Good or great players who were/are really bad at football?

[Normandy]

Literally every player mentioned in here are good at football, with the exception of meme picks like Kaiser.

Despite not having much technical skill, the "lesser" players mentioned here would walk all over us. Football League players would walk over us. They are that good at the sport.

 

[PaulRich]

I wouldn't say he's ever been considered a good or great player but you would expect such stature in a player who's been selected as a Liverpool and England captain - instead you've got Jordan Henderson.

 

[glorious]

Inzaghi scored twice against Liverpool in a Champions League final, that automatically means not a bad word can be said about him.

I can't believe a lot of people neglect this fact.

 

[Camilo]

I said and/or

I don't particularly remember Berbatov being a versatile, tactical CF.

I was going to say Berbatov - wonderful footballer, but a terrible footballer!

 

[GBBQ]

Carsten Jancker for a player that lined out in one of the great Bayern Munich teams and had a goal in every 3 games he was pretty limited as a player.

 

[Manchester Dan]

Dzeko

 

[Denis' cuff]

Bobby Moore.

Good at interceptions and hoofing it up to Hurst.


Never really worked for wham but Sir Alf’s genius threw the oppo off balance by dropping world class Greaves and wingers, then chucking in grafters and players “10 years ahead of their time “ like Peters, who they’d never heard of... it worked. Then after their two weeks of glory, when the oppo worried about Charlton, enabling others to prosper, the wham players reverted to type and became mid-table players again. Sir Bobby was European Footballer of the Year and became captain of the first English team to win the European Cup. England’s greatest ever player by a distance.

 

[robinamicrowave]

Edin Dzeko.

One of the best strikers this decade has produced, but unable to ever look like he's in control of the ball.

 

[Chipper]

Inzaghi scored twice against Liverpool in a Champions League final, that automatically means not a bad word can be said about him.

Istanbul would never have happened if he was playing.

Ok, I don't know that and Crespo got two anyway but Inzaghi was so good in the CL I wouldn't have put it past him to get three. At the very least he'd have been a better bench option than Jon Dahl Tomasson.

As it is he hardly played that season because his knees were knackered.

 

[adexkola]

Football isn't about doing keepie ups that's why free-stylers are relative to professional standards, pretty shit at the game of football. People are mentioning actual football player that are actually good at the game.

This.

 

[Henrik Larsson]

Surprised it's three pages in and no one said Pepe. Or Képler Laveran Lima Ferreira. What he did at Euro 2016 in some matches was of surreal quality for me.

Well in his thirties and after being a professional footballer for years, he still struggled to make passes over 20 meter at times though. I remember Real Madrid matches where he looked alright playing a quick short 10 meter passes to Modric or Kroos when he had all the time in the world, and I thought hey maybe he isn't that bad.

But then he was pressured and he just failed to deliver one long ball after the other, everything went out of play or into the opponents feet for the rest of the match. Truly incredible defender on his day though.

 

[Rossa]

Wow, I think most of you are absolutely wrong. I would think that if anyone played against any professional footballer, they would surprise you! I recall watching Solskjær in a one on one against a journalist who had played in the Norwegian second division, and Solskjær absolutely humiliated him with dribbling, and Solskjær never dribbled in the PL - he still obviously had it in him.

Some players would not be the best futsal players, but that doesn't mean all that much.

 

[carvajal]

I imagine that the typical big and tall forward is perfect for this thread.
On them I would name Julio Salinas.
150 goals in primera and three world cups.
Expert in ugly goals. What in Spain we call goal "churro".
Incredibly clumsy with the ball.
He made good goals but I think that these YouTube videos clearly define his goals and his glittering failures.

Spoiler

An unforgettable memory is his mistake against Italy in 94, the next action being -if I remember well- a counter with Baggio scoring the 1-2.

Spoiler

 

[R0nald0]

I read the first page and skipped so apologies if this has already been covered. I think the OP is asking for players that over-achieved based on their technique, that's what comes to mind with the examples given. With that in mind, surprised I didn't see an Andrew Cole mention!

