Greatest Soccer Players of all Time

GTR63

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.

Trezeguet & Henry were certainly not shite. I`d have them over Torres & Villa tbh.

bullvine

I have heard it all now, comparing the golden generation French squad of the late 90's with Argentina 86, ridiculous.

bullvine

GTR63 wrote: »

Trezeguet & Henry were certainly not shite. I`d have them over Torres & Villa tbh.

They were only kids though, remember Guivarch..

Nerdlingr

Too Tough To Die wrote: »

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.

The squad was better. Look at the subs they had to come in ...Mata, Silva, Alonso, Fabregas, Javi Martinez, Pedro....

If zidane gets injured who comes in ? Diomede, Petit, Karembeu ...

BIG difference!

bullvine

Nerdlingr wrote: »

The squad was better. Look at the subs they had to come in ...Mata, Silva, Alonso, Fabregas, Javi Martinez, Pedro....

If zidane gets injured who comes in ? Diomede, Petit, Karembeu ...

BIG difference!

Petit and Karembeu were superb players.

Nerdlingr

GTR63 wrote: »

Trezeguet & Henry were certainly not shite. I`d have them over Torres & Villa tbh.

Guivarch and Dugarry were before them in the pecking order. Henry and trezeguet (just out of their teens) and were unknown quanities at that level at that time.

bullvine

Going on Achievements, I'd take Xavi over Zidane.

Nerdlingr

bullvine wrote: »

Petit and Karembeu were superb players.

Not as good as the ones i've mentioned for spain though.

Boskowski

Boring

bullvine

Nerdlingr wrote: »

Not as good as the ones i've mentioned for spain though.

Petit was an outstanding player, one of the best midfielders to play in the premiership. Very underated. His time at Barca tainted his rep a little. Being forced to play at back didn't help.

Kunkka

Don't get me wrong I think Xavi & Iniesta are incredible footballers but I don't think they are up there with Zidane's genius. Xavi and Iniesta need a good team around them to win football matches while Zidane literally won games by himself with pieces of magic.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cYrWxb7UMVo

Are Xavi and Iniesta capable of any of the pieces of magic scene in that video? I don't think so. Absolute great players the pair of them but not on the level Zidane was on I'm afraid.

Skylinehead

Nerdlingr wrote: »

Not as good as the ones i've mentioned for spain though.

Well the comparable ones to Petit were Alonso and Martinez, he was as good as them easily.

Nerdlingr

bullvine wrote: »

Petit was an outstanding player, one of the best midfielders to play in the premiership. Very underated. His time at Barca tainted his rep a little. Being forced to play at back didn't help.

Thats all well and good and I agree with you, but the point was made that the French squad of 98 were World class, they weren't. And somehow if Xavi and Iniesta didnt play for spain in 2010 they'd have no-one to replace them. Not true either.


Anyway, we could argue all day.
Lets just say that Zidane is a legend, that Messi and ronlado havent lived up to internationally, and leave it at that. :P

Nerdlingr

Kunkka wrote: »

Absolute great players the pair of them but not on the level Zidane was on I'm afraid.

Spot on.

bullvine

Nerdlingr wrote: »

Thats all well and good and I agree with you, but the point was made that the French squad of 98 were World class, they weren't. And somehow if Xavi and Iniesta didnt play for spain in 2010 they'd have no-one to replace them. Not true either.


Anyway, we could argue all day.
Lets just say that Zidane is a legend, that Messi and ronlado havent lived up to internationally, and leave it at that. :P

I actually agree with what you are saying, I am not so sure Messi or Ronaldo have the personality that Diego or Zidane had to drive on the team. Figo had it as well during Euro 2000 when he was fantastic.

elefant

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.

As far as I can see, Zidane has pretty much won every single award possible for him (with the exception of the Europa League/UEFA Cup).

League championship, national cup, national supercup, european supercup, world club cup, champions league, league player of the year, world player of the year, world cup, european championship. You'd have to go as far as to say there are pretty much no other players ever who are as decorated as Zidane!

