Greatest Passers of all time?
- Thread starter Lord SInister
- Start date
Man, this thread is old.
I'm going to show Guti some love here. He played unreal through balls that the likes of Ozil and Laudrup played but from the central midfield position.
The difficulty and precision of his passes were unreal.
The difficulty and precision of his passes were unreal.
Messi for me. The weight of his passing is something I have never seen. Have a feeling Diallo will be in this convo in a few years.
Maybe YouTube overrated him as a player but I really can’t see who can better Laudrup as a pure passer of the ball. I have never seen a player with that vision. Literally as I’m watching old clips I’m like “well this is a low block, defenders are occupying all the right positions, his angle ain’t that great, he has nowhere to go”. Then BOOM, one super Einstein-pass that unlocks the ENTIRE defence. I have never seen anyone like him, and I’ve seen lots of great passers like Pirlo and Fabregas. Laudrup had something incredible in his head which just made him a unique player of history. He saw things nobody saw. He also had the ability of moving entire defences with his eyes and body.
No idea why he did not have a better career (not that he had a bad one) , but with regard to his passing, the proof is in the pudding. Go watch clips of him.
No idea why he did not have a better career (not that he had a bad one) , but with regard to his passing, the proof is in the pudding. Go watch clips of him.
If we divide the extensive monolith of passing into small, digestible chunks with regard to positional or specialization groups...
Best medium and short range passer: Xavi Hernández
Best ambipedal passer: Bobby Charlton
Best improvisational passer: Diego Maradona
Best one-touch passer: Johan Cruyff
Best final and through-ball passer: Michael Laudrup
Best set-piece passer: Zico
Best cross passer: David Beckham
Conveniently covers a great many exponents of the art of passing, methinks.
- Goalkeeper: Ederson Moraes
- Central defender: Franz Beckenbauer
- Fullback: Andreas Brehme
- Central midfielder: Xavi Hernández
- Offensive midfielder: Michel Platini
- Forward: Lionel Messi
Best medium and short range passer: Xavi Hernández
Best ambipedal passer: Bobby Charlton
Best improvisational passer: Diego Maradona
Best one-touch passer: Johan Cruyff
Best final and through-ball passer: Michael Laudrup
Best set-piece passer: Zico
Best cross passer: David Beckham
Conveniently covers a great many exponents of the art of passing, methinks.
Ivan De La Pena for me should be on that list.
It's hard to argue with @Invictus' list. Overall, when you count everything, from the ability to dictate the game from deeper areas to vision and technique required to execute insane final third passes, I'd put Xavi and Platini slightly above the rest. It may be slightly unfair towards those who played further forward (Messi, Laudrup, Maradona), but I think that this metronomic ability to control the tempo of the game is getting a bit underrated.
From a purely technical perspective, I'd put Laudrup first & Maradona second and Zico third — those three could see and execute passes that shouldn't and couldn't be possible like it was nothing. Messi is slightly more "predictable" — just as he is with his dribbling, which doesn't mean that he isn't as good as them technically (he obviously is), just that he uses lesser variety of passing/dribbling skills to achieve the same result (again, this doesn't affect the quality of his performances as he's just as if not more effective than those three).
From a purely technical perspective, I'd put Laudrup first & Maradona second and Zico third — those three could see and execute passes that shouldn't and couldn't be possible like it was nothing. Messi is slightly more "predictable" — just as he is with his dribbling, which doesn't mean that he isn't as good as them technically (he obviously is), just that he uses lesser variety of passing/dribbling skills to achieve the same result (again, this doesn't affect the quality of his performances as he's just as if not more effective than those three).
