RedCafe All-Time Top-30 | Attacking midfielders (number 10s) | Results are incoming...

harms

Shining Star of Paektu Mountain
Staff
Joined
Apr 8, 2014
Messages
27,952
Location
Moscow
Post your list of 30 best number 10s (more or less classic attacking midfielders) of all-time. I'll close the thread on the 20st of April (unless we decide to extend the vote).

Note: since we're obviously facing a problem with individual categorisation, we've decided to classify pretty much every player that we thought of. The vote on categorisation happened earlier, the complete list is under the spoiler. Please, only use players from the second column for this one, players from other columns aren't eligible.



Midfield playmakersNumber 10sForwards
NetzerIniestaPelé
MasopustZidaneZizinho
BozsikPlatiniSavićević
DidiZicoRonaldinho
ScholesMaradonaTotti
PirloRivellinoOmar Sivori
XaviRiveraRoberto Baggio
FalcãoSandro MazzolaFrancescoli
van HanegemRiquelmeBergkamp
Luis SuárezGiresseDel Piero
ModrićBochiniValentin Ivanov
SchusterSocratesMario Corso
GersonDeynaJose Manuel Moreno
KroosMichael LaudrupRuud Gullit
HoddleRui CostaFritz Walter
GilesÖzilRivaldo
BaxterKopaLaszlo Kubala
BlanchflowerKakaFlorian Albert
VeronHagiHector Scarone
FabregasLitmanenNandor Hidegkuti
Xabi AonsoStojkovićKenny Dalglish
BobanGianniniValentino Mazzola
ProsinečkiValderramaTostão
OverathCesar CuetoEric Cantona
CharltonHerbert ProhaskaJohan Cruyff
LiedholmAdemir Da Guia
BradyNicolae Dobrin
DecoJohny Haynes
PogbaWesley Sneijder
De BruyneEnzo Scifo
David SilvaKrasimir Balakov
AntognoniFyodor Cherenkov
GuardiolaOleksandr Zavarov
Ernst OcwirkHeinz Flohe
Alexei Mikhailichenko
Gerhard HanappiTeofilio Cubillas
Fritz SzepanJuan Alberto Schiaffino
Wilfred van MoerPedro Rocha
RakitićSafet Sušić
Jan Cuelemans
Andreas Möller
Gunnar Gren
Pablo Aimar
Matthew Le Tissier


Note: all discussion goes to this thread - http://www.redcafe.net/threads/redcafes-top-20-by-position.448431/

Note: you can post less than 30 names, but not more

The list should be posted in the required format:

  1. J. O'Shea
  2. P. Jones
...

30.

NB: After careful consideration, only players that had played at least a season after the 1950 WC are eligible.





1Maradona850
2Platini633
3Zico533
4Zidane464
5Laudrup422
6Iniesta417
7Rivera370
8Rivellino369
9Kopa361
10Mazzola323
11Sócrates313
12Kaká305
13Schiaffino229
14Cubillas219
15Hagi206
16Rui Costa201
17Giresse190
18Riquelme164
19Bochini141
20Litmanen140
21Sneijder132
22Deyna120
23Stojković95
24Rocha67
25Ceulemans61
26Valderrama60
27Gren57
28Özil49
29Aimar38
30Cueto21
Pedernera21
32Recoba16
Sastre16
34Balakov15
Zola15
36Le Tissier14
37Mata11
38Prohaska10
39Haynes9
Isco9
41Scifo8
42Ademir7
Šekularac7
44Möller6
45Valerón4
46Dobrin2
Giannini2
Sušić2
 
Last edited:

Šjor Bepo

Wout is love, Wout is life; all hail Wout!
Joined
Mar 29, 2011
Messages
15,551
1. Maradona
2. Platini
3. Iniesta
4. Zidane
5. Zico
6. Kopa
7. M. Laudrup
8. Rivera
9. S. Mazzola
10. Rivelino
11. Kaka
12. Socrates
13. Giresse
14. Cubillas
15. Sneijder
16. Schiaffino
17. Litmanen
18. Gren
19. Rui Costa
20. Bochini
21. Rocha
22. Isco
23. Hagi
24. Deyna
25. Cuelemans
26. Riquelme
27. Stojkovic
28. Valderrama
 
