Are there any genuinely exciting footballers anymore?

[Marwood]

Even Mbappe, he does become a formulaic.

Brilliant at what he does but you do kind of know what's coming in terms of his general play and goals.

 

[Andre Kagawa]

Bailly.

 

[Oranges038]

Also I don't think it's really coached out of players. Look at ASM. The guy can be electrifying to watch but has no end product. If he converted his movement to goals and assists he'd be the most expensive player in the world. Flair players are still around, they just happen to be not as good as some of those in the past. We'll have one again soon I'm sure.

He's just a modern day Huckerby or maybe even Kinkladze .

 

[RedRonaldo]

Players I find entertaining to watch (skill, flair, electrifying, artistic) over the years:

(from footage, there are probably more…)
60s - Best, Garrincha, Pele
70s - Cruyff, Beckenbauer
80s - Maradona, Platini, Zico

(From games I’ve watched)
Early 90s - Gazza, Baggio, Cantona, Giggs, Asprilla, Laudrup

Late 90s~early 00 - L.Ronaldo, Zidane, Figo, Rivaldo

00 - Ronaldinho, Henry, Robinho, Ibrahimnov, Berbatov, Riquelme, Ronaldo, Messi, Quaresma, Kaka, Adriano

10s - Messi, Neymar, Hazard

00 to me is the best era in terms of entertainment, not only because of Ronaldinho, but it’s also during the golden era of Joga Bonito with many top players trying out many different skills and tricks.

 

[Solius]

It’s been coached out of most players in favour of being good in a system.

Kvaratskhelia feels like a nice throwback though.

 

[Chief123]

It’s been coached out of most players in favour of being good in a system.

Kvaratskhelia feels like a nice throwback though.

Pretty much this.

Most players are coached out of being a free spirit. Teams want players to play their role robotically. You don’t often get the situation anymore where some players would have a “free role” to just go and express themselves.

 

[Adam-Utd]

It's not the players its the tactical setups.

How often did you see mega drilled parked buses back in the day like we do now?

The likes of Zidane wouldn't get any space to operate in. There is plenty of exciting players, but they need the game to open up to show it.

 

[Niemans]

Rayan Cherki. It's a spectacle to watch him play.

 

[Skills]

Mbappe's one of the most exciting players I've ever watched

 

[KeanoMagicHat]

It’s been coached out of most players in favour of being good in a system.

Kvaratskhelia feels like a nice throwback though.

This really shows with the age of players, a lot of the best ones to watch are teenagers/young - look at Garnacho running at defenders every time and he hasn’t ‘learnt’ the possession game yet. Look as Musiala too in this World Cup, only 19 and dribbling like mad at every defender. It’s sad how many players lose this youthful exuberance in favour of ‘efficiency’ as they get older. The number 1 example of this is Cristiano Ronaldo actually, who may have scored fewer goals but could have been a far more entertaining player if he chose differently in his development.

 

[El Jefe]

Here’s a list of all of the Ballon d’Or winners since it started in 1956. In most decades you can’t even find one player with more flair than Messi. The flair players of the past generally weren’t that good, and were just remembered fondly in highlight reels of international tournaments. The kind of highlight reels that make Kudus or Al-Dawsari look spectacular if you only catch a glimpse of them, but don’t linger long when you see them in an era over-saturated with football.

Ronaldinho was really unusual in being primarily a flair player while also being spectacularly good at his peak. Players like Rivaldo or Figo were not. They were just like Hazard or Neymar, who were neither as good nor as flamboyant, while facing competition who were both less efficient and less eye-catching. Excellent players all the same but they weren’t in Ronaldinho’s league in terms of entertainment, nor in Messi’s league in terms of quality.