Anyone know any other players who have won every competition?

(I actually see Ronaldo has won everything, including the UEFA cup so he tops it!)

Too Tough To Die

Kunkka wrote: »

Don't get me wrong I think Xavi & Iniesta are incredible footballers but I don't think they are up there with Zidane's genius. Xavi and Iniesta need a good team around them to win football matches while Zidane literally won games by himself with pieces of magic.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cYrWxb7UMVo

Are Xavi and Iniesta capable of any of the pieces of magic scene in that video? I don't think so. Absolute great players the pair of them but not on the level Zidane was on I'm afraid.

No please stop, i'm starting to get upset reading your posts. Zidane has had great players around him throughout his career, even in the major finals he has lost in, of which there are more than you'd expect to find on a player of his reputations resumé. Losses in finals against Deportivo La Coruna and Real Zaragoza. I just cannot imagine Xavi or Iniesta under performing in such games.

Yes he was more prone to the spectacular than Xavi or Iniesta but they were consistently amazing and always turn up for the big games. More reliable and effective players all in all.

BobbyPropane

Personally:

Canavaro
Pele
Maradonna
Messi
Kahn

Generally:

Pele
Maradonna
Messi
C. Ronaldo
Ronaldo

Kunkka

Too Tough To Die wrote: »

No please stop, i'm starting to get upset reading your posts. Zidane has had great players around him throughout his career, even in the major finals he has lost in, of which there are more than you'd expect to find on a player of his reputations resumé. Losses in finals against Deportivo La Coruna and Real Zaragoza. I just cannot imagine Xavi or Iniesta under performing in such games.

Yes he was more prone to the spectacular than Xavi or Iniesta but they were consistently amazing and always turn up for the big games. More reliable and effective players all in all.

Clearly a big Barca fan yeah?

Blazer

Completely agreed about Zidane..true definition of a footballing legend.
Also surprised no one mentioned Hagi and George Weah although I forgot about them myself.

Luap

BobbyPropane wrote: »

Personally:

Canavaro
Pele
Maradonna
Messi
Kahn

Generally:

Pele
Maradonna
Messi
C. Ronaldo
Ronaldo

He stepped up to the plate for Italy when Nesta was injured. Absolutely superb he was.

Too Tough To Die

Kunkka wrote: »

Clearly a big Barca fan yeah?

An admirer over recent years, for sure. Not so much now. Definitely not a fan.

keeponhurling

elefant wrote: »

As far as I can see, Zidane has pretty much won every single award possible for him (with the exception of the Europa League/UEFA Cup).

League championship, national cup, national supercup, european supercup, world club cup, champions league, league player of the year, world player of the year, world cup, european championship. You'd have to go as far as to say there are pretty much no other players ever who are as decorated as Zidane!

Anyone know any other players who have won every competition?

(I actually see Ronaldo has won everything, including the UEFA cup so he tops it!)

The Kaiser says hello !
while also repeating said haul as a manager.

jmayo

Skylinehead wrote: »

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.

People seem to think that Henry and Trezeguet were great in 1998.
They hadn't really arrived at that stage.
Henry was still operating as a winger AFAIK.
France had no real decent centre forward in that WC.
The defense and midfield were damm awesome mind.
They had two truly world class defenders in Desailly, Thuram.
Then there was the great workhorse Deschamps in midfield along with Petit.
Then the likes of Lizarazu, Djorkaeff, Blanc, Viera were no wastes of space.

The 1986 Argentina squad was nothing to write home about once you took out Maradona and much like in Napoli he stammed his authority on the games and dragged the lessor mortals along.
The only names that leap out of the 1986 squad are Valdano who had a spell at Real, Burruchaga who was at the giants of French football FC Nantes, Passarella who was actually injured, and Brown (who I believe has Irish ancestors ).
And when he went to Napoli, they had only managed to win two Italian cups in their entire history.
He led them to two league titles, a third place, two runners up and a UEFA Cup.
It would be like Messi moving to the likes of Sunderland and dragging them to the PL title and then the UEFA cup.