Last edited:

Edgar Allan Pillow

Ero-Sennin
Joined
Dec 7, 2010
Messages
41,338
Location
┴┬┴┤( ͡° ͜ʖ├┬┴┬
  1. Maradona
  2. Platini
  3. Zico
  4. Zidane
  5. Iniesta
  6. Michael Laudrup
  7. Kopa
  8. Rivellino
  9. Sandro Mazzola
  10. Juan Alberto Schiaffino
  11. Socrates
  12. Rivera
  13. Kaka
  14. Rui Costa
  15. Teofilio Cubillas
  16. Valderrama
  17. Riquelme
  18. Hagi
  19. Giresse
  20. Litmanen
  21. Jan Cuelemans
  22. Bochini
  23. Deyna
  24. Krasimir Balakov
  25. Ademir Da Guia
  26. Herbert Prohaska
  27. Özil
  28. Stojković
  29. Giannini
  30. Pedro Rocha
 

harms

Shining Star of Paektu Mountain
Staff
Joined
Apr 8, 2014
Messages
27,952
Location
Moscow
  1. Maradona
  2. Platini
  3. Zico
  4. Iniesta
  5. Zidane
  6. M. Laudrup
  7. G. Rivera
  8. R. Kopa
  9. Rivellino
  10. S. Mazzola
  11. Kaka
  12. Socrates
  13. Cubillas
  14. Bochini
  15. Giresse
  16. Rui Costa
  17. Hagi
  18. Riquelme
  19. Litmanen
  20. Deyna
  21. Schiaffino
  22. Valderrama
  23. Özil
  24. Sneijder
  25. Stojkovic
  26. Cuelemans
  27. Rocha
  28. Gren
  29. Scifo
  30. Ademir Da Guia
 
Last edited:

BlackShark_80

Full Member
Joined
Nov 3, 2016
Messages
1,169
  1. Diego Maradona
  2. Michel Platini
  3. Zico
  4. Zinedine Zidane
  5. Gianni Rivera
  6. Raymond Kopa
  7. Roberto Rivellino
  8. Michael Laudrup
  9. Andres Iniesta
  10. Sandro Mazzola
  11. Teofilo Cubillas
  12. Gheorghe Hagi
  13. Juan Alberto Schiaffino
  14. Ricardo Kaka
  15. Socrates
  16. Alain Giresse
  17. Kazimierz Deyna
  18. Juan Roman Riquelme
  19. Ricardo Bochini
  20. Pedro Rocha
 
Last edited:

Enigma_87

You know who
Joined
Aug 7, 2008
Messages
27,596
  1. Maradona
  2. Zico
  3. Platini
  4. Iniesta
  5. Zidane
  6. M. Laudrup
  7. Rivelino
  8. R. Kopa
  9. Stojkovic
  10. G. Rivera
  11. S. Mazzola
  12. Kaka
  13. Litmanen
  14. Rui Costa
  15. Cubillas
  16. Socrates
  17. Schiaffino
  18. Valderrama
  19. Hagi
  20. Deyna
  21. Bochini
  22. Giresse
  23. Balakov
  24. Sneijder
  25. Cuelemans
  26. Rocha
  27. Özil
  28. Riquelme
  29. Cesar Cueto
  30. Scifo
 

