Most charismatic footballers ever

[Denis' cuff]

Becks charismatic? Good lookin bloke who has a terrible voice and is pretty bland as personalities go.

Eric for me, he was just a complete maverick and so eloquently confusing when he spoke

showed his charisma the way he flapped his foot at Simeone. Then responded to the boot incident by looking all hurt and hard done by for the cameras.

charismatic my arse

 

[united_99]

Becks Love the guy and obviously good looking but no way charismatic. Keane is much more charismatic.

Don’t find Zlatan charismatic either.

On the pitch it would be Zidane for me.
On as well as off the pitch Cantona and Maradona.

 

[harms]

I’d probably say that my one choice would be Cruyff, even though I’d be going against my own heart which has Cantona’s name engraved on it.

Maradona is obviously somewhere up there, it’s just that his personality is so appalling to me (it sounds weird to talk like that about someone that you didn’t know personally, but he was a bad person, that’s really the word I’m going with). The most magical footballer to ever live though and he has amassed not even a cult following, but a proper religion based solely on him.

Loved the Netzer shout in one of the posts earlier. Breitner was probably on his way to the very top before he traded his whole Che Guevara charade for a luxurious contract in Spain.

Di Stéfano, Law, Best, Yashin, Voronin, Maldini, Socrates, Zidane, Robson...

Weirdly enough, it’s such a tough criteria. I’m thinking about tons of players and can’t decide whenever they deserve to be called charismatic on an all-time scale. Keane, Baggio, Baresi, Facchetti, Figueroa, Riva, Rivera, Figo, Beckenbauer, Platini, Dalglish etc.

 

[stu_1992]

I'm sure there are many examples but the first two that come to mind are Cantona and Zlatan.

 

[Denis' cuff]

I’d probably say that my one choice would be Cruyff, even though I’d be going against my own heart which has Cantona’s name engraved on it.

Maradona is obviously somewhere up there, it’s just that his personality is so appalling to me (it sounds weird to talk like that about someone that you didn’t know personally, but he was a bad person, that’s really the word I’m going with). The most magical footballer to ever live though and he has amassed not even a cult following, but a proper religion based solely on him.

Loved the Netzer shout in one of the posts earlier. Breitner was probably on his way to the very top before he traded his whole Che Guevara charade for a luxurious contract in Spain.

Di Stéfano, Law, Best, Yashin, Voronin, Maldini, Socrates, Zidane, Robson...

Weirdly enough, it’s such a tough criteria. I’m thinking about tons of players and can’t decide whenever they deserve to be called charismatic on an all-time scale. Keane, Baggio, Baresi, Facchetti, Figueroa, Riva, Rivera, Figo, Beckenbauer, Platini, Dalglish etc.

Jeez, that is some list.

Edges are often blurred between sheer excellence and quality vs personality. Maybe a “charismatic player” should have both. Beckenbauer, for instance; one of my favourite players ever but despite his imposing, authorative and composed air, find I can’t quite call him “charismatic”. Then again... maybe?

Dalglish, for all his excellence, has the personality of an Austin Maxi.

 

[Sparky Rhiwabon]

When I think of charismatic footballers I think of some players that don't need their full name:
Eric
Diego
Bestie
Zlatan
Gazza

 

[simplyared]

I loved Currie. The only player I didn’t instantly hate on signing for Leeds.

Marsh definitely. Stan Bowles also; he was an annoying tw@t but you couldn’t deny he had charisma.

Not Stapleton though. His predecessor Jordan maybe.

I meant Worthington, Frank Worthington.

 

[simplyared]

Frank Stapleton? You mean Frank Worthington?

Yes of course Worthington!

 

[simplyared]

Frank Stapleton is charismatic?

I meant Worthington, Frank Worthington.

 

[eire-red]

Ronaldo and Ramos spring to mind from recent times.

Cantona was something else also. Neuer during his peak had that 'aura' about him, he seemed unbeatable.

 

[Blakpot]

Surprised no mention of Drogba yet.
Ronaldinho
Pirlo
Michael Ballack

 

[GameOn]

I don’t think OP knows what charismatic means if the first to mind is Oliver Kahn.

Big personality yes, as did Schmeichel, but charisma? None.

Sorry, but anyone really questioning whether Kahn is charismatic or not is just completely ignorant and has zero knowledge about German football.

Dude is very charismatic (rhetorically good, intelligent, great humor and that kind of "alpha factor"). You can also see that in every interview he gives.

There is a reason he was a great TV expert and also became Bayern's CEO recently.

Neuer in comparison has a great aura on the pitch, but the charisma of a potato outside of it.

 

[Revaulx]

I meant Worthington, Frank Worthington.

Ah! That makes more sense.

And I completely agree

 

[Pablo76]

Sorry, but anyone really questioning whether Kahn is charismatic or not is just completely ignorant and has zero knowledge about German football.

