Best footballer by year of birth

MVBDX

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Ramos has had a better career than Neuer surely
 

Red Stone

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Belgium absolutely took the piss in '91. Two of the very best players of this generation born within 6 months of each other in towns just over 100km apart.
 

Halds

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50 - Lato
51 - Keegan
52 - Simonsen
53 - Zico
54 - Kempes
55 - Platini
56 - Rossi
57 - Elkjaer
58 - Sanchez
59 - Schuster
 

lysglimt

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Damn you all for ruining my sleep when I need it - but this was too fun not to try :)

1901 Ricardo Zamora
1902 Josep Samitier
1905 Guilermo Stabile
1907 Dixie Dean
1908 Eddie Hapgood
1909 Oldrich Nejedly
1910 Giuseppe Meazza
1911 Antonio Sastre
1913 Leonidas/Silvio Piola
1914 Attilio Garcia
1915 Stanley Matthews
1916 Jose Manuel Moreno
1917 Larbi Benbarek
1919 Valentina Mazzola
1920 Fritz Walter
1921 Gunnar Nordahl
1922 Tom Finney
1925 Juan Schiaffino/Nat Lofthouse
1926 Alfredo di Stefano
1927 Ladislao Kubala
1928 Didi
1929 Sandor Kocsis
1931 John Charles
1935 Luis Suarez (Spain - not Uruguay) / Omar Sivori
1936 Duncan Edwards
1937 Bobby Charlton
1938 Jose Altafini
1939 Amancio Amaro
1940 Pele
1941 Bobby Moore
1942 Eusebio
1943 Gianni Rivera
1944 Jairzinho
1945 Franz Beckenbauer
1946 Roberto Rivellino/George Best
1947 Johan Cruyff
1948 Ray Clemence
1949 Ruud Krol
1950 Grzegors Lato
1951 Johan Neeskens
1952 Allan Simonsen
1953 Zico/Scirea/Gentile
1954 Socrates
1955 Michel Platini
1956 Paolo Rossi
1957 Glenn Hoddle
1958 Hugo Sanchez
1959 Carlo Ancelotti
1960 Diego Maradona
1961 Lothar Mattheus
1962 Ruud Gullitt
1963 Ronald Koeman
1964 Marco Van Basten
1965 Gheorghe Hagi
 

MVBDX

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Neuer basically redefined, or at the very least perfected an entire position and has cemented the term "Sweeper Keeper" into the modern football lexicon.

Sergio Ramos had nice hair.
The thread is about best footballers for each year, which would translate to having more accomplishments (individual or otherwise), not your random metric in your head.

Neuer has had fewer years at the top, he got into the picture later, and got out of it sooner than Ramos.
 

One Night Only

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Neuer is one of the most overrated players ever. His amazing sweeper keeper style has got him in loads of trouble over the years. Well overrated. If he was a premiership keeper the media would destroy his stupidity.
 

Infordin

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1972 is ridiculously stacked. Zidane, Rivaldo, Figo and Nedved were all born that year.
 

Infordin

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1970 - Cafu
1971 - Keane
1972 - Zidane
1973 - Giggs
1974 - Del Piero
1975 - Beckham
1976 - Ronaldo
1977 - Henry
1978 - Buffon
1979 - Pirlo
1980 - Ronaldinho
1981 - Ibrahimovic
1982 - Kaka
1983 - Ribery
1984 - Iniesta
1985 - Ronaldo
1986 - Ramos
1987 - Messi
1988 - Aguero
1989 - Bale
1990 - Kroos
1991 - Hazard
1992 - Neymar
1993 - Kane
1994 - Sterling
1995 - Kimmich
1996 - Sane
1997 - Lautaro
1998 - Mbappe
1999 - Felix
2000 - Sancho
 

Snow

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1988 isn't highly debatable. I'd probably go with Agüero but Lewandowski and Sanchéz are also in the picture and personally I'm partial to Marcelo. Simply the most enjoyable full back that I've watched and an excellent footballer. Yeah, I'm going with Marcelo for the '88 slot.
 

Big Ben Foster

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1898 - Hector Pedro Scarone
1903 - Matthias Sindelar
1912 - Domingos da Giya
1913 - Leonidas da Silva
1915 - Arsenio Erico / Sir Stanley Matthews
1916 - Jose Moreno
1918 - Adolfo Pedernea
1920 - Friedrich Walter
1921 - Zizinho
1925 - Nilton Santos / Juan Alberto Skjaffino
1926 - Alfredo Di Stefano
1927 - Ferenz Puskas
1928 - Didi
1929 - Lev Yashin
1930 - Bellini / Gilmar
1931 - Raymond Kopa
1933 - Garrincha / Just Fontaine
1935 - Omar Sivori
1936 - Uwe Seeler
1937 - Sir Bobby Charlton / Gordon Banks
1939 - Igor Chislenko
1940 - Denis Law
1941 - Albert Shesternev
1942 - Dino Zoff / Eusebio / Giacinto Facchetti
1943 - Gianni Rivera
1944 - Carlos Alberto / Josef Dieter “Zepp” Meier
1945 - Gerd Muller
1946 - Elias Figueroa / George Best
1947 - Tostao
1949 - Teofilo Cubillas
1952 - Roge Milla / Oleg Blokhin
1953 - Zico / Jean Mari Pfaff
1954 - Harald “Toni” Schumacher
1955 - Carl-Heinz Rummennige
1956 - Paolo Rossi
1957 - Rinat Dasaev
1958 - Hugo Sanchez
1959 - Anatoly Demianenko
1961 - Lotthar Mattheus
1962 - Ruud Gullit
1963 - Peter Schmeichel / Ronald Koeman
1964 - Marco van Basten
1965 - Jose Luis Chilavert
1966 - Romario
1967 - Claudio Caniggia / Roberto Baggio / Matthias Sammer
1968 - Paolo Maldini
1969 - Oliver Kahn
1970 - Cafu
1971 - Roy Keane
1972 - Luis Figo
1973 - Ryan Giggs / Fabio Cannavarro
1974 - Alessandro del Piero / Paul Scholes
1977 - Raul
1978 - Gianluigi Buffon
1980 - Xavi / Ronaldinho
1981 - Iker Casillas
Surely Pelé for 1940?
 