Gio

★★★★★★★★
Joined
Jan 25, 2001
Messages
20,297
Location
Bonnie Scotland
Supports
Rangers
  1. Diego Maradona
  2. Zico
  3. Michel Platini
  4. Zinedine Zidane
  5. Michael Laudrup
  6. Andres Iniesta
  7. Gianni Rivera
  8. Rivelino
  9. Raymond Kopa
  10. Alain Giresse
  11. Teo Cubillas
  12. Ricardo Bochini
  13. Gheorge Hagi
  14. Kaka
  15. Juan Schiaffino
  16. Kazi Deyna
  17. Dragan Stojkovic
  18. Cesar Cueto
  19. Juan Roman Riquelme
  20. Pedro Rocha
  21. Socrates
  22. Jari Litmanen
  23. Rui Costa
  24. Pablo Aimar
  25. Carlos Valderrama
  26. Mesut Ozil
  27. Juan Carlos Valeron
  28. Sandro Mazzola
  29. Niculae Dobrin
  30. Jan Cuelemans
 

oneniltothearsenal

Caf's Milton Friedman and Arse Aficionado
Scout
Joined
Dec 17, 2013
Messages
11,077
Supports
Brazil, Arsenal,LA Aztecs
1. Maradona
2. Zico
3. Laudrup
4. Platini
5. Iniesta
6. Zidane
7. Socrates
8. Rivera
9. Kopa
10. Rivellino
11. Mazzola
12. Hagi
13. Stojkovic
14. Schiaffino
15. Cubillas
16. Kaka
17. Litmanen
18. Deyna
19. Rui Costa
20. Bochini
 

Synco

Lucio's #1 Fan
Joined
Jul 19, 2014
Messages
6,437
  1. Maradona
  2. Platini
  3. Zico
  4. Zidane
  5. Iniesta
  6. Kopa
  7. Rivera
  8. Laudrup
  9. Rivellino
  10. Mazzola
  11. Kaka
  12. Socrates
  13. Schiaffino
  14. Hagi
  15. Cubillas
  16. Litmanen
  17. Rui Costa
  18. Giresse
  19. Gren
  20. Deyna
  21. Sneijder
  22. Riquelme
  23. Valderrama
  24. Ceulemans
  25. Scifo
 

Michaelf7777777

(∪。∪)。。。zzz
Joined
Aug 27, 2018
Messages
1,649
  1. Diego Maradona
  2. Michel Platini
  3. Zico
  4. Ricardo Bochini
  5. Michael Laudrup
  6. Andres Iniesta
  7. Zinedine Zidane
  8. Roberto Rivellino
  9. Juan Alberto Schiaffino
  10. Adolfo Pedernera
  11. Raymond Kopa
  12. Sandro Mazzola
  13. Kaka
  14. Gheorghe Hagi
  15. Gianni Rivera
  16. Juan Roman Riquelme
  17. Pedro Rocha
  18. Socrates
  19. Wesley Sneijder
  20. Rui Costa
  21. Teofilo Cubillas
  22. Johnny Haynes
  23. Kazimierz Deyna
  24. Dragoslav Sekularac
  25. Jan Ceulemans
  26. Herbert Prohaska
  27. Carlos Valderrama
  28. Cesar Cueto
  29. Safet Susic
  30. Pablo Aimar
 

Invictus

Poster of the Year 2015 & 2018
Staff
Joined
Mar 22, 2014
Messages
15,230
Supports
Piracy on the High Seas.
  1. Diego Maradona
  2. Michel Platini
  3. Zico
  4. Zinédine Zidane
  5. Andrés Iniesta
  6. Michael Laudrup
  7. Gianni Rivera
  8. Raymond Kopa
  9. Rivelino
  10. Sandro Mazzola
  11. Juan Alberto Schiaffino
  12. Sócrates
  13. Alain Giresse
  14. Ricardo Kaká
  15. Antonio Sastre
  16. Teofilo Cubillas
  17. Manuel Rui Costa
  18. Ricardo Bochini
  19. Wesley Sneijder
  20. Juan Roman Riquelme
  21. Kasimierz Deyna
  22. Jari Litmanen
  23. Gunnar Gren
  24. Jan Cuelemans
  25. Pedro Rocha
  26. Gheorghe Hagi
  27. Mesut Özil
  28. Cesar Cueto
  29. Dragan Stojković
  30. Carlos Valderrama
 

paulscholes18

Full Member
Joined
Jan 4, 2013
Messages
20,111
1 D. Maradona
2 Z. Zidane
3 Sócrates
4 Zico
5 M. Platini
6 R. Kaka
7 S. Mazzola
8 G. Hagi
9 M. Laudrup
10 Bruno Fernandes
11 M. Ozil
12 W. Sneijder
13 J. Riquelme
14. Rivellino
15 Jari Litmanen
16. Stojkovic
17. Matt Le Tissier
 
