The Most Unique Player of All-Time

[Physiocrat]

Which player do you think combines the rarest sets of skills to be the most unique player?

Ronaldo da Lima combined astonishing technique and dribbling with physical explosiveness.

Ederson must have a shout for being a really good keeper and has midfielder level passing.

I reckon though Platini is the most unique. I know of no other player who was a genuine midfield playmaker (he didn't just stand up the pitch but regularly dropped deep) and scored that many goals (he won the Golden Boot in Italy a couple of times)

 

[The holy trinity 68]

Zlatan Ibrahimovic? The way he scored a lot of his goals was rather unique. Combined his athleticism and Taekwondo skills for a lot of his goals.

If you watch his goals compilation on youtube you see so many goals that you think ‘I have never seen anyone do that before’.

 

[harms]

Probably Ruud Gullit for me. He was built like a proper number 9, but played on the wings/in attacking midfield, was a fantastic dribbler and possessed incredible workrate. His stamina levels were insane, if you consider how much additional weight he had to carry on him, compared to your usual winger/midfielder. Look at how Lukaku runs — and they are very much comparable in terms of their build.

Not to mention that he moved deeper and deeper as his career progressed, and played in central and defensive midfield before moving to the sweeper position. There are stories of ridiculous all-rounders, but most of them played in a pre-TV era — Sarosi, Valentino Mazzola, Zizinho... the only one we've seen (and not that much anyway) was Di Stefano, who also has a claim in this thread. But Gullit did all that in the late 80's/early 90's, when football was so different!

 

[singhters]

George Best, look how he played on those horrible bobbly pitches and still could dribble and control the ball.

 

[Andycoleno9]

Ruud Gullit

 

[roonster09]

Messi. He is incredible goal scorer, final passes, play making/ general passing, dribbling. I have seen players excelling in 1 areas while sort of lacking in others, but this guy is near 10/10 in almost all areas except physicality. Even the free tacking ability is just amazing.

So scores like a striker, assists like a #10, pings long passes to wings like a proper midfielder, dribbles like a winger.

 

[Grahampa]

Garrincha. The best dribbler ever, scored bangers with both feet, scored 4 directly from corners! Born with a crooked spine, warped knees and a left leg a couple of inches shorter than his right.I'd say that's pretty unique.

 

[MUFC OK]

Zlatan was the first that came to mind for me. He almost embodies the term ‘warrior’.

 

[Physiocrat]

@harms Gullit is an excellent shout.

I'd bizarrely forgotten about Di Stefano and actually he's probably the closest to the goalscoring playmaker of Platini style wise. That said his passing wasn't as good as Platini's.

 

[harms]

Beckenbauer is another one. Yes, there were other liberos who basically combined midfielder's skillset with defensive nous, but none quite like him. When I'm trying to think of an all-time center back list, I always exclude Beckenbauer, who is in the tier of his own — and then we go to Baresi, Figueroa, Scirea, Moore etc.

 

[Physiocrat]

Zlatan Ibrahimovic? The way he scored a lot of his goals was rather unique. Combined his athleticism and Taekwondo skills for a lot of his goals.

If you watch his goals compilation on youtube you see so many goals that you think ‘I have never seen anyone do that before’.

Yep, Ibra is a very good call too. Very tall but agile and highly skilful.

 

[MadDogg]

Beckham comes to mind. A winger who wasn't particularly fast and was a relatively poor dribbler, yet at his peak he was right up there with the best players in the world. Immense workrate, fantastic dead ball ability, great passing at all ranges and with the vision to make the most of it, plus almost certainly the greatest crossing ability of all time.

 

[Revaulx]

George Best, look how he played on those horrible bobbly pitches and still could dribble and control the ball.

After Morgan was signed, United started playing what amounted to a 4-3-3 for much of the time, with Morgan and Best taking turns to drop back into midfield. He was just as effective in that deeper role.

 

[Devil81]

Gattuso was a mad man, he'd die on the field if helped his team win a football match.

That passion is lost in the game now.

 

[The Cat]

Individual wise I always go back to Eder.

Being a left footer he was the one I pretended to be in junior school.

 

[Grande]

Which player do you think combines the rarest sets of skills to be the most unique player?

Ronaldo da Lima combined astonishing technique and dribbling with physical explosiveness.

Ederson must have a shout for being a really good keeper and has midfielder level passing.

I reckon though Platini is the most unique. I know of no other player who was a genuine midfield playmaker (he didn't just stand up the pitch but regularly dropped deep) and scored that many goals (he won the Golden Boot in Italy a couple of times)

Platini is a good shout, with his added skillset within white collar crime.

Of our own I would add Denis Irwin, a safe as houses defensive LB with Ronaldinho free kicks, looks of an accountant and elegance of a poker player. Paul Pogba deserves a mention, not only for his bipolar form consistency.

And in these World Cup Times, Lucy Bronze as a left back spearhead-in-attack warrants a shout.

 

[Lennon7]

First one that sprung to mind was Ronaldinho

 

[Chipper]

Those free-kick taking goalies like Ceni or Chilavert.

Not unique as there's more than one of 'em but then nobody is completely unique when it comes to skill-set. Or everyone is, one or the other, as no 2 players are identical for that mater.

