[Singh_2]

Ronaldo (Original)
Nesta
Maradona
Messi
Cruyff

[Sagacious]

My list will contain the footballers I have watched week in, week out. I can't judge Pele, Di Stefano, Maradona and George Best because I wasn't alive to see them play. Youtube compilations can make any player look world-class.

Basically, in the last 15 years;

1) Cristiano Ronaldo.
2) Lionel Messi.
3) Zidane.
4) Fat Ronaldo.
5) Raul.

4 and 5 could easily be swapped with the likes of Ronaldinho, Henry etc.

[JME10]

(Original post by Kallisto)
You are right this is a thread which can be so controversial. In spite of the fact that you have written well known and good footballers there are some of them who I miss in your list. How about Zidane, Platini, Beckenbauer, Matthäus, Figo and Messi?

Big fan of Zidane and Figo who were quality players but I couldn't put them in a greatest top 5. Platini is a really tough one to leave out cause he was a brilliant player. I'd make him a 6th choice for now.

As I explained in an earlier post, I find it hard to put more defensive minded players in because attackers primarily influence games the most via scoring/scoring and creating which ultimately wins matches and trophies.

Messi is the one that troubles me most because undoubtedly he's amazing but for some reason, I can't put him on my list just yet.

[J.Star]

(Original post by darkshadow1111)
A little arsenal bias here. What about the likes of ronaldinho, cristiano ronaldo, raul, figo etc

Arsenal bias? Not really.

Bergkamp is in there because he is my favourite ever player. And Henry is an amazing player who has won nearly everything there is to win in the footballing world.

It was a tough list to make, and I didn't want to spend ages on it. But it could have easily included; CR9, Ronaldinho, Figo to name a few.

[RajPopat94]

For me, I'd say;

Maradona
Cruyff
Zidane
Puskas
Garrincha

It's amazing how history changes people's opinions. Puskas was perceived as the most fearsome striker over Di Stefano. At 31 years old. A lot of people regard Pele as the greatest of all time, but the wasn't even the best of his era, Garrincha was. It speaks volumes that when Pele was injured, Garrincha's Brazil still won the World Cup. I understand that they played different positions, etc, but if you're looking at purely a strike rate, Eusebio's was better. I believe that in both Di Stefano's and Pele's case, they are judged more on the story and attitude, whilst their footballing ability gets lost in history.

Cruyff was 2 steps ahead of anybody else. So far ahead of his time, it's unreal. Zidane was able to influence a game more than anyone I've ever seen, which is epitomised by the Brazil-France 2006 match. Probably the best individual performance some of us will ever see. Messi will break into the top 5. I would like to put him there now, but I think it's better that he will be judged at the end of his career.

I do believe, however, that the most pure footballer ever was Ronaldo Luis de Lima. It is such a pity that injuries shaped his career. He truly was 'el Phenomenon.'

[Kallisto]

I think it depends on successes. George Best for example was amazing for Northern Ireland and ManU, however he could not qualified for an European or a World Championship with his team. Although he won the European cup with ManU in 1968 and Championships in 1965 and 1967, his successes (in a team) are nothing compare to Zidane. He won many championships in Italy and Spain together with Juventus and Real and Champions League in 2002. And last but not least his national team was successful in 1998 and 2000 when he won both the World Championship and European one. Of course, there are a lot of players who have both amazing skills and success in a team. In the other hand there are also a lot of players who have amazing skills, but not/hardly success in a team. I think there are enough people who estimate footballers by success too.

[3309will]

(Original post by Stalin)
Good one.

Issue?

[Kallisto]

So these footballers are sorted by eras and my greatest footballers in history

60's - Pele (Best and Eusebio counts to my favourites at the time as well)
70's - Cruyff (although Beckenbauer was at this level as well)
80's - Maradona (who else expect Platini?)
90's - Zidane
20th century - Messi (and Zidane)

Of course there are enough players who deserve a place in the hall of fame of football. There are uncountable footballers who were/are amazing. That's why it's difficult to say which players are the best. But this is my personal list.

[Rainy]

I struggle to get my head around these sorts of threads in that the vast majority of TSR members weren't even alive during the peak years of Cruyff, Pele, Puskas etc. Can you even list subjectively the greatest footballers of all time without even watching them play? That's before trying to apply some form of criteria to the task.

Thinking back, there've been some special footballers even in my lifetime. I remember being completely bewildered by Baggio, Matthaus, Hagi, Nedved, Maldini, Rivaldo etc as a kid...

[Dutchman81]

(Original post by DopeSk1llz)
thought it'd be interesting to see what you guys thought,

pele
maradonna
zidane
puskas

hesitant about this one but i would throw messi in there aswell

My thoughts are "Zidane and Messi but no cruyff?"

[Dutchman81]

(Original post by Rainy)
I struggle to get my head around these sorts of threads in that the vast majority of TSR members weren't even alive during the peak years of Cruyff, Pele, Puskas etc. Can you even list subjectively the greatest footballers of all time without even watching them play? That's before trying to apply some form of criteria to the task.

Thinking back, there've been some special footballers even in my lifetime. I remember being completely bewildered by Baggio, Matthaus, Hagi, Nedved, Maldini, Rivaldo etc as a kid...

Van Basten
Baggio
Romario

[marcusmerehay]

Here are my top 5 for each 'bank' of players, all of whom have retired (10 for the midfielders). I am purposely not including Messi/Ronaldo as I don't want to fire up that particular debate.

Goalkeepers:

Lev Yashin
Sepp Maier
Jan Tomaszewski
Peter Schmeichel
Oliver Kahn

Defenders:

Franz Beckenbauer
Paolo Maldini
Lothar Matthaus
Bobby Moore
Carlos Torres

Midfielders:

Zico
Diego Maradona
Zinedine Zidane
Garrincha
Marco van Basten
George Best
Rivelino
Michel Platini
Stanley Matthews
Gheorghe Hagi

Strikers:

Alfredo Di Stefano
Ronaldo (Brazil)
Ferenc Puskas
Pele
Eusebio

Gerd Muller, Rivaldo and Bobby Charlton just missed out on my list.

[thunder_chunky]

Emile Heskey

[Kallisto]

I'm very surprise that there is hardly a member who suggest Bobby Charlton in this list, especially because there are so many fans of Man Utd. here on TSR!

[Spairos]

[Idris Dragon]

(Original post by Kallisto)
I'm very surprise that there is no one who suggest Bobby Charlton in this list, especially because there are so many fans of Man Utd. here on TSR!

Maybe because most of the Man U fans of our the age group on TSR probably don't know all that much detail about the club before Fergie took over & haven't seen much footage of guys like Charlton, Best & the Busby Babes (particularly when you compare to today and you see guys like Messi play every week)...

As a Southampton fan, all I can say on this theme is "1976"

[simonbellringer]

Henry. Best player of any generation IMHO.
Pele. Fantastic record.
Bergkamp. Pure genius.
Messi. Ditto.
Seaman. What a 'keeper!!

Not Maradona, arrogant little sod.
And certainly not Cristiano Ronaldo, he is the biggest cheat ever, his hystrionics were detestable, annoying, and yet he got away with most of them.
Though Dalglish started all this diving in the box for a penalty nonsense....

[Luffy.]

Pele, Maradona, Zidane, Ronaldinho, I

[amirlad]

why has no one mentioned baresi, beckenbauer, billy wright, bobby moore, cannavaro (world cup one, not the napoli one), or koeman? Cus they're defenders.

[The Rusty Spork]

Cannavaro isn't even the best defender ever let alone the best player