Players who could play in any generation.

chrissb8

From what time I've been on this planet some players you could see were made for the times of football and if put into a different time of football wouldn't succeed. In your opinion who do you think has it all and could play in any generation?

I'll pick mine out of what I have seen.

Messi: obviously has a fantastic engine, running ability, technique, toughness and a foot that the ball sticks too.

Zidane: Pure class. Looked like the calmest player in the world with the ball at his feet.

Roy Keane: Nothing special technique wise a very basic player but did everything right and yet again had leadership qualities that would be the envy of any captain from any era. Also an all round midfielder who can adapt to any situation.

Gary Neville: super consistent, super fit. Got up and down magnificently and was rarely if ever caught out of position. Always room for a defensive minded rightback in any era. I would think attacking fullbacks would suffer in some decades of football.

Any opinions yourself? Who in your mind could play in any generation or decade of football?

buyer95

I would imagine Maradona being effective in any era.

RedemptionZ

Think Maradona is the one that really springs to mind, imagine him, with the protection attackers get from the referee now, running down the pitch. Of course defenses are also much better organised now so it'd probably balance out, but still definitely would excel even today.

Roy Keane for the moment could play in any generation, however with the way football is going that won't always be the case imo. Goes for a lot of players.

pickarooney

Messi would have quit at under-12 level if he'd been born even 10 years earlier.

Batistuta would have had a great career at any time I reckon.

Reekwind

chrissb8 wrote: »

Gary Neville: super consistent, super fit. Got up and down magnificently and was rarely if ever caught out of position. Always room for a defensive minded rightback in any era

Only since the development of modern fullbacks during the 1950s. Before then I'd imagine that Neville would have made a poor 'fullback' (which was essentially a centreback).

mike65

Ian Rush and Gary Linekar, goal poachers can flourish in any era.

Ulysses Gaze

A few that spring to mind

Ferenc Puskas
Gerd Muller
Johan Cruyff
Gabriel Batistuta
Roy Keane
Diego Maradona
Kenny Dalglish
Alan Shearer
Fabio Cannavaro
Franco Baresi
Paolo Maldini
Ronaldo (Brazilian one)
Ronaldinho

Skylinehead

Gary Neville is a very poor mans Javier Zanetti. Pure consistency for 20 years.

Godge

chrissb8 wrote: »

From what time I've been on this planet some players you could see were made for the times of football and if put into a different time of football wouldn't succeed. In your opinion who do you think has it all and could play in any generation?

I'll pick mine out of what I have seen.

Messi: obviously has a fantastic engine, running ability, technique, toughness and a foot that the ball sticks too.

Zidane: Pure class. Looked like the calmest player in the world with the ball at his feet.

Roy Keane: Nothing special technique wise a very basic player but did everything right and yet again had leadership qualities that would be the envy of any captain from any era. Also an all round midfielder who can adapt to any situation.

Gary Neville: super consistent, super fit. Got up and down magnificently and was rarely if ever caught out of position. Always room for a defensive minded rightback in any era. I would think attacking fullbacks would suffer in some decades of football.

Any opinions yourself? Who in your mind could play in any generation or decade of football?

Football in the last decade and a half has required faster, fitter footballers. It is a no-brainer therefore to suggest that ordinary modern footballers like Keane and Neville could fit into any era - there are certainly hundreds of similar modern footballers who could, maybe thousands.

It is much more difficult to identify those of the past who would still be able to fit into modern football.

How fast was Stanley Matthews? Would he just be a winger with a few tricks and no pace out-muscled by an ordinary modern full-back?

Kess73

Just to pick two that have not been named so far.


Graeme Souness and Fernando Hierro.



For me those two had what it took to play in almost any era. Both were gifted technically in their primes and would have been stand out players in the current era imho. But both had more than enough about them to have been able to play in more physical eras

LuckyLloyd

Messi would have always been a talent, but in previous eras he would never have been able to operate at this level. He'd have been dealt with.

Part of what made Maradona so good was how tough and physically strong he was. He took an awful battering every time he stepped on the pitch and was able to deal with it.

I'm not sure the Barcelona / Spain era of the recent past would have been possible in previous decades either.

taidghbaby

Godge wrote: »

Football in the last decade and a half has required faster, fitter footballers. It is a no-brainer therefore to suggest that ordinary modern footballers like Keane and Neville could fit into any era - there are certainly hundreds of similar modern footballers who could, maybe thousands.

It is much more difficult to identify those of the past who would still be able to fit into modern football.

How fast was Stanley Matthews? Would he just be a winger with a few tricks and no pace out-muscled by an ordinary modern full-back?

Maybe Matthews would not be able to deal with a modern full back, but who's to say he would not be bigger, fitter, stronger and faster now too....well it's almost certainly a given that physically he would be far better if playing in today's game!

WesternZulu

Liam Brady.

He would absolutely flourish in today's game, ala Pirlo!

Ulysses Gaze

Godge wrote: »

Football in the last decade and a half has required faster, fitter footballers. It is a no-brainer therefore to suggest that ordinary modern footballers like Keane and Neville could fit into any era - there are certainly hundreds of similar modern footballers who could, maybe thousands.

It is much more difficult to identify those of the past who would still be able to fit into modern football.

How fast was Stanley Matthews? Would he just be a winger with a few tricks and no pace out-muscled by an ordinary modern full-back?

You forget though that with the right type of modern training, diets, physio etc, guys like Stanley Matthews, Tom Finney etc would be able to operate at the highest level.

JPA

mike65 wrote: »

Ian Rush and Gary Linekar, goal poachers can flourish in any era.

Except this one.

Richard Hillman

I don't think Maradona would have the professional discipline to compete as an elite player in this day and age.

Kerrydude1981

Hansen would have probably made it,ball playing centre back who could mix it when needs be.

Mark Hughes would be another one,all action attacker who pressure the death out of any defence when they were on the ball and would fit the bill for a lot of teams today that like to apply pressure high up the pitch.

pickarooney

I'd actually love to see Hansen playing nowadays and getting his arse handed to him week after week then having to analyse his own deeeeehsprut dufaindeng

FortuneChip

Giggs played in every generation, didn't he?

glued

Claude Makelele

Augmerson

Ian Ruddock.