Greatest Passers of all time?

Lord SInister

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Reading the current threads of top 5 passers in top leagues and KdB vs Pogba, made me think about the greatest passers.

Trying to divide:


Great Long Passers: The likes of Platini, Netzer, Koeman, Veron, Suarez, Hoddle, Pirlo, van Hanegem, Scholes, Xabi Alonso, Gérson, Johnny Haynes and probably loads I forgot. But the likes of Netzer, Pirlo, Hoddle and Platini are probably among the top 5. Gérson can give them competition though. With Platini being the greatest in most people's list.

Great Final Ball Passers: The likes of Zico, Raymond Kopa, Messi, Maradona, Laudrup, Bergkamp, Riquelme, Ronaldinho, Rui Costa, Bochini, Pedro Rocha, Johan Cruyff and so on. I think Messi, Zico, Maradona and Laudrup are probably among the top 5. With Maradona being the greatest in most people's list. And many young timers going for either Messi or Totti.

Great midfield metronome passers: The likes of Didi, Xavi, Rivera, Overath(although he was equally great at long range passing), Bozsik, Beckenabauer, Guardiola, Valderrama, César Cueto, Nils Liedholm and son on. I think Didi, Xavi, Rivera and Beckenbauer are comfortbale among the top 5 in this regards. With Xavi being the greatest in most people's lists, although Rivera and Didi can be in the list of most old timers and Beckenbauer will have fair share of fans.

Great Crossers of the ball: The likes of David Beckham, Stanley Matthews, Dragan Dzajic, Andreas Brehme, Luis Figo, Francisco Arce, Manfred Kaltz and so on. Beckham is the undisputed king of crossing, although Matthews, Dzajic and Acre can take the other spot.
It is Beckham and only Beckham.


Some others who are great, but I dunno how to classify them: Zidane, Iniesta, Juan Sebastián Verón, Hagi, Falcão, Enzo Francescoli, Alfredo di Stéfano, Lothar Matthäus, Cesc Fabregas, Pele, Rivelino and probably many I am forgetting.

Who are your greatest passers of all time?
 
From those who I have watched Platini was fecking good at completing long passes. Creative passing in and around the box: Maradona, Messi and Ronaldinho were/are sublime.
 
I was always in awe of Koeman. Beckham also comes to mind when you talk about passing. Sneijder in his day wasn't half bad. Sadly, I think Messi on top of all the other things he's good at is also one of the best passers I've seen play.

annoying little midget.
 
Most of the metronomes who were actual great passers, were also passers with great range, and several of those the OP mentions made frequent use of that ability too (Guardiola, for instance).

And some of the metronomes mentioned were too inventive/creative to be given that label.
 
Scholes would be the obvious candidate for all of us, in the modern game players like Pirlo, Xabi Alonso, Toni Kroos, Xavi and Busquets are the ones that stand out for me.
 
Chesterlestreet said:
Most of the metronomes who were actual great passers, were also passers with great range, and several of those the OP mentions made frequent use of that ability too (Guardiola, for instance).

And some of the metronomes mentioned were too inventive/creative to be given that label.
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Like?

TheReligion said:
I think Michael Carrick deserves a mention.

Also I liked Zvonmir Boban and Rui Costa.
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Sorry as much I love Carrick, he has no business in these kind of discussion as neither was his skill exceptional nor he was he an impact player with his passing.
 
Lord SInister said:
Like?



Sorry as much I love Carrick, he has no business in these kind of discussion as neither was his skill exceptional nor he was he an impact player with his passing.
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Agreed Carrick too cautious to be on a GOAT list. Solid but not spectacular.
 
Michael Laudrup by far the best for that killer pass to the striker ie Romario, Zamarano. Evidence on YouTube.
 
dar10nian said:
Michael Laudrup by far the best for that killer pass to the striker ie Romario, Zamarano. Evidence on YouTube.
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Those youtube clips have made Laudrup look better than he was. At the time he was nowhere near being the best in the world or close to winning a Ballon d'Or. The only Barca player who was in the running for the big individual trophies was Stoichkov and then Romario. The internet generation made Laudrup sort of an ikon. He was a great player and a great dribller, passer etc. But he wasn't a Platini or a Ronaldinho.
 
