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Greatest Dribbler of All Time
- Thread starter Moby
- Start date
Saying his peak was better than RVP is stretching a bit but better than Shevchenko? That's just wrong.
3.Messi
2.Ronaldinho
1.Lee Trundle
2.Ronaldinho
1.Lee Trundle
Many of those I disagree with but as for the ones in bold, you are just not even serious if you think someone like Solskjaer was better than Torres at their peaks.
Like score goals against the likes of Bayern in the CL knockout stage?
Stretching it a bit to say that he was better than RVP?!, Nahhh, it is just plain wrong and nonsensical that point of view.
Some people seem to come out with some right bizarre statements!
Ole was a phenomenal player, and a great player in terms of a finisher of chances, very much underrated in that aspect, he was far better than Torres in that aspect.
Georgie Best for me. Unbelievably naturally talented player. Went past people for fun, then turned round and went past them again. Plus he had to avoid leg-breaking tackles, the like which we just don't see anymore. Obviously not the most effective player in terms of results when compared to someone like Messi. But purely just for the sake of watching him, it would have to be Best. Ronaldinho next in line.
Read the sentence again. All of it, not just a few words in the middle. You will then realise that Stoke do not feature in the knockout stages of the CL.Like score goals against the likes of Bayern in the CL knockout stage?
Iniesta is an incredible dribbler
His intricate close control is phenomenal. Getting on a bit now obviously but as his very best it genuinely did sometimes look like the ball was glued to his feet, cliched as the expression may be.
Read the sentence again, "scoring goals against the likes of Bayern in the CL knockout stage" is not something that happens at the Brittania.
Best two I watched during my lifetime are Messi and Ronaldinho. Messi is the most efficient, while Ronaldinho is the most entertaining.
Maradona from videos looked absolutely impressive, as did Cruyff and Best. Garrincha on the other hand, I still don't get why he is in these types of discussions. Even forgetting that he played most of his career in a regional league, when tactics didn't exist, football was semi-professional and defenders were shit, just looking at his highlights and I say what the feck. Robben/Hazard dribbling skills look more impressive, maybe Nani's too. It is just an example of the 'old good days' which in reality never existed.
Maradona from videos looked absolutely impressive, as did Cruyff and Best. Garrincha on the other hand, I still don't get why he is in these types of discussions. Even forgetting that he played most of his career in a regional league, when tactics didn't exist, football was semi-professional and defenders were shit, just looking at his highlights and I say what the feck. Robben/Hazard dribbling skills look more impressive, maybe Nani's too. It is just an example of the 'old good days' which in reality never existed.
Pick another conversation that may better suit.
I'll stop side tracking this thread...
If you don't say Ryan Giggs, you'd better fcuk off.. this is mindless conversation
Messi
Maradona
Ortega
Maradona
Ortega
Maradona
Ronaldinho
Messi
Ronaldinho
Messi
Agreed was the main reason I went out to Barcelona a few years ago was to watch him and picked up his shirt from the club shop I don't make a habit of wearing football kits but had to have it he is/was a genius
Like score goals against the likes of Bayern in the CL knockout stage?
Is running with the ball past someone called dribbling? Messi is not a dribbler. I'd say Ronaldinho was the best I've seen.
you are probably confused between dribbling and skill moves.
Dribbling is running with the ball in the feet. Skill moves are a part of dribbling.
Ha ha! Never heard of Lee before but some great moves. Had to google him to learn more. Won’t call him a dribbler though, more like bags of tricks
Messi not a dribbler? Wut?
Purest form of it, along with guys like Cruyff, Diego, Best. Don't need stepovers and all the rest, all about balance, misdirection and change of pace with full control of the ball.
Often thought that many of the players who are most expressive with stepovers, flip flaps etc tend not to be high level dribblers. It is all a show to present them as something they are not. Ronaldo9 popularized many of those moves but they were just part of his moveset and he backed it up with fundamentally sound dribbling ability, one of his unique assets.
Guys like Memphis Depay can pull off all the tricks you can think of but could not dribble around a set of cones.
Purest form of it, along with guys like Cruyff, Diego, Best. Don't need stepovers and all the rest, all about balance, misdirection and change of pace with full control of the ball.
Often thought that many of the players who are most expressive with stepovers, flip flaps etc tend not to be high level dribblers. It is all a show to present them as something they are not. Ronaldo9 popularized many of those moves but they were just part of his moveset and he backed it up with fundamentally sound dribbling ability, one of his unique assets.
