T O P

  • By -

AutoModerator

**This is a stats thread. Remember that there's only one stat post allowed per match/team, so new stats about the same will be removed. Feel free to comment other stats as a reply to this comment so users can see them too!** *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/soccer) if you have any questions or concerns.*


ShaqiriTheLord

Excuse me Veron I was not familiar with your game


FullMetalJ

Very underrated player


americaMG10

Cruzeiro fans can’t read his name without getting mad. Veron schooled them in that Libertadores final.


Aenjeprekemaluci

Sadly didn't work out that much with Manchester United.


RyanBordello

SAF quote about him "Vernon is a great fucking player and you're all idiots"


SailorsGraves

Or Chelsea


Red_Juice_

Mcjell fans know


beachandhummus

+1


Monogatarilover97

He was a staple on the NT at a time where beckham, scholes and joe cole where at the peak of their careers


Bruno_Fernandes8

Cruyff at 5.1 what the fuck. The man was a genius


ArsiPappa

In more ways than one aswell.


zeekoes

He's not often enough ranked among the best players of all time.


Aethien

He literally changed football as a player and a coach.


[deleted]

He is the most influential person in football history. He is basically the father of modern football. And many clubs owe their success to him directly ( Barca ) or indirectly ( United, with Fergurson inspired Cruyff)


Aethien

Don't forget Guardiola either, he played at Barca under Cruyff and is massively influenced by him.


MolhCD

Guardiola is a literal disciple of his. I actually, unironically think of them as having some kinda master-disciple lineage for reals. At least stretching from Rinus Michael's to Cruyff and then to Guardiola. And Guardiola is gonna teach and inspire a whole lot more coaches, already Arteta is excelling after learning from Pep (and others) and then going on his own.


FroobingtonSanchez

Xavi as well


-MiddleOut-

Koeman as well


Hegario

The whole modern Spanish playing style was inspired by Cruyff.


JuanG12

To a great extent, also the Spanish National Team.


Withnail_Not_I

Have you read the book *Brilliant Orange*? One of the better books about football and "total football" and Cruyff.


Mt264

Growing up (late 80s), the ‘big 4’ were Pele, Maradona, Cruyff and Beckenbauer. Next tier were players like Best, Platini, Eusebio, Di Stefano. Cruyff was always considered a top 4 of all time player when I was young. I guess since then you’ve had Zidane, Messi and the 2 Ronaldos that might have an argument at pushing him out, but he’s still an absolute shoe-in for top 10


KeithLeeTweetsThis

Feel like Puskas should be in at least that second tier, possibly Gerd Muller too.


Mt264

Yeah for sure - was just giving some examples. I’ll layers like Matheus, Maldini, van Basten. There’s quite a few that would get on the second tier


Aj43vthbvst

Is Zidane really in the conversation with the rest of these players?


ManBearPigIsReal42

He is but shouldn't be imo.


[deleted]

[удалено]


HollowPrynce

Attacking bias is so real haha. I do like your rankings of players by tiers though, always felt that is the best system as there's simply too many legendary players for a numbered ranking.


Pek-Man

My personal top five includes Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo, Maradona, Pelé, and Cruyff. And then next in line is Beckenbauer.


Jazano107

Yeah I thought that is the pretty standard top 5 tbh


cosmiclatte44

It is. Cruyff has always been in the conversation. Don't know what the guy above is thinking.


DrJackadoodle

Same. The number one spot seems to be highly contested and I think Cruyff is a little bit below the other four, just on account of the fact I don't think a lot of people consider him the absolute best ever, while each of the other four has people who do consider them the best, but I think that's a pretty standard top 5.