Spoiler

2022	Karim Benzema	France	Real Madrid
2021	Lionel Messi	Argentina	Paris Saint-Germain F.C.
2020	not awarded
2019	Lionel Messi	Argentina	Barcelona
2018	Luka Modric	Croatia	Real Madrid
2017	Cristiano Ronaldo	Portugal	Real Madrid
2016	Cristiano Ronaldo	Portugal	Real Madrid
2015	Lionel Messi	Argentina	Barcelona
2014	Cristiano Ronaldo	Portugal	Real Madrid
2013	Cristiano Ronaldo	Portugal	Real Madrid
2012	Lionel Messi	Argentina	Barcelona
2011	Lionel Messi	Argentina	Barcelona
2010	Lionel Messi	Argentina	Barcelona
2009	Lionel Messi	Argentina	Barcelona
2008	Cristiano Ronaldo	Portugal	Manchester United
2007	Kaká	Brazil	Milan
2006	Fabio Cannavaro	Italy	Real Madrid
2005	Ronaldinho	Brazil	Barcelona
2004	Andriy Shevchenko	Ukrain	Milan
2003	Pavel Nedvěd	Czechia	Juventus
2002	Ronaldo	Brazil	Real Madrid
2001	Michael Owen	England	Liverpool
2000	Luís Figo	Portugal	Real Madrid
1999	Rivaldo	Brazil	Barcelona
1998	Zinedine Zidane	France	Juventus
1997	Ronaldo	Brazil	Internazionale
1996	Matthias Sammer	Germany	Borussia Dortmund
1995	George Weah	Liberia	Milan
1994	Hristo Stoichkov	Bulgaria	Barcelona
1993	Roberto Baggio	Italy	Juventus
1992	Marco van Basten	Netherlands	Milan
1991	Jean-Pierre Papin	France	Marseille
1990	Lothar Matthäus	Germany	Internazionale
1989	Marco van Basten	Netherlands	Milan
1988	Marco van Basten	Netherlands	Milan
1987	Ruud Gullit	Netherlands	Milan
1986	Igor Belanov	Soviet Union	Dynamo Kyiv
1985	Michel Platini	France	Juventus
1984	Michel Platini	France	Juventus
1983	Michel Platini	France	Juventus
1982	Paolo Rossi	Italy	Juventus
1981	Karl-Heinz Rummenigge	West Germany	Bayern Munich
1980	Karl-Heinz Rummenigge	West Germany	Bayern Munich
1979	Kevin Keegan	England	Hamburg
1978	Kevin Keegan	England	Hamburg
1977	Allan Simonsen	Denmark	Borussia M”nchengladbach
1976	Franz Beckenbauer	West Germany	Bayern Munich
1975	Oleg Blokhin	Soviet Union	Dynamo Kyiv
1974	Johan Cruyff	Netherlands	Barcelona
1973	Johan Cruyff	Netherlands	Barcelona
1972	Franz Beckenbauer	West Germany	Bayern Munich
1971	Johan Cruyff	Netherlands	Ajax
1970	Gerd Müller	West Germany	Bayern Munich
1969	Gianni Rivera	Italy	Milan
1968	George Best	Northern Ireland	Manchester United
1967	Flórián Albert	Hungary	Ferencv rosi TC
1966	Bobby Charlton	England	Manchester United
1965	Eusébio	Portugal	Benfica
1964	Denis Law	Scotland	Manchester United
1963	Lev Yashin	Soviet Union	Dynamo Moscow
1962	Josef Masopust	Czechoslovakia	Dukla Prague
1961	Omar Sívori	Italy	Juventus
1960	Luis Suárez	Spain	Barcelona
1959	Alfredo Di Stéfano	Spain	Real Madrid
1958	Raymond Kopa	France	Real Madrid
1957	Alfredo Di Stéfano	Spain	Real Madrid
1956	Stanley Matthews	England	Blackpool

You're limiting this just to excitement in elite footballers. They aren't the only ones that provide excitement

A trip back to 2004 and Ronaldinho, Zidane, Henry, Ronaldo, Cristiano, Okocha, Van der Vaart and Totti were all playing. The excitement and flair of players today doesn't come close to this list of players.

 

[Red Pumpkin]

Neymar is just about the most entertaining player of all time. Thiago is a show. Both are around 30 though. Might be true that players are mostly coached out of it. But it could also be that it is a really rare ability that only a few players possess at the same time.

