That one is my favourite as well. Looks impossible to kill the ball at that speed.
Think Zidane, Ronaldinho and Iniesta have had a better first touch though. Not sure about the PL.
Has there been a player with a better first touch than Berbatov?
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Think Zidane, Ronaldinho and Iniesta have had a better first touch though. Not sure about the PL.
No idea who is better but Iniesta, Pirlo, Messi all have incredible first touches.
Hope he comes back to United in some capacity one day. Absolutely love watching him play , one of the very very few players who made the game look effortless. I wished he had been more productive here, there were matches were others would huff and puff and Berbs would just stroll about plucking balls out of the sky and passing it about with ease. I didn't care if he didn't score much because he was just so good to watch.
Giggs has a brilliant touch and does it at pace. People get moist about Berbatov but Giggs could do it on the run and take the full back out the game with the same movement.
That's exactly what I hate - fancy Dan wanker with limited effectiveness.
Cristiano, while having a less artistic and more direct style, is certainly up there.
There were times when Nanis shoes just seemed to be glued.
Giggs, when I saw him at the beginning of the century, impressed me a lot in that apsect.
Same goes for Scholes.
Laurent Blanc certainly was a godess despite his faults.
Ok, that's five, but still.
I think the misconception with Berbatovs first touch skills is a mixture of perception and expectation. He's a 1.89m tall guy from the fromer eastern block. You kinda await a new Jancker or Crouch. What you see is an unusual tall but certainly technical gifted player with some "flair". That's the part about expectation: the low expecation raises the perception of the actual skills. It's somewhat the same with Ibrahimovic sometimes.
I'm not denying the qualities of these players, but it certainly has something to do with the fact that you expect that from dutch (better first touch than Berbatov? I give you Robben), italian, brazilian, argentinian, spanish or french players who are below 1.80 and then see these skills executed by someone much taller with a name that would be incredibly short without vocals.
Apart from that, most people outside of Manchester will remember Berbatov as the lazy guy who gave away chances at will. Loved him, but you know what I mean.
Zidane for me, something else. Bergkamp/Socrates? endless names you could pluck out the air.
Berbatov's touch stands out because he doesn't have any other GOAT qualities. Most of the great's first touches get overlooked i.e. Messi/Maradona because they have so many other great attributes.
A good first touch is a given for any great footballer.
Berbatov's touch stands out because he doesn't have any other GOAT qualities. Most of the great's first touches get overlooked i.e. Messi/Maradona because they have so many other great attributes.
A good first touch is a given for any great footballer.
Couldn't say for certain that someone is better than him but he has his equals, that's for sure.
Cruyff, Zidane, Messi, Iniesta, Pirlo, Scholes, Ronaldinho, Laudrup, Bergkamp, etc.
While discussing this topic, I'll give you one of my all time favourites and probably the best big guy in international football 
Speaking of first touches. This was quite good:
Romario had insane first touch
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I'm a minute in and that has to the least impressive "highlights" video I've ever seen. Hope you're not talking about the big tall, number 7? He's woeful.While discussing this topic, I'll give you one of my all time favourites and probably the best big guy in international football
(unless I'm fecking missing sarcasm, yet a-flipping-gain)
I would think that's a video to show how useless he is.
This old bollox drives me up the flucking wall. I played football for 30 years, many players I starred with had better techs. Were they better players? Were they fluck (see Roy Keane).
Yeah, pretty sure you are missing sarcasm
There might be sarcasm involved. But I loved him to bits when he was at Bayern (yes he was, yes, he made appearences), such a nice guy. Still, always wondered how he cheated himself into professionall football
Guti had a lovely first touch.
If my life depended on someone controlling a ball i'd choose Zidane or Iniesta. I think Berbatov is up there but he looks so indifferent to everything that I don't think he would really give a shit if I died or not.
Scholesy would have to be up there in terms of our recent players. Anything that came van Nistelrooy's way usually stuck but i'm not sure if that counts as having a great first touch.
If my life depended on someone controlling a ball i'd choose Zidane or Iniesta. I think Berbatov is up there but he looks so indifferent to everything that I don't think he would really give a shit if I died or not.
Scholesy would have to be up there in terms of our recent players. Anything that came van Nistelrooy's way usually stuck but i'm not sure if that counts as having a great first touch.
Apart from the obvious players (Zidane, Messi, Maradona, Iniesta etc.) I'd say Bergkamp. Amongst strikers today, I'd say Suarez and Lewandowski.
A bit random, but why was he left out from the CL 2011 Final squad?
Is anyone saying that though? It sounds like this has hit a bit of a sore spot for you. I'm guessing your first touch usually made your second touch a tackle.
Messi, Iniesta
He had been frozen out for months, didn't even get to play up front when Rooney was injured.
Zidane, Zlatan, Iniesta, Lewandowski, Messi and Bergkamp have decent touches.
I remember being beside myself at the first touch when I saw that live. Still insane, he just kills it perfectly.
Gonna submit that as an example of another.
Yes they are saying that technique is to be applauded per se. And BTW they used to call me 'Liam's two-footed brother'.
i stand by my opinion that he's one of the most talented players of all time, and my personal favourite.
Well, it should. It doesn't make a good player alone but Berbatov might be the most aesthetically pleasing player to ever play for United.
Yeah, but one can say that about a lot of players. In the end, he wasted his talent. Remembers me a bit of Pizarro. Difference is that Pizarro learnt in his old days what it means to be a professional footballer and a genuine team player. Probably 5-6 years to late.
Because the last game of the season he was in the sort of form where he couldn't hit a barn door then Owen came off the bench same game and put one away.
What's wrong in applauding that? I loved Berbatov but he clearly had some faults.
I'm not buying the two footed thing either. I bet you have nightmares about someone shouting "one touch" in training.
Berbatov?
And, to be fair, ronaldinho has done that in games too. Saw a vid last week where he killed ball stone dead after a ball into the box was hoofed into the air.
Maybe there was some sarcasm involved, I was called "Fussballgott" for some time
In my first senior appearence for the first team (highest county league) I came on 10 minutes into the second half when we were down by 2 goals. Our Libero cleared an attack with a long ball into the opponents left half, I ran like mad but overestimated the lenght of the pass, instinctly strechted my right foot backwards at full throttle, the ball magically fell onto my hell, flew over me directly in my running direction and with the next touch I fired a hammer with the outside of my right boot directly onto the right corner of the goalpost. I was completly baffled and the opponents trainer ordered on of his player to man-mark me for the rest of the game, but I still managed to score the equalizer, probably just because my feet are so crooked
Should remain my only goal for the first team and i soon got relegated to the second.There are far better players who have shown their touch is equally as good or better on bigger stages and more pressured situations than Berbatov, just because he does something after the final whistle has blown or shows a nice touch against some bottom half Premier League side doesn't mean he has the best touch in history.
I think I'd have Ronaldinho and Bergkamp slightly ahead of Berby...
Best wasn't half bad either.
Guardian did a Joy of Six on first touches which was quite nice...
http://www.theguardian.com/sport/blog/2011/nov/11/joy-of-six-first-touches-bergkamp
Best wasn't half bad either.
Guardian did a Joy of Six on first touches which was quite nice...
http://www.theguardian.com/sport/blog/2011/nov/11/joy-of-six-first-touches-bergkamp
Antonio Cassano
Not at United there hasn't.
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