Rank your top 20 players of this century

[OutlawGER]

Thought of creating this thread after seeing the "of all time" one. I think most of us are better in judging the best players of the past 20 years because many of us haven't seen the likes of Pele, Maradona, Puskas, Beckenbauer, etc.

I just do it off the top of my head, i will probably forget some good ones. And don't forget: Only of this century. So if a player had his peak in the 90s, but not in the 00s, he should not be on the list (or below).

Goalkeepers excluded. Or we even may add a top 5 goalkeepers of this century as well if you like.



1. Messi
2. C. Ronaldo
3. Ronaldinho
4. Ronaldo #9
5. Zidane
6. Robben
7. Xavi
8. Iniesta
9. Lahm
10. Henry
11. Pirlo
12. Kaka
13. Ballack
14. Ribery
15. Rooney
16. Ibrahimovic
17. Totti
18. Shevchenko
19. Roberto Carlos
20. Nedved


Well this was hard, and this list is probably shit.


GKs

1. Kahn
2. Buffon
3. Neuer
4. Schmeichel
5. Casillas

 

[Snow]

You should follow your own credentials. Schmeichel of Sporting/Villa/City was better than De Gea?

 

[luke511]

1. Messi
2. C. Ronaldo
3. Ronaldinho
4. Ronaldo
5. Henry
6. Zidane
7. Iniesta
8. Xavi
9. Scholes
10. Pirlo
11. Puyol
12. Robben
13. Lahm
14. Suarez
15. Van Persie
16. Rooney
17. Zlatan
18. D. Silva
19. De Bruyne
20. Modric



I'll probably want to edit this several times over the next hour!

 

[Ramos]

1. Messi
2. CR7
3. Zidane
4. Ronaldinho
5. Henry
6. Xavi
7. Ronaldo
8. Iniesta
9. Pirlo
10. Kaka
11. S. Ramos
12. Lahm
13. Ibrahimovic
14. Cannavaro
15. Puyol
16. Robben
17. Neymar
18. Eto'o
19. Dani Alves
20. Modric

Edit: Read over "GK excluded". So Buffon (n15) is out and everyone moves up a spot.

 

[Thoms]

1. Messi
2. C Ronaldo
3. Robben
4. Iniesta
5. Henry
6. Puyol
7. Bergkamp
8. Eto’o
9. Lahm
10. Ibra
11. Kaka
12. Xavi
13. Ronaldinho
14. Zidane
15. Van Persie
16. Pirlo
17. Ballack
18. Seedorf
19. Ruud
20. de Bruyne

 

[OutlawGER]

You should follow your own credentials. Schmeichel of Sporting/Villa/City was better than De Gea?

Sure, why not?

 

[Br1_ovi]

Casillas should be in every list and I don't see it.

 

[MrBest]

1. Ronaldo (call it preference or bias)
2. Messi
3. Ronaldo 9
4. Ronaldinho
5. Xavi
6. Iniesta
7. Zidane
8. Kaka
9. Cannavoro
10. Henry
11. Scholes
12. Pirlo
13. Puyol
14. Suarez
15. David Silva
16. Ballak
17. Lewondowski
18. Robben
19. Seadorf
20. Bebe

 

[harms]

1. Messi
2. Cristiano
3. Xavi
4. Iniesta
5. Zidane
6. Ronaldinho
7. Henry
8. L. Ronaldo
9. Robben
10. Kaka
11. Nesta
12. Nedved
13. Shevchenko
14. Figo
15. L. Suarez
16. Pirlo
17. Rooney
18. Totti
19. Rio
20. Ibrahimovic

This was harder to make than an all-time list

GKs:

1. Buffon
2. Kahn
3. Neuer
4. De Gea
5. Casillas

 

[thesharpeyshuffle]

1. Messi
2. C. Ronaldo
3. Ronaldinho
4. Ronaldo
5. Iniesta
6. Xavi
7. Zidane
8. Cafu
9. Nesta
10. Maldini
11. Henry
12. Pirlo
13. Scholes
14. Zlatan
15. Keane
16. Nedved
17. Neymar
18. Dani Alves
19. Suarez
20. Giggs

 

[Pink Moon]

Busquets should be in everyone's list, imo. Such a criminally underrated footballer because of how good his teammates have been.