Zidane, Xavi, Totti, Scholes, Pirlo, Fabregas, Kroos, Riquelme, Rui Costa all top drawer.

Totti probably the best at back heel passes I've ever seen. :drool:
 
Quite a few around the same level but Platini is a personal favourite for me in this regard.
 
Treble said:
Those youtube clips have made Laudrup look better than he was. At the time he was nowhere near being the best in the world or close to winning a Ballon d'Or. The only Barca player who was in the running for the big individual trophies was Stoichkov and then Romario. The internet generation made Laudrup sort of an ikon. He was a great player and a great dribller, passer etc. But he wasn't a Platini or a Ronaldinho.
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How motivated as a player laudrup was is a different debate but Laudrup's passing ability, creativity and vision is second to none.
 




Most complete passer of all time for me.. had every pass in his locker and his weighting of it was as if he had a better understanding of physics than Newton and Einstein combined.
 
Lord SInister said:
How motivated as a player laudrup was is a different debate but Laudrup's passing ability, creativity and vision is second to none.
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That was his soft spot. His slef-motivation was really underwhelming, as most of his managers pointed during his career. The guy refused to take part of Danmark Euro 1992 squad because he said he couldn't see any good reasons to stop his vacations. Who the hell does this?
 
Messi, Maradona, Platini, Xavi, Pirlo, Laudrup.
 
Raees said:




Most complete passer of all time for me.. had every pass in his locker and his weighting of it was as if he had a better understanding of physics than Newton and Einstein combined.
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Thanks for sharing. Sublime skills. He was one of my favourite players then and I didn't want to admit that Maradona was better.
 
Lord SInister said:
Would want to understand how are any of the Messi or Maradona or Ronaldinho are on another level to Laudrup when it comes to pure passing(+play-making and goal creating through passes) ability??
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What do you expect? A youtube clip with passes from Maradona, Messi etc? Agree to disagree.
 
Treble said:
What do you expect? A youtube clip with passes from Maradona, Messi etc? Agree to disagree.
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Obviously not, but when you are using phrases like "Not a patch on'', I was curious to know what do you see in Messi, Maradona or Ronaldinho, that Laudrup is lacking in that department.


Anyways if you say agree to disagree, yes let us better agree to disagree.
 
Here are some from the top of my head:

Great Long Passers:
- Franco Baresi: his through balls were a real danger.
- Pietro Vierchowood: he always nailed it.
- Roberto Sensini: fantastic sweeper at his time.
- Popescu: part of the Barcelona dream-team of Cruyff
- Sergei Alenikov: the russian
- Katanec: very precise

Great Final Ball Passers:
- Raí: made most of his career at PSG. He was pure genius.
- Zlatko Zahovic: such a classy player. His only downside was the lack of pace.
- Hagi: the magician that didn't like to get dirty :D
- Igor Dobrovolski: the USSR creative player
- Valdo: how can anyone forget him?
- Andreas Moller: a true legend!
- Dejan Savicevic
- Enzo Scifo
- Enzo Francescoli: tons of kids were named Enzo because of him!
- Paul Gascoigne: alcohol killed him :(

Great midfield metronome passers:
- Lothar Matthaus: one of the best players of the XX century, who rarely gets mentions, dunno why. A total prick as a person, it seems.
- Matthias Sammer: this guy actually won a ballon d'or against Ronaldo Fenómeno.
- Zé Roberto: this guy only retired this season, playing top professional football until the age 43!!!
- Deco: by far one of the best midf of his generation
- Thomas Hassler: did everything right.

Great Crossers of the ball:
- Andreas Brehme: you knew you were in treble when this guy was taking a corner/free kick/cross.
- Drulovic: he was a fantastic crosser.
- Adolfo Valencia El Train
- Pierre Litbarski: driblle and crossing!
- Luis Figo!
 
In my opinion, Pilro was the best of modern history. He could place the ball wherever he wanted and had that special flair that made things look easy.

Surprising he is not on your list.

 
broccoli said:
In my opinion, Pilro was the best of modern history. He could place the ball wherever he wanted and had that special flair that made things look easy.