Even if you look at Brazils squad today with all it's talent there are hardly any players except Neymar that could get you off your seat. But then again it was true during the late 90's and early 2000's as well.

Denilson and Ronaldinho were there but the rest were just efficient and good. Rivaldo, Kaka were extremely good but in a more pragmatic way. Even Ronaldo did most of his tricks to get to goal, not for the pure show.

 

[Kulspruta]

It’s funny that people miss “flair players” but they say nothing about the amount of cynical fouls being commited against ballers.

I don’t really like Neymar personally, specially because of his political views and his persona, and being brazilian I actually feel more close to a brazilian side without this petulant child in it. But truth be told: he was taken out of a world cup because of an agression, a proposital knee to his back. He suffered 9 fouls against Serbia, was almost taken out of another world cup, and nobody says anything. Neymar is by far the most fouled player in Europe, and he’s still trying his tricks in every game, that should be aprecciated. He’s also the most fouled player year after year in european football.

People should get more pissed about the amount of fouls the “flair players” are suffering without help from the referees than being pissed about “non-productive tricks”. Football is infinite, and if it depends on Brazil nothing will ever take the fun out of it.

 

[Hughes35]

Not many exciting players really.

Mbappe and Neymar as definitely exciting !

I think Anthony has the potential to be as he has some natural showmanship.

I'd love to see a new Ronaldinho come through, or even a Jay-Jay Okocha.

 

[KeanoMagicHat]

Neymar is just about the most entertaining player of all time. Thiago is a show. Both are around 30 though. Might be true that players are mostly coached out of it. But it could also be that it is a really rare ability that only a few players possess at the same time.

Even if you look at Brazils squad today with all it's talent there are hardly any players except Neymar that could get you off your seat. But then again it was true during the late 90's and early 2000's as well.

Denilson and Ronaldinho were there but the rest were just efficient and good. Rivaldo, Kaka were extremely good but in a more pragmatic way. Even Ronaldo did most of his tricks to get to goal, not for the pure show.

I think part of the reason is that Neymar stayed in Brazil longer and wasn’t European trained in development. A lot of Brazilians now are coming over to Europe earlier and earlier. Vinicius is still exciting I’d say for his pace and dribbling but he plays more like a Robben than a Neymar, partly because he’s been in Europe a long time.

 

[Red Pumpkin]

I think part of the reason is that Neymar stayed in Brazil longer and wasn’t European trained in development. A lot of Brazilians now are coming over to Europe earlier and earlier. Vinicius is still exciting I’d say for his pace and dribbling but he plays more like a Robben than a Neymar, partly because he’s been in Europe a long time.

I don't think so. I believe Neymar is just a once in a life time talent who was invited by Real Madrid and the rest before he even got pubes at 11 years old. That and his mentality is show first, end product second. But who knows, you could be right it might have been beat out of him in Europe if he came at 18.

Vinicius is a very exciting player who has grown tremendously. But just like you say he is more of a superb winger than an artist. Brazil have had others like that both in the recent past (Douglas Costa) and the generation before (Ze Roberto when still a winger).

 

[LawCharltonBest]

Pickford... Waiting for the moment he starts screaming, jumps into the crowd and slaps a toddler across the face.

Bloke really winds me up

Literally every time he has to make a save, his default is to get up and start screaming at the defenders, even if they did nothing wrong, just because he's seen GKs doing it on TV and thinks it looks cool

 

[Dirty Schwein]

Bloke really winds me up

Literally every time he has to make a save, his default is to get up and start screaming at the defenders, even if they did nothing wrong, just because he's seen GKs doing it on TV and thinks it looks cool

Rather it be defenders than pregnant women in the stands.

 

[LawCharltonBest]

Rather it be defenders than pregnant women in the stands.

Rather the pregnant women, they'll be full of hormones and more likely to smack him one. Maguire just looks at him wondering who that guy is who keeps standing behind him every game

 

[Righteous Steps]

Rayan Cherki. It's a spectacle to watch him play.