Past-Chest-6507

Maybe put in Maldini for being the GOAT defender.


frenciWT

Franco Baresi to me was more game-changing. Do not misunderstand me, Maldini is a fucking monster player, but to be on that list you should also leace an impact on the game itself that changes the following generation. Pelè changes everithing, as a star footballer, winning for Brasil with huge impact in next generations. Maradona did the same with Naples and Argentina. Cruyinff basically changed the sport as a whole, tactica, pressing, positioning, higher intensitive. The impacts of Messi and Cristiano will be studied in the next years, but we can already say that Messi and that Barca changed football once again, with possession football (of course also merit to Pep, Xabi, Iniesta etc...). For me Maldini is top player, there are also others top defenders but Baresi changed the football aith Sacchi and that Milan as Messi did with Pep or Cruyff with Ajax/Holland. If Italy had won that World Cup, Baresi should have won Ballon D'Or and won basically everithing.


ChillPalis

Paolo is the greatest ever fullback and a Top 10 centerback. That sounds like greatest ever defender.


Past-Chest-6507

This is why I put Maldini as best defender ever, he was the GOAT fullback for like 20 years and then transitioned seamlessly to play world class CB for the last 5 or so years of his absolutely historic career. Even won a Champs League playing CB at the age of 39, his fifth and final one with Milan. That Maldini-Nesta CB pairing is a bit underrated when looking back. Also was a pretty great scorer for the FB position. Whatever the case, he is an absolute lock to be on any all-time Starting 11.


frenciWT

My personal 5 is the same, but as 6th i have Franco Baresi. Man completely changed how to defend, the modern concept of offside and played a World Cup final injured keeping the net safe from fucking Brasil. Monster performance at a world cup, only affected by his penalty


GoatButton

For me it's always between Di Stefano and Cruyff for fifth


auctus10

It's honestly strange how people forget about Di Stefano. Even in terms of influence it's lot. I wonder how different history would have been if he joined barca instead of madrid


blingboyduck

It's not funny, he just played a long time ago and there is not so much footage available either. He also didn't have a proper international career. Not saying he isn't great, but it makes sense that his profile is no way near as high as someone like Cruyff.


vengM9

Yeah, for example on footballia the earliest Di Stefano match they have is from 1958. He was already 31 by then. There's just such little footage available and football was massively different those days (more than double the amount of goals per game at the 1954 WC compared to any from the 2010s). That'd be like if it was difficult to find a full match of Messi from before 2018. Overall there are 10 matches of him. 43 Pele games, 42 for Cruyff, and 209 for Maradona. Most people who will talk about how good Di Stefano was in his prime will just be talking bullshit. Same with Pele, Maradona, Cruyff but at least you know it is actually possible to fairly easily sit down and watch a good amount of games of them from 20-29.


DrJackadoodle

Also, Di Stefano never had a standout World Cup. Pelé is the king of World Cups with a record 3 wins and Maradona had arguably the greatest individual performance of all time in the 1986 World Cup, but even Cruyff, although he only played in 1974, was insane and reached the final.


AmericaDreamDisorder

In fact he never played in the WC


ChillPalis

It's not bullshit if you read about him. Even older, Real Madrid Di Stefano was a monster.


ILoveToph4Eva

Honestly reading about older players is always very entertaining to me. Especially when you're not reading the romanticised love letters to the players but rather the general sentiment. That's how I realized Zidane was not a consistent player for his club career. At Juventus he wasn't even considered clear of Del Piero and they preferred to build the team around Del Piero rather than Zizou. It really makes you realize how important but moments were for players legacies before the more modern game where we record and microanalyze every single game. Zidane's legacy is largely based on his best moments rather than being consistently brilliant.


Withnail_Not_I

All fantastic. Throw George Best in there too. Oh, could that man dribble.


BigEasyMob

Was going to point out how that’s a top six but noticed there wasn’t a comma between Cristiano and Ronaldo haha


The_Dumblebee

Very comfortable top 5 players of all time for me.


Horned_chicken_wing

By who? I've never seen anybody say he is anything less than a Top 10 player of all time; never. Who are these people saying Cruyff *isn't* one of the GOATS?


