iniesta.

UEFA Cup, Intercontinental cup? Don't make me LOL.

He's won more intentionally and domestically than Maradona, so by using your rationale that makes him a better player no?
"A few truly iconic moments have papered over the reality of his career." ... He's a legend of the game, that's the reality.

bullvine

Kunkka wrote: »

Zidane won more then Maradona at club level & I'm pretty sure he won more then Pele too..... while his international career was far more successful then Messi....

Zidane won everything he could have won I really don't see your argument at all. He was the main reason France won their first & only world cup. He was an absolute magician & leader on the pitch

Right or wrong, the legacy of the great players is based on their international career. History has shown this to be true. Zidane is a prime example of this. He may well be the greatest international footballer of all time and in comparison to his club career, it totally overshadows it.

Too Tough To Die

Kunkka wrote: »

Zidane won more then Maradona at club level & I'm pretty sure he won more then Pele too..... while his international career was far more successful then Messi....

Zidane won everything he could have won I really don't see your argument at all. He was the main reason France won their first & only world cup. He was an absolute magician & leader on the pitch

Maradona is something of a special case. What he achieved at Napoli when he achieved it was amazing, even if the 'one man team' nonsense is overstated. Ditto with Argentina.

I don't see what Zidane has done that Xavi or Iniesta haven't. They have achieved more than Zidane at both club and international level - much more in fact. For my money they have both performed better than Zidane at major international tournaments.

Skylinehead

Too Tough To Die wrote: »

Maradona is something of a special case. What he achieved at Napoli when he achieved it was amazing, even if the 'one man team' nonsense is overstated. Ditto with Argentina.

I don't see what Zidane has done that Xavi or Iniesta haven't. They have achieved more than Zidane at both club and international level - much more in fact. For my money they have both performed better than Zidane at major international tournaments.

Agreed, I'd have Iniesta above Zidane. The ultimate big game player. On ability I'd have Rivaldo ahead of Zidane too, but he didn't quite have the longevity at the top level.

Kunkka

Too Tough To Die wrote: »

Maradona is something of a special case. What he achieved at Napoli when he achieved it was amazing, even if the 'one man team' nonsense is overstated. Ditto with Argentina.

I don't see what Zidane has done that Xavi or Iniesta haven't. They have achieved more than Zidane at both club and international level - much more in fact. For my money they have both performed better than Zidane at major international tournaments.

Compare the Spain squad to France's in 1998 please. Zidane like Maradona at Napoli won a world cup "single handily" pretty much.

He is the great pelican of Algeria and I will not have a bad word said about him, we can argue all day if you want

Too Tough To Die

Kunkka wrote: »

Compare the Spain squad to France's in 1998 please. Zidane like Maradona at Napoli won a world cup "single handily" pretty much.

He is the great pelican of Algeria and I will not have a bad word said about him, we can argue all day if you want

Are you being serious? Is this a wind up? I'll bite...

1 GK Bernard Lama 7 April 1963 (aged 35) 37 France Paris Saint Germain
2 DF Vincent Candela 24 October 1973 (aged 24) 10 Italy Roma
3 DF Bixente Lizarazu 9 December 1969 (aged 28) 32 Germany Bayern Munich
4 MF Patrick Vieira 23 June 1976 (aged 21) 7 England Arsenal
5 DF Laurent Blanc 19 November 1965 (aged 32) 68 France Marseille
6 FW Youri Djorkaeff 9 March 1968 (aged 30) 37 Italy Internazionale
7 MF Didier Deschamps (c) 15 October 1968 (aged 29) 69 Italy Juventus
8 DF Marcel Desailly 7 September 1968 (aged 29) 41 Italy Milan
9 FW Stéphane Guivarc'h 6 September 1970 (aged 27) 6 France Auxerre
10 MF Zinedine Zidane 23 June 1972 (aged 25) 33 Italy Juventus
11 MF Robert Pirès 29 October 1973 (aged 24) 13 France Metz
12 FW Thierry Henry 17 August 1977 (aged 20) 3 France AS Monaco
13 MF Bernard Diomède 23 January 1974 (aged 24) 6 France Auxerre
14 MF Alain Boghossian 27 October 1970 (aged 27) 6 Italy Sampdoria
15 DF Lilian Thuram 1 January 1972 (aged 26) 32 Italy Parma
16 GK Fabien Barthez 28 June 1971 (aged 26) 12 France AS Monaco
17 MF Emmanuel Petit 22 September 1970 (aged 27) 17 England Arsenal
18 DF Frank Lebœuf 22 January 1968 (aged 30) 13 England Chelsea
19 MF Christian Karembeu 3 December 1970 (aged 27) 31 Spain Real Madrid
20 FW David Trezeguet 15 October 1977 (aged 20) 4 France AS Monaco
21 FW Christophe Dugarry 24 March 1972 (aged 26) 23 France Marseille
22 GK Lionel Charbonnier

That's a fcking amazing squad!

