Best Dribblers in World Football

[IrishRedDevil]

There is probably threads like this in the past, but to bring it up to date with the emergence of the new crop of top talents, I have been wondering who is the current list of best dribblers in the World.

In particular I am keen to see where Martial ranks on the list (since this is a United forum), as the guy truly has the ball on a string running at high speed and this season he seems to be even more hungry to blitz past several players and its a joy to watch.

This is an emphasis on players with sensational close ball control, so I want to avoid listing players that more commonly knock the ball past players and try beat them with sheer pace.

Are players like Suarez, Robben and Ribery still as effective with their dribbling? I haven't watched them closely in a while. Or have they been overtaken by the likes of Mbappe and Dembele?

I have added a few names and tiers below to start discussions. Who am I overrating and what names would you add and where?

Tier 1: Messi, Hazard, Neymar
Tier 2: Martial, Dybala, Ousmane Dembele, Iniesta
Tier 3: Mbappe, B.Silva, Douglas Costa

 

[MyOnlySolskjaer]

Alexis Sanchez, Raheem Sterling are Tier 2.

 

[Welbeckham]

Martial is definitely our only player who belongs in this discussion. Pogba has brilliant technique but maybe lacks a bit in the change of pace.

Haven't seen too much of Robben lately, but he was easily top 5 2-3 years ago.

Then there are players like Modric, Isco and Silva who have ridiculous close control, which, for me, makes them great at dribbling.

Aguero is also a very good dribbler, difficult player to tackle.

 

[2mufc0]

Dembele should be top tier, none come close to Messi though, he should be on a tier on his own.

 

[Infordin]

Are players like Suarez, Robben and Ribery still as effective with their dribbling? I haven't watched them closely in a while. Or have they been overtaken by the likes of Mbappe and Dembele?

Suarez has been horrible for the past 12 months now, he has an elephant's first touch and shouldn't be mentioned among the best dribblers. Ribery is old and slow, and can't beat any good fullback anymore. Robben is the only one who still got it (when he's fit).

 

[Canagel]

Arjen Robben is the best of the rest after Messi.

 

[Scarecrow]

Dembele is better than those in tier 2. Pogba and maybe Marcelo and Modric should get a mention.

 

[Arka_BleedingRed]

Isco, Robben should be Tier 2. Pogba, D. Silva, Adama Traore, Wilf Zaha should be Tier 3.

 

[totaalvoetbal]

This is such a generic question. What kind of dribbling is it because different parts of the pitch require different types of movement.

As for the different types of dribbling I narrow it down to 3 types. Obviously players will cross over all 3 but I am being very general here:



Type 1: Press resistant players that are superb with dribbling with their back to goal. They usually operate in the midfield and use feints and positioning to escape man marking and are strategic with their dribbling due to operating in a more dangerous area (for their team).

Tier 1: Modric, Moussa Dembele, Iniesta, Gundogan (fit)

Tier 2: Kroos, Verratti, Jorghinho, Busquets, Weigl, David Silva, Shinji Kagawa, Nabil Keita, Wijnaldum.
Tier 3: De Bruyne


Type 2 players that once they face opposition goal they use their technique and ball control, more so than their athleticism to evade markers and are exceptional in tight spaces. They usually have fantastic burst of pace, coupled with their excellent ball control, it's almost like the ball is glued to their feet.

Tier 1: Messi, Hazard, Isco
Tier 1.5: Dybala, Robben, Ousmane Dembele
Tier 2: Neymar, Bernado Silva, Martial, Courinho
Tier 3: Insigne, Mertens, Alexis Sanchez, Mahrez


Type 3: usually explosive players that require the use of mainly their athleticism to evade a marker and usually are more effective with space in front of them As the marker is forced to choose between committing and getting beaten for pace or dropping deep leaving ball carrier more time to make a decision.

Tier 1: Bale, Mbappe, Mane, Salah
Tier 2: Douglas Costa, Cristiano Ronaldo, Zaha
Tier 3: Rashford, Aubameyang


Other players that are difficult to classify are Pogba who is quite press resistant and uses his body a lot more than the type 1 and is adept at running into space with the ball.

Loftus-Cheek is another player thay uses his body a lot and is great both with back turned both ways and with the right coaching can become elite in type 1.

Obviously players are a mix but I put them in types to highlight the general dribbling type.