 

[Dutchjerry]

Ronald Koeman comes to mind. Brilliant free kick taker But I don't remember him being great. Granted the teams he played for suggest otherwise but that is my memory of him.

The memory’s I have from Koeman is a centerback with wonderful technique unless I missed something bad on him.

In 93/94 he became topscorer in the Champions League and scored once 21 goals in 33 matches for PSV in the Eredivisie. Actually, he is the most productive defender ever and was in Barcelonas team of the century.

Dirk Kuyt, Bierhoff and Trezeguet

 

[Billy Blaggs]

In 93/94 he became topscorer in the Champions League and scored once 21 goals in 33 matches for PSV in the Eredivisie. Actually, he is the most productive defender ever and was in Barcelonas team of the century.

Dirk Kuyt, Bierhoff and Trezeguet

I remember that goal vs untied and England

 

[Aloysius's Back 3]

One of my favourite rival players to watch was Arshavin

What did people think of him

 

[Robbo's Shoulder]

Linekar was pretty limited outside the box but 1 of the best I've ever seen inside it, that makes him world class for me. The hardest place to play on a football field is the opposition box.
Who was that big German guy who played for Munich a few years ago, looked awful every time i saw him but had a pretty decent scoring record?

 

[Abizzz]

Linekar was pretty limited outside the box but 1 of the best I've ever seen inside it, that makes him world class for me. The hardest place to play on a football field is the opposition box.
Who was that big German guy who played for Munich a few years ago, looked awful every time i saw him but had a pretty decent scoring record?

Carsten Jancker for a player that lined out in one of the great Bayern Munich teams and had a goal in every 3 games he was pretty limited as a player.

Metzelder another tall German who played for big teams / national team without ever having had a ball to play with as a child.

 

[Robbo's Shoulder]

Metzelder another tall German who played for big teams / national team without ever having had a ball to play with as a child.

Ahh, missed that but yeah, that's the fella. Just looked a big lump up front but scored a goal or 2. Similar sort of player (although at a much higher level) to Matt Rhead at Lincoln.

 

[Gehrman]

Lukkaku. Has an overall decent scoring record in the prem, but has terrible technical ability. Also Hernandez, very limited but is a great goalscorer.

 

[Gehrman]

Also Klose. WC legend but so ordinary.

 

[youmeletsfly]

Mario Gomez, Vieri, T. Muller, Recoba.

 

[EasyE]

David Beckham was one of the best players in Premier League IMO. Without his crossing ability I honestly think he’d be one of the worst.

I think signing up for a football forum to discuss.. you know, football - might not be in your interests.

Christ almighty.

 

[Gehrman]

David Beckham was one of the best players in Premier League IMO. Without his crossing ability I honestly think he’d be one of the worst.

Beckham was the probably best or 2nd best right winger in his time. Only Figo was possibly better. Beckham did not have trickery of Giggs, but had the sweetest right foot in history.

 

[Zlatattack]

Oliver Bierhoff - only scored headers i think.

 

[Offside]

Thomas Muller.

 

[Needham]

Lee Chapman was goodish, got medals playing up front for Forest and Leeds as a tap in merchant. But he was also kind of bad.

 

[Grande]

Well, the free kicks, corners and passing ability was due to his crossing because his passing on the ground was good but nothing special. Of course he worked hard. He knew that’s the only thing he could offer except his crossing.



I’m sorry but I think his crossing is what gave him the edge that made him a premier league player. I know he worked hard and smart but without his crossing none of the abilities above would be enough. It wasnt only wonderful but ridiculously effective. So many goals came from his corners and crossing.

So he worked hard, read the game well, played smart, had a great shot, was good to brilliant on a range of passes, but he was wone of the worst players in the league if not for his crossing? I guess his carreer at United, Real Madrid and AC Milan (and England) was due only to these teams all being led by David Moyes.

Or maybe they also thought direct free kick in the top corner is a kind of cross?

