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Who was the best ever footballer?

After we lost Cruyff, many said he was the best ever. What do you think? Who was/is the best ever footballer that played this wonderful and amazing game?

I will start. For me, the best player of the world was Ferentz Puskas. Saw a documentary about AEK Athens and saw him in the 80s, fat and old, he was a trainer there. There were images from the training and from time to time, he took the ball and humilitated any player who wanted to take it from him. Pure class, football genius.

At first, I wanted to say Ronaldo, Il Fenomeno, but injuries got the best of him.

I will not say Messi. My gut tells me something is fishy in his case. After the Armstrong case and now the whole russian federation incident, someday we might find something about him.

So, who was the best? Maradona, Platini, Pele, Cruyff, Bell ... Berti? Take your pick.

Messi.

The only doubt that some might have is that he is happening right now and everything is always better when you look back on it.

But he is the greatest of all time imo.

Messi is the best player I have seen live.

Pele has had and probably will have the single greatest impact across the world at his time..

Cruyff is the best player/ manager there has ever been.

Is this a piss take? Kolarov obviously!

Pidgenio Nuff said :)

Mase wrote:Is this a piss take? Kolarov obviously!

It's best in terms of technical ability, goal scoring and all round football skills Mase. Not the best looking footballer!

Mido.......no wait....Maradona !!!

Sparklehorse wrote:Mido.......no wait....Maradona !!!

Was he under any substance in 84, that is the real question.

Maradona: No1. Won a world cup in an average team. Won 2 league titles for Napoli.

Pele: No. 2 Runs him close but he was a part of the best team that I ever saw in Mexico 70
Cryuff: No. 3. Did not win a world cup and he was in a brilliant Dutch team. Don't forget that team got to the 78 final without Cryuff.
Cryuff's club record was fantastic though.
And he was an innovator - part of the total football move, etc...
Messi: No 4. Will put him at No.2 if he produces at a world cup.

Best: Had the ability to be up there with them but lacked the dedication.

But they were all fantastic. Just superb. I could watch any of them play football all day long, everyday.

PeterParker wrote:

Sparklehorse wrote:Mido.......no wait....Maradona !!!

Was he under any substance in 84, that is the real question.

Messi has been for years but allowed to get away with it!

Yaya is the best player I have ever seen. I would also give George Best a shout too....when he was at Fulham mainly.

ruralblue wrote:

Mase wrote:Is this a piss take? Kolarov obviously!

It's best in terms of technical ability, goal scoring and all round football skills Mase. Not the best looking footballer!

I misunderstood the thread.

In a simple answer, all were the best. That is, they were the best of the generation they played in. You can only be the best of your peers. Football and the way it is played changes as time goes on.
50s Puskas and diStefano ruled the roost, Puskas in the early part and diStefano in the latter. Both were figureheads and superb players. Both performed on the international stage too.

60s Pele was the best player. Never played outside Brazil though and was an instrumental part of the Brazilian set up. Had Best not had his demons chances are he would be mentioned in the same breath as Pele et all.

70s Cruyff and Muller. Cruyff Reinvented how an attacking unit could function and could and did play all over the park. First player to be footballer of the year three times. Also one of the few to be a true great at both playing and managing. Left a huge legacy at Barcelona which they are still harvesting now. Muller was just a machine in front of goal. Set records in the Bundesliga and for the national team that will stand for a long time.

80s Maradona. Great individual player who brought back dribbling as an art form. Won the World Cup as part of an unfancied average team. Also took a provincial team in Napoli to two serie A titles which back then was a phenomenal effort. A cheat though, which blots his copybook. Honourable mentions to van Basten and Zico as well.

90s Ronaldo (Brazil) and Maldini were probably the stand out players, though neither scaled the heights to be considered one of the true greats. Maldini though is probably the greatest defender to have played the game though.

00s Zidane was the best in the early part of the decade. Superb for both club and country and Messi and Ronaldo (Portugal) are the two stand outs starting in the latter part of the decade to the present day. Both have astonishing goals records, yet neither have excelled on the International stage.