 

[Tostao_80]

1. Messi
2. C Ronaldo
3. Robben
4. Iniesta
5. Henry
6. Puyol
7. Bergkamp
8. Eto’o
9. Lahm
10. Ibra
11. Kaka
12. Xavi
13. Ronaldinho
14. Zidane
15. Van Persie
16. Pirlo
17. Ballack
18. Seedorf
19. Ruud
20. de Bruyne

Philip Lahm greater than Xavi?
Damn, ive heard it all now.

 

[Moby]

1. Lionel Messi
2. Cristiano Ronaldo
3. Luis Ronaldo
4. Xavi
5. Ronaldinho
6. Zinedine Zidane
7. Andres Iniesta
8. Thierry Henry
9. Rivaldo
10. Luis Figo
11. Fernando Redondo
12. Paolo Maldini
13. David Beckham
14. Pavel Nedved
15. Roy Keane
16. Arjen Robben
17. Kaka
18. Andrea Pirlo
19. Javier Zanetti
20. David Villa

GK:

1. Gianluigi Buffon
2. Peter Schmeichel
3. Oliver Kahm
4. Manuel Neuer
5. David De Gea

 

[harms]

Rivaldo

Shit! I knew I forgot someone important.

Fernando Redondo

The XXI century's Redondo? With a total of 33 games for AC Milan?

 

[Moby]

Shit! I knew I forgot someone important.


The XXI century's Redondo? With a total of 33 games for AC Milan?

Looks like I ignored the 'in this century' part of the OP.

 

[::sonny::]

1. Messi
2. Cristiano Ronaldo
3. Zidane
4. Iniesta
5. Ronaldinho
6. Figo
7. Totti
8. Henry
9. Giggs
10. Scholes
11. Kaka
12. Robben
13. Gerrard
14. Lampard
15. Pirlo
16. Shevcenko
17. Xavi
18. Vieira
19. Ibrahimovic
20. Beckham

*Ronaldo Luis Nazario (not in this century, at his best between 96-98)
*Not in order

/thread

 

[harms]

/thread

Did you forget Xavi or was it a conscious decision to left him out?

 

[::sonny::]

Did you forget Xavi or was it a conscious decision to left him out?

Now changed Nedved with him

 

[Revan]

1) Cristiano
2) Messi
3) Ronaldinho
4) Xavi
5) Zidane
6) Ronaldo
7) Henry
8) Iniesta
9) Pirlo
10) Gerrard
11) Totti
12) Shevchenko
13) Kaka
14) Lampard
15) Rivaldo
16) Nesta
17) S. Ramos
18) Scholes
19) Figo
20) Nedved

Keepers:
1) Buffon
2) Casillas
3) Neuer
4) Kahn
5) De Gea

 

[paulscholes18]

1 C Ronaldo
2 Messi
3 Zidane
4 Ronaldinho
5 Kaka
6 Henry
7 Ronaldo
8 Rivaldo
9 Nedved
10 Scholes
11 Pirlo
12 Xavi
13 Iniesta
14 Del Piero
15 Totti
16 Neymar
17 Figo
18 Vidic
19 Nesta
20 Alves

GK
Buffon
Kahn
Neuer
De Gea
Cech

 

[KeanoMagicHat]

1. Lionel Messi
2. Cristiano Ronaldo
3. Xavi
4. Andres Iniesta
5. Ronaldinho
6. Ronaldo
7. Zinedine Zidane
8. Thierry Henry
9. Alessandro Nesta
10. Andrea Pirlo
11. Phillip Lahm
12. Fabio Cannavaro
13. Kaka
14. Andriy Shevchenko
15. Luka Modric
16. Pavel Nedved
17. Arjen Robben
18. Zlatan Ibrahimovic
19. Luis Suarez
20. Paolo Maldini

Goalkeepers:

1. Buffon
2. Neuer
3. Casillas
4. De Gea
5. Cech

 

[Mcking]

1. Messi
2. Ronaldo
3. Ronaldinho
4. Xavi
5. Iniesta
6. Zidane
7. Henry
8. Kaka
9. Figo
10. Rivaldo
11. Lahm
12. Alves
13. Scholes
14. Suarez
15. Zlatan
16. Pirlo
17. Rooney
18. Eto'o
19. Beckham
20. Ramos
GK
1. Buffon
2. Casillas
3. Cech
4. Neuer
5. Kahn

 

[RedRonaldo]

1. C.Ronaldo
1. Messi
3. Zidane
4. Ronaldinho
5. Xavi
6. Iniesta
7. Henry
8. Pirlo
9. Rivaldo
10. Figo
11. Kaka
12. Ibra
13. Totti
14. Nedved
15. L.Ronaldo
16. Lahm
17. Robben
18. Scholes
19. Nesta
20. Carlos

 

[Zehner]

So we're only rating performances in 2000 and onwards?

1. Messi
2. C. Ronaldo
3. Ronaldinho
4. Zidane
5. Robben
6. Neymar
7. Iniesta
8. Xavi
9. Kaka
10. Henry
11. Hazard
12. Ronaldo
13. Modric
14. Ribery
15. Ibrahimovic
16. Rivaldo
17. Figo
18. Kroos
19. Eto'o
20. Rooney

Goalkeepers:

1. Neuer
2. Buffon
3. Kahn
4. Casillas
5. Czech

 

[Wumminator]

Has anyone put Rio in their list yet? Surely he deserves it.

 

[Valar Morghulis]

1. CR7
2. Messi
3. Ronaldinho
4. Phillip Lahm
5. Xavi
6. Mario Gomez
7. Luis Ronaldo
8. Iniesta
9. Pirlo
10. Kaka
11. Zidane
11. Henry
12. Fabio Cannavaro
13. Rooney
14. Shevchenko
15. Luka Modric
16. Nedved
17. Robben
18. Zlatan
19. Suarez
20. Lampard

 

[Gio]

@OutlawGER Should we include the trio of Zidane/Rivaldo/Figo who peaked around 2000?

 

[Bole Top]

Eto'o seems to be rather underrated here for a player that won almost everything. I mean, couple of titles in different leagues, champions league trophies with different clubs, won african nations cup twice with Cameroon and has also won olympic gold with them. feck, he even won a cup with Mallorca. couple of individual records too, including him being the Mallorca and Cameroon all time top scorer, as well as AFCON all time top scorer.

 

[OutlawGER]

@OutlawGER Should we include the trio of Zidane/Rivaldo/Figo who peaked around 2000?

Tough call. First i had Rivaldo in my list too, but i removed him later because i felt he did not enough in this century. I may be wrong though.



btw.: I know you guys don't really rate defenders, but Phillip Lahm surely should make every single list. Most intelligent player Pep has ever worked with (his quote), even after he worked with Xavi and Iniesta.

 

[Peyroteo]

1- Cristiano
2- Messi
3- Xavi
4- Iniesta
5- Zidane
6- Ronaldo Fenómeno
7- Ronaldinho
8- Luis Suarez
9- Robben
10- Figo
11- Eto’o
12- Ibra
13- Dani Alves
14- Ramos
15- Lahm
16- Henry
17- Neymar
18- Lampard
19- Griezmann
20- Ribery

 

[AaronRedDevil]

1. C. Ronaldo
2. Ronaldinho
3. Messi
4. Ronaldo
5. Zidane
6. Iniesta
7. Xavi
8. Rooney
9. Scholes
10. Giggs
11. Henry
12. Figo
13. Ibrahimovic
14. Beckham
15. Pirlo
16. Drogba
17. Raul
18. Ramos
19. Vidic
20. Robben (edited)

GK. Buffon, Schmeichel, De Gea, VDS, Casillas.

Bloody tough trying to pick. I was trying to shove Ribery and Robben in there.