The amount of chances that Maradona set up in career only for the guys around him to fluff is unbelievable.

Messi and Ronaldo have shone, but in much better all round teams particularly at club level.

I think Zidanes greatest show was in 2006 when he dragged a French team, devoid of some of his older stalwarts and stuck with that gimp Domenech, to the final only losing on penalties.

Too Tough To Die

jmayo wrote: »

People seem to think that Henry and Trezeguet were great in 1998.
They hadn't really arrived at that stage.
Henry was still operating as a winger AFAIK.
France had no real decent centre forward in that WC.
The defense and midfield were damm awesome mind.
They had two truly world class defenders in Desailly, Thuram.
Then there was the great workhorse Deschamps in midfield along with Petit.
Then the likes of Lizarazu, Djorkaeff, Blanc, Viera were no wastes of space.

The 1986 Argentina squad was nothing to write home about once you took out Maradona and much like in Napoli he stammed his authority on the games and dragged the lessor mortals along.
The only names that leap out of the 1986 squad are Valdano who had a spell at Real, Burruchaga who was at the giants of French football FC Nantes, Passarella who was actually injured, and Brown (who I believe has Irish ancestors ).
And when he went to Napoli, they had only managed to win two Italian cups in their entire history.
He led them to two league titles, a third place, two runners up and a UEFA Cup.
It would be like Messi moving to the likes of Sunderland and dragging them to the PL title and then the UEFA cup.

The amount of chances that Maradona set up in career only for the guys around him to fluff is unbelievable.

Messi and Ronaldo have shone, but in much better all round teams particularly at club level.

I think Zidanes greatest show was in 2006 when he dragged a French team, devoid of some of his older stalwarts and stuck with that gimp Domenech, to the final only losing on penalties.

Not a good comparison. Sunderland could never break the world transfer record like Napoli did, so there was money there. And off the top of my head, didn't Napoli finish in the top 5 twice a few seasons prior to Maradona signing?

Maire2009

Blazer wrote: »

Completely agreed about Zidane..true definition of a footballing legend.
Also surprised no one mentioned Hagi and George Weah although I forgot about them myself.

I mentioned both.

Ulysses Gaze

jmayo wrote: »

And when he went to Napoli, they had only managed to win two Italian cups in their entire history.
He led them to two league titles, a third place, two runners up and a UEFA Cup.
It would be like Messi moving to the likes of Sunderland and dragging them to the PL title and then the UEFA cup.

The amount of chances that Maradona set up in career only for the guys around him to fluff is unbelievable.

Also, Serie A was the best league in the world back then by a long stretch and the competition that Napoli faced was exceptional.

Milan, backed by Berlusconi, had the likes of Van Basten, Gullit, Rijkaard, Baresi, Tassotti, Ancelotti, Donadoni to name a few with Arrigo Saachi as manager

Inter Milan had the likes of Matthaus, Bergomi, Zenga, Andy Brehme and a host of other Italian stars

Juve, backed by Fiat, had half of the Italian national team plus the likes of Platini and Laudrup in their squad - managed by Trappattoni who was a legend then.

Not to forget teams like Roma & Fiorentina who were also strong then.

What Maradona achieved at Napoli was exceptional.

shrewdness

elefant wrote: »

As far as I can see, Zidane has pretty much won every single award possible for him (with the exception of the Europa League/UEFA Cup).

League championship, national cup, national supercup, european supercup, world club cup, champions league, league player of the year, world player of the year, world cup, european championship. You'd have to go as far as to say there are pretty much no other players ever who are as decorated as Zidane!

Anyone know any other players who have won every competition?

(I actually see Ronaldo has won everything, including the UEFA cup so he tops it!)

Ronaldo never won the Champions League.

Jarrod

elefant wrote: »

As far as I can see, Zidane has pretty much won every single award possible for him (with the exception of the Europa League/UEFA Cup).