Deep-lying playmaker: Xavi, Scholes, Pirlo
Advanced playmaker: Laudrup, Iniesta, Messi
Crosser: Beckham
Advanced playmaker: Laudrup, Iniesta, Messi
Crosser: Beckham
Some of the lesser known yet equally deserving shouts:
Ricardo Bochini — overall he lacks a bit to be mentioned alongside the greatest attacking midfielders of all-time, but if we're talking about passing alone, he's certainly among the most threatening final third passers ever. You have to be a bit special for a pass to be literally named after you — and in Argentinian football there's an expression "pase bochinesco" ("Bochiniesque pass") for a pass that finds a striker in front of the goal with only a keeper to beat.
Luis Suárez — no, not that one. Until this day he's the only Spaniard and the only Luis Suárez to be awarded Ballon d'Or. Fearsome attacking midfielder in his younger days and one of the greatest metronomic midfield playmakers in the second part of his career, he was capable of making any pass, long or short, be it a safe one to keep the game moving or a direct one to create a goalscoring chance.
Wim van Hanegem — I can watch his outside of the boot passes all day long. One of the most unusual players that you'll ever see he mastered the art of a trivela pass, making sure that no one in the world could predict the trajectory of the ball before it found its target.
Ricardo Bochini — overall he lacks a bit to be mentioned alongside the greatest attacking midfielders of all-time, but if we're talking about passing alone, he's certainly among the most threatening final third passers ever. You have to be a bit special for a pass to be literally named after you — and in Argentinian football there's an expression "pase bochinesco" ("Bochiniesque pass") for a pass that finds a striker in front of the goal with only a keeper to beat.
Luis Suárez — no, not that one. Until this day he's the only Spaniard and the only Luis Suárez to be awarded Ballon d'Or. Fearsome attacking midfielder in his younger days and one of the greatest metronomic midfield playmakers in the second part of his career, he was capable of making any pass, long or short, be it a safe one to keep the game moving or a direct one to create a goalscoring chance.
Wim van Hanegem — I can watch his outside of the boot passes all day long. One of the most unusual players that you'll ever see he mastered the art of a trivela pass, making sure that no one in the world could predict the trajectory of the ball before it found its target.
This is such an adult response and the world and this forum would be a better place if everyone followed your lead. Obviously you missed out Mikael Silvestre and the section that is;If we divide the extensive monolith of passing into small, digestible chunks with regard to positional or specialization groups...
Best long range passer: Günter Netzer
- Goalkeeper: Ederson Moraes
- Central defender: Franz Beckenbauer
- Fullback: Andreas Brehme
- Central midfielder: Xavier Hernández
- Offensive midfielder: Michel Platini
- Forward: Lionel Messi
Best medium and short range passer: Xavier Hernández
Best ambipedal passer: Bobby Charlton
Best improvisational passer: Diego Maradona
Best one-touch passer: Johan Cruyff
Best final and through-ball passer: Michael Laudrup
Best set-piece passer: Zico
Best cross passer: David Beckham
Conveniently covers a great many exponents of the art of passing, methinks.
Best bewilderingly unfathomable single pass-type god.
But we can let that slide.
I would say that KdB would probably beat out Laudrup had he played in that era. Defences we’re different and the guy has the exact skill set that would have seen him shine. Certainly passes from the middle third into the final third.
Edit : Perhaps a different category, but Ronaldinho would run Maradona close in terms of improvisation. Both made passes that no other player could have seen, let alone made.
Great Final Ball Passers: Messi for me, by far. His numbers are ridiculous. His records won't ever be touched
Great midfield metronome passers: Xavi. He was a fecking robot I swear
Great Crossers of the ball: It has to be Beckham. Too many amazing assists and chances created with some ridiculous crossing and play switch.
Great midfield metronome passers: Xavi. He was a fecking robot I swear
Great Crossers of the ball: It has to be Beckham. Too many amazing assists and chances created with some ridiculous crossing and play switch.
By now I think the best final third passers I've seen are Totti, Laudrup and Özil. Messi closely behind those three.
Pogba must be up there for most spectacular passer. Some of the long passes he hits with the outside of the boot etc are immense.