I was bored over X-mas and I was wondering who are the 50 greatest players who I have seen play?  Not the Di Stefano's and Pele's but players who have played since I have watched football.  This is the list I have come up with, I would like input.  Are there any glaring ommisions?  

I respect the football knowledge of the posters on this board and would like some help in organising this list.  Do I have enough GK's, defenders and defensive mids?  etc.

I would like to put them in a definitive order 1 to 50!

Happy New Year to you all!

1. Maradona
2. Zidane
3. Van Basten
4. Platini
5. Ronaldinho
6. Maldini
7. Giggs
8. Desailly

The rest
Ronaldo
Del Piero
Zola
Totti
Batistuta
Baresi
Rivaldo
R. Carlos
Kaka
Messi
Lineker
Beckham
Ibrahimovic
Gullit
Crespo
Shearer
Larsson
Hagi
Romario
Stoichkov
Cantona
Laudrup
Henry
Bergkamp
Klinnsmann
Hoddle
Deschamps
Shevkencho
Buffon
Trezeguet
Cafu
Gasciogne
Vialli
Voller
Matthaus
Raul
Figo
Koeman
Baggio
Schmeichel
Rush
C Ronaldo
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Last edited by Mexico86 on 05-01-09 00:10; edited 4 times in total

Mexico86 wrote:

Are there any glaring ommisions?

Doesn't get much more glaring...

Also I'd argue that Weah, Nesta, Boban, Savicevic, Thuram, Nedved, Cafu, Schmeichel, Zanetti, Davids, Kahn and some others should be in with a shout. Weah definitely.

thanks diatribe, barthez out for scmeichel, cafu in for ginola and baggio for riquelme, weah for larsson

now how about garry nelson  
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1. Maradona
2. Zidane
3. Van Basten
4. Platini
5. Ronaldinho
6. Maldini
7. Giggs
8. Desailly

The rest
Ronaldo
Del Piero
Zola
Totti
Batistuta
Baresi
Rivaldo
R. Carlos
Kaka
Messi
Lineker
Beckham
Ibrahimovic
Gullit
Crespo
Shearer
Weah
Hagi
Romario
Stoichkov
Cantona
Laudrup
Henry
Bergkamp
Klinnsmann
Hoddle
Deschamps
Shevkencho
Buffon
Trezeguet
Cafu
Gasciogne
Vialli
Voller
Matthaus
Raul
Figo
Koeman
Baggio
Schmeichel
Rush
C Ronaldo
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In my opinion Baggio is second only to Maradona.

I agree with Myles!    

Maradona
Baggio
Van Basten
Maldini
Platini
ADP
Mattheus
Zidane
Cannavaro
Totti

Blanc, Cantona, J. Zanetti, Batistuta (was he there??), Lizarazu, Thuram.
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Batistuta is there. Trust me, I would have been right in there if he wasn't!

Other names that I've thought about are Manuel Rui Costa, Oliver Bierhoff, Davor Šuker and possibly Ian Wright?
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I'd take out Larsson, Desailly, Carlos, Trezeguet and put in any of:

De Boer brothers. Andreas Muller. Claudio Cannigia. Matthias Sammer. Signori. Pagluica (the best keeper I've seen). Roberto Mancini, J Zannetti, Ciriaco  Saforza, Guti, Rui Costa, Redondo, Blanco (players that I've personally liked, not necessarily the best in terms of attainment).

And just because he got me into Serie A, I'd have to include Ruben Sosa!

Del Piero
Nedved
Trezeguet
Henry
Ibrahimovic
Boniperti
Baggio
Bettega
Charles
Sivori
Vialli
Zidane
Brady
Boniek
Scirea
Platini
Thuram
Cannavaro
Montero
Ferrara
Pessotto
Chiellini
Zambrotta
Birindelli
Gentile
Zoff
Buffon
Conte
Maresca
Furino
Cabrini
Parola
Iuliano
Tardelli
Legrottaglie
Camoranesi
Peruzzi
Tacchinardi
Ravanelli
Deschamps
Davids

Maradona
Batistuta
Ronaldinho
Maldini
Bergkamp
Cantona
Van basten
Gullit
Gazza
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I didn't see the original list, but how could you miss off Baggio?  He's the greatest I've seen in the 15 or so years I've been watching football.