League championship, national cup, national supercup, european supercup, world club cup, champions league, league player of the year, world player of the year, world cup, european championship. You'd have to go as far as to say there are pretty much no other players ever who are as decorated as Zidane!

Anyone know any other players who have won every competition?

(I actually see Ronaldo has won everything, including the UEFA cup so he tops it!)

I'm fairly certain Ronaldo never won the Champions League, I think he was cup tied for Milan in '07. Having said that, he was really sensational. I was only a child watching France '98 but I remember him being unreal. To think he was only 21 at the time makes it even more amazing, I don't think someone so young will take a World Cup by storm like that again for a very long time.

Imagine how good he would have been had his knee not given out when he was tearing it up for Inter.

And then coming back to score 8 goals at the WC in '02, including that phenomenal goal against Turkey.

And that hat trick at Old Trafford...

Anyway, I better stop, I could talk about that man for hours. Il Fenomeno!

aidan24326

For me Maradona, Messi and Zidane are the 3 best players of my lifetime. After that, positions 4 and 5 have a number of contenders and it would probably boil down to personal preference.

Buy I don't think anyone could really argue with those 3.

Nerdlingr

Too Tough To Die wrote: »

Not a good comparison. Sunderland could never break the world transfer record like Napoli did, so there was money there. And off the top of my head, didn't Napoli finish in the top 5 twice a few seasons prior to Maradona signing?

Nope. They were mid table for the most part. Maradona comes in an gets them 8th, then 3rd, then wins them their first scudetto (and also does the double). The milanese start to realise there's a threat from the south and buy up the best three german/dutch players they can (Ac in 88, Inter in 90). As Ulysses Gaze has stated, Maradona then goes and leads Napoli to a second scudetto in spite of all this. You've knocked Zidane career as papering over the cracks, please don't do the same to possibly the greatest player to ever have played the game.

Liam O

aidan24326 wrote: »

For me Maradona, Messi and Zidane are the 3 best players of my lifetime. After that, positions 4 and 5 have a number of contenders and it would probably boil down to personal preference.

Buy I don't think anyone could really argue with those 3.

I could because Ronaldo is far more effective than Zidane could ever claim to be. Zidane blew hot and cold a lot, Ronaldo blows hot every game he plays almost.

Maradona
Messi
Dalglish
Ronaldo
Ronaldinho

Skylinehead

aidan24326 wrote: »

Buy I don't think anyone could really argue with those 3.

You'd be very wrong, I can absolutely argue with that. I don't rate Zidane any higher than Iniesta or Rivaldo for one.

Too Tough To Die

Nerdlingr wrote: »

Nope. They were mid table for the most part. Maradona comes in an gets them 8th, then 3rd, then wins them their first scudetto (and also does the double). The milanese start to realise there's a threat from the south and buy up the best three german/dutch players they can (Ac in 88, Inter in 90). As Ulysses Gaze has stated, Maradona then goes and leads Napoli to a second scudetto in spite of all this. You've knocked Zidane career as papering over the cracks, please don't do the same to possibly the greatest player to ever have played the game.

No, i was right. They had two top 5 finishes in the early 80s before he joined. They had slipped considerably in the two seasons prior to him joining.

bullvine

My opinion about Zidane, coming as a United fan and not watching that much Spanish/Italian football in his era, he was never really great in any of the games he played against United be it for Juve or Real.

I can recall the likes of Rivaldo, Figo, Redondo, Del Piero, Raul, Luis Enrique, Philippe Cocu, Pirlo, Montero, Effenberg etc playing against United in that Era and being outstanding in the Champions League against United but ZiZou never really did it for me.

His only performance that sticks out was his first one when Juve won 1 nil courtesy of a Boksic goal from a good pass from Zidane.

galwaylad14

I'm 20 so can only really comment on the last 10 years or so. But in that time Messi and Ronaldo are the best by such a distance it's insane. Before they came along you could almost say that no one scored at an average of a goal a game conisistently over a couple of seasons in a decent league. They're on a different planet to even Zidane and Ronaldinho etc.