simonhch

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Ronaldinho and I born in the same year. It was a close call, but I graciously accept defeat to that lovable goofy toothed bastard.
 

Alemar

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Ronaldinho and I born in the same year. It was a close call, but I graciously accept defeat to that lovable goofy toothed bastard.
Xavi says “hi” then :)
It would be an extremely close call. Almost like 1945 (Beckenbauer and Gerd Muller)
 

Invictus

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Ok - I ll give you that one. I actually had a hard time finding good footballers from 1957...anyone ?

Although Dasayev is also a good shout, @Alemar. Arguably the best goalkeeper of the 1980s! :drool:
 

Alemar

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Although Dasayev is also a good shout, @Alemar. Arguably the best goalkeeper of the 1980s! :drool:
I thought about Robson, but think Dasaev was clearly a higher calibre player (it shouldn’t matter that Robson played for Man Utd - it’s similar with Romario who is clearly ahead of Cantona for 1966)
 

Zlatattack

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Why the hell is Freddy Adu there? :lol:

My birth year, 1984, is Iniesta, without a doubt.
Freddie Adu when he was young was hailed as the next Pele. He flopped big time despite all this hype following him for years.
 

Alemar

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It’s actually unbelievable how much weaker representatives of current generation are on the list compared to historical figures.

Starting from 1988 year of birth onwards, there is only one player who might be compared with the likes of Cruyff, van Basten, Di Stefano etc - Mbappe (and even then he is only a prospect and will need to fulfil potential to become a true great). All the rest are a tier (if not two or three) below even
 

Omahahaha

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Over Casillas? I would say it is unlikely
I am biased, prefer attacking players. Very difficult to compare goalkeepers with defenders or attackers.

That being said, Casillas was a beast in his peak and has had a great career.
 

Alemar

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I am biased, prefer attacking players. Very difficult to compare goalkeepers with defenders or attackers.
Not just you - many people are biased in this way :) It's not a coincidence that only Yashin has ever won Ballon D'Or as a goalkeeper
 

NinjaZombie

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Freddie Adu when he was young was hailed as the next Pele. He flopped big time despite all this hype following him for years.
Exactly why I'm asking why he's there.

Seeing all those other names and then seeing his was jarring. :lol:
 

Lyricist

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Neuer is one of the most overrated players ever. His amazing sweeper keeper style has got him in loads of trouble over the years. Well overrated. If he was a premiership keeper the media would destroy his stupidity.

Ridiculous. “The British media would destroy his stupidity.”
You’re talking about Manuel Neuer, not about what reactions to posts like yours should really consist of.

Xabi Alonso has also played with prime Casillas for ages but called Neuer “by far the best goalkeeper he had ever played with” after only a couple of months of being at Bayern.

Aside of completely inventing and defining the role of the “modern” goalkeeper, he’s also an insane shot stopper, as well as very dominant in the box. Here’s a video for you with just reflex saves and no sweeping, should you have forgotten that he can keep shots out too.
 
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Mrs Smoker

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1872 Joe Cassidy
1874 Billy Meredith
1884 Sandy Turnbull
1885 George Wall
1886 Enoch James West
1898 Joseph Spence

1918 Jack Rowley
1919 Johnny Carey
1929 Roger Byrne

1932 Bill Foulkes
1933 Dennis Viollet
1934 David Herd
1936 Duncan Edwards
1937 Bobby Charlton

1940 Denis Law
1941 Tony Dunne
1942 Alex Stepney
1946 George Best
1949 Martin Buchan

1955 Steve Coppell
1956 Frank Stapleton
1957 Bryan Robson

1960 Steve Bruce
1963 Peter Schmeichel
1965 Denis Irwin
1966 Eric Cantona

1970 Edwin van der Sar
1971 Roy Keane
1972 Jaap Stam
1973 Ryan Giggs
1974 Paul Scholes
1975 Gary Neville
1976 Ruud van Nistelrooy
1977 Phil Neville
1978 Rio Ferdinand
1979 Wes Brown

1980 Alan Smith
1981 Nemanja Vidić
1983 Robin van Persie
1984 Darren Fletcher
1985 Wayne Rooney
1986 Luis Nani
1987 Marouane Fellaini
1988 Javier Hernandez
1989 Chris Smalling

1990 David De Gea
1992 Phil Jones
1995 Anthony Martial
1997 Marcus Rashford