 

[golden_blunder]

Paul Warhurst

John O’Shea

 

[Diablodave]

Always thought Rooney was unique. He could be up on the end of something in the penalty box and next bit he could suddenly be the last man making a passionate last ditch tackle in defence or vice versa. I reckon he could have played anywhere in his prime and put in a shift.

This is the perfect example even though not in a united shirt! Could you imagine a Messi, Ronaldo, Aguero and the likes doing the same?

 

[K13]

Matt Le Tissier - exceptional technical skills, when I watched him he didn't really look like he was that athletic but he did things that suggested that perception was wrong.

 

[Chipper]

Has there ever been a winger/central defender or a striker/full back? They'd be unusual combinations.

 

[Gio]

Has there ever been a winger/central defender or a striker/full back? They'd be unusual combinations.

Luis Enrique often played striker, midfielder and right-back.

 

[Physiocrat]

Always thought Rooney was unique. He could be up on the end of something in the penalty box and next bit he could suddenly be the last man making a passionate last ditch tackle in defence or vice versa. I reckon he could have played anywhere in his prime and put in a shift.

This is the perfect example even though not in a united shirt! Could you imagine a Messi, Ronaldo, Aguero and the likes doing the same?

Platini is a good shout, with his added skillset within white collar crime.

 

[harms]

Has there ever been a winger/central defender or a striker/full back? They'd be unusual combinations.

Branco Zebec in pre-historic times. Both Ruud Gullit and Zbigniew Boniek started on the wings (or in a free attacking roles) and finished their careers as sweepers (more or less covering center backs in today’s game).

Giacinto Facchetti often left his starting left back position to bomb forward - often he’d find himself in the opposition’s box. His unusual height (1.91 m/6 ft 3 in) also helped him in that unorthodox role.

 

[The Cat]

John Charles CB/CF

 

[K13]

Has there ever been a winger/central defender or a striker/full back? They'd be unusual combinations.

Duncan Edwards?

 

[harms]

I finally remembered who I was thinking about. Ronald Koeman — I literally can’t think of anyone like him.

He was an incredibly successful center back — he had won the Euros and 2 European Cups with 2 different clubs as one of the team’s most important players (scoring the winner in 1992 final)... but he was absolutely horrendous in pure one on one defending. Slow, about as agile as a rhino — when he was left alone against a good dribbler his only move was to try and foul him.

But his playmaking skills, interceptions and an unmatched goalscoring from that position made it all worth it.

 

[Devilsrock7]

Ronaldinho for me , incredible array of skills , the blind passing , under the wall free kicks , literally ball juggling while being tackled by a number of opponents , seem to remember him complete a threw ball off his back.

All done with an infectious unique smile

 

[Paul_Scholes18]

The way Ronaldo dominates both in the air and in terms of dribbling has been amazing to watch. You feel he can score and create in so many different ways.

Har to see anyone close to him right now. Messi is amazing, but his type is more common even if is way better than everyone else.

 

[BrownRecluse]

Peter Crouch is unique for me because I’ve never seen a giraffe play football before him.

 

[Kopral Jono]

No such thing as most unique, every top-level footballer is unique in his own way.

But I know what you mean, so the answer to your question is Juninho Pernambucano or Rory Delap.

I finally remembered who I was thinking about. Ronald Koeman — I literally can’t think of anyone like him.

He was an incredibly successful center back — he had won the Euros and 2 European Cups with 2 different clubs as one of the team’s most important players (scoring the winner in 1992 final)... but he was absolutely horrendous in pure one on one defending. Slow, about as agile as a rhino — when he was left alone against a good dribbler his only move was to try and foul him.

But his playmaking skills, interceptions and an unmatched goalscoring from that position made it all worth it.

Actually a very good shout.

 

[horsechoker]

Ronaldinho if you consider what he was doing with the ball on a pitch with other professionals

 

[montpelier]

CR7 - fantastic header of the ball & all the other attacking skills too

 

[Moby]

Easy.

 

[Ishdalar]

In a way, Sergio Ramos.

If you list his virtues (scoring prowess, good passer and shooter, phisicality, leadership) he should''ve been a midfielder, and if you list his defects (too impulsive, not really good at a tactical level, too prone to join the attack) he shouldn't have any business being a centreback, let alone one of the bests in the world.

But there he is, he has the skillset of a fullback, a DMC or even a CM and he's made it in the position that should've been harder for him to shine on.

I don't really think he's good enough to be considered amongst the best defenders ever by pure defensive arguments, but he's there because everything else he does on the pitch, find that extremely weird, and difficult to say another CB with his same style.

 

[Ooge_]

P. Crouch, T. Müller, Luca Toni, Jan Koller and Inzaghi. They were all weird strikers in different ways but also very good.

 

[Rendezvous with Ronaldo]

Paddy McCourt - an anachronism if there ever was. Wonderful technique and dribbling with physical attributes that would be unacceptable in an average 60-a-day smoking OAP.

 

[Toad]

Zlatan Ibrahimovic? The way he scored a lot of his goals was rather unique. Combined his athleticism and Taekwondo skills for a lot of his goals.

If you watch his goals compilation on youtube you see so many goals that you think ‘I have never seen anyone do that before’.

Probably the best choice. No other player of his stature does anything like him. Very unique.

 

[SiRed]

Jesse Lingard

Managed to fraudulently earn himself a guaranteed starting spot at one of the worlds biggest club despite not being able to do anything well that a player in his position should.

Never known the like before.