Yes, in my view.
Maybe you could bracket him with the usual suspects like Pele, Maradonna and Messi.
Best 'all-round' Footballer Ever?
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In the latest episode of the United Hour Podcast, Nik @Rood and Imran @Annihilate Now! start with the good news by celebrating Manchester United Women's emphatic FA Cup win over Spurs at Wembley and the future of manager Marc Skinner.
Then it's the bad news and the ever worsening form of our Men with losses to Arsenal and Palace.
Finally the main debate - ETH Out now or keep him until the end of the season - if not longer. Are you Team Nik or Team Imran?
Maybe you could bracket him with the usual suspects like Pele, Maradonna and Messi.
None of those are considered complete players. So, I think he is out of place here.
Best was the complete player. He could shoot, pass, dribble, head the ball and tackle as well if not better than anyone.
Yaya Toure and Iniesta are worth a mention.
I don't buy it.
Dani Alves and Lahm are the best playing today IMO.
I reckon Zidane could play anywhere. He just chose not to.
Phillip Neville
Brazil 82. Pretty sure you could have allocated them random positions to play and then asked them to interchange throughout the match and they'd all still have looked comfortable. That said, they lost to Italy.
Freaks are considered as outliers and generally not included, but Yea maybe there are a few. Even those are best known for their best positions, I think?
Don't worry, I was just making a fat joke.
Cristiano Ronaldo
This!
I've never seen anybody playing so many positions with such ease and without drop in quality (RB, LB, CB, DM, CM, RM, LM).
didnt watch enough of Pele and Maradona to say much but saying that Messi isnt complete is more then just wrong, its ridiculous!
The guy is pretty much the best midfielder, winger and striker in the world in the same time! Dont think there was anyone in the history of the game that had so many qualities on such a high level.
Team player, unselfish and yet he scores for fun + he can score any type of goal as well. Left foot, right foot, header. His heading ability is pretty damn good but obviously he isnt using that talent often for obvious reasons.
He is fast, mobile and strong as feck, he maybe looks slim and as a kid but in a 50:50 there is only few players that i would back against him.
Dont think we need to spend words about his talents on the ball and his talents off the ball, lets just say he is probably the best false nine in history of the game, tactical role where off the ball movement is crucial.
And there is the most debatable one, his defending. Unlike his others talents, this one isnt on God level but he i still a pretty decent defender when he wants to be, takes the ball off you in a very clean fashion. I would argue that his defending is at least equal to lets say Keane/Vieira dribbling skills or Zanetti's scoring/playmaking skills etc.
At this moment in time i think Alaba(obviously not counting Messi) is probably the most complete player out there and from the history its probably Cruyff from what i seen but i watched Cruyff more then any other great from the past so it isnt really a fair fight
Is this a joke?
Guys like Di Stefano and Beckenbauer were way more complete.didnt watch enough of Pele and Maradona to say much but saying that Messi isnt complete is more then just wrong, its ridiculous!
The guy is pretty much the best midfielder, winger and striker in the world in the same time! Dont think there was anyone in the history of the game that had so many qualities on such a high level.
Team player, unselfish and yet he scores for fun + he can score any type of goal as well. Left foot, right foot, header. His heading ability is pretty damn good but obviously he isnt using that talent often for obvious reasons.
He is fast, mobile and strong as feck, he maybe looks slim and as a kid but in a 50:50 there is only few players that i would back against him.
Dont think we need to spend words about his talents on the ball and his talents off the ball, lets just say he is probably the best false nine in history of the game, tactical role where off the ball movement is crucial.
And there is the most debatable one, his defending. Unlike his others talents, this one isnt on God level but he i still a pretty decent defender when he wants to be, takes the ball off you in a very clean fashion. I would argue that his defending is at least equal to lets say Keane/Vieira dribbling skills or Zanetti's scoring/playmaking skills etc.
At this moment in time i think Alaba(obviously not counting Messi) is probably the most complete player out there and from the history its probably Cruyff from what i seen but i watched Cruyff more then any other great from the past so it isnt really a fair fight
Debatable. Its really hard to judge someone you dont watch week by week but even if they are more complete that doesnt mean Messi isnt.
Messi is probably the most complete attacker to have played the game. His defending in games is probably why he's not on the top of the list as he doesn't do much of it.didnt watch enough of Pele and Maradona to say much but saying that Messi isnt complete is more then just wrong, its ridiculous!
The guy is pretty much the best midfielder, winger and striker in the world in the same time! Dont think there was anyone in the history of the game that had so many qualities on such a high level.
Team player, unselfish and yet he scores for fun + he can score any type of goal as well. Left foot, right foot, header. His heading ability is pretty damn good but obviously he isnt using that talent often for obvious reasons.
He is fast, mobile and strong as feck, he maybe looks slim and as a kid but in a 50:50 there is only few players that i would back against him.
Dont think we need to spend words about his talents on the ball and his talents off the ball, lets just say he is probably the best false nine in history of the game, tactical role where off the ball movement is crucial.
And there is the most debatable one, his defending. Unlike his others talents, this one isnt on God level but he i still a pretty decent defender when he wants to be, takes the ball off you in a very clean fashion. I would argue that his defending is at least equal to lets say Keane/Vieira dribbling skills or Zanetti's scoring/playmaking skills etc.
At this moment in time i think Alaba(obviously not counting Messi) is probably the most complete player out there and from the history its probably Cruyff from what i seen but i watched Cruyff more then any other great from the past so it isnt really a fair fight
the only time i've seen Messi running back to his own half, was running after Kaka... and its wasn't pretty.
Well, if we look at the question in the op:
Then I'm not sure how you can argue that Messi can defend and attack. He's obviously a complete forward, but that's a different story.
Di Stefano
Duncan Edwards
Beckenbaur
Memphis Depay
John O'Shea
Zanetti
Duncan Edwards
Beckenbaur
Memphis Depay
John O'Shea
Zanetti
Ramos
Pelé was a surprisingly good goalkeeper.
unfortunately not
im aware that this days he isnt doing much but that doesnt mean he is poor at it. In earlier days he did his fair share in barcelonas high press game.
my mistake for not reading the OP but then we aint looking for the most all-round player. We are looking for the best defender among forwards and best attacker among defenders.
No, we're looking for someone who contributed heavily in all phases of the game. That doesn't have to be a forward or a defender.
He belongs in the bracket of most over rated players not best all round footballer ever.
well, nobody contributed in all phases.....by the look of things we are limiting xy number of phases as long the player dipped his fingers in both big areas of the game, attacking and defending.
True, however since Guardiola left he doesn't press any where near as much as he used to.unfortunately not
im aware that this days he isnt doing much but that doesnt mean he is poor at it. In earlier days he did his fair share in barcelonas high press game.
That's not true.
Giggs? LW, LB, RW, ACM, ST, CM
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He was a box to box striker at that time
Maradona is as round as they come, so he gets my vote.
De Stefano.
Charlton might be worth a mention at least?
Charlton might be worth a mention at least?
/thread
John O'Shea. Played in every position in the team, even in goal. Don't remember any other player playing so many roles.
Yaya Toure, from the current generation.
Zidane?
For the people saying you can't mention Keane. He played centre half alongside (I think) Bruce a few times, and played well. He also right mid early on, and when we first signed him I'm pretty sure he was seen as an attacking midfielder. Although, he says he improved his game when he realized his role wasn't about getting forward so much.
His dribbling is probably what would exclude him, though I do recall seeing him drive past opponents quite a bit.
His dribbling is probably what would exclude him, though I do recall seeing him drive past opponents quite a bit.
Also, he did a step over against Rangers in 2003