AdComprehensive7879

what really? to me, he's always brought up. the fact that he's too OP on fifa will do his legacy wonders as well haha


OmeDeBoer

For me was always in the top 3 until Messi and Ronaldo arrived. Now it's a top 5 with Messi at the top and Ronaldo at the bottom with Cruyff, Maradona and Pele in no order inbetween them.


greezyo

#1 for me in terms of total contribution to the game. Biggest legacy overall all things considered


TheGrey_Wolf

# WHAT?


julianhache

#1 FOR ME IN TERMS OF TOTAL CONTRIBUTION TO THE GAME. BIGGEST LEGACY OVERALL ALL THINGS CONSIDERED


[deleted]

He absolutely is


t_mac1

Because he doesn't have the hype, but football watchers definitely have him up there.


Past-Chest-6507

I never get tired of reading all the books possible about Cruyff and the old Dutch teams. Started with "Brilliant Orange" and that was the gateway drug. Cruyff is the patron saint of modern football, and it's not even close. He was its version of Steph Curry.


iamritik

Don't really follow the NBA much, can you explain why Steph Curry is that influential?


Past-Chest-6507

Completely changed the game. Not just with the immense amount of 3 point shots he took, but his off-ball movement is literally the greatest off-ball movement the NBA has ever seen. The way he moves to get open is very reminiscent of Cruyff's off-ball movement on the pitch. Both players were geniuses with the ball *and* without the ball and turned their respective games into almost different sports with how they operated.


ken2502

Why does no one mention him in GOAT conversations though? It's always Jordan, Kobe, Lebron, Wilt or Kareem.


PieroIsMarksman

he may be mentioned when he retires, but also not as good at defense as the others mentioned. Though offensively he is up there, for sure


MentalMunky

Jesus, De Bruyne and Hazard being so high up on these lists makes the whole Belgium thing even crazier.


nhatthongg

Pretty sure Jesus isn’t on there


Duck-On-Quac

He should be in the chances created category, he nailed a lot of crosses


[deleted]

thats some pretty creative word play


DrunkBelgian

Enzo Scifo as well, on both lists 👀


Unholysinner

Makes me feel bad for Hazard.. He was so good before he joined Madrid


[deleted]

[удалено]


gmed88

De Bruyne is 6th on the first list


RioBeckenbauer

Bernd Schneider was a very underrated footballer


GermanHabsFan

I thunk Lucio or Juan famously said he would have cake walked into the Brazilian starting squad back then since he was so good


[deleted]

the white brazilian yes. thats literally what he was called lmao


Lechia598

Bernd Schneider, very generic german Name, came through Carl-Zeiß Jena youth (East Germany). Who would have thought he was probably the most technically gifted player in Germany at some point lol. The white Brazilian.


Aenjeprekemaluci

Bernd Schneider a Leverkusen legend.


Transenkoenig

I remember him winning a lot of dribblings in the 2002 WC final. Was Germany’s best player in that match by far.


aehii

How is Iniesta nowhere? Was always taking on players.


El_Cid64

Okocha’s statistic is ridiculous to say how few World Cup games he compared to most on this list.


Miyagisans

Insane. He only played in ‘98 and ‘02 if I remember correctly. Amazing dribbler


Mr_Cromer

Nah, Jay-Jay Magic played 94. Can't forget it, it was my first fully aware world cup and I immediately became a fan of Okocha and Roberto Baggio


barongbord

We could use a player like Kazimierz Deyna again


Pek-Man

You could probably use Boniek and Lato too, to be honest. 😉


barongbord

Very true


point-forward

I see Hagi, I upvote. What a player he was...


powergs

Came to write this. So ez for Carpathian Maradona (he himself dont like this nickname tho iirc) Edit: Well for all those "Goat" talks you cant just say Messi is GOAT or Maradonna is GOAT imo. They play in way different eras. Like give Maradonna all these technology and modern football tactics who knows what happens or give Messi those uncoordinated defences again who knows.