The general pattern here is that type 1 dribblers are usually located centrally in midfield and are more strategic with their passing

Type 2 are central players usually that are also adept at playing wide but come inside into more compact areas because of their ball control

Type 3 usually operate on the wings were they can isolate their markers 1 vs 1s and are less effective in very compact areas.

They can come in central but will be at the tip. Mbappe is unusual for this type because of his incredible decision making and his associative abilities with his teammates so he doesn't use this when he doesn't have to.

 

[Hullyback]

Sadio Mane is pretty good. Dembele is the one I actively keep an eye out for though, plays like a kid in the park with his mates.

 

[Zlatattack]

Nani and Mahrez have both been good at dribbling.

 

[Welbeckham]

Moussa Dembele is an exceptional dribbler, which often goes under the radar, definitely amongst the very best dribblers in the Premier League.

 

[Redondo_Pirri]

No Isco, no disco

Also Marcelo and Kieta from redbull

 

[RedDevilCanuck]

Ben Arfa

 

[MeUnited]

Messi tier 1 on his own, Ousmane tier 2 with the likes of Neymar and Hazard, he's that good at dribbling with pace at people.

 

[Raees]

@totaalvoetbal somewhat agree with that approach.. assessing the best dribblers means taking into account various forms of running with the ball and beating players. The best dribbler would theoretically be able to master all the various ways of beating players but to be honest, someone like Messi defies convention by having a very simplistic yet uber effective way of beating players and therefore is in a league of his own.

So therefore the best dribbler is one who can:

1. beat players 1 v 1 on the run
2. beat them from a standing start
3. running into space (i.e. counters)
4. unpredictable with the ball
5. do it in various areas of the pitch (not just limited to one flank)
6. able to beat a player and show them a clean pair of heels (take the opponent/opponents out of the game
7. can beat defenders of a high calibre/be effective in big games when taking on opponents
8. consistently able to take on players throughout a game/season

and as a tie breaker in case all other things are even.. skill level with the ball i.e. can they beat players with agility and tricks, what range do they have or are they one dimensional. For me the 9th category should only come into play if all other factors are too close to call because just because someone doesn't have much flair tricks, doesn't mean they can't be the best dribbler in the business so it should only come into play if you can't decide on the other factors.

 

[AllezLesDiables]

Messi tier 1 on his own, Ousmane tier 2 with the likes of Neymar and Hazard, he's that good at dribbling with pace at people.

Hazard is above Messi. He's near the top if not at the top in successful dribbles and his success rate (high 70% compared to low 50% for Messi and Neymar) is the highest in the world by a fairly large margin.

 

[KirkDuyt]

Purely focussed on dribbling:

1. Messi
2. Robben
3. Neymar / Hazard / some other people

Yes, I am biased. No, I don't care

 

[Frasbul]

Emre Mor ahould be up there.
Not that he is a great player by any strech, but his dribbling is so reminiscent of Messi's.

 

[theralyst]

I agree with your tier 1. I'd add Robben in there too. But really, Messi is on his own.

 

[totaalvoetbal]

@totaalvoetbal somewhat agree with that approach.. assessing the best dribblers means taking into account various forms of running with the ball and beating players. The best dribbler would theoretically be able to master all the various ways of beating players but to be honest, someone like Messi defies convention by having a very simplistic yet uber effective way of beating players and therefore is in a league of his own.

So therefore the best dribbler is one who can:

1. beat players 1 v 1 on the run
2. beat them from a standing start
3. unpredictable with the ball
4. do it in various areas of the pitch (not just limited to one flank)
5. able to beat a player and show them a clean pair of heels (take the opponent/opponents out of the game
6. can beat defenders of a high calibre/be effective in big games when taking on opponents
7. consistently able to take on players throughout a game/season

and as a tie breaker in case all other things are even.. skill level with the ball i.e. can they beat players with agility and tricks, what range do they have or are they one dimensional. For me the 8th category should only come into play if all other factors are too close to call because just because someone doesn't have much flair tricks, doesn't mean they can't be the best dribbler in the business so it should only come into play if you can't decide on the other factors.

It's very difficult to judge these things which is why the eye test is important.

For example, beating a player 1 vs 1. Where did this one vs one occur? How did the player achieve this?

