PLEASE SEE POST number 7 below - THIS IS NOW A TOP 50 VOTE THREAD (this post remains for reference and the Daily Mails rank counts as 1 vote as does my vote which I only changed slightly and therefore includes most of their selections) This will work as a sort of poll whereby the players the Daily Mail (English newspaper) selected will be ranked by each voter from 1 to 50 and points added accordingly to their total ie 50 pts for 1st place down to 1pt for 50th. Try not to be dishonest by voting Pele or Maradona 50th though (if you honestly believe one or the other is 10th or something then fair enough) . I will vote in a second to get things running and to provide an illustration for everyone. I will include the Daily Mails ranking as a vote also and their ranking was as below (we are just including their 50 choices in the rank although like me I'm sure some people would have other inclusions - maybe they can be mentioned as an aside in your posts - in fact lets say each voter can add two names they think should be included and we can keep a seperate count of those votes to decide the most glaring omissions). Hope this is easy enough to follow - the Daily Mails players and rankings are: 1 Pele (50 pts) 2 Diego Maradona (49) 3 Johan Cruyff (48) 4 George Best (47) 5 Zinedine Zidane (46) 6 Ferenc Puskas (45) 7 Michel Platini (44) 8 Bobby Charlton (43) 9 Alfredo di Stefano (42) 10 Franz Beckenbaur (41) 11 Zico (40) 12 Bobby Moore (39) 13 Paolo Maldini (38) 14 Ronaldo (37) 15 Garrincha (36) 16 Eusebio (35) 17 Marco van Basten (34) 18 Lev Yashin (33) 19 John Charles (32) 20 Peter Schmeichel (31) 21 Ruud Gullit (30) 22 Lionel Messi (29) 23 Dennis Bergkamp (28) 24 Gerd Muller (27) 25 Thierry Henry (26) 26 Roberto Rivellino (25) 27 Lothar Matthaus (24) 28 Paolo Rossi (23) 29 Jurgen Klinsmann (22) 30 Roberto Baggio (21) 31 Johan Neeskens (20) 32 Sandro Mazzola (19) 33 Cristiano Ronaldo (18) 34 Franco Baresi (17) 35 Ronaldinho (16) 36 Gheorghe Hagi (15) 37 Romario (14) 38 Kaka (13) 39 Stanley Matthews (12) 40 Hristo Stoichkov (11) 41 Mario Kempes (10) 42 Emilio Butragueno (9) 43 Zbigniew Boniek (8) 44 Kenny Dalglish (7) 45 Gabriel Batistuta (6) 46 George Weah (5) 47 Andriy Shevchenko (4) 48 Enzo Francescoli (3) 49 Francisco Gento (2) 50 Michael Laudrup (1) Hopefully it should be easy to follow my post in a minute and keep the current scores for each player up to date and correct. I'll return in about a month to list them in order by points voted though. Obviously the main rule is ONE VOTE by each member.
Ok heres my vote (meant to be all in black not blue writing :-/) Pele 1st 50pts(100 pts) Diego Maradona 3rd 48(97) Johan Cruyff 2nd 49(97) George Best 5th 46(93) Zinedine Zidane 8th 43(89) Ferenc Puskas 17th 34(79) Michel Platini 4th 47(91) Bobby Charlton 11th 40(83) Alfredo di Stefano 7th 44(86) Franz Beckenbaur 9th 42(83) Zico 15th 36(76) Bobby Moore 18th 33(72) Paolo Maldini 32nd 19(57) Ronaldo 13th 38(75) Garrincha 35th 16(52) Eusebio 10th 41(76) Marco van Basten 6th 45(79) Lev Yashin 24th 27(60) John Charles 45th 6(38) Peter Schmeichel 30th 21(52) Ruud Gullit 31st 20(50) Lionel Messi 40th 11(40) Dennis Bergkamp 20th 31(59) Gerd Muller 29th 22(49) Thierry Henry 21st 30(56) Roberto Rivellino 39th 12(37) Lothar Matthaus 23rd 28(52) Paolo Rossi 43rd 8(31) Jurgen Klinsmann 28th 23(45) Roberto Baggio 22nd 29(50) Johan Neeskens 36th 15(35) Sandro Mazzola 50th 1(20) Cristiano Ronaldo 41st 10(28) Franco Baresi 27th 24(41) Ronaldinho 14th 37(53) Gheorghe Hagi 33rd 18(33) Romario 37th 14(28) Kaka 34th 17(30) Stanley Matthews 26th 25(37) Hristo Stoichkov 44th 7(18) Mario Kempes 42nd 9(19) Emilio Butragueno 46th 5(14) Zbigniew Boniek 48th 3(11) Kenny Dalglish 16th 35(42) Gabriel Batistuta 38th 13(19) George Weah 19th 32(37) Andriy Shevchenko 25th 26(30) Enzo Francescoli 47th 4(7) Francisco Gento 49th 2(4) Michael Laudrup 12th 39(40). So the current totals are now in brackets. I think you may need to write your rankings on paper first then copy and paste changing the ranking, the points you give them based on that ranking and then the running totals in brackets. The two players I give votes to not mentioned are: Luis Figo (1 vote) Dejan Savicevic (1 vote) So if everyone who wishes to wants to nominate two additional players or re-nominate ones that somebody else has (ie at the moment Figo or Savicevic) then we can keep total votes in brackets for this too.
Is it even worth doing with that selection from the Mail? When they've got the likes of Ronaldo, Messi, Kaka, Rossi and Klinsmann included and Didi, Kopa, Nordahl, Kubala and Kocsis not listed (along with a number of premier defenders such as Passarella, Djalma Santos, Varela) it doesn't come out with much credibility.
