Greatest Soccer Players of all Time

Take Your Pants Off

Name your top 5 soccer players of all time:

Mine is:
Pele
Maradona
Zidane
Messi
C.Ronaldo

This is in no particular order.

Ulysses Gaze

Maradona
Ronaldo
Ronaldinho
Messi
Baggio

Sir Gallagher

Some personal faves from my lifetime:

Gerrard
Zannetti
Messi
McGrath
Drogba

elefant

In my lifetime:

Zidane
Ronaldo
Ronaldinho
C. Ronaldo
Messi

8-10

Serious lack of Cruijff already.

Cruijff
Pele
Maradona
Messi

Should be the 4 on everyone's list. The 5th is up for debate.

Guy:Incognito

Can a team sport with different 0ositions have a"best" player? None of the above are as good in goal as David James for example.

Captain Havoc

Zidane
Maldini
Keane
Messi
Raul

Will I Amnt

From what I've seen.

Messi
Maradona
Ronaldo
Zidane
Ronaldo (Brazilian)

There's going to be a serious lack of defenders in this thread...

Kunkka

Messi
Zidane
Ronaldo
Ronaldo
Maldini

Oranage2

5 best I've seen play no particular order:

Ronaldo
C Ronaldo
Messi
Zidane
Hagi

IITYWYBMAD

Dalglish
Messi
Zidane
Ronaldo (Brazilian)
Liam Brady

LiamoSail

Listing Pele wtc in these lists if he's well before your time is akin to the guy on each forum who bangs on about the latest Spanish/Belgian wonder kid having only seen a few minute of him on YouTube

If your going to talk about the best players, unless it's those you have watched on a regular basis, it's only hearsay your working off. Iom willing to bet most haven't seen more then three of four full games of pele, best etc

kfallon

Maradona
Ronaldo (R9)

No need for anymore

Soups123

Oranage2 wrote: »

5 best I've seen play no particular order:

Ronaldo
C Ronaldo
Messi
Zidane
Hagi

One of the best I have ever seen, quality player. For me that I have seen;

Hagi
Baggio
Messi
Ronaldo
Zidane

Dietsquirt

I'm 29, and i'm going by what i've seen in my lifetime. In order:
Messi
C Ronaldo
Zizou
Ronaldinho
Maldini - Why he doesn't make more peoples list's, je ne sais pas..

GavRedKing

5 of my life time

Ronaldo
Messi
CR7
Ronaldihno
Zidane

Honourable mentions to Maldini, Henry, Buffon.

jaykay74

Best
R. Giggs
Sharpe
L. Chadwick
Rhodri Giggs

TheNap

Messi and Maradona . No need to name anymore

Lucas Hood

Messi
Pele
Maradona
C.Ronaldo
Zidane

Alfred Borden

Best 5 for me are:
Zidane
Maradona
Pele
Franz Beckenbauer
Johan Cruyff

Ronaldo and Messi will be in there too but waiting until their careers are finished

jester77

From my generation:
Maradona
Van Basten
Messi
Zidane
Ronaldo (the bigger one)

Will I Amnt

Raf32 wrote: »

Ronaldo and Messi will be in there too but waiting until their careers are finished

I think there's a time limit for editing posts.

Nerdlingr

In my lifetime/personal faves:

Baresi
Zanetti
Redondo
Messi
Zidane

Seen 'Live'/In the flesh :

Messi
Batistuta
Gerrard
Iniesta
Henry

Red Crow

My favourite players of all time:

Maldini
Ronaldinho
Ronaldo (Brazil)
Kaka
Iniesta

castletownman

Best XI of my life time

BUFFON

THURAM-MALDINI-MCGRATH-IRWIN

KEANE-XAVI

ZIDANE

MESSI-RONALDO-C.RONALDO

With the front four probably the best 4 players I've seen

extra gravy

My favourites:

Zidane
Bergkamp
Ronaldo
C. Ronaldo
Messi

With honourable mentions to Hagi, Maldini, Batistuta and Totti.

Vision of Disorder

Nerdlingr wrote: »

In my lifetime/personal faves:

Baresi
Zanetti
Redondo
Messi
Zidane

Great shout.

Nerdlingr

Vision of Disorder wrote: »

Great shout.

He's actually my favourite player of all time! (long before that famous backheel in OT) Just loved the way he played the game, so f*ckin effortlessly graceful. Another favourite of the same ilk was Zvonimir Boban. (cant pick em all though!)

ricero

ronaldo (fat and skinny)
zidane
gerrard
messi
maldini
pirlo
henry
suarez

COYW

In addition to most of what has been added above :

Banks
Baresi
Maldini
Moore
Best
Batistuta (possibly the best natural finisher I have ever seen)

Edit : I think the addition of Suarez is a bit pre-mature. If he continues his current form at CL level next year and at the WC then yes but not on his achievements to date.