Surprising he is not on your list.

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..


Lord SInister said:
Great Long Passers: The likes of Platini, Netzer, Koeman, Veron, Suarez, Hoddle, Pirlo, van Hanegem, Scholes, Xabi Alonso, Gérson, Johnny Haynes and probably loads I forgot. But the likes of Netzer, Pirlo, Hoddle and Platini are probably among the top 5. Gérson can give them competition though. With Platini being the greatest in most people's list.
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André Dominguez said:
Here are some from the top of my head:

Great Long Passers:
- Franco Baresi: his through balls were a real danger.
- Pietro Vierchowood: he always nailed it.
- Roberto Sensini: fantastic sweeper at his time.
- Popescu: part of the Barcelona dream-team of Cruyff
- Sergei Alenikov: the russian
- Katanec: very precise

Great Final Ball Passers:
- Raí: made most of his career at PSG. He was pure genius.
- Zlatko Zahovic: such a classy player. His only downside was the lack of pace.
- Hagi: the magician that didn't like to get dirty :D
- Igor Dobrovolski: the USSR creative player
- Valdo: how can anyone forget him?
- Andreas Moller: a true legend!
- Dejan Savicevic
- Enzo Scifo
- Enzo Francescoli: tons of kids were named Enzo because of him!
- Paul Gascoigne: alcohol killed him :(

Great midfield metronome passers:
- Lothar Matthaus: one of the best players of the XX century, who rarely gets mentions, dunno why. A total prick as a person, it seems.
- Matthias Sammer: this guy actually won a ballon d'or against Ronaldo Fenómeno.
- Zé Roberto: this guy only retired this season, playing top professional football until the age 43!!!
- Deco: by far one of the best midf of his generation
- Thomas Hassler: did everything right.

Great Crossers of the ball:
- Andreas Brehme: you knew you were in treble when this guy was taking a corner/free kick/cross.
- Drulovic: he was a fantastic crosser.
- Adolfo Valencia El Train
- Pierre Litbarski: driblle and crossing!
- Luis Figo!
Click to expand...
Excellent list.
 
Lord SInister said:
..
Click to expand...

Lord SInister said:
Reading the current threads of top 5 passers in top leagues and KdB vs Pogba, made me think about the greatest passers.

Trying to divide:

Great Long Passers: The likes of Platini, Netzer, Koeman, Veron, Suarez, Hoddle, Pirlo, van Hanegem, Scholes, Xabi Alonso, Gérson, Johnny Haynes and probably loads I forgot. But the likes of Netzer, Pirlo, Hoddle and Platini are probably among the top 5. Gérson can give them competition though. With Platini being the greatest in most people's list.
Click to expand...

:lol: I did the ctrl+f for Pilro that's why.
 
I am probaby completely biased but the way Scholes use to ping that ball around is second to none:devil: he did it in the wet,cold,windy and boggy pitches in the early 90s at all manner of grounds.
If he had long hair and not ginger he would have been a poster boy:lol:
 
Guardiola wasn't a metronome. He was more Pirlo than Xavi. He played direct football, not the tiki taka he has been associated with due to his management.

In my lifetime if I had to pick 5 jaw-dropping ones they would be Platini, Maradona, Koeman, Laudrup and Beckham.

That to have a style/type mix. Hard to keep Pirlo and Guardiola out but jaw dropping is more likely with long passes rather than control like Scholes' or Xavi, and that sort is well represented with Platini and Koeman.
 
Jari Litmanen one of the best short passers I've ever seen. Also Guti deserves a mention.
 
Treble said:
Those youtube clips have made Laudrup look better than he was. At the time he was nowhere near being the best in the world or close to winning a Ballon d'Or. The only Barca player who was in the running for the big individual trophies was Stoichkov and then Romario. The internet generation made Laudrup sort of an ikon. He was a great player and a great dribller, passer etc. But he wasn't a Platini or a Ronaldinho.
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Bullshit - He was totally a Platini or a Ronaldinho. I watched him and he was just as great, though in other ways.