How has he been this season? Remember there was one French poster who was adamant he was better and more talented than Mbappe at the same age, always found that quite hard to believe and I see he never made the French squad for the world cup(not that that’s necessarily a knock on him).

 

[Who's Kissing Cameras?]

Kvaratskelia, Mbappe, Musiala, Ousmane Dembele, Neymar, Allan Saint Maximin. They are still out there.

 

[Niemans]

How has he been this season? Remember there was one French poster who was adamant he was better and more talented than Mbappe at the same age, always found that quite hard to believe and I see he never made the French squad for the world cup(not that that’s necessarily a knock on him).

This year I have seen few games of him. The boy is stagnating, A player of his quality should always be a starter if he has humility. In the league he is a substitute.
I have read some news of the sporting director's dissatisfaction with his behavior.

 

[SirReginald]

Ronaldinho was perhaps the last maverick player we will ever see. For even the best technical players, they are all given specific jobs to do. While they can produce crazy moments, It will never be the same as the pure spontaneity of a Ronaldinho.

 

[GifLord]

It’s funny that people miss “flair players” but they say nothing about the amount of cynical fouls being commited against ballers.

I don’t really like Neymar personally, specially because of his political views and his persona, and being brazilian I actually feel more close to a brazilian side without this petulant child in it. But truth be told: he was taken out of a world cup because of an agression, a proposital knee to his back. He suffered 9 fouls against Serbia, was almost taken out of another world cup, and nobody says anything. Neymar is by far the most fouled player in Europe, and he’s still trying his tricks in every game, that should be aprecciated. He’s also the most fouled player year after year in european football.

People should get more pissed about the amount of fouls the “flair players” are suffering without help from the referees than being pissed about “non-productive tricks”. Football is infinite, and if it depends on Brazil nothing will ever take the fun out of it.

Like those weren't a thing in the past? Just in Serie A in the 90s you had defenders who at the start of every game would go full aggro on the opponents top player/striker to throw them off their game. It was a routine at the time

 

[giorno]

When Ronaldinho stopped combining the entertaining with the effective, his own fans whistled him off the pitch and he was sold at the first opportunity

This thread is "old men yell at clouds"

 

[the_cliff]

Neymar and Musiala are probably the closest to them right now. Neymar is hated because of theatrics but he's a special, special player.

 

[dinostar77]

Mecurial/ maverick/ off the cuff talents can be difficult to shoe horn into a modern day system where everyone needs to press off the ball and fall into shape if the press doesnt recover the ball.

Also they need to be consistant in their performance levels to be afforded the leeway they need to express themselves on the pitch. Easier said than done. The only way to incorporate them is to shoe horn them in a 10 role otherwise you risk the opposition overloading your fullback, when your flair/off the cuff winger doesnt track back.

Personally, id rather we had saint maximin and ousmane demebele on our wings rather than sancho and anthony. The former are wingers with explosive pace and trickery, who get fans off their seats and entertain. Stick two workhorses in the middle of the park to make up for their lack of defensive work and just be entertained.

 

[Kulspruta]

Like those weren't a thing in the past? Just in Serie A in the 90s you had defenders who at the start of every game would go full aggro on the opponents top player/striker to throw them off their game. It was a routine at the time

Thats true, this was always a thing. But if football is missing “flair players” the fight should be for more protection towards these players. Like him or not, the way Neymar has been fouled throughout his career borders on criminality. Just yesterday there were many people in these forums saying South Korea should have roughed up the brazilian team, saying that Uruguay would have broken a couple of legs! Want flair? Play ball.

And then you have Roy Keane complaining about dancing? People better decide if it’s the game of football what they really like.

 

[dinostar77]

Neymar is just about the most entertaining player of all time. Thiago is a show. Both are around 30 though. Might be true that players are mostly coached out of it. But it could also be that it is a really rare ability that only a few players possess at the same time.

Even if you look at Brazils squad today with all it's talent there are hardly any players except Neymar that could get you off your seat. But then again it was true during the late 90's and early 2000's as well.