I would fear Gareth Bale if there is space behind the defensive line in a one vs one than I would Lionel Messi as with Bale there would be no recovery but Messi can be caught and fouled.

In the central midfield I would rather have Modric dribbling with his back go goal than Messi as he has more of a strategic mind than Messi who is still a forward at the end of the day.

 

[totaalvoetbal]

Hazard is above Messi. He's near the top if not at the top in successful dribbles and his success rate (high 70% compared to low 50% for Messi and Neymar) is the highest in the world by a fairly large margin.

I would say Hazards dribbling is as good as Messi's by the eye test. The difference is the end product and the players around them. Hazard is in between Neymar and Messi.

Hazard utilises his teammates more and that for me sums up his mentality as he is more of a great supplementary player than a killer like Messi and Neymar.

Neymar makes the wrong decision and attempts to dribble when there are better options whilst Messi has to dribble as the structure around him at Barcelona is poor.

Close control wise there is little difference between Messi and Hazard but they are both better and more effecient than Neymar. Neymar's dribbling is almost reminiscent of Cristiano's when he had better options but chose to engage in duels. Similar style.

 

[Raees]

It's very difficult to judge these things which is why the eye test is important.

For example, beating a player 1 vs 1. Where did this one vs one occur? How did the player achieve this?

I would fear Gareth Bale if there is space behind the defensive line in a one vs one than I would Lionel Messi as with Bale there would be no recovery but Messi can be caught and fouled.

In the central midfield I would rather have Modric dribbling with his back go goal than Messi as he has more of a strategic mind than Messi who is still a forward at the end of the day.

1. beat players 1 v 1 on the run
2. beat them from a standing start
3. running into space
4. unpredictable with the ball
5. do it in various areas of the pitch (not just limited to one flank, centre circle, in the hole, in the box)
6. able to beat a player and show them a clean pair of heels (take the opponent/opponents out of the game
7. can beat defenders of a high calibre/be effective in big games when taking on opponents
8. consistently able to take on players throughout a game/season

So I understand your concern (hence the tweak above), but this is why the fifth category comes into play. If Messi is decent at dribbling in midfield, but beats Modric everywhere else on the pitch, he deservedly should be labelled the better dribbler but of course all the other categories, when applying them you should try and do so with the context of their position in mind.

I'm just putting a post together of my own ratings and where I would place players.. gimme a sec.

 

[Luke1995]

Di Maria has an amazing combination of pace and technique, although his decision making lets him down sometimes. James is a good strategic dribbler with fantastic decision making but lacks a bit of pace. Not sure where i'd place them

 

[broccoli]

Brahimi has an ungodly ease getting past defenders with a mix of agility, acceleration and balance. He dribbles and gets by the line more than a handful of times every game. Only the final back is lacking, otherwise he would be world class.

 

[shamans]

Why do people say "world football" when discussing the best. Obviously the best are playing on a world level.

 

[RooneyLegend]

In terms of taking men on its 1 Messi, 2 Neymar, 3 Martial, 4 Hazard, 5 Dembele

 

[RooneyLegend]

Brahimi has an ungodly ease getting past defenders with a mix of agility, acceleration and balance. He dribbles and gets by the line more than a handful of times every game. Only the final back is lacking, otherwise he would be world class.

He's like a 'raw' version of iniesta, does all his twists and turns.

 

[Angry Virginian]

Mousa Dembele (Spurs) has to be in the tier 2 list. He plays deeper so most of his dribbles are in the middle of the park.

 

[Infordin]

Di Maria has an amazing combination of pace and technique, although his decision making lets him down sometimes. James is a good strategic dribbler with fantastic decision making but lacks a bit of pace. Not sure where i'd place them

Everyone in this thread has forgotten about him. A beast of a dribbler.

 

[AllezLesDiables]

I would say Hazards dribbling is as good as Messi's by the eye test. The difference is the end product and the players around them. Hazard is in between Neymar and Messi.

Hazard utilises his teammates more and that for me sums up his mentality as he is more of a great supplementary player than a killer like Messi and Neymar.

Neymar makes the wrong decision and attempts to dribble when there are better options whilst Messi has to dribble as the structure around him at Barcelona is poor.

Close control wise there is little difference between Messi and Hazard but they are both better and more effecient than Neymar. Neymar's dribbling is almost reminiscent of Cristiano's when he had better options but chose to engage in duels. Similar style.