Last edited:

Joga Bonito

The Art of Football
Joined
Jul 14, 2014
Messages
8,229
  1. Diego Maradona
  2. Michel Platini
  3. Zico
  4. Zinédine Zidane
  5. Andrés Iniesta
  6. Michael Laudrup
  7. Gianni Rivera
  8. Rivelino
  9. Sandor Mazzola
  10. Raymond Kopa
  11. Juan Alberto Schiaffino
  12. Sócrates
  13. Alain Giresse
  14. Ricardo Kaká
  15. Manuel Rui Costa
  16. Teofilo Cubillas
  17. Ricardo Bochini
  18. Wesley Sneijder
  19. Kasimierz Deyna
  20. Dragan Stojković
  21. Gheorghe Hagi
  22. Jari Litmanen
  23. Juan Roman Riquelme
  24. Pablo Aimar
  25. A.Möller
  26. Pedro Rocha
  27. Mesut Özil
  28. Gunnar Gren
  29. Valderrama
  30. Jan Cuelemans
 

Jim Beam

Gets aroused by men in low socks
Joined
Feb 10, 2017
Messages
13,013
Location
All over the place
Sorry there is Bruno Fernandes too. And Sandor Mazzola too, so Stojkovic is fine. Cut my left arm if you ever watched him.

  1. Diego Maradona
  2. Michel Platini
  3. Zico
  4. Zidane
  5. Iniesta
  6. M. Laudrup
  7. Rivera
  8. S. Mazzola
  9. Socrates
  10. Kaka
  11. Raymond Kopa
  12. Juan Alberto Schiaffino
  13. Alain Giresse
  14. Rivelino
  15. Manuel Rui Costa
 
Last edited:

2mufc0

Everything is fair game in capitalism!
Joined
Jan 8, 2014
Messages
16,992
Supports
Dragon of Dojima
1. Diego
2. Platini
3. Zico
4. Zidane
5. Iniesta
6. Rivera
7. M. Laudrup
8. Kopa
9. Kaka
10. Rivelino
11. Cubillas
12. Hagi
13. Sneijder
14. Socrates
15. Recoba
15. Zola
16. Rui Costa
17. Riquelme
18. Aimar
19. Mata
20. Bruno Fernandes
 
Last edited:

GodShaveTheQueen

We mean it man, we love our queen!
Joined
Oct 11, 2018
Messages
6,377
So much love for Rivellino with being in the top 10 in close to every list and yet he's always picked as a side kick LW instead. We can be real hypocrites sometimes in the drafting world.
 

GodShaveTheQueen

We mean it man, we love our queen!
Joined
Oct 11, 2018
Messages
6,377
The quality beyond the top 10-15 picks seems to really slump.

I mean when I am at the end of the drafting order in a draft, I always decide to pick an AM last as that is one area along with B2B midfielders that has no dearth in quality. So really surprised to see an under par list than I expected.

Maybe it's because quite a few of the hybrids go into the forwards list.
 

Physiocrat

Has No Mates
Joined
Jun 29, 2010
Messages
8,911
1. Maradona
2. Platini
3. Zico
4. Iniesta
5. Zidane
6. Michael Laudrup
7. Rivera
8. Raymond Kopa
9. Rivellino
10. Teofilio Cubillas
11. Sandro Mazzola
12. Kaka
13. Gunnar Gren
14. Rui Costa
15. Giresse
16. Socrates
17. Valderrama
18. Riquelme
19. Hagi
20. Bochini
 