So I'd go with:
1. Messi
2. Ronaldo
3. Zidane
4. Henry
5. Cannavaro

Zidane
Romario
Maldini
Van Bastan
Cantona

Ulysses Gaze

bullvine wrote: »

My opinion about Zidane, coming as a United fan and not watching that much Spanish/Italian football in his era, he was never really great in any of the games he played against United be it for Juve or Real.

I can recall the likes of Rivaldo, Figo, Redondo, Del Piero, Raul, Luis Enrique, Philippe Cocu, Pirlo, Montero, Effenberg etc playing against United in that Era and being outstanding in the Champions League against United but ZiZou never really did it for me.

His only performance that sticks out was his first one when Juve won 1 nil courtesy of a Boksic goal from a good pass from Zidane.

I remember back then that there were a lot of Juventus fans who believed he saved his best performances for when he played for France and not Juve.

There are many that I have spoken to who rate Pavel Nedved ahead of Zidane. At club level of course.

jmayo

Too Tough To Die wrote: »

Not a good comparison. Sunderland could never break the world transfer record like Napoli did, so there was money there. And off the top of my head, didn't Napoli finish in the top 5 twice a few seasons prior to Maradona signing?

I think Ulysses Gaze and later Nerdlingr gave the best response to your point.

Maradona took a team that had won nothing and they were competing in probably the best league in the world.
Juventus in 1985 had beaten Liverpool in the infamous Hysel European Cup final.
Roma had lost to Liverpool in 1984.

Platini was playing for Juve up to 1987.
Rummenigge was playing for Inter upto 1987.
As Trappatoni's Juventus dominance was coming to an end, Berlusconi's Milan arrived with the Dutch trio of van Basten, Gullit, Rijkaard and homegrown talent of the likes of Maldini, Baresi, Costacurta, Donadoni, Ancelotti.
Sacchi's Milan team of 89-90 was once voted the club team of all time.
Remind you of Barca's accolades ?
Inter added the Germans Matthaus and Brehme in 1988 with Klinsmann arriving in 89.
They had Italian long term stalwarts such as Zenga, Bergomi, Ferri, Berti.

Meanwhile Napoli most well know guys apart from Maradona were Brazilian Careca, and Italian internaionals Ferrara, Bagni, De Napoli.
Not exactly overflowing with famous names.

For anyone old enough that used to watch Seria A highlights on Monday nights TV some of those names will definitely ring a few bells.

jmayo

jmayo wrote: »

I think Ulysses Gaze and later Nerdlingr gave the best response to your point.

Maradona took a team that had won nothing and they were competing in probably the best league in the world.
Juventus in 1985 had beaten Liverpool in the infamous Hysel European Cup final.
Roma had lost to Liverpool in 1984.

Platini was playing for Juve up to 1987.
Rummenigge was playing for Inter upto 1987.
As Trappatoni's Juventus dominance was coming to an end, Berlusconi's Milan arrived with the Dutch trio of van Basten, Gullit, Rijkaard and homegrown talent of the likes of Maldini, Baresi, Costacurta, Donadoni, Ancelotti.
Sacchi's Milan team of 89-90 was once voted the club team of all time.
Remind you of Barca's accolades ?
Inter added the Germans Matthaus and Brehme in 1988 with Klinsmann arriving in 89.
They had Italian long term stalwarts such as Zenga, Bergomi, Ferri, Berti.

Meanwhile Napoli most well know guys apart from Maradona were Brazilian Careca, and Italian internaionals Ferrara, Bagni, De Napoli.
Not exactly overflowing with famous names.

For anyone old enough that used to watch Seria A highlights on Monday nights TV some of those names will definitely ring a few bells.

Loved that tune (Goooalll Lazioooo or something like that) & show on Channel 4 & TnG I think, what was the baldy headed guys name again??

bullvine

jmayo wrote: »

I think Ulysses Gaze and later Nerdlingr gave the best response to your point.