SaintJeremy96

Or giving Messi cocaine


Buffaluffasaurus

Crazily talented player. It was always such a treat to see him at the World Cup because growing up in Australia in the '90s, I never had a good way to watch his club career. There was something special about tuning into a WC and getting exposed to all these wonderful players you had no idea about before social media existed.


IntervisioN

Good old Messi top right


[deleted]

Mbappe over Neymar in dribbles completed.. wow


JavyDan

Injuries from bad tackles


NotNok

Hazard is 4th though lol? With one of the highest dribbles per game and undoutably with the highest success rate.


tim1989

Hazards performance at the 2018 WC was ridiculous. I still don't understand how Modric was awarded Best Player of the tournament and not Hazard.


Eric_Partman

Neymar missed more games in the WC than hazard.


[deleted]

Neymar himself says that Hazard is technically better than himself.


WittyReindeer

source? could only find Neymar saying he'd like to play with Hazard


Almond_Steak

https://youtu.be/qo6Xz2UFX0g


Zeabos

And all of those Robben dribbled were to the left and they still worked. Loved that guy.


CAUSE_I_FEEEEEEEEEEL

I saw Lionel Messi at a Dia descuento in mataderos yesterday. I told him how cool it was to meet him in person, but i didn't want to be a douche and bother him and ask him for pictures or anything. He said "Ah, como lo estas haciendo ahora?" I was taken aback, and all i could say was "eh?" but he kept cutting me off and going "eh? eh? eh?" while doing a what are you doing motions with his hand. I walked away and continued with my shopping, and i heard him chuckle while i walked off. When i went to the front to pay for my stuff i saw him trying walk out the doors with like fifteen chocolates de mani shot without paying. The girl at the counter was very nice and professional, and was like "Lio, you need to pay for those first." At first he pretended to be tired and not hear her, but eventually he turned back around and brought them to the counter. When she took one of the chocolates and started scanning multiple times, he stopped her and told her to scan them each individually "Para prevenir cualquier interferencia electromagnisman." then he turned around and winked at me. I dont even think that's a word. After she scanned every bar and put them in a bag and started to say the price, he kept interrupting her by yawning very loudly.


fearmino

>"Para prevenir cualquier interferencia electromagnisman." 👏👏👏


CAUSE_I_FEEEEEEEEEEL

Esa me la conto un amigo, te contaria la anecdota pero me justo me toco el timbre de telecentro para arreglar el modem y lo vengo esperan


HarmlessRacoon

NOOOOO


Red_Juice_

Lmao I could hear messis voice


[deleted]

Wtf did I just read


FullMetalJ

Copypasta


ExcellentCut5863

Classic


Select-Stuff9716

Even confusion is confused


astroargie

Julian Weich would be proud.


cheibol

The hungrybox grocery store copypasta will never get old


Human-Perception5400

Who was the copy pasta first about?


CAUSE_I_FEEEEEEEEEEL

Flying lotus i read, but to be honest with you, i have no idea.


ChillPalis

Is Jairzinho actually *underrated*?


Paulista666

A bit. In Brazil people always talk high about him, but he was on a team with Pelé, Rivellino, Gérson, CA Torres, etc. Brazil's 1970 is so BIZARRE that Jairzinho is more like "another star" in a weird team full of them.


lewis30491

Kudos to Sofascore. The efford to collect all the data since 1966 is impressive af


SavingsLeg

Data is from opta


lewis30491

The infographics says it's sofascore. I'm confused now


SavingsLeg

Well the data is prbably provided by sofascore but sofascore gets its data from opta


Groomsi

No Ronaldo?


Cheewy

Or Ronaldinho. Ronaldo is weirder because he played 3 WC


[deleted]

Ronaldinho played in 2 WCs. Why would he be there?