Hazard has had Costa and Pedro/William with him. If anything it shows how little space he has and he still is dribbling at such successful rate.

Messi has had Neymar and Suarez which would give him and Neymar much greater spatial areas.

As I've been often saying if one applies the gravity concept from the NBA, Hazard has the greatest gravity of anyone playing in world football today.

Again showing what he is doing with his dribbling far surpasses what anyone else is doing.

 

[Ish]

Hazard has had Costa and Pedro/William with him. If anything it shows how little space he has and he still is dribbling at such successful rate.

Messi has had Neymar and Suarez which would give him and Neymar much greater spatial areas.

As I've been often saying if one applies the gravity concept from the NBA, Hazard has the greatest gravity of anyone playing in world football today.

Again showing what he is doing with his dribbling far surpasses what anyone else is doing.

I'm not sure what you're saying here. Are you saying Messi needs more space than Hazard to dribble and that Hazards a far superior dribbler than Messi?

 

[Laurentiu amt]

1. Messi
2. Pastore/Isco/Pogs/Neymar/Mane

I only rate dribbles by the logic "how likely is it to happen?" and that only depends on the player. I don't give a shite where the dribble is, if it's with the player's back on goal, or in defense/attack, that's just kids trying to pretend they understand the game and overdo stuff. And that doesn't do justice to the players that could do it all over the pitch, like Figo, Messi, Zizou, Ronaldo, Ronaldinho.

Good dribblers do it everywhere, otherwise, you're not good at it, that's why Messi is and will for ever be 1st on this list.

 

[Borat Sagdiyev]

This is such a generic question. What kind of dribbling is it because different parts of the pitch require different types of movement.

As for the different types of dribbling I narrow it down to 3 types. Obviously players will cross over all 3 but I am being very general here:



Type 1: Press resistant players that are superb with dribbling with their back to goal. They usually operate in the midfield and use feints and positioning to escape man marking and are strategic with their dribbling due to operating in a more dangerous area (for their team).

Tier 1: Modric, Moussa Dembele, Iniesta, Gundogan (fit)

Tier 2: Kroos, Verratti, Jorghinho, Busquets, Weigl, David Silva, Shinji Kagawa, Nabil Keita, Wijnaldum.
Tier 3: De Bruyne


Type 2 players that once they face opposition goal they use their technique and ball control, more so than their athleticism to evade markers and are exceptional in tight spaces. They usually have fantastic burst of pace, coupled with their excellent ball control, it's almost like the ball is glued to their feet.

Tier 1: Messi, Hazard, Isco
Tier 1.5: Dybala, Robben, Ousmane Dembele
Tier 2: Neymar, Bernado Silva, Martial, Courinho
Tier 3: Insigne, Mertens, Alexis Sanchez, Mahrez


Type 3: usually explosive players that require the use of mainly their athleticism to evade a marker and usually are more effective with space in front of them As the marker is forced to choose between committing and getting beaten for pace or dropping deep leaving ball carrier more time to make a decision.

Tier 1: Bale, Mbappe, Mane, Salah
Tier 2: Douglas Costa, Cristiano Ronaldo, Zaha
Tier 3: Rashford, Aubameyang


Other players that are difficult to classify are Pogba who is quite press resistant and uses his body a lot more than the type 1 and is adept at running into space with the ball.

Loftus-Cheek is another player thay uses his body a lot and is great both with back turned both ways and with the right coaching can become elite in type 1.

Obviously players are a mix but I put them in types to highlight the general dribbling type.


The general pattern here is that type 1 dribblers are usually located centrally in midfield and are more strategic with their passing

Type 2 are central players usually that are also adept at playing wide but come inside into more compact areas because of their ball control

Type 3 usually operate on the wings were they can isolate their markers 1 vs 1s and are less effective in very compact areas.

They can come in central but will be at the tip. Mbappe is unusual for this type because of his incredible decision making and his associative abilities with his teammates so he doesn't use this when he doesn't have to.

Awesome post -- totally agreed on all points.

 

[Luke1995]

Everyone in this thread has forgotten about him. A beast of a dribbler.

Probably because he is a forgotten figure in United's history. In the last world cup qualifiers match he toyed with Venezuela defenders until he came off injured.