Matthias Sammer was a fine player as well.  Should be on the list ahead of the likes of Roberto Carlos and Beckham.  He was also missed of Pele's hilariously bad list, despite the appearance of El-Hadji Diouf and Hidetoshi Nakata amongst other.
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Myles wrote:

In my opinion Baggio is second only to Maradona.

I've always felt that Baggio was mildly ove       and like Totti is rated more by fans of Italian football, unlike Zola and ADP who are widely respected throughout Europe.  What am I not seeing?    

Personally I would take ADP over Baggio.  Am I off base with that?
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Del Piero's one of my favourite players of all time, and would be ahead of Baggio in a list of my favourite players, but Baggio was better.

As for the not being as widely respected throughout the world comment, I can see that as Baggio actually didn't win much in his career and is probably remembered by most uneducated fans for his penalty miss in the 1994 World Cup final.

He remains though one of the greatest talents this sport has ever produced.  The fact Phil Neville has more medals shouldn't hide that fact.
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Forza Juve!!!

Mexico86, you're right about Totti though, he never turned up for a big game in his life, but you can't mention Totti and Baggio in the same sentence  

Personally i think Cantona was overrated, he never turned up against Juve in europe when he played for Manchester United. He flicked the ball here and there, the crowd in Manchester thought it was great, but the Juventini thought it was better because every time he flicked the ball it went straight to a Juve player.

Mexico86 wrote:

how how about garry nelson

Haha now you've got my attention! Recently read his book actually, great insight into the life of a journeyman pro playing football to keep a roof over his family's head.

As for Baggio, I'd put him well in the top 5. Obviously Maradona on top then Ronaldo edges it for me above Baggio/Platini/Van Basten.

And ja, Cantona is/was overrated. I think he was respected off these shores but never held in the same regard as others of his generation. I however, will forever love him for kicking a Crystal Palace fan's head in.

Liam wrote:

Should be on the list ahead of the likes of Roberto Carlos and Beckham.

I think Beckham deserves to be in the top 20 of any top 50 players list, never mind being dropped in place of anyone else.

You may not like him, his politics or his image, but I personally haven't seen a player hit a ball any distance you like with such consistant accuracy as Beckham from 1997 to 2004. Look back at his performances throughout the 98/99 season for example... it's f**king scary how good he is.

diatribe wrote:

I however, will forever love him for kicking a Crystal Palace fan's head in.

Heard a brilliant quote over the weekend about that famous night:

Journalist: "Do you have any regrets about what took place that night at Selhurst Park?"
Cantona: "Yes. I regret that I didn't hit him harder."
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I do not see the words 'Matthias Sammer' in this thread.

And for that reason...I'm out.

Michael La Viola wrote:

I do not see the words 'Matthias Sammer' in this thread. And for that reason...I'm out.

Try this, posted earlier today:

Liam wrote:

Matthias Sammer was a fine player as well.  Should be on the list ahead of the likes of Roberto Carlos and Beckham.  He was also missed of Pele's hilariously bad list, despite the appearance of El-Hadji Diouf and Hidetoshi Nakata amongst other.

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Myles wrote:

Personally i think Cantona was ove      , he never turned up against Juve in europe when he played for Manchester United. He flicked the ball here and there, the crowd in Manchester thought it was great, but the Juventini thought it was better because every time he flicked the ball it went straight to a Juve player.

Yeah agree 110% Cantona never performed for Utd in Europe and that along with him not being a factor for France diminishes his legacy.  Cantona was the Totti of England in that regard.  

And yeah Mezz I agree about Beckham, his freekicks from 97-04 were better than any others that I've seen including Koeman, Platini etc.  In my opinion he is the greatest free kick specialist of all time.
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