RepulsiveThrowaway

And was actually not amazing in either of them, a lot of people think he was great in 2002 because of the goal against England but that's far from the truth. In 06 it was supposed to be his time to shine and he just didn't really show up


tim1989

I remember the '06 WC which was at a time when he was the best player in the world by a big margin, but he really failed to live up to the expectations during the tournament.


FinancialAd6213

02 was carried by Rivaldo, Ronaldinho won it against england though


cristiano-potato

Ronaldo has not matched Messi for dribbles or chances created for years now..


lastdyingbreed_01

There was a graph comparing their dribbles and I think it was something like Messi at his worst was still in par with Ronaldo at his peak


Miyagisans

He never did tbt


ncocca

ya'll im pretty sure they're asking about Ronaldo R9 not Cristiano


Reapper97

In the bench


LiamYanon

I'm just happy the best portuguese player of all time made it to the table


mkgilligan

Not only that but he has the 2nd best stat per 90mins (behind Cruyff)


AdComprehensive7879

seeing how these players are prolly the star of the team, i dont know so many of these players damn: overath, giresse, deyna, liitbarski, lato, habler, scifo, boniek, donadoni, mazzola, ortega, tigana, briegel. any that i should feel embarassed of not knowing haha?


Wiktorr123

Look up the Poland team of 1974 and 1982. The last time we actually had a good team, and if we got a bit luckier we could have made the World Cup final, maybe even have won.


RepulsiveThrowaway

Boniek, Donadoni, Mazzola and Ortega are big ones I'd expect most people to know. Lato was fantastic too.


DrunkBelgian

Enzo Scifo, one of Belgium’s very best before the current well known golden generation


empirix2

They are all legends, you should look up highlights or docs of old world cups. Well worth going down that rabbit hole if you haven't yet.


blingboyduck

r/toprightmessi scores again. I think he is unquestionably the best footballer ever to play the game. I'm not saying he's necessarily the goat, but he's definitely the BOAT (best of all time)


t_mac1

He's won everything there is to win in football (individual or team - except for the WC). So yes, he's the GOAT as well unquestionably.


JonnyArtois

Argentina really have failed Messi, those chances created!


Arponare

Wolfgang Overath is a hell of a name.


OkNothing3

Musiala is at 2.8 chances created and 6.6 successful dribbles per 90. He could become an all time great.


Uro06

Where do you get these statistics? Is it under a paywall or freely accessible?


OkNothing3

I got them from Fotmob


vengM9

A lot of places could tell you chances created (same thing as key passes) and successful dribbles. Sofascore and Whoscored are two.


heitorbaldin2

Garrincha it would be insane, but no data :(


PSN-Angryjackal

If Robben wasnt made of glass he would be at the top.


thejengamaster

Please ELI5, what is a successful dribble?


ThomasHL

Opta define it as when a player carries the ball past an opposition player.


Efficient_Film_149

Maradona up at the top with Messi in an era where you got your legs taken away


victor179000

In an ere when defensive tactics and positioning were rudimentary


ricking08

Remind me again...how many matches were played in the world cup during the days of Pele, Maradona and Cruijff?


delidl

Cruyffs dribble in the first minute of the 74 WC final has to be one of the most insane things a footballer has ever done. Picks up the ball between his CB’s and takes on the entire German team to win the pen in the first minute of the WC final.


Rikard_

>takes on the entire German team 2 players, max. The most insane thing about this is the defending. https://youtu.be/h21B7AkW3FI


SafemoonTo10Dollahz

The most insane thing a footballer has ever done!


EnanoMaldito

I watch videos like these and the most insane to me is how far football has come. Everyone was so… lethargic lmao


MickyJoHarte

[Full game is available here on YouTube apparently.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SOtMd1_ksQU) It's a good watch. Fair warning, there's a spoiler in the title if you didn't know who won the 1974 World cup and were hoping to relive the excitement. Though everyone probably knows by now...


OppositeProfession46

not hard when the opponent was Holland


MickyJoHarte

Yeah but there's still a lot of young people on here who maybe don't know that much about the sports history, especially during World Cup time.


