Most complete footballer ever?

[Polar]

So Ronaldo is the most complete player, because you think he would be a world class CB/CM/AM/FB. So basically all comes down to your imagination.

You will disregard players like Gullit, Matthias and so on, who actually played in multiple positions in midfield and defense, and even attack with incredible success, because apparently being the elite tier attacker would even up the clear lack of defensive qualities.

By that logic Messi is the best goal keeper ever, because I imagined it.

??? My two obvious suggestions were Ronaldo and Gullit, so I did the opposite of disregarding him.

Do you mean Matthias Sammer?

Ronaldo is the most complete player in terms of technical and physical qualities, so yes… I assume he would be able to play on a high level in all positions if he was motivated for that.

I don’t think any players have proved world class standard in three very different positions (CB/CM/Striker)

 

[meamth]

Cristiano Ronaldo.

The man has many versions of himself it's not debatable who is the most complete footballer.

 

[harms]

I don’t think any players have proved world class standard in three very different positions (CB/CM/Striker)

Ruud Gullit — center back, midfielder, winger, forward. I don’t think that I’ve seen him play as a fullback, but that’s about it.

Beckenbauer, Matthäus and Rijkaard all played in very different roles — from attacking-minded midfielders to center backs/sweepers.


As for Ronaldo — there are things like defensive positioning, tackling ability etc. that he doesn’t have and it’s not something that you can be trained for in a few weeks. Good defenders aren’t simply strong and fast, it’s also a skill (and very much a mindset that Ronaldo doesn’t have).

 

[Matt007a]

Can’t see Ronaldo going in for tackles. There’s not enough personal glory for him in being a defender either. There’s more to it than just being a great athlete or great technician.

 

[Cascarino]

tbh I'm really surprised by the Cristiano Ronaldo shouts, he's obviously one of the all time greats but he's not a super versatile player or anything in relation to some of the other shouts we have on here.

 

[Paul_Scholes18]

Zanetti maybe? Milner?

 

[sparx99]

Gullit, Beckenbauer, Matthäus come to my mind. Hard to decide as they all played in more or less different times.

I absolutely don't understand how people are thinking of Messi. Put him at CB and see opponent 9's score goals for fun, especially from crosses. Such a player may be great or even among the greatest ever, but he is surely not the most complete.

Messi isn’t even the most complete attacker. Cristiano Ronaldo has more in his locker when you look at it from a completeness point of view.

Ronaldo has dribbling, skill, left foot, right foot, pace, strength, amazing leap, brilliant header of a ball and of course finishing.

Messi is a wonderful forward and you can argue is he better overall than Ronaldo but he isn’t more complete. Ronaldo is how you would build an attacker on a computer.

 

[ryan_forlan]

For me, the question is, who is the player who can do it all on a football pitch. Not just a complete attacker or a defender. Overall.

For me:
Rooney

 

[Carolina Red]

Alfredo di Stefano

https://spielverlagerung.com/2014/09/10/in-depth-analysis-alfredo-di-stefano/

 

[Polar]

I like how you first establish a logic and then trow it out of the window literally in the next sentence.

You have to explain that one…. Do you say that Ronaldo isn’t a “complete player?

“A player who can handle all positions on the pitch” is an abstract definition” No players have testet ALL positions on a high level.

I think Ronaldo is the closest you get to a complete player. I assume the player with most complete skills have the best prerequisites to play in all positions.

Maybe it sounds like I’m Ronaldo’s greatest fan .. I’m not. I rate Messi higher than Ronaldo when it comes to who is the player off all time - obviously not because Messi is a more complete player in terms of technical and physical skills

 

[sparx99]

Probably Ramos comes closest to me. He's basically Ronaldo type defender, but gets work done at the other end of the pitch too.

Sergio Ramos is a great shout. Was a striker in his young days, then an attacking full back before settling in at cb. However, he still scores bags of goals and you could see him playing further upfield if he had wanted to.

He has scored just over 100 goals for Madrid.

 

[OverratedOpinion]

In my lifetime it was probably Lothar Matthaus.

Kimmich and Marcos Llorente seem very high up on list for current players.

 

[Polar]

Ruud Gullit — center back, midfielder, winger, forward. I don’t think that I’ve seen him play as a fullback, but that’s about it.

Depends on how you define “world class”. I don’t agree he was a world class player in all those positions.

You are by the way excused. It’s easy to forget the Chelsea-standard wasn’t much to talk about in Gullit’s time. The internal competition was low, so he was allowed to eat from the whole menu

 

[Zehner]

What about Hierro or Koeman? As far as I know, both played in midfield and defense and scored many goals on top of it. Didn't watch enough of both to judge, though.

Blanc also springs to mind. Never saw him play but he's got a CAM and a CB card in FIFA According to Wikipedia, he started his career as a very technical CAM and gradually moved into defense as his career went on. Bit similar to Hierro and Koeman in that he also scored lots of goals.