Indnyc

Full Member
Joined
Aug 3, 2017
Messages
4,537
  1. Diego Maradona
  2. Michel Platini
  3. Zico
  4. Zinédine Zidane
  5. Andrés Iniesta
  6. Gianni Rivera
  7. Michael Laudrup
  8. Raymond Kopa
  9. Sandro Mazzola
  10. Rivelino
  11. Kaká
  12. Juan Alberto Schiaffino
  13. Manuel Rui Costa
  14. Sócrates
  15. Alain Giresse
  16. Teofilo Cubillas
  17. Juan Roman Riquelme
  18. Jari Litmanen
  19. Jan Cuelemans
  20. Pablo Aimar
 

Isotope

Ten Years a Cafite
Joined
Mar 6, 2012
Messages
23,554
  1. Diego Maradona
  2. Michel Platini
  3. Zico
  4. Zinédine Zidane
  5. Andrés Iniesta
  6. Michael Laudrup
  7. Gianni Rivera
  8. Rivelino
  9. Sandro Mazzola
  10. Raymond Kopa
  11. Sócrates
  12. Manuel Rui Costa
  13. Wesley Sneijder
 
Back from the dead

harms

Shining Star of Paektu Mountain
Staff
Joined
Apr 8, 2014
Messages
27,952
Location
Moscow
Well, the time has come for this one to get resurrected as well. I'll be announcing the results shortly.
 

harms

Shining Star of Paektu Mountain
Staff
Joined
Apr 8, 2014
Messages
27,952
Location
Moscow
46. Nicolae Dobrin, Safet Sušić, Giuseppe Giannini. 2 points



Nicolae Dobrin

Nicolae Dobrin
shares an unfortunate story with many Eastern European stars of pre-internet era — it doesn't matter how well you play week in week out, your whole career would be equalled to a few games on the international stage, for club and for country alike. Dobrin didn't have many chances to shine abroad — Romania was quite an underwhelming team at the time and Argeș (ex-Dinamo) Pitești, a club he'd spent most of his career at, was playing in the second Romanian division when Dobrin became a first-team starter. But when he did, he always attracted attention. His debut for his country came shortly after the 1966 World Cup — Romania was playing against West Germany in Ludwigshafen. 18-years-old midfielder was so impressive that 6 Bundesliga teams offered him a contract right on the spot; but Argeș refused to sell.

The best was yet to come though. In 1971/72 he had led Argeș to their first ever first division title, earning them a place in the European Cup... after strolling through the first round they had to face the mighty Real Madrid in the second one. That team had 6 European Cups to their names and players like Pirri, Amancio and Santillana — the game was seen by most as a formality. Only Dobrin had another vision — in the first leg of the tie he had shined brighter than stadium's floodlights (apparently they haven't had any?); his goal helped Argeș to grab a sensational 2:1 win. Santiago Bernabéu became obsessed with the player and tried to sign him — making an offer of $2 million and a floodlight set up (I love business from the 70's) personally to Nicolae Ceaușescu, Romania's authoritarian leader at the time. The offer was refused — Ceaușescu said that Dobrin was a "national treasure", and of course he couldn't have afforded to let him play in Franco's fascist state for any amount of money. Eventually Bernabéu found a way to get Dobrin to play for Real Madrid, but only for one night — a cruel interpretation of a classical Cinderella story; Ceaușescu let Dobrin play in Paco Gento's testimonial alongside such stars like Eusébio and Džajić. Bernabéu, obviously, made an attempt to convince Dobrin to stay in Madrid indefinitely — to no avail.

The story of his international career is also a story of a disappointment. It was Dobrin's decisive goal against Portugal that came after a mazing dribbling run that secured Romania a spot in the final stage of the 1970 World Cup. Everything was set for him to shine — he was already seen as the best and the most important player of this Romania side and this was a chance to showcase his ability to the whole world. However, he hasn't played in a single game — and until this day there are many different versions of what exactly was the reasoning behind this. Some say that he was drinking and gambling, some — that he wasn't willing to adjust his training routine to deal with excruciating Mexican heat, some say that he had a brawl with the manager or state that it was a political decision. What's the truth? I doubt that we'll ever know.