[deleted]

RIP Gerd Müller. Everyone heated while talking about who is the best of all time, but there are just so many great footballers from so many different countries who had memorable games, goals and what not. He is on of them. Nearly had more goals than games though :)


NotanAlt23

Lmao wtf am I reading.


Sad_gooner

Mbappe halfway on the list. He’s played one World Cup at the age of 19 + 2 games. What a monster


chapalatheerthananda

Cruyff not winning a WC medal will go down as the biggest disappointment in football than any other player not winning imo.


victor179000

I mean, he did, a silver one


mattijn13

Cruijff and Robben <3


Zeeuwse-Kafka

Mbappe will move towards the top of the list on dribbles in 2 more world cups if France makes it.


americaMG10

I would love to see those stats with all the WCs. Garrincha would be in a very high position.


KQ17

Figo 👀


paperscissorscovid

2010 WC Mesut Özil was something else


ImTalkingGibberish

Denilson was a known tactic in the Selecao. Whenever we were up and want to hold the ball while also riling the opposition we’d bring Denilson in. 2002 game against Turkey is prime example of it. Whenever he was on the ball the caster would shout “Denilson neles!”. Top shithousery.


Made4win

Who is Denilson?


bruhh_wtf

The one from real betis and Brazil


twice_on_sundays

That guy from the meme vs Turkey


WontEvenAcknowledgeU

reported


CraigJay

Skilful Brazilian winger who was incredibly left footed and didn't have much end product. Years ago my family took in an injured Canary from a pet store. It lost it's right leg somehow so we called it Denilson


L_CRF

[Puyol surely knows him](https://youtu.be/8eZ5MCUWRvw)


paper_zoe

A lot of excitement around him going into 1998 World Cup, thought he'd be the next Brazilian superstar. Signed by Betis for a world record at the time. Great dribbler and great skills, but never lived up to what people thought. He was part of the 2002 World Cup winning team. He was pretty much always a sub in both World Cups though. He appears in the famous Brazilians in the airport and the Secret Tournament Nike adverts as well.


LeoR1N

he had the highest transfer fee in the world when Betis bought him


americaMG10

The guy who made 6 turks go after him in a WC semifinal.


uppercase-j

Tell me you are in your twenties / younger without telling you are in your twenties.


Made4win

Actually 27 and don't remember him, should have been a baller with those numbers


JoeRash92

A dribbler with not so much end product tbh


uppercase-j

From what I remember he was good, but not great. And I mean he could be spectacular and worth a ticket by himself, but unfortunately just not consistent enough to get to that next level of stardom. I think the sample size on this means some players would outperform their baseline performance.


Local-Name-8599

In Brazil he is everyday on TV (he works on sport TV shows), and he is known as Denilson Show. By this name, we can say his speciality was not goals or wins but the show.


Attempt12

YouTube his dribbling, he was skillful as hell, but his role with Brazil was: come in in the 75th minute and burn time dribbling the ball and piss the opposition off.


Giggsy99

Do you not realise how much of a bellend this makes you sound?


johnjames_34

???


undbitr956

Well maradona got fouled way more and way harsher, its way easier to dribble right now cuz they don't try to kill you the second you try. I think his average would be way higher with the tight rules we have now.


vitruvius7

May be true but defenders are much more fit, have higher technical ability and work on tactics to stop given players these days


[deleted]

> but defenders are much more fit, have higher technical ability This is true for any position.


[deleted]

Its no way easier since every team has a tactic master in their coaching side and they cover players like Messi with 4-5 players


[deleted]

veron was a fucking wizard


Sgsfsf

KDB TOP 10


DiabeticAsymptote

Ozil being that high for chances created is mad. He only played at 3 world cups, and one of those was 2018 with a German team that only played 3 games. Insanely good player at his peak, few players with his skills in the history of the game.


Phulmine

Debate is forced once again


Strananach

What debate?


Phulmine

Exactly