Edgar Davids I believe hasn't been mentioned either. Absolute beast defensively, yet also an elite technician. Could probably play him everywhere except CB (height) and striker to a world class level.

Nedved also always appeared to be a very complete player to me.

Messi isn’t even the most complete attacker. Cristiano Ronaldo has more in his locker when you look at it from a completeness point of view.

Ronaldo has dribbling, skill, left foot, right foot, pace, strength, amazing leap, brilliant header of a ball and of course finishing.

Messi is a wonderful forward and you can argue is he better overall than Ronaldo but he isn’t more complete. Ronaldo is how you would build an attacker on a computer.

I think Messi is versatile in a different way. With him you get an elite goal scorer, play maker and dribbler rolled into one and there aren't many attackers in history who fit that description. Cristiano is an elite goal scorer and used to be an elite dribbler. But Cristiano has a very unique combination of qualities. You rarely find a trickster that's such a physical beast, so good in the air, has such great off the ball movement, etc.

In the end, both don't belong into this discussion IMO since they are too weak defensively. There have been some generalists who were good at everything and could play in attack, midfield and defense and let's be honest, nobody in their right mind would play Messi or CR7 as a fullback or even center back, not even if they have to choose between playing them there or not playing them at all.

 

[harms]

Depends on how you define “world class”. I don’t agree he was a world class player in all those positions.

You are by the way excused. It’s easy to forget the Chelsea-standard wasn’t much to talk about in Gullit’s time. The internal competition was low, so he was allowed to eat from the whole menu

I’m not talking about Chelsea. If you haven’t seen him at his peak, that’s on you, not on Gullit. I’m talking about his time at PSV, where he was world-class enough to justify a world-record fee.

 

[Castia]

Ronaldo

He’s got everything hasn’t he

 

[harms]

You have to explain that one…. Do you say that Ronaldo isn’t a “complete player?

“A player who can handle all positions on the pitch” is an abstract definition” No players have testet ALL positions on a high level.

I think Ronaldo is the closest you get to a complete player. I assume the player with most complete skills have the best prerequisites to play in all positions.

Maybe it sounds like I’m Ronaldo’s greatest fan .. I’m not. I rate Messi higher than Ronaldo when it comes to who is the player off all time - obviously not because Messi is a more complete player in terms of technical and physical skills

No, Cristiano is not a complete player. He doesn’t have anything that a top defender needs aside from his athleticism.

He’s a complete attacker, and one of the most complete attackers of all-time — although there are still a few that I’d rate higher (as in “more complete”, I’m not going into the debate about who is better) — Pelé, Di Stéfano, Cruyff, Gullit... arguably van Basten, although I’m not going insist on him.

 

[harms]

What about Hierro or Koeman? As far as I know, both played in midfield and defense and scored many goals on top of it. Didn't watch enough of both to judge, though.

I love Koeman to bits but I’d expect a complete player to provide a good performance when thrown in a random team in a random role 9/10 times. Koeman needed for teams to be built around him — to hide his substantial weaknesses & elevate his strengths.

 

[Spoony]

Cristiano is the most complete human being of all time.

 

[harms]

I think Ronaldo is the closest you get to a complete player. I assume the player with most complete skills have the best prerequisites to play in all positions.

Basically — Cristiano has an edge on Gullit in most of attacking qualities & a significant edge in terms of goalscoring, but Gullit was a superior passer, incredibly enough an even better athlete, had fantastic defensive awareness and work-rate that Cristiano simply lacks and, well, had actual experience, winning biggest titles available in playing in both defensive, midfield and attacking roles.

Don’t get me wrong — that gap is goalscoring ability is huge and Cristiano is without a doubt a better player. Just not a more complete one.

 

[red4ever 79]

Ruud Gullit could do pretty much everything.

Great in the air, great with his feet. Fast, strong, creative and brave.

I can't think of many flaws in his game.

I am sure I remember Gullit also playing as a sweeper towards the end of his career.

 

[spiriticon]

Both of them were big units, rapid, highly technical all rounders. Don’t see why you’d think they couldn’t be effective in defence. Obviously the point isn’t they’d be world class everywhere because no player could but they’d have the raw attributes to be more effective than than Shaw would in attack or CM.

I only said that as I thought they moved Gullit from CB to midfield at Chelsea because he wasn't doing too well. But @duffer has mentioned that he was class, and he's a Chelsea fan unlike me so I believe it.

Add awesome Ruud to the list!

P.S I don't actually think Shaw is the most complete player ever. I just threw his name in there as a curveball since all the obvious ones had already been listed

 

[Polar]

He doesn’t have anything that a top defender needs aside from his athleticism.

I don’t agree, but the good thing is that we now are doing imagination together.

