I'd start with the 6 guys who were massively influential in controlling and deciding games, in at least two of the three thirds of the park:
Tier 1 - Maradona, Messi and Pele
Tier 2 - Beckenabuer, Cruyff, Di Stefano
After that I'd say there are two ways to go. A third tier of the best of the rest - something like:
Tier 3 - Ronaldo, Muller, Cristiano, Xavi, Zico, Platini, Baresi, Maldini, Matthaus
Or you start to group by position, for example:
GOATS | Maradona | Messi | Pele | Beckenbauer | Cruyff | Di Stefano |
| | | | | | |
Position | Central defender | Full-Back | Central Midfielder | Attacking Midfielder | Winger / Wide Forward | Centre Forward |
Positional GOAT | Baresi | Maldini | Xavi
Matthaus | Zico
Platini | Cristiano
Garrincha
Best | Ronaldo
Muller
Van Basten
Puskas |
Best of the rest | Figueroa
Moore
Scirea
Passarella
Nesta | Cafu
Carlos Alberto
Zanetti
Facchetti | Rijkaard
Modric
Falcao | Zidane
Charlton | Ronaldinho | Eusebio
Romario |
Obviously you can start to play with who goes where, and the categories can also be tweaked. But after the top 6 or so it starts to be difficult to compare, for instance, Baresi or Maldini with Muller.
I'm not totally comfortable with some of the distinctions. To give a few examples:
- There's a case that Xavi's influence on games was so extreme, consistent and legacy-creating that he deserves a place in the top bracket.
- Individually, I probably rate Zico a ball-hair higher than Di Stefano or Cruyff, but they had a greater whole-team impact. Is it right to gave that extra weight to overall influence or should it simply be about individual brilliance?
- Ronaldo's an outlier - a tier 1 peak but not sustained like the others.
- We could throw a load of attacking midfielders and 9.5 types in alongside Zidane and Charlton of a similar calibre, and other wide players alongside Ronaldinho, but they are the ones clearest in people's minds.