—————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————



Safet Sušić

Voted the best foreign player ever to feature in France’s Ligue 1 in 2012, Safet Sušić was also selected as the finest Paris Saint-Germain player in 2010 by France Football, beating the likes of George Weah and Ronaldinho. Over the course of nine scintillating seasons at the Parisian club, Sušić scored 96 goals in 343 appearances, contributing 61 assists to boot, leaving behind no prizes for guessing exactly why he had been honoured by the journalists in his adopted nation in such fashion. Bosnian FA also named him Bosnia's best player of the last 50 years when UEFA conducted their Jubilee vote. But for a player of such stature he surely doesn't get enough credit by football fans in general — in fact if I'd ask you to name a player of Bosnian ethnicity (I had to stretch this one a bit) with the above-mentioned credentials, most would probably think about Zlatan.

He had scarcely won any titles though — for all his 19 seasons of top-flight football he only has one French Ligue 1 title and a Cup to show, but that's hardly his fault. During his time in Yugoslavia, he refused multiple offers from the big two, Crvena Zvezda and Partisan, preferring a chance to prove himself worthy at FK Sarajevo; but while he hadn't won any team honours, he was voted Yugoslavian Footballer of the Year in 1979 as well as becoming league's top scorer with 17 league goals, despite playing as an attacking midfielder. It was truly a magnificent year for him — and probably the first time when he had properly earned world's attention. In the space of 3 months he had scored 2 hat-tricks for Yugoslavia — against the mighty Italy and the reigning world champions Argentina; eventually this would earn him a move to France, where he'd spend the rest of his career.

His playing style was so elegant and captivating — quite in contract with his brutish look. He was always one step ahead and his pirouettes, back-heels and incisive dribbling, as well as his impressive productivity, made him a true fan-favourite whenever he played. I'll finish this bit with two quotes by his former teammates"

Vahid Halilhodžić said:
He’s the best player most of the world never saw.
And a couple of words by @Šjor Bepo's personal favourite:
Pančev said:
It's well known how much I valued and still do value Safet Sušić. For me he's unsurpassable, the best Yugoslavia had. Probably one of the best in the world. I was often known to say that us other players should have to pay to play in the same team as Pape. At least I always talked and thought like that. Pape was a treasure for every forward. His crosses were unbelievable. Sometimes his ball would hit me without me even being aware of it. A wonderful player.
—————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————



Giuseppe Giannini

Francesco Totti said:
Il Principe was my idol, my role model when I was a kid. I always followed in his footsteps even though we played in different positions. I saw him as a captain, as everything. I met him, played with him and shared a room with him. He taught me loads.
Early on during his time with AS Roma, Giuseppe Giannini's ability and innate elegance earned him the nickname ‘The Prince’ - coined by Odoacre Chierico - and it would stick with him for the rest of his playing days. He spent a long time learning his trade in the shadow of Paulo Roberto Falcão before the baton was finally passed on the eve of the Juventus v Roma game on 28 October, 1984. Whilst on the plane taking the squad to Turin, the Brazilian great warned Giuseppe that he wasn't fit to play and so it would be up to him to line up against the champions of Italy. In the game itself, Roma immediately gave themselves a mountain to climb after conceding the first goal to the hosts before then going down to ten men after Dario Bonetti was sent off. Giannini then stepped up to plate and restored parity with a stunning strike. Chierico found some space out on the left wing and played a ball in behind Juventus's defence. ‘The Prince’ arrived in the box at full pace and smashed a sublime first-time shot past the Bianconeri goalkeeper, catching him completely off guard. Perhaps that was the exact moment when Giannini realised he had become a superstar.

Giannini was adored by the Roman fans — in the same way that his eventual successor, Francesco Totti, would be. He had joined the club at the age of 16, becoming a fan-favourite even before making his official debut: before signing for Roma he had a trial at AC Milan, after which Gianni Rivera personally presented him with a n. 10 Milan shirt... but once the call from the capital came in, he didn't think twice and went there. He made his Serie A debut at the age of 17 and went on to play more than 400 games for the Giallorossi, captaining them for an at the time record-breaking 9 seasons. Giannini was also a regular starter for Italy, usually playing in a deeper role to accommodate Roberto Baggio — he reached semi-finals of both 1988 Euros and 1990 World Cup and was named part of the Team of the Tournament at the former one.
 