Nerdlingr

Too Tough To Die wrote: »

Maradona is something of a special case. What he achieved at Napoli when he achieved it was amazing, even if the 'one man team' nonsense is overstated. Ditto with Argentina.

I don't see what Zidane has done that Xavi or Iniesta haven't. They have achieved more than Zidane at both club and international level - much more in fact. For my money they have both performed better than Zidane at major international tournaments.

Thats what I'm on about. Maradona drove teams on, he transcended the game in 86 and by winning La Liga with lowly Napoli in the following years.
Zidane did the same at the WC98 and even more impressively in 2006. They were leaders. Are messi or ronaldo going to be leaders for their countries?

Xavi and Iniesta are fantastic players. Great cogs in a big machine. But in my opinion Zidane just stood head and shoulders above everyone else that he played with.

Skylinehead

Nerdlingr wrote: »

Thats what I'm on about. Maradona drove teams on, he transcended the game in 86 and by winning La Liga with lowly Napoli in the following years.
Zidane did the same at the WC98 and even more impressively in 2006. They were leaders. Are messi or ronaldo going to be leaders for their countries?

Xavi and Iniesta are fantastic players. Great cogs in a big machine. But in my opinion Zidane just stood head and shoulders above everyone else that he played with.

You can't possibly compare the France 98 squad to Argentina/Portugals squads now though, Zidane had a world class team to play with, whereas Argentina have a pretty awful defence and a fairly average midfield.

Nerdlingr

Too Tough To Die wrote: »

Are you being serious? Is this a wind up? I'll bite...

They had great first 10 (the strikers were sh*te)..after that, on the bench...only ok. The spanish squad from 2010 were so much better.

Too Tough To Die

Nerdlingr wrote: »

They had great first 10 (the strikers were sh*te)..after that, on the bench...only ok. The spanish squad from 2010 were so much better.

So much better because of Iniesta and Xavi! Head and shoulders above anyone else in that Spanish side. Imagine that side without them, you can't! It's impossible.

Kunkka

Too Tough To Die wrote: »

Are you being serious? Is this a wind up? I'll bite...

1 GK Bernard Lama 7 April 1963 (aged 35) 37 France Paris Saint Germain
2 DF Vincent Candela 24 October 1973 (aged 24) 10 Italy Roma
3 DF Bixente Lizarazu 9 December 1969 (aged 28) 32 Germany Bayern Munich
4 MF Patrick Vieira 23 June 1976 (aged 21) 7 England Arsenal
5 DF Laurent Blanc 19 November 1965 (aged 32) 68 France Marseille
6 FW Youri Djorkaeff 9 March 1968 (aged 30) 37 Italy Internazionale
7 MF Didier Deschamps (c) 15 October 1968 (aged 29) 69 Italy Juventus
8 DF Marcel Desailly 7 September 1968 (aged 29) 41 Italy Milan
9 FW Stéphane Guivarc'h 6 September 1970 (aged 27) 6 France Auxerre
10 MF Zinedine Zidane 23 June 1972 (aged 25) 33 Italy Juventus
11 MF Robert Pirès 29 October 1973 (aged 24) 13 France Metz
12 FW Thierry Henry 17 August 1977 (aged 20) 3 France AS Monaco
13 MF Bernard Diomède 23 January 1974 (aged 24) 6 France Auxerre
14 MF Alain Boghossian 27 October 1970 (aged 27) 6 Italy Sampdoria
15 DF Lilian Thuram 1 January 1972 (aged 26) 32 Italy Parma
16 GK Fabien Barthez 28 June 1971 (aged 26) 12 France AS Monaco
17 MF Emmanuel Petit 22 September 1970 (aged 27) 17 England Arsenal
18 DF Frank Lebœuf 22 January 1968 (aged 30) 13 England Chelsea
19 MF Christian Karembeu 3 December 1970 (aged 27) 31 Spain Real Madrid
20 FW David Trezeguet 15 October 1977 (aged 20) 4 France AS Monaco
21 FW Christophe Dugarry 24 March 1972 (aged 26) 23 France Marseille
22 GK Lionel Charbonnier

That's a fcking amazing squad!

Ok it's better then I remember to be honest but it had Karembeu, Leboeuf & that viking Dugarry so your argument is irrelevant.

Zidane is a great of world football & anyone that says otherwise is a silly billy.