 

[RAVred]

1. Messi
2. Ronnie
3. Ronaldo
4. Zidane
5. Ronaldinho
6. Iniesta
7. Xavi
8. Thierry Henry
9. Scholes
10. Pirlo
11. Zlatan
12. Rooney
13. Ramos
14. Robben
15. Luis Suarez
16. Busquets
17. Figo
18. Beckham
19. Nevded
20. Ferdinand

GKs:
Neuer
Casillas
Buiffon
VDS
DDG

 

[Br1_ovi]

Since 2001.

Casillas, Buffon, Neuer, Messi, Ramos, C. Ronaldo, Xavi, Pirlo, Iniesta, Makelele, Etoo, Drogba, Henry, Luis Suarez, Dani Alves. Robben, Kaka, Ronaldinho, Pique.

Players like Rivaldo, Raul, Zidane or Ronaldo only had 2 or 3 good seasons this century thats why I don't put them. All of them declined since 2002/3, same with Zidane (WC2006 aside).

 

[Theafonis]

These rankings always tend to have a bias against PL footballers.

I love Ballack but he makes the cut over Lampard? I don’t think so.

 

[Theafonis]

Eto'o seems to be rather underrated here for a player that won almost everything. I mean, couple of titles in different leagues, champions league trophies with different clubs, won african nations cup twice with Cameroon and has also won olympic gold with them. feck, he even won a cup with Mallorca. couple of individual records too, including him being the Mallorca and Cameroon all time top scorer, as well as AFCON all time top scorer.

Absolutely top 5. Wonder if he was a French National how highly rated he’d be by some.

 

[Br1_ovi]

Eto'o seems to be rather underrated here for a player that won almost everything. I mean, couple of titles in different leagues, champions league trophies with different clubs, won african nations cup twice with Cameroon and has also won olympic gold with them. feck, he even won a cup with Mallorca. couple of individual records too, including him being the Mallorca and Cameroon all time top scorer, as well as AFCON all time top scorer.

Best 9 in this century IMO. Big game player.

 

[Gehrman]

1. C. Ronaldo
2. Ronaldinho
3. Messi
4. Ronaldo
5. Zidane
6. Iniesta
7. Xavi
8. Rooney
9. Scholes
10. Giggs
11. Henry
12. Figo
13. Ibrahimovic
14. Beckham
15. Pirlo
16. Drogba
17. Raul
18. Cantona
19. Ramos
20. Vidic

GK. Buffon, Schmeichel, De Gea, VDS, Casillas.

Bloody tough trying to pick. I was trying to shove Ribery and Robben in there.

Cantona retired before this century mate.

 

[AaronRedDevil]

Cantona retired before this century mate.

Crap, I'll change it

 

[KeanoMagicHat]

Eto'o seems to be rather underrated here for a player that won almost everything. I mean, couple of titles in different leagues, champions league trophies with different clubs, won african nations cup twice with Cameroon and has also won olympic gold with them. feck, he even won a cup with Mallorca. couple of individual records too, including him being the Mallorca and Cameroon all time top scorer, as well as AFCON all time top scorer.

Is he really better than Suarez? Suarez was better for Liverpool than Eto'o was for Inter despite the lack of trophies, with one of the best ever individual seasons in 2013/14. Suarez led Uruguay to the Copa America and played well in a few World Cups for Uruguay. Suarez also has a league win with Ajax in Eredivisie.

For Barcelona it's:

Eto'o 130 goals in 199 games
Suarez 184 goals in 256 games

Both have won a lot for Barca, Eto'o has 3 leagues and 2 CLs, while Suarez has 4 leagues and 1 CL. Eto'o was a great striker but from what I've seen of them both, Suarez has had a little bit more about him at his best in my opinion.

 

[OutlawGER]

These rankings always tend to have a bias against PL footballers.

I love Ballack but he makes the cut over Lampard? I don’t think so.

Ballack was 30 (slightly past his prime) when he joined Chelsea and he had to move to the defensive midfield (was playing offensive before). He did a lot more for Germany, Bayern and Leverkusen.