 

[Frank Grimes]

Pulisic deserves a mention.

 

[ryadmahrez]

Hazard has had Costa and Pedro/William with him. If anything it shows how little space he has and he still is dribbling at such successful rate.

Messi has had Neymar and Suarez which would give him and Neymar much greater spatial areas.

As I've been often saying if one applies the gravity concept from the NBA, Hazard has the greatest gravity of anyone playing in world football today.

Again showing what he is doing with his dribbling far surpasses what anyone else is doing.

You are ignoring the playstyle of their teams. Barcelona plays far more often on the opposition half, Chelsea plays more often on the counter, which would give hazard more space to work with. You are looking at it from an NBA type of way, but the playingstyles are of more importance regarding spatial areas than the players. Messi also attempts his dribbles more through the middle, wherebther is less space, where as hazard comes more from the wing.

Do you have any data supporting your "gravity concept"? Find it hard to believe there is a player that attracts more defenders than Messi. especially considering Messi is still by far the best at beating multiple players at once. Other than that messi his dribbling more than any other player (ever)leads to goals/assists, which is the most difficult thing to do.

 

[Peyroteo]

I think as of this day Hazard and Neymar are every bit as good as Messi at dribbling. Hazard's not as agressive with it as the other two though.

Great post @totaalvoetbal. Completely agree

 

[Mcking]

tier 1: Messi
tier 2: Neymar Hazard Dembele
tier 3: Robben, Martial, Isco, iniesta(at his peak),
tier 4: Mbappe, Mane, Sane, Dybala, Modric Ronaldo(probably tier 2 at his peak)
Tier 5: De bruyne, Pogba.

 

[ryadmahrez]

This is such a generic question. What kind of dribbling is it because different parts of the pitch require different types of movement.

As for the different types of dribbling I narrow it down to 3 types. Obviously players will cross over all 3 but I am being very general here:



Type 1: Press resistant players that are superb with dribbling with their back to goal. They usually operate in the midfield and use feints and positioning to escape man marking and are strategic with their dribbling due to operating in a more dangerous area (for their team).

Tier 1: Modric, Moussa Dembele, Iniesta, Gundogan (fit)

Tier 2: Kroos, Verratti, Jorghinho, Busquets, Weigl, David Silva, Shinji Kagawa, Nabil Keita, Wijnaldum.
Tier 3: De Bruyne


Type 2 players that once they face opposition goal they use their technique and ball control, more so than their athleticism to evade markers and are exceptional in tight spaces. They usually have fantastic burst of pace, coupled with their excellent ball control, it's almost like the ball is glued to their feet.

Tier 1: Messi, Hazard, Isco
Tier 1.5: Dybala, Robben, Ousmane Dembele
Tier 2: Neymar, Bernado Silva, Martial, Courinho
Tier 3: Insigne, Mertens, Alexis Sanchez, Mahrez


Type 3: usually explosive players that require the use of mainly their athleticism to evade a marker and usually are more effective with space in front of them As the marker is forced to choose between committing and getting beaten for pace or dropping deep leaving ball carrier more time to make a decision.

Tier 1: Bale, Mbappe, Mane, Salah
Tier 2: Douglas Costa, Cristiano Ronaldo, Zaha
Tier 3: Rashford, Aubameyang


Other players that are difficult to classify are Pogba who is quite press resistant and uses his body a lot more than the type 1 and is adept at running into space with the ball.

Loftus-Cheek is another player thay uses his body a lot and is great both with back turned both ways and with the right coaching can become elite in type 1.

Obviously players are a mix but I put them in types to highlight the general dribbling type.


The general pattern here is that type 1 dribblers are usually located centrally in midfield and are more strategic with their passing

Type 2 are central players usually that are also adept at playing wide but come inside into more compact areas because of their ball control

Type 3 usually operate on the wings were they can isolate their markers 1 vs 1s and are less effective in very compact areas.

They can come in central but will be at the tip. Mbappe is unusual for this type because of his incredible decision making and his associative abilities with his teammates so he doesn't use this when he doesn't have to.

I wouldnt say moussa dembele is a stragetic dribbler, he often begins reckless dribbles and I would argue he uses more power to dribble than feints. Further you give Dybala far to much credit as a dribbler, he is certainly not better at it then neymar and nowhere close to Messi.