I think the fact that Stevie G. never made the trip to Chelsea or abroad has hurt his potential for this category too but I still have massive admiration for the man and would include him. Chelsea with Gerrard, Terry, Lamps, Drogba would have won multiple CLs & dominated the PL. United would not have made it past 18 league titles.

Will I Amnt

Greatest of all time???

There's no room for Xavi in most lists yet never mind Steven Gerrard...

Andersonisgod

Lifetime:

1. Messi
2. Xavi
3. Iniesta
4. Zidane
5. Ronaldo

Benimar

Maradona
Messi
(Gap)
Zidane
Platini
Maldini

Honourable mentions to Baresi, Hagi and 'Original' Ronaldo

gosplan

Meh to anyone in the early days. They were probably all doped up to the eyeballs.

The players that win it for me may not be the best players but the ones that just appear effortless, you know the whole thing where the ball is just an extension of their body. They toy with it while defenders fly past them tackling the space where it was a second ago.

Messi

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XoCufP8nOSQ

Maradonna

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bbaa2oTazMU

Zidane

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yiRv8vnt0eY

Paul McShane

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ggHdi5vGEQI

Hagi

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kbtF7qMuoXA

If a defender is going in it has to be Mihajlovic. That epic mental free kick specialist lunatic facist.

keeponhurling

Messi, Maradona, Zidane etc, it's all very mainstream.

Need a few more hipster-ish ones,

Veron, Kagawa, X.Alonso, Andy Reid, Riquelme, Roy Keane for his "professionalism".
Players that most people don't get

rob316

My personal favourites that I actually saw play, never saw Maradona, Cryuff or Pele.

Gerrard
Zidane
Scholes ( Im a pool fan but a big admirer of him)
Ronaldo (The Brazilian one)
Messi
C. Ronaldo

Zidane is probably my favourite, he was just a god on the pitch, a true genius who I feel probably retired a couple of years too early. A marvel for club and country which these days is rare.

Agro Head

Efan Ekoku
Chris Kiwomya
Chris Bart Williams
Dougie Freedman
Dean Windarse

dfx-

Players I have seen, mostly in Tallaght..

Iniesta:cool:
Del Piero
Ronaldo
Raul
Casillas

bad2dabone

Zidane
Beckenbauer
Messi
Pele
Bergkamp

With Zidane as my favourite player who wasn't a gunner.

PropJoe10

How has nobody mentioned Michael Laudrup yet?

SM01

Zidane and Henry are two players of this modern era who made me squeal like a little excited child at the things they could do. There's a beauty and finesse to the way they move the ball around while balancing and moving their bodies - magical. Zlatan certainly has a touch of it too.

finno

Will I Amnt wrote: »

Greatest of all time???

There's no room for Xavi in most lists yet never mind Steven Gerrard...

It's the poster opinion so they can put in who they want, it's their top 5 players. just because you don't agree (or because it's a Liverpool player) doesn't mean it's wrong

I am pie

Mcgrath & Keane.....take off the green sunglasses folks.

Not ever nearly.

Will I Amnt

finno wrote: »

It's the poster opinion so they can put in who they want, it's their top 5 players. just because you don't agree (or because it's a Liverpool player) doesn't mean it's wrong

I have every right to disagree and voice that disagreement. Do you not understand how this discussion board works?

buyer95

buyer95 wrote: »

Captain Havoc wrote: »

Zidane
Maldini
Keane
Messi
Raul[

Really

losthorizon

Socrates
Maradonna
Maldini
Messi
Zoff


and Zico

Have to name oviously Eusebio, Pele and Pushkas among players I have never seen.

Iused2likebusts

best 5 players of my generation
messi
maradona
both ronaldo's
cafu
Not one of the best 5 players but I always went out of my way to watch robert prosinecki pure entertainment everytime he touched the ball he would try some sort of drag back. Very unlucky with injuries throughout his career as he played with both real and barca and unbelievably ended up at portsmouth.
Van basten, figo and ronaldinho also very close to my top 5.

Juniorhurler

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

Hristo Stoichkov
Roberto Mancini
Franco Baresi
Ruud Gullitt
Andrea Pirlo

Maire2009

I'm 28 and the players I love(d) watching:

Maldini
Zidane
Bergkamp
Nedved
Redondo
Ronaldinho
Henry
Ronaldo (both)
Messi
Kahn
Hagi
Stoichkov
Figo
R.Baggio
Romario
Weah

I really like how Schweinsteiger has progressed over the years. He'd be my favourite current non-Arsenal player. Also love watching Falcao playing - he always looks to have so much space. Pity he went to Monaco for the money instead of playing Champions League.

syngindub

Plattini
Best
De Stefeno
Zindane
Hagi
Zico

chopperbyrne

I'm thirty and the best five players in my lifetime are:

Maradona
Ronaldo
Zidane
C. Ronaldo
Messi