My own opinion is the importance of the International stage is slightly skewed as an individual can't win things alone and is reliant on what is available at a given time. This is also the case at club level but a club can buy players from wherever they choose. Best and Rush and Giggs were such players who were at the top of their game but at the time were their countries only top players. As such they never shone at a World Cup. Also a World Cup is a short format competition where good or bad luck plays a part. Had the blind Tunisian referee spotted Maradonas hand ball, they may not have progressed and won the tournament. Players who exell at their clubs for a long time have the consistency to be classed as a great.

Players who were the best in the decades highlighted would likely have also been the best in other decades. They are at the top for a reason, not least their adaptability. Imagine Pele or Best not getting kicked and scythed down at every opportunity. Imagine Messi or Ronaldo against the defences of the 50s and 60s.

Also, at the end of the day football is a team game and these players mentioned would not be mentioned if it wasn't for the efforts of the other ten on their respective teams. Taking that into account I think Messi is more of a team player in that he brings others into play in a way Ronaldo or Maradona don't. This I suspect is a legacy from Cruyff, who in turn probably watched the great Madrid side of the 50s and 60s containing Puskas and diSefano growing up as a lad.

He was a bit before my time so I didn't really get to see him play - the best technical player from my time watching the game has to be Zidane - he elevated precision to an art form. The most naturally gifted player I've seen play, and I hate to admit it, is probably Platini although Messi is at that level.

Joey Barton.

Robby Savage if you listen to him always praising himself and slagging off others

Messi is certainly the best I've seen in my lifetime but I'd like to throw Eusebio into the mix. A world class player in a below par national side. A wonderfully gifted player & by all accounts a bit of a legend off the pitch as well.

Maybe not the best ever but often over looked.

nottsblue wrote:In a simple answer, all were the best. That is, they were the best of the generation they played in. You can only be the best of your peers. Football and the way it is played changes as time goes on.
50s Puskas and diStefano ruled the roost, Puskas in the early part and diStefano in the latter. Both were figureheads and superb players. Both performed on the international stage too.

60s Pele was the best player. Never played outside Brazil though and was an instrumental part of the Brazilian set up. Had Best not had his demons chances are he would be mentioned in the same breath as Pele et all.

70s Cruyff and Muller. Cruyff Reinvented how an attacking unit could function and could and did play all over the park. First player to be footballer of the year three times. Also one of the few to be a true great at both playing and managing. Left a huge legacy at Barcelona which they are still harvesting now. Muller was just a machine in front of goal. Set records in the Bundesliga and for the national team that will stand for a long time.

80s Maradona. Great individual player who brought back dribbling as an art form. Won the World Cup as part of an unfancied average team. Also took a provincial team in Napoli to two serie A titles which back then was a phenomenal effort. A cheat though, which blots his copybook. Honourable mentions to van Basten and Zico as well.

90s Ronaldo (Brazil) and Maldini were probably the stand out players, though neither scaled the heights to be considered one of the true greats. Maldini though is probably the greatest defender to have played the game though.

00s Zidane was the best in the early part of the decade. Superb for both club and country and Messi and Ronaldo (Portugal) are the two stand outs starting in the latter part of the decade to the present day. Both have astonishing goals records, yet neither have excelled on the International stage.

My own opinion is the importance of the International stage is slightly skewed as an individual can't win things alone and is reliant on what is available at a given time. This is also the case at club level but a club can buy players from wherever they choose. Best and Rush and Giggs were such players who were at the top of their game but at the time were their countries only top players. As such they never shone at a World Cup. Also a World Cup is a short format competition where good or bad luck plays a part. Had the blind Tunisian referee spotted Maradonas hand ball, they may not have progressed and won the tournament. Players who exell at their clubs for a long time have the consistency to be classed as a great.

Players who were the best in the decades highlighted would likely have also been the best in other decades. They are at the top for a reason, not least their adaptability. Imagine Pele or Best not getting kicked and scythed down at every opportunity. Imagine Messi or Ronaldo against the defences of the 50s and 60s.