Demyanenko_square_jaw

Full Member
Joined
Jan 29, 2017
Messages
1,042
I remember reading Safet ended up choosing PSG after a botched transfer negotiations with Inter and Torino that got him banned from appearing in Serie A for some time. Not sure what the specific details were, but it's unfortunate from a neutral perspective as Serie A would have been a bigger platform for his talents at the time.
 

harms

Shining Star of Paektu Mountain
Staff
Joined
Apr 8, 2014
Messages
27,952
Location
Moscow
I remember reading Safet ended up choosing PSG after a botched transfer negotiations with Inter and Torino that got him banned from appearing in Serie A for some time. Not sure what the specific details were, but it's unfortunate from a neutral perspective as Serie A would have been a bigger platform for his talents at the time.
Didn’t know that! Yeah, that’s certainly unfortunate.
 

harms

Shining Star of Paektu Mountain
Staff
Joined
Apr 8, 2014
Messages
27,952
Location
Moscow
Well, the time has come for this one to get resurrected as well. I'll be announcing the results shortly.
:lol:

45. Juan Carlos Valerón. 4 points


One of the very few Spanish stars never to play for any of the big two, Juan Carlos Valerón was one of La Liga's brightest stars in the 00's. His appearance was part of his magic — thin and ungainly, always playing at a walking pace, you never expected anything from him and that's exactly when he would do something extraordinary, be it an inch-perfect through-ball or an effortless dribble that would leave the entire defense beaten & bemused. Born in Canaries, he began and finished his career at Las Palmas — and it's said that he was the perfect representation of Canary Islands' festive spirit and a generally relaxed and joyful approach to life. The peak of his career came during his spell at Deportivo — or "The Grand Depor" as it was called back then. That side twice finished as runners up in the league and produced some of the greatest European performances of the 00's, including the wins against Manchester United, Arsenal, Bayern Münich and the legendary remontada against the all-mighty AC Milan when Deportivo overturned a 4-1 deficit from the first leg, eliminating the current title holders.

A Spanish columnist described him as "Spain’s Zidane – only better" at the time. Andreas Iniesta mentioned Valerón as one of his biggest idols. Still, like the Spanish football itself before the '08, Valerón would be remembered as the perennial underachiever, almost reaching the true greatness but stopping a step away from it.

44. Andreas Möller. 6 points



One of the most consistent players of the 90's, Andy may not have possessed the elegance of Zidane or creativity of Laudrup, but the overall package that he provided was nothing short of brilliant. He was especially notable in big games, be it the UEFA Cup final of 1993 (scoring a goal and providing 3 assists over 2 legs of the final against his former club Borussia Dortmund), 1997 Champions League final (2 assists against his former club Juventus) or the Intercontinental Cup final of the same year, where Möller was chosen as the Man of the Match. His career for Germany was a bit strange — he was a regular starter for them throughout the entire decade, earning an impressive 85 caps, but he had managed to miss all of the important finals that he usually performed so well in (1990 World Cup, 1992 & 1996 Euros). Personally, I always found that his playing style was a bit similar to Kaka with those incisive forward runs and a brilliant shot that he had on him; not a real playmaker that is synonymous with the #10 role, but still heavily contributing to the attack in terms of assists. And a proper wind-up merchant to boot, ask Gazza if you don't believe me :)