But don't take it from me, take it from these small-time players and managers:

Romário: "The best player I have ever played with and the 4th best in the history of the game"
Raúl: "The best I have ever played with."
Zamorano: "Un genio!", "The reason why I make so many goals, is Laudrup."
Iniesta: "Who is the best player in history? Laudrup."
Messi: "I fully understand why he is considered one of the best players in Barcelonas history and even the world."
Cruyff: "One of the most difficult players I have worked with. When he gives 80–90% he is still by far the best, but I want 100%, and he rarely does that."
Cruyff (After Real Madrid with Laudrup had won 5–0 over Cruyff's Barcelona): "When Michael plays like a dream, a magic illusion, determined to show his new team his extreme abilities, no one in the world comes anywhere near his level."
Cruyff (Cruyff on Laudrup's lack of killer instinct during matches): "Had Michael been born in a poor ghetto in Brazil or Argentina with the ball being his only way out of poverty he would today be recognised as the biggest genius of the game ever. He had all the abilities to reach it but lacked this ghetto-instinct, which could have driven him there."
Platini: "One of the biggest talents ever. The best in the world on the training pitch, but never used his talent to its full during matches.
Platini: "Michael had everything except for one thing: he wasn't selfish enough."
Guardiola: "The best player in the world, I can't believe he hasn't won the title as best player."
Beckenbauer: "Pelé was the best in the 60s, Cruyff in the 70s, Maradona in the 80s and Laudrup in the 90s."
Roberto Galia: "I have played against Maradona, Platini and Baggio. But the player I saw do the most indescribable things was Michael Laudrup."
Clemente: "To me, Michael Laudrup is the most genius player the world has ever seen. He will always be my numero uno. Always."
Bakero: "No one has given the club [Barcelona] as much inspiration as Michael. We all look up to him. It is a privilege to have your day enriched by a genius."
Koeman: "Michael was possibly the most skilful and elegant player I ever played with. Few could dribble like he could. He could sense when a game was ready to be seized and transformed by a moment of individual brilliance."
Stoichkov: "One of the best European players I’ve ever seen. An elegant, old-fashioned playmaker, he did things few other footballers could do."
Stoichkov: "From more than hundred goals that I scored I'm sure that over 50 were assisted by Michael. To play with him was extremely easy. We found each other by intuition on the field and found common football language. Look at Ivan Zamorano. Laudrup went there (Real) and Zamorano is a goalscorer. Sometimes I envy Ivan for the passes he receives. Passes on foot after you accelerated. Few people understand football like the Danish player. He can only be comprised with Maradona, Schuster or Roberto Baggio. They make things easy and find the right solutions. For them is simple, for the opponent – unthinkable. Phenomenal! His only problem is his character. He is emotional and terribly reserved. This affects him a lot, because he takes everything personally – no matter if someone tells him something or decision that he does not agree. His relations with Cruyff were delicate because he couldn't take the critics. I listen to him but I don't care that much. For Michael this was fatal. He couldn't take it anymore so he left without a word."
Brian Laudrup: "My brother started as an attacker but became an elegant attacking midfielder, perhaps the most complete there has ever been. His vision, speed of thought and passing were on a different level; he always knew what was going to happen before anybody else did. If anyone had a 'football brain', it was him."
Ferrer: "Few people made me enjoy the game as much as Michael. Maybe he didn’t get the media recognition he deserved, but he was so classy and a real thinker. A master of the blind pass and impossible through-balls and I will never forget his 'spoon' pass in a game against Osasuna. He lifted the ball right over the defence and Romario touched it in first time."
Capello (After the 4–0 win of Milan against Barcelona in the 1994 CL final): "Laudrup was the guy I feared but Cruyff left him out, and that was his mistake."
Figo: "I think maybe Laudrup was the best player I ever played against."
Mourinho: "He was phenomenal in Barcelona. He was a fantastic player whom I would love to have on my team today."
Stoichkov: "Laudrup was the greatest"
Alan Tate: "He is still the best player in training at 48 years."
Ian Rush: "He probably had the most individual skill I've seen. He was an incredible player."
John Toschack: "To me he was the best player of his generation and he is a lot like Cruyff both as a player and a manager"
 
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