Denilson and Ronaldinho were there but the rest were just efficient and good. Rivaldo, Kaka were extremely good but in a more pragmatic way. Even Ronaldo did most of his tricks to get to goal, not for the pure show.

Djalminha (deportivo says hi).

Each to their own but ronaldinho was the most entertaining player ive seen. I havent seen enough of djalminha other than youtube clips. But apparently djalminha was doing tricks and skills that infuenced ronaldinho.

 

[Gavinb33]

Djahlmina was the 1st player I saw do a rainbow flick in a game teenage me was mesmerised

 

[KeanoMagicHat]

I thought the football by Brazil's front 5 tonight was very exciting from the lot of them, and probably some of the most exciting football Brazil have played in a World Cup since 2002. Lots of skills, showboating, quality moves.

You used to be able to rely on Brazil to put up a good show but the Dunga years really soured it. They finally have enough good players now again, not just Neymar, to put on a show.

Mecurial/ maverick/ off the cuff talents can be difficult to shoe horn into a modern day system where everyone needs to press off the ball and fall into shape if the press doesnt recover the ball.

Also they need to be consistant in their performance levels to be afforded the leeway they need to express themselves on the pitch. Easier said than done. The only way to incorporate them is to shoe horn them in a 10 role otherwise you risk the opposition overloading your fullback, when your flair/off the cuff winger doesnt track back.

Personally, id rather we had saint maximin and ousmane demebele on our wings rather than sancho and anthony. The former are wingers with explosive pace and trickery, who get fans off their seats and entertain. Stick two workhorses in the middle of the park to make up for their lack of defensive work and just be entertained.

What do you mean? Antony uses (or tries) to use skills more than any other footballer in the Premier League. Sure he's already got completely slated for overindulgent play and he’s only at the club 3 months.

 

[Red Rash]

I think it's possible for players to be exciting even if it's not due to tricks and flair. For example in the current United team I find Casemiro and Martinez exciting due to their no nonsense style and much more progressive passing than we've been used to in recent years.

In terms of players who get you off your seat when they get the ball Garnacho is probably the one right now purely because you know he will just get the ball and attack the defence constantly

 

[SambaBoy]

I thought the football by Brazil's front 5 tonight was very exciting from the lot of them, and probably some of the most exciting football Brazil have played in a World Cup since 2002. Lots of skills, showboating, quality moves.

You used to be able to rely on Brazil to put up a good show but the Dunga years really soured it. They finally have enough good players now again, not just Neymar, to put on a show.



What do you mean? Antony uses (or tries) to use skills more than any other footballer in the Premier League. Sure he's already got completely slated for overindulgent play and he’s only at the club 3 months.

I wouldn't say Antony is entertaining to watch. He does tricks but doesn't beat his defender, like the silly spin thing he does - doesn't add anything. Players like Ronaldinho would do an elastico to beat a man, drop six stepovers. It was entertaining and effective.

When Antony actually tries to beat a man, he normally resorts to using his pace and going on the outside. He doesn't really attack his man that often.

 

[Red Pumpkin]

Djalminha (deportivo says hi).

Each to their own but ronaldinho was the most entertaining player ive seen. I havent seen enough of djalminha other than youtube clips. But apparently djalminha was doing tricks and skills that infuenced ronaldinho.

I love Ronaldinho too. He made an whole generation want to play jogo bonito. And unlike Neymar there were not a single hater. Robinho was also entertaining. And I also believe Elano is one of the most underrated of that generation. Diego Ribas too. I'm to young to remember Djalminha, Mauro Silva and the rest. But Deportivo were crazy good for a while like Valencia and Zaragoza.

 

[dinostar77]

I thought the football by Brazil's front 5 tonight was very exciting from the lot of them, and probably some of the most exciting football Brazil have played in a World Cup since 2002. Lots of skills, showboating, quality moves.

You used to be able to rely on Brazil to put up a good show but the Dunga years really soured it. They finally have enough good players now again, not just Neymar, to put on a show.



What do you mean? Antony uses (or tries) to use skills more than any other footballer in the Premier League. Sure he's already got completely slated for overindulgent play and he’s only at the club 3 months.