Also, at the end of the day football is a team game and these players mentioned would not be mentioned if it wasn't for the efforts of the other ten on their respective teams. Taking that into account I think Messi is more of a team player in that he brings others into play in a way Ronaldo or Maradona don't. This I suspect is a legacy from Cruyff, who in turn probably watched the great Madrid side of the 50s and 60s containing Puskas and diSefano growing up as a lad.

Fantastic post. Well written.

My own take on internationals is not that you need to have won something, but just made your team perform above expectations. So a great player is one that can somehow drag an average side to qualify for a tourney, or take a decent side late in the comp or like maradonna win the thing with an ok side. That's why the likes or Ronaldo and Messi still have question marks for me as the best ever. Ronaldo makes Portugal all about him and they never make a mark. Look at the time he wanted the last penalty and it never got to him. Messi plays in a very decent side by international standards but has yet to win the wc. Prior to the last one they'd always quite badly underachieved in my book. As had he personally in the big games.

Lastly I'm glad maldini got a shout there. I was mesmerized by him as a kid but never knew if it was just my exposure to serie A and nostalgia kicking in.

Rodger Milla. Moves it's all about the moves.

Pretty Boy Lee wrote:

nottsblue wrote:In a simple answer, all were the best. That is, they were the best of the generation they played in. You can only be the best of your peers. Football and the way it is played changes as time goes on.
50s Puskas and diStefano ruled the roost, Puskas in the early part and diStefano in the latter. Both were figureheads and superb players. Both performed on the international stage too.

60s Pele was the best player. Never played outside Brazil though and was an instrumental part of the Brazilian set up. Had Best not had his demons chances are he would be mentioned in the same breath as Pele et all.

70s Cruyff and Muller. Cruyff Reinvented how an attacking unit could function and could and did play all over the park. First player to be footballer of the year three times. Also one of the few to be a true great at both playing and managing. Left a huge legacy at Barcelona which they are still harvesting now. Muller was just a machine in front of goal. Set records in the Bundesliga and for the national team that will stand for a long time.

80s Maradona. Great individual player who brought back dribbling as an art form. Won the World Cup as part of an unfancied average team. Also took a provincial team in Napoli to two serie A titles which back then was a phenomenal effort. A cheat though, which blots his copybook. Honourable mentions to van Basten and Zico as well.

90s Ronaldo (Brazil) and Maldini were probably the stand out players, though neither scaled the heights to be considered one of the true greats. Maldini though is probably the greatest defender to have played the game though.

00s Zidane was the best in the early part of the decade. Superb for both club and country and Messi and Ronaldo (Portugal) are the two stand outs starting in the latter part of the decade to the present day. Both have astonishing goals records, yet neither have excelled on the International stage.

My own opinion is the importance of the International stage is slightly skewed as an individual can't win things alone and is reliant on what is available at a given time. This is also the case at club level but a club can buy players from wherever they choose. Best and Rush and Giggs were such players who were at the top of their game but at the time were their countries only top players. As such they never shone at a World Cup. Also a World Cup is a short format competition where good or bad luck plays a part. Had the blind Tunisian referee spotted Maradonas hand ball, they may not have progressed and won the tournament. Players who exell at their clubs for a long time have the consistency to be classed as a great.

Players who were the best in the decades highlighted would likely have also been the best in other decades. They are at the top for a reason, not least their adaptability. Imagine Pele or Best not getting kicked and scythed down at every opportunity. Imagine Messi or Ronaldo against the defences of the 50s and 60s.

Also, at the end of the day football is a team game and these players mentioned would not be mentioned if it wasn't for the efforts of the other ten on their respective teams. Taking that into account I think Messi is more of a team player in that he brings others into play in a way Ronaldo or Maradona don't. This I suspect is a legacy from Cruyff, who in turn probably watched the great Madrid side of the 50s and 60s containing Puskas and diSefano growing up as a lad.

Fantastic post. Well written.

Second that, I enjoyed reading it. Nice one NB.