He's a great dribbler but I wouldn't call him slow, unless he's lost a lot of pace since his recent injury. He has (had) pretty impressive acceleration.
Agree with @Gio, Valerón wins this for me.
Best technical dribblers who weren't/aren't pacy
- Thread starter Joga Bonito
- Start date
He's a great dribbler but I wouldn't call him slow, unless he's lost a lot of pace since his recent injury. He has (had) pretty impressive acceleration.
Agree with @Gio, Valerón wins this for me.
Emile Heskey
Glenn Hoddle
What a dribbler
Jari Litmanen?
No, his dribbling relied on pace and acceleration. Messi's dribbling is very reminiscent of Heskey's.
Indeed.
M. Laudrup
Rivaldo
Savicevic
Litmanen
Baggio
Redondo
Veron
Zico
Ancelotti
Falcao (the brazilian)
Rivaldo
Savicevic
Litmanen
Baggio
Redondo
Veron
Zico
Ancelotti
Falcao (the brazilian)
Savicevic wasn't pacey ?
Riquelme, if he had better pace he would've been among the legends of the game
And Iniesta can be quick, but this move never needed pace. Just exceptional timing. My favourite dribble.
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Also, a lot of Laudrup mentions in the thread...I think he was really quick. And unlike Iniestam a lot of his dribbling relied on his quickness. When he playes on the left, he went outside his fullback, unlike Inietsa who would naturally drift in. Often Laudrup simply outpaced his opponents. Of course, he could do the purely technical dribble too...
The move at 3:58 is just sick.
(From around 0:40 to 2:00 in the video is a good amount of him using his pace to burn past opponents.)
The move at 3:58 is just sick.
(From around 0:40 to 2:00 in the video is a good amount of him using his pace to burn past opponents.)
Hleb and Berbatov come to mind.
Iniesta is way too quick to be mentioned here.
Iniesta is way too quick to be mentioned here.
Boban, Le Tissier, Gascoigne, Prosineske, Kinkladze, Rui Costa, Riquelme, Hagi, Zidane sorry if all been mentioned I skipped from page 1 to the end Still a lot of these players had a burst of pace over 5 yards and were powerful runners
Still a lot of these players had a burst of pace over 5 yards and were powerful runnersAlso Laudrup was amazing and his borther was pretty damn good too, both had pace for sure though if not blistering. If you put either of those in you could add the likes of Maradona and George Weah for example. I think most of the players mentioned simply show even without blistering pace you need a burst of pace over 5 yards or power in running.
Riquelme and Valeron are probably the only ones I see here who had no pace, power or burst of pace. You could add Berkamp and Le Tissier but personally I dont think they were excellent dribblers they just had great touch. Riquelme all day long for me in terms of the thread
Pirlo has been criminally overlooked in this thread. Watch an footage of him at Euro 2012. The assist for Di Natale against Spain or the game against England.
He is an extremely skilful player but he is great at manoeuvring in tight spaces with deft touches, to work the angles better for more passing opportunities ala Paul Scholes. He isn't a dribbler in the conventional sense of the word.
My definition of a dribbler is someone who can go past opponents with the ball at his feet. I've seen Pirlo do it plenty of times.
Not at the top level but Paddy McCourt goes past people with ease.
Figo never had great pace but was an incredible dribbler.
Iniesta springs to mind instantly.
Garrincha wasn't all that pacey was he?
He was pretty pacy but a fine dribbler and a showboater who makes CR7 look like a saint. I remember reading about him being puzzled when the Brazil players started celebrating after their world cup final in 1958. Apparently he thought they had just finished the first leg and there was still another round to go... Really a carefree happy-go-lucky footballer who loved beating his opponent twice just for the fun of it.
Alex Hleb was a pretty nifty dribbler. I remember one mental dribble through the entire Liverpool defence before he was blatantly pulled down by fkin Kuyt.No peno, cnut of a ref.
Agree. Nearly all the players being mentioned had a lot of short-burst acceleration and the agility to go with it, which isn't the same as the super slow motion of Riquelme and Valeron.
Valderrama is another in the truer mold of a slow-as-snails dribbler.
Garrincha's short burst acceleration is in the top percentile to have ever played. From a standing start, he could leave a defender for dead, so although he wasn't really fast at top speed, he couldn't be caught from a standing start, which is different to genuinely slow players with no turn of acceleration etc.
matt le tissier. I was always truly befuddled at how he ever went past player despite not moving himself.
Zola and Nedved in their later years.
Laudrup was an incredible footballer, those videos are awesome.
Adding a vote for Riquelme. He's also one of my fave non-United players of all time. The way he could play when he was on song, it's like a silly fantasy of total control and total cool.
First of all, how do you define pacy? Berbatov is faster than Iniesta over a distance for instance...
The best dribbler I've seen who lacked any sort of pace, be it over a distance or short bursts, was Erik Mykland who played for Norway and IK Start. He was simply amazing at dribbling, but his fitness was abysmal.