Ronaldo hasn’t played in defensive roles and example tackling isn’t the most important attribute for an offensive RW. If he played one season as LB, I’m pretty sure tackling wouldn’t have been a problem.

If he was motivated (two years ago) I don’t understand what would’ve limited him from becoming a descent LB, CM and even CB (playing on the highest level). But why should he bother to play in another position when he still is among top-5 offensive players in the world?

 

[Swordsman]

Does complete player means can score a fair amount of goals, defending well and tackle, good at assists, crossing, dribbling, penalty kick, set pieces?

uncommon/unpopular choice ? yaya toure ?

 

[ThatsGreat]

There's still some way to go for him but Saka. Attack, defend, pass, dribble, make runs, tackle, shield the ball, he does everything. Probably played all positions on the field as well.

 

[cpresc]

Surprised no one has mentioned Patrick Viera. To be fair he could do most things well. As could Keane. CR7 ticks a lot of boxes.

Scholes started his career upfront, became one of the best centre midfielders ever, played on the left and as AMC from England and retired more as a deep lying playmaker… couldn’t tackle for toffee though haha

 

[harms]

Ronaldo hasn’t played in defensive roles and example tackling isn’t the most important attribute for an offensive RW. If he played one season as LB, I’m pretty sure tackling wouldn’t have been a problem.

Then what you’re saying is that Ronaldo isn’t a complete player, but he can become one if he wants to (based on?). That’s very different to most of the above-mentioned names, who actually played in all of those roles and actually showcased all of the required qualities of a “complete” footballer.

If Cristiano for some reason would’ve played as a left back all of his life, would he be a good left back? Most likely, although it’s hard to construct such reality that denies the obvious Bale-esque development into an attacker.

But if you put peak Cristiano at left back or at center back, would he look great? Yes in offense, unlikely in defense. If you put peak Gullit anywhere, he’ll put in 8/10 performance straight in.

 

[SilentStrike]

Gullit, Matthäus from what I have seen.

Further back in history there was Beckenbauer and Di Stefano

I have no idea what Ronaldo's name is doing is this thread. Probably undercover Ronaldo fans bringing him into a discussion where he doesn't belong. Clearly he is not versatile. He barely even bothers tracking back and hasn't defended ever in his career.

 

[Rozay]

Duncan Edwards, so I’m told.

 

[NasirTimothy]

Alfredo di Stefano

https://spielverlagerung.com/2014/09/10/in-depth-analysis-alfredo-di-stefano/

DiStefano is a great shout TBH. His ‘completeness’ was legendary

 

[Iron]

cristiano, he is still world class at age 36. Messi as well. All other contenders were not that good for such long periods of time. I would have either of these 2 players in my team for 20 years then any other from history.

 

[Trequarista10]

People say Cristiano, honestly you just don't understand the question in my opinion. He may be the most complete forward of all time, the most complete in the sense of physical and technical attributes, but in no way is he the most complete player overall. Defending is 50% of football.

 

[Polar]

Then what you’re saying is that Ronaldo isn’t a complete player, but he can become one if he wants to (based on?).

Isn’t what I’m saying. Funny how you twist on things. All I’m saying is that Ronaldo has the necessary attributes/skills to succeed in most positions on the pitch.

That’s very different to most of the above-mentioned names, who actually played in all of those roles and actually showcased all of the required qualities of a “complete” footballer.

Exaggeration?

Yes in offense, unlikely in defense.

Based on what? What does Ronaldo lack quality wise to become a good CB, RB, CM if he wanted? What is his defensive weaknesses?

 

[Carl]

This thread took a really predictable turn

Rooney would be up there for me. Lahm too.

 

[Tom Cato]

Jorge Campos

 

[NasirTimothy]

People say Cristiano, honestly you just don't understand the question in my opinion. He may be the most complete forward of all time, the most complete in the sense of physical and technical attributes, but in no way is he the most complete player overall. Defending is 50% of football.

He’s not even the most complete forward. That’s Pele.

 

[Eddy_JukeZ]

Based on what? What does Ronaldo lack quality wise to become a good CB, RB, CM if he wanted? What is his defensive weaknesses?

You can't be serious

This is almost as bad as that 1 guy saying Ronaldo can pass as well as Messi, but he simply chooses not to

 

[Trequarista10]

He’s not even the most complete forward. That’s Pele.

Ok

 

[Powerhouser]

Easily Messi, hes a GOAT level goalscorer, playmaker, passer and dribbler, you cant say that about any other player.

 

[Carl]

You can't be serious

This is almost as bad as that 1 guy saying Ronaldo can pass as well as Messi, but he simply chooses not to

Define "most complete" though. Ronaldo is the greatest of all time (my opinion). You surely have to be a pretty "complete" footballer to achieve that. But again, depends how we're defining complete.

Most seem to define complete as able to play in the most positions. In which case is John O'Shea.