Greatest football player of all time?

[SeeIn2D]

I've been watching interviews and videos of all of the classic players, ex. Johan Cruyff, Pele, Maradona, Ferenc Puskas, and it made me think who I would rank as the greatest player of all time.

I personally would say it's Johann Cruyff without a doubt. Not only was the guy technically a genius in the game, and a phenomenal leader on and off the pitch, but he revolutionized the concept of "total football" and essentially created modern day Barcelona and the adaptive passing style everyone recognizes.

I may be biased against several of the classic players namely Pele, Maradona and Beckenbauer for various reasons but I still stand by my decision of Cruyff as the greatest player of all time.

Who do you think the greatest player of all time is?

 

[LooK iTz Jinjo]

Leigh Matthews or Malcom Blight... Oh wait... You're talking about Soccer... My bad.

 

[Aris Khandr]

I imagine that Pele will come up a lot, and for good reason. Though I believe that America has a fondness for David Beckham, so his name may pop up as well. I blame it on America not having much proper football to watch.

 

[Hikaru CF]

Gotta be Messi for me. With the modern game being much faster and more physically demanding than when the likes of Pele and Maradona played, it's unbelievable how Messi can consistently be so lethal in a game. Pretty much unstoppable. And he can still get better as he gets older.

 

[Fatboy_41]

Leigh Matthews or Malcom Blight... Oh wait... You're talking about Soccer... My bad.

I was going to throw Peter Daicos, Nathan Buckley and Robert Harvey in there too...

 

[Aris Khandr]

Gotta be Messi for me. With the modern game being much faster and more physically demanding than when the likes of Pele and Maradona played, it's unbelievable how Messi can consistently be so lethal in a game. Pretty much unstoppable. And he can still get better as he gets older.

Always nice to see a fellow Gooner about. Too many ManU or Barcelona fans on the internet, I've noticed.

 

[smithy_2045]

Leigh Matthews or Malcom Blight... Oh wait... You're talking about Soccer... My bad.

I was going to throw Peter Daicos, Nathan Buckley and Robert Harvey in there too...

<3 Buckley. Dunno if he can be the greatest player ever though, considering he didn't manage to win a premiership.

 

[Andy Shandy]

Picking from players I've watched it'd have to be either Zidane or Messi, although Messi will undoubtedly go on to take this on his own. Zidane just seemed to do everything so brilliantly and his goal in the Champions League Final in 2002 was magnificent . And what a way to go out as well. Headbutting someone who insulted your sister
But yeah, Messi will go on to be the best player of all time. After seeing him in the flesh in a friendly against my team, Dundee United, a few years ago, he was just amazing. Not many players get applauded by the whole stadium when scoring a goal but he was that good you just couldn't help but be in awe. And this was when he would've been about 20? Outstanding player.

 

[Griffolion]

Leigh Matthews or Malcom Blight... Oh wait... You're talking about Soccer... My bad.

He's talking about Football, actually. Named first and truer to it's name than that other one the Americans play.

OT:

Thierry Henry was always a decent player, so much so that Arsenal begged him to come out of retirement to get them on the right path again.

 

[Psychedelic Spartan]

Eli Manning of the New York Giants. I can't answer the question you're looking for because the only football I like is American football.

 

[Fatboy_41]

Leigh Matthews or Malcom Blight... Oh wait... You're talking about Soccer... My bad.

He's talking about Football, actually. Named first and truer to it's name than that other one the Americans play.

Neither Leigh Matthews nor Malcom Blight have played Gridiron.

 

[baconsarnie]

Whilst messi is pretty good for barcelona it does help that he gets fantastic service from xavi and iniesta, had he been spanish and by extension done well on the international stage then i would probably agree.
Ronaldo (that is to say brazilian ronaldo, r9 not r7) or Zidane fit the description better as best footballer of the modern age.
I read somewhere a while ago that statistically speaking in terms of match winning impact on a per game basis Maradonna was the best of the old greats.
Unfortunately all my opinions have to be taken with a pinch of salt because being english i am therefore MASSIVELY BIASED when it comes to talking about argentinians.
For me, Ronaldo.

 

[Tanakh]

Eli Manning of the New York Giants. I can't answer the question you're looking for because the only football I like is American football.

I wouldn't say greatest, not even great, but he sure is the luckiest one I have ever seen and being born under a good star is a great asset.

For soccer player I would go with Messi, Cruyff was great but I think he is better as a manager and total football predates him.

That said i would go with the brazilian school for the most beautiful football

 

[razer17]

Gotta be Messi for me. With the modern game being much faster and more physically demanding than when the likes of Pele and Maradona played, it's unbelievable how Messi can consistently be so lethal in a game. Pretty much unstoppable. And he can still get better as he gets older.

Always nice to see a fellow Gooner about. Too many ManU or Barcelona fans on the internet, I've noticed.

Pah, there's only so many United fans around because they are the best team...

To be honest I don't know much about football before the last 10 years, so I can't say any of the usual suspects like Pele, Maradonna or even Cantona, so I am going to say Christiano Ronaldo. And I don't even like him since he left United, I just think he's a superb player. There's also Messi, obviously. Also Paul Scholes (Even Xavi said he is the best CM in the last 20 years.), Ryan Giggs purely because he has been able to keep up an amazing level of performance for 20 years straight.

Also have to mention Thierry Henry, Miroslav Klose (mostly for World Cup performances) and Ronaldo.

Edit - I forgot the mighty Zinedine Zidane.

 

[Crises^]

Didn't Pele win an award for greatest footballer or something?
Anyway I would actually give the award to a goal keeper called Angelo Peruzzi.
he was the Juve keeper back in there prime years

 

[demotion1]

Messi. My opinion is that most people believe that the best player of all time is the best player from their era. When you see a player in the flesh you want to say that you have seen the best, that he played when you were around growing up. I have only seen highlights of both Pele, Maradona, Cruyff, ... For the past 20 years that i have been watching football, Messi has easily been the best. The best argument for him is that he plays in the same team with one of the best midfield players of all time (Xavi), yet he is the undisputed star of the team.

 

[wooty]

Thierry Henry, so graceful, so dangerous, so quick, so........va va voom.

Ian Rush and John Barnes were nightmares back in their day too.

 

[The_root_of_all_evil]

Pele. Through and through. Talk of the "more demanding" modern game is just talk to big it up.

You imagine playing "the modern game" without astroturf, trainers, sportsdrinks and all the other things brought in to make it softer.

And then, would Zidane or the rest of them come out of retirement to speak about erectile dysfunction?

Pardoning the huge pun, that takes balls.

 

[flamingjimmy]

Lionel Messi.

The best ever combination of skill, speed, and goalscoring.

It helps a lot that he plays in one of the greatest teams of all time though.