He doesnt use skills to beat a man, but for the sake of showboating imho.

 

[FattyFooty]

Neymar on form is insane. Magic.

Haaland is just insane train. Everybody seems to think its a must to have stepovers or ballcontrol like Best to be exiting, we should love all styles.

Ronaldo untill recently. He had amazing high jumps, goals, tricks.

I also find Pulisic very cool. Hope there is some truth to it.

Bellingham i can find good midfielders exiting too, and this would be the perfect example.

 

[FrankFoot]

Musiala, Dembélé, Messi,Neymar, Mbappe,Pedri,Foden, etc

There are, but the excitement is being kicked out of football due to the sport becoming more and more about systems and efficiency, part and parcel of Football going mainstream worldwide.
Before the 90s, Football was only played seriously in SouthAmerica and Europe, the rest of world was basically playing amateur football, and the only way smaller nations have a chance is by being more systemic and prioritizing workrate, which makes the game robotic.

 

[Stacks]

It’s weird that people talk about Ronaldinho as if he’s the flair player from the 2000s that you’d have found in all decades prior, and since then they’ve just disappeared. There’s few players from previous decades that played with his kind of flamboyance while reaching his peaks in last decades too. It’s not evidence of a decline, it’s recognition of an exception. This era is more systems based but he was hardly the example of the typical player from that era. There were players in prior decades full of flair that weren’t anywhere near as good, but that puts an entirely different spin on it.

Here’s a list of all of the Ballon d’Or winners since it started in 1956. In most decades you can’t even find one player with more flair than Messi. The flair players of the past generally weren’t that good, and were just remembered fondly in highlight reels of international tournaments. The kind of highlight reels that make Kudus or Al-Dawsari look spectacular if you only catch a glimpse of them, but don’t linger long when you see them in an era over-saturated with football.

Ronaldinho was really unusual in being primarily a flair player while also being spectacularly good at his peak. Players like Rivaldo or Figo were not. They were just like Hazard or Neymar, who were neither as good nor as flamboyant, while facing competition who were both less efficient and less eye-catching. Excellent players all the same but they weren’t in Ronaldinho’s league in terms of entertainment, nor in Messi’s league in terms of quality.

Using Ronaldinho and Zidane as metrics is pointless. Ronaldinho is an outlier; you won't find another one, so he hardly counts. Zidane, too, he's not a player you're going to see replicated. Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, Ousmane Dembélé and the like are out there. Interestingly, fans call Dembélé unproductive when he plays with abandon, so is flair particularly appreciated over productivity anymore?

I agree Ronaldino took it too far so it cannot be the standard. but Jay Jay Okocha was exciting to watch especially taking the piss out of arsenal.

Antony could be if he had any effectiveness to his tricks. A lot of them seem to be in front of the defender achieving feck all.

Its fake flair.

You're limiting this just to excitement in elite footballers. They aren't the only ones that provide excitement

A trip back to 2004 and Ronaldinho, Zidane, Henry, Ronaldo, Cristiano, Okocha, Van der Vaart and Totti were all playing. The excitement and flair of players today doesn't come close to this list of players.

Amen. Robinho, Denilson, Djalminha, Bolasie,

I wouldn't say Antony is entertaining to watch. He does tricks but doesn't beat his defender, like the silly spin thing he does - doesn't add anything. Players like Ronaldinho would do an elastico to beat a man, drop six stepovers. It was entertaining and effective.

When Antony actually tries to beat a man, he normally resorts to using his pace and going on the outside. He doesn't really attack his man that often.

I agree with this.

 

[T00lsh3d]

Thread needs more Trundle

 

[Bojan Djordjic]

Neymar is one of the most exciting players that ever played the game.

Few are as technically gifted, as efficient and as productive

The Neymar disrespect is so baffling. He’s a cock and made a very poor decision going to PSG but he’s objectively one of the greatest players that’s ever played.

He gets kicked from pillar to post in every game and people only recognise him for his diving even though he does jaw droppingly skillfull stuff in almost every game