Slow top speed, but good bursts:
Iniesta tops this one for me, but Silva comes close. I also think that Suarez is in this category. He's nippy off the mark, like a turtle in terms of top speed and a really sound dribbler.
Slowish off the mark but decent top speed:
Zidane for me, but Ibrahimovic is also fantastic - Berbatov isn't half bad either.
The best dribbler I've seen who lacked any sort of pace, be it over a distance or short bursts, was Erik Mykland who played for Norway and IK Start. He was simply amazing at dribbling, but his fitness was abysmal.
Slow top speed, but good bursts:
Iniesta tops this one for me, but Silva comes close. I also think that Suarez is in this category. He's nippy off the mark, like a turtle in terms of top speed and a really sound dribbler.
Slowish off the mark but decent top speed:
Zidane for me, but Ibrahimovic is also fantastic - Berbatov isn't half bad either.
Arteta before his cruciate injury took his mobility.
Chris Waddle, if he hasn't already been mentioned. Saw him early on when he was at Newcastle and he looked like was dragging a piano but then he was past 2/3 players with ease
I meant players who were both slow and fairly slow off the mark. I really wanted to take pace/acceleration out of the equation as much as possible to truly highlight the technique/quick though of mind behind the elegant/classy/majestic dribblers who didn't use pace and acceleration. The slower/less explosive you are the better. For example ,if Metesacker was a good dribbler he would have won this outright. But for discussion sake I meant the latter category of yours as acceleration is more vital for good dribbling than pace. A player with poor technique can dribble better with acceleration relative to one with pace.
Surely that's then just pushing the ball past a player and running after it?
Yep something like that, imagine Silva with poor technique trying to dribble when compared to Zidane with poor technique. Silva would have more success as he has better acceleration. That's why I chose the category of Slowish off the mark but decent top speed over Slow top speed, but good bursts for my thread to truly distinguish dribblers who used technique primarily instead of acceleration.
Carrick when he does his random pirouettes after an interception in his own half. Ronaldinho watches in awe.
Good! Like this thread btw.
Dribbling is often associated wit pace, however. Therefore, you sometimes have to look at good dribblers that don't rely on pace as much. Berbatov wasn't slow, but he never relied on pace. His first touch was also more than not good enough to leave the defenders for dead, but he could also dribble if called upon. Messi doesn't rely on pace for his dribbles either, and I'm not sure that Iniesta does, but he does often use a little burst to get away from his defenders. Ronaldinho didn't rely on pace but rather quick movements.
In terms of not using pace at all, I think Zidane is the best I've seen. Most dribblers use quick movements and twists to get away from their defenders; Zidane used powers and fairly big movements. Carrick ain't to shabby
Concerning Bergkamp, he wasn't slow in his youth - in his later years he was probably a slightly better version of RVP.
Good! Like this thread btw.
Dribbling is often associated wit pace, however. Therefore, you sometimes have to look at good dribblers that don't rely on pace as much. Berbatov wasn't slow, but he never relied on pace. His first touch was also more than not good enough to leave the defenders for dead, but he could also dribble if called upon. Messi doesn't rely on pace for his dribbles either, and I'm not sure that Iniesta does, but he does often use a little burst to get away from his defenders. Ronaldinho didn't rely on pace but rather quick movements.
In terms of not using pace at all, I think Zidane is the best I've seen. Most dribblers use quick movements and twists to get away from their defenders; Zidane used powers and fairly big movements. Carrick ain't to shabby
Concerning Bergkamp, he wasn't slow in his youth - in his later years he was probably a slightly better version of RVP.
I understand the point that you are making and I've acknowledged it myself but like I've stated in the OP ''Try to stick to players who weren't exactly quick throughout the majority of their entire careers for a more defined/clearer discussion. Try to prevent yourself from debating about how certain players are pacy but do not rely on pace for their dribbling.'' I didn't want the discussion to become tedious and wanted it to be more defined that's why I set these harsh parameters. Last thing I wanted was it to turn into a discussion on how certain pacy players don't use pace for their dribbling, you could use that argument for most players as there is a certain amount of technique involved in dribbling regardless of pace. There will be certain posters who would say Messi uses his technique more than his pace while others will say without his pace he would lose a huge portion of his dribbling prowess and threat. I had to use those strict parameters just for a clearer and more streamlined discussion.
I agree Zidane is probably the best ever in this regard at least from this era. If I include a poll, I am sure Zidane will win hands down but there are too many subjective opinions on the players capable for this topic so I refrained myself from doing so. Really impressed with Ibrahimovic in this regard as well. They primarily used technique with a fair bit of strength to make their dribbling more effective. Never seen Bergkamp when he was younger so I am just basing it one his latter Arsenal years. Completely forgot about Riquelme until certain posters reminded me of him and I decided to include him in the OP as well.