42. Ademir da Guia, Dragoslav Šekularac. 7 points

Ademir da Guia



Ademir da Guia represents one of the most successful dynasties in family football. His father, Domingos da Guia, is often said to be the greatest centre back in Brazil's history & his uncle Ladislau is Bangu's all-time top scorer with 215 goals. Ademir had a tougher competition though, as he decided to become an attacking midfielder — a position where Brazil have probably the best set of players out of any country. His international career never really got going — starting out in the 60's he had to compete with the likes of Didi, Pelé & Rivelino and it's not fair to judge him based on his inability to get into the greatest international side of all-time (that already famously had 5 number 10s in it: Pelé, Rivelino, Jairzinho, Tostão and Gerson). On a club level he was a bit more successful — spending all but one season at Palmeiras he is generally considered to be their greatest ever player — you can tell how much he was loved by the fans by the affectionate nickname "Divino" that he was given (also as a reference to "the Divine Master", which was his father's nickname). With Palmeiras he had won many different titles (I can't be bothered to name all of them) during the time where the Brazilian football was undoubtedly at its all-time best — and another point that I'll make to highlight his historical standing is this one: when Brazil were choosing their best players of the XXth century, he had finished 14th (only 1 point behind Falcão & Rivelino, 2 points behind Romario and 3 points behind pre-'00 Luis Ronaldo).

Dragoslav Šekularac



Šekularac sounds like your usual Balkan genius — he was so good technically that Pelé routinely noticed that he should've been Brazilian (he's not the most imaginative when it comes to compliments, is he?), but he also had a fiery side, once being given an 18-month suspension after attacking the referee. The peak of his career came to the emergence of the new era in football — with TV broadcasting & the newly-established European Cup which, sadly, means that we've missed out on a lot of his playing footage. Still, in the games that are available — like the 1960 Euros final or the 3rd place game of the 1962 World Cup, you can see just how big of a talent he was. He was tiny, but quite strong for his size and it was almost impossible to get the ball of him without committing a foul — you know the type. He was often compared to another star of the era, Garrincha, due to them both being born bow-legged — usually that diagnosis meant that football career was out of the question but both Šekularac and Garrincha had managed to turn it into a unique advantage.
 

harms

Shining Star of Paektu Mountain
Staff
Joined
Apr 8, 2014
Messages
27,952
Location
Moscow
41. Enzo Scifo. 8 points


Enzo (or Vincenzo, but this just sounds wrong — we're not calling Bobby Moore Robert, are we?) was one of the greatest number 10s of the 80's and first half of the 90's, arguably the best era for that position with the likes of Maradona, Platini & Zico dominating the headlines and a bunch of world-class players like Scifo and Hagi staying in their enormous shadow. Scifo was seen as an emerging star from his youth days — he was nicknamed "Little Pelé" after scoring jaw-dropping 432 goals in four seasons at youth level before establishing himself as a prominent starter for Anderlecht aged only 17, leading them to the UEFA Cup final that they've lost to Spurs on penalties (Enzo had scored his one by the way). A year later he would lead Anderlecht to a league title as well as becoming the best player in the league — not bad for a teenager. “He’s the only European footballer who can genuinely be considered my successor,” said Michel Platini after facing Scifo at Euro '84.

Two years later (which included 2 more league titles, a cup win and World Cup Best Young Player award) he had transferred to Inter Milan, but that move didn't really pay off. He had troubles adjusting to the new league and the next season he went to Bordeaux in search of a more open and attacking league. His return to his best would have to wait another year though and Scifo even thought of retiring before the move to Auxerre, where under Guy Roux he became Ligue 1's Best Foreign Player and found joy in football again. In 1991 he decided to give Serie A another chance, moving to Torino — and this time he was ready, lifting Torino's first trophy in 17 years at the end of his first season. His performances for granata and Belgium earned him a reputation of one of the greatest footballers of the time, although he would soon get in a fight with his club manager. "Scifo plays well when the team does well, but he completely disappears when the team is up against it. That’s typical of someone lacking in personality", said Mondonico. "The manager who buys me has to build a team around me. It’s not me who has to adapt", replied disappointed Enzo. Ultimately, this was very much a common theme throughout his club career — in a changing world with more and more focus being put on the defensive organisation, workrate and versatility, Scifo looked like an anachronism, one of the last pure number 10s that prioritised magic over grit. His performances for Belgium were generally brilliant though — international football left more room for imagination & individual brilliance. He's one of the few players in history to participate in 4 different World Cups, and boy were they notable — aside from becoming the best young player in the '86 edition I have to mention his goal against Uruguay 4 years later. The magnificent long-distance strike was voted 10th best World Cup goal of the century in 2002.