 

[montpelier]

what are the accumulated honours of Berbatov, Beckham & Cole?

edit:

800 + career goals

13 Premier Leagues

 

[montpelier]

having posted that refutation - I don't entirely mind considering Cole for the sub-category of ''prolific strikers who sometimes didn't seem able to shoot properly'' - where properly means from more than 20 yards probably

Exhibit One - Michael Owen

 

[Negan]

David Beckham was one of the best players in Premier League IMO. Without his crossing ability I honestly think he’d be one of the worst.

This isn’t the first time I’ve read a post like this. I think people have short memories cause Becks was world class in his prime and comfortably our best player from around 99-02 IMO.

He was tireless. Could score some incredible goals and was in my book, the best free kick taker to ever live. He is a pioneer of the game. Kids today still try and emulate his free kicks and crossing. How many players can you say that about?

 

[the_irish123]

One could argue Ronaldo, all he does is jump high the past 3 years or so.

 

[SadlerMUFC]

Definitely Fellaini, his chest-control and headers are something else

I've always thought that Fellaini should have been a striker, not a midfielder. How someone decided to play him in midfield is still a mystery to me. He is possibly the best player in the world with his back to goal, but what good does that give you in the midfield? He could have been a super sub striker and cult hero just for how good those two skills of his are...

 

[reuben290]

How has no one mentioned Gary Neville yet?

 

[Fortitude]

I kind of feel like I've created a mutated monster of a thread. Apologies and well done me in equal measure.

 

[do.ob]

Also Klose. WC legend but so ordinary.

Klose was not as dominant as the number of his WC goals might suggest, but for a striker of his generation he was quite a good footballer. During his prime (club) years in Bremen he provided 10, 13 and 15 assists in the league alone, keeping up in numbers with their #10. Bayern actually partnered him with Luca Toni.

 

[United58]

Metzelder another tall German who played for big teams / national team without ever having had a ball to play with as a child.

This line sums up the idea of this thread perfectly

 

[Kamprad]

I think signing up for a football forum to discuss.. you know, football - might not be in your interests.

Christ almighty.

Beckham was the probably best or 2nd best right winger in his time. Only Figo was possibly better. Beckham did not have trickery of Giggs, but had the sweetest right foot in history.

So he worked hard, read the game well, played smart, had a great shot, was good to brilliant on a range of passes, but he was wone of the worst players in the league if not for his crossing? I guess his carreer at United, Real Madrid and AC Milan (and England) was due only to these teams all being led by David Moyes.

Or maybe they also thought direct free kick in the top corner is a kind of cross?

This isn’t the first time I’ve read a post like this. I think people have short memories cause Becks was world class in his prime and comfortably our best player from around 99-02 IMO.

He was tireless. Could score some incredible goals and was in my book, the best free kick taker to ever live. He is a pioneer of the game. Kids today still try and emulate his free kicks and crossing. How many players can you say that about?

Haha cheers guys. I totally agree he was one of the best players in the world. But everyone is discussing top players in this thread and ignoring some of their best qualities and I think Becks deserves a perfectly legit mentioning. I’ll admit I’m maybe exaggerating a little bit but I still firmly believe he would have been a shadow of the player he actually was if you took away those beautiful crosses. More than most players would be if you took away their top quality. It gave him such an edge. Someone else mentioned Owen and it’s the same with him. Take away his speed and he would have been so bad.

 

[Bobski]

I read the first page and skipped so apologies if this has already been covered. I think the OP is asking for players that over-achieved based on their technique, that's what comes to mind with the examples given. With that in mind, surprised I didn't see an Andrew Cole mention!

Andy Cole had an occasionally erratic first touch/finishing but generally he had very good technique, those quick combinations with Yorke can not be accomplished by a player with mediocre ability. He scored some incredible goals, headers, volleys, overhead kicks, ships, dribbles, and created far more goals than people realize, one of the most underrated players PL players ever.

Gattusso, extremely influential and important for the teams he played for but aesthetically horrendous.

Ivanovic, big player for Chelsea at his best, suppressing his inner carthorse.

Jesus Navas, seemed to be having a competition with Valencia for the least productive right winger in Manchester.