Dude is very charismatic (rhetorically good, intelligent, great humor and that kind of "alpha factor"). You can also see that in every interview he gives.

There is a reason he was a great TV expert and also became Bayern's CEO recently.

Fair enough, I never saw him on tv or in the board room, but the thread is about footballers and the OP alludes to this further by mentioning his aura on the field.

 

[GameOn]

Fair enough, I never saw him on tv or in the board room, but the thread is about footballers and the OP alludes to this further by mentioning his aura on the field.

Charisma has nothing to do with aura on the pitch.

There are many footballers with a great aura on the field, but no charisma in the "real world" outside of it.

 

[BlackShark_80]

Gaetano Scirea

 

[Champagne Football]

Garth Crooks

 

[The Boy]

I would put David Ginola up there

 

[Karel Podolsky]

Cuauhtemoc Blanco
Mark Wilmots
Gheorghe Hagi

 

[Sky1981]

Cruyft

maradonna is overrated, the guy's a looney that's great with football, but charismatic?

 

[Jibbs]

Maradona.

 

[Red00012]

Matic

 

[Needham]

Maddison. Gives post match interviews like he's chatting up two sorts at once. He won't call them 'sorts' but I bet he's got a word for them. You all have. In your head.

 

[InterFan1998]

Sergio Ramos easily.

 

[AkaAkuma]

its a really broad discussion, but I associate Charisma with charm, somebody who can make you do something despite yourself.

Ginola
Leonardo
Klinsmann

Van Gaal and Ferguson as non players

I'll get slaughtered for this, but Lawro.

 

[Blackwidow]

Klinsmann never got me with his false smile...

 

[Rake]

Don't know why but I instantly thought of Del Piero

 

[Monkey bus]

Cantona
Henry
Ginola
Cruyff
Gareth Barry

 

[Classical Mechanic]

Dwight Yorke. Very engaging character with a winning smile.

 

[The Urban Goose]

Nemanja "Charis" Matic.

 

[GueRed]

Eric Cantona
Maradona

the obvious standouts.

Zlatan is as charismatic as a circus clown or court jester. He's very try-hard and rehearsed. Doesnt wash with me. He should be a WWF wrestler the way he speaks in that 3rd person way too .

 

[SilentStrike]

From the past:
Beckenbauer
Cruyff
Maradona
Best

Recent:
Matthäus
Ronaldinho
Cantona

Now:
Thomas Muller

 

[Gehrman]

George Best and Cantona. Zidane has always been super cool.

 

[Son]

Which stories are those? He was by all accounts a very, hm, unique personality that was solely focused on football (and even more so, on dribbling), who hardly had any meaningful interactions with anyone. If you're talking about the way he is/was cherished by Brazilians then it has more to do with his pure obsession with football/joga bonito as an opposite to a marketing-oriented Pelé; not with his individual charisma.

Maybe I’m wrong about his personality then because from what I’ve heard he played football with the kids on the streets and barely knew who the next opponent was until the day of a match.

I’m happy to take the L on him though if he was indeed as quiet as a mouse.

 

[harms]

Maybe I’m wrong about his personality then because from what I’ve heard he played football with the kids on the streets and barely knew who the next opponent was until the day of a match.

I’m happy to take the L on him though if he was indeed as quiet as a mouse.

He was, well, very child-like, couldn’t read, struggled to coherently talk about anything aside the very basic stuff. Had very little understanding of points, league formats etc. (he infamously didn’t realize that they’ve won the World Cup until teammates told him that they did...). That’s not charisma, I don’t want to be a couch psychiatrist, but there are more appropriate words for it.

He was loved by Brazilians because he didn’t know and didn’t care about anything else aside from football. But it was not his charisma, it was his actions on the pitch (and a complete lack of any personality off the pitch altogether).

 

[weetee]

I think one must be somewhat of a Bayern fan to think Oliver Kahn was charismatic as a player (or good TV „expert“).
Anyway, of tose I saw live on the telly I‘d think of R9 and R10, Maldini, Del Piero, Kalou, Eto‘o among others.
From Germany, Lars Stindl comes to mind - although he’ prolly rather „sympathetic“ than „charismatic“.

 

[GameOn]

I think one must be somewhat of a Bayern fan to think Oliver Kahn was charismatic as a player (or good TV „expert“).
Anyway, of tose I saw live on the telly I‘d think of R9 and R10, Maldini, Del Piero, Kalou, Eto‘o among others.
From Germany, Lars Stindl comes to mind - although he’ prolly rather „sympathetic“ than „charismatic“.

You really bring up Stindl in the conversation of being charismatic, while questioning Kahn?
Even from the current generation guys like Müller or Hummels have more than twice the charisma that Stindl has.