Guys like Memphis Depay can pull off all the tricks you can think of but could not dribble around a set of cones.
Of course it is. Its even better when a player does it without touching the ball. One of the best examples of dribbling you'll ever see came from Messi last night. He put Rudiger (I think it was) completely on his arse just with his body movement, he didn't even need to touch the ball. Most impressive moment of the match for me.
The Stepover has to be one of the worst ever popular dribbling tricks. I doubt it will stand the test of time, you can already see it fading out significantly over the past decade, compared to it's Ronaldo\Ronaldinho era peak. Sure those guys could make it work as a feint with their great ability, timing and in Ronaldo's case great forward momentum and physicality, but there is no economy of motion there, no need to actually use it as an efficient option. It accomplishes absolutely nothing as misdirection that a simpler leg or upper body feint to the right or left doesn't achieve much easier, and with a lot less chance of leaving you off-balance when someone tries to tackle you. Aesthetically it also inevitably looks ridiculous imo when anyone goes for more than one at a time.
Boateng was getting good ratings around that time. This literally killed him.
Stepovers only work when done at speed and if they're done right they do take the defender off balance. It also makes it harder for the defender to take the ball off the attacker without fouling, even when they don't really work in getting past the defender it's still hard to take the ball off the player. It's not dying either, plenty of players use it and it's probably the most common out of those skill moves.
Giggs at his peak was a fairly unique exponent of the craft. Would not put him up there with the absolute ATG's but his ability to keep the ball close at high speed while selling body feints and changing direction was/is very hard to replicate. A lot of speedy wingers rely on kick and rush, and while Giggs did that at times in his youth it was that ability to run directly defenders at high speed with the ball glued to his feet that really defined him, made it very difficult to nail him with a hard tackle. Never gave the opportunity for the defender to line him up, the last thing they wanted to do was to commit, he would just shift the ball and go.
Still had that ability into his final years, remember a disallowed goal in his final year when he picked the ball up in the middle, spun, evaded 3 lunging tackles through body feints and played Kagawa through on the right, offside but he was near 40 at the time and left 3/4 players on the ground, so natural to him.
Still had that ability into his final years, remember a disallowed goal in his final year when he picked the ball up in the middle, spun, evaded 3 lunging tackles through body feints and played Kagawa through on the right, offside but he was near 40 at the time and left 3/4 players on the ground, so natural to him.
Comparing their dribbling, Michael had tidier close control, whereas Brian was stronger carrying the ball at pace and hitting space. And that's shown by their roles - Michael as the 10 in the crowded central area, Brian as the roaming forward outstripping defenders on the break or full-backs down the line.
Spot on about their different styles. I was probably not fair in saying, that Michael L. did everything better than Brian L., who was faster and more direct.
I preferred watching Michael play though, including his dribbling. The way he had full control of carrying the ball without the need for pace. Not that he was slow though.
Brian L was very good at what he did, whereas Michael L was outstanding in what he did.
Aye, Giggs had a superb repertoire, being just as comfortable evading defenders with balance and swerves as burning straight past them with raw pace. I was just watching some videos of him on Youtube, and you have to marvel at his sheer longevity:
Still rinsing full backs with pace nearly 20 years later...
Messi is in my opinion, the most efficient dribbler in the history of the game. He is not particularly flashy; but he does things i've seen no other player do because it is all so calculated. It's strange to say, but it's as if he has turned dribbling into a science; it's not a surprise when he does something out of this world because you've seen him do the exact same routine in the previous game.
Really is not fair comparing players from different generations because wasn’t internet and YouTube didn’t exist, so some great players dont have thousands of youtube videos showing all the skills from hundred or more games.
Maradona and Best for me.
Maradona and Best for me.
From the time i watched football in the 80's
Maradona
Ronaldo Lima
Ronaldiniho
Messi
Didnt have the chance to see
Garincha
G best
Cruyff
Maradona
Ronaldo Lima
Ronaldiniho
Messi
Didnt have the chance to see
Garincha
G best
Cruyff
His 2015 performance against Bayern in the first leg was the most impressive performance anyone had over Bayern in the past 5 years.Like score goals against the likes of Bayern in the CL knockout stage?
I once saw Ronaldinho bypass Gatusso in midfield with just two step-overs. He took him out of the picture with no chance of recovery in like two seconds. I can't think of a move that may have been more effective in that scenario (someone maybe able to post a gif). Yes, when they're overdone in young Cristiano/Robinho style they can be rather useless.
I'm not going to get dragged into that and be blamed for sidetracking this thread.