Maradona took a team that had won nothing and they were competing in probably the best league in the world.
Juventus in 1985 had beaten Liverpool in the infamous Hysel European Cup final.
Roma had lost to Liverpool in 1984.

Platini was playing for Juve up to 1987.
Rummenigge was playing for Inter upto 1987.
As Trappatoni's Juventus dominance was coming to an end, Berlusconi's Milan arrived with the Dutch trio of van Basten, Gullit, Rijkaard and homegrown talent of the likes of Maldini, Baresi, Costacurta, Donadoni, Ancelotti.
Sacchi's Milan team of 89-90 was once voted the club team of all time.
Remind you of Barca's accolades ?
Inter added the Germans Matthaus and Brehme in 1988 with Klinsmann arriving in 89.
They had Italian long term stalwarts such as Zenga, Bergomi, Ferri, Berti.

Meanwhile Napoli most well know guys apart from Maradona were Brazilian Careca, and Italian internaionals Ferrara, Bagni, De Napoli.
Not exactly overflowing with famous names.

For anyone old enough that used to watch Seria A highlights on Monday nights TV some of those names will definitely ring a few bells.

Napoli were so average without Maradonna with the exception of Careca

Ulysses Gaze

M!Ck^ wrote: »

Loved that tune (Goooalll Lazioooo or something like that) & show on Channel 4 & TnG I think, what was the baldy headed guys name again??

James Richardson.

Great show.

Too Tough To Die

jmayo wrote: »

I think Ulysses Gaze and later Nerdlingr gave the best response to your point.

Maradona took a team that had won nothing and they were competing in probably the best league in the world.
Juventus in 1985 had beaten Liverpool in the infamous Hysel European Cup final.
Roma had lost to Liverpool in 1984.

Platini was playing for Juve up to 1987.
Rummenigge was playing for Inter upto 1987.
As Trappatoni's Juventus dominance was coming to an end, Berlusconi's Milan arrived with the Dutch trio of van Basten, Gullit, Rijkaard and homegrown talent of the likes of Maldini, Baresi, Costacurta, Donadoni, Ancelotti.
Sacchi's Milan team of 89-90 was once voted the club team of all time.
Remind you of Barca's accolades ?
Inter added the Germans Matthaus and Brehme in 1988 with Klinsmann arriving in 89.
They had Italian long term stalwarts such as Zenga, Bergomi, Ferri, Berti.

Meanwhile Napoli most well know guys apart from Maradona were Brazilian Careca, and Italian internaionals Ferrara, Bagni, De Napoli.
Not exactly overflowing with famous names.

For anyone old enough that used to watch Seria A highlights on Monday nights TV some of those names will definitely ring a few bells.

No argument from me. I'm just saying, Sunderland is not a good comparison. It's considerably OTT.

Ulysses Gaze

Too Tough To Die wrote: »

No argument from me. I'm just saying, Sunderland is not a good comparison. It's considerably OTT.

I guess Villa would be a better comparison?

Skylinehead

Ulysses Gaze wrote: »

I remember back then that there were a lot of Juventus fans who believed he saved his best performances for when he played for France and not Juve.

There are many that I have spoken to who rate Pavel Nedved ahead of Zidane. At club level of course.

Nedved was undoubtedly better for Juventus than Zidane, fans opinion is unanimous on it. Both class players.

On another note, that has to be the best transfer dealing of all time - sell Zidane, spend the money on Buffon, Nedved and Thuram.

Ulysses Gaze

Ulysses Gaze wrote: »

James Richardson.

Great show.

And the fact that at the time, Italian football was at it's strongest. Loved the piece he used to do on the Italian Tabloid reports.

Too Tough To Die

Ulysses Gaze wrote: »

I guess Villa would be a better comparison?

Spurs of a few seasons ago.

djfattony2000

The best I've seen live are:

Eto'o
Del Piero
Iniesta
Davids

djfattony2000

djfattony2000 wrote: »

The best I've seen live are:

Eto'o
Del Piero
Iniesta
Davids

OO Del Perio forgot all about that legend, wikid shot he had