I suppose that is a whole other argument about the merits of past greats compared to more recent stars. The main candidates from early years are probably included though (Di Stefano, Puskas, Pele if you call 1958 early). The thread is just an ordering of the players they chose - I suppose everyone could have chosen their own top 50 but I thought that might be even MORE complicated ;-). Perhaps you can choose two of the players you mentioned as your votes for most glaring omissions? I'm bearing in mind that at the end of this we should have a top 20 according to Big Soccer readers though - not a top 50 because there are too many players people would argue shouldn't have been picked by the Mail but perhaps a realistic top 20 in order?
Yeah, I don't really like the look of that Daily Mail list, especially with the likes of Kaka and Cristiano Ronaldo already included. Wouldn't it be much better if we just had people pick their own top 50 and then add up the total once that's all done? Would makes things a bit more complicated but much more interesting.
If you think it will work. My top 50 would be a bit different but would consider yet more recent players as well as the likes of Finney, Edwards, Hidegkuti, Rivera from the past. I think I'll leave my post largely as it is though and insert Figo and Savicevic only (both midway for arguments sake) Then the post will be a free for all top 50 for everyone with totals kept in the same way.
My revised vote (not exactly as I would go for but easier not to change too much and officially the 2nd vote in the poll after the Mail's seemingly controversial selection). TOP 50 with FREE CHOICE after this: Pele 1st 50pts(100 pts) Diego Maradona 3rd 48(97) Johan Cruyff 2nd 49(97) George Best 5th 46(93) Zinedine Zidane 8th 43(89) Ferenc Puskas 17th 34(79) Michel Platini 4th 47(91) Bobby Charlton 11th 40(83) Alfredo di Stefano 7th 44(86) Franz Beckenbaur 9th 42(83) Zico 15th 36(76) Bobby Moore 18th 33(72) Paolo Maldini 34th 17(55) Ronaldo 13th 38(75) Garrincha 37th 14(50) Eusebio 10th 41(76) Marco van Basten 6th 45(79) Lev Yashin 26th 25(58) John Charles 47th 4(36) Peter Schmeichel 32nd 19(50) Ruud Gullit 33rd 18(48) Lionel Messi 42nd 9(38) Dennis Bergkamp 22nd 29(57) Gerd Muller 31st 20(47) Thierry Henry 23rd 28(54) Roberto Rivellino 41st 10(35) Lothar Matthaus 25th 26(50) Paolo Rossi 45th 6(29) Jurgen Klinsmann 30th 21(43) Roberto Baggio 24th 27(48) Johan Neeskens 38th 13(33) Sandro Mazzola not voted for 0(19) Cristiano Ronaldo 43rd 8(26) Franco Baresi 29th 22(39) Ronaldinho 14th 37(53) Gheorghe Hagi 35th 16(31) Romario 39th 12(26) Kaka 36th 15(28) Stanley Matthews 28th 23(35) Hristo Stoichkov 46th 5(16) Mario Kempes 44th 7(17) Emilio Butragueno 48th 3(12) Zbigniew Boniek 50th 1(9) Kenny Dalglish 16th 35(42) Gabriel Batistuta 40th 11(17) George Weah 21st 30(35) Andriy Shevchenko 27th 24(28) Enzo Francescoli 49th 2(5) Francisco Gento not voted for (2) Michael Laudrup 12th 39(40) Luis Figo 19th (32) Dejan Savicevic 20th (31).
Here's my two cents, quite a few players from the Dail Mail list that I decided not to vote for: Johan Cruyff 50 (147) Pele 49 (149) Diego Maradona 48 (145) Ferenc Puskas 47 (138) Franz Beckenbauer 46 (129) Alfredo di Stefano 45 (131) Garrincha 44 (94) Michel Platini 43 (134) Gerd Muller 42 (89) Bobby Charlton 41 (124) George Best 40 (133) Zinedine Zidane 39 (128) Zico 38 (114) Eusebio 37 (113) Marco van Basten 36 (115) Ruud Gullit 35 (83) Franco Baresi 34 (73) Ronaldo 33 (108) Paolo Maldini 32 (87) Romario 31 (57) Josef Bican 30 (30) Roberto Baggio 29 (77) Sandor Kocsis 28 (28) Didi 27 (27) Fritz Walter 26 (26) Daniel Passarella 25 (25) Uwe Seeler 24 (24) Francisco Gento 23 (25) Lothar Matthaus 22 (72) Stanley Matthews 21 (56) Bobby Moore 20 (92) Lev Yashin 19 (77) Imre Schlosser 18 (18) Karl-Heinz Rummenigge 17 (17) Rivelino 16 (51) Just Fontaine 15 (15) Ruud Krol 14 (14) Luis Suarez 13 (13) Gunnar Nordahl 12 (12) Gianni Rivera 11 (11) Duncan Edwards 10 (10) Ladislao Kubala 9 (9) Giuseppe Meazza 8 (8) Raymond Kopa 7 (7) Sandro Mazzola 6 (25) Elias Figueroa 5 (5) Giacinto Facchetti 4 (4) Dino Zoff 3 (3) Telmo Zarra 2 (2) Djalma Santos 1 (1) John Charles not voted for (36) Peter Schmeichel not voted for (50) Lionel Messi not voted for (38) Dennis Bergkamp not voted for (57) Thierry Henry not voted for (54) Paolo Rossi not voted for (29) Jurgen Klinsmann not voted for (43) Johan Neeskans not voted for (33) Cristiano Ronaldo not voted for (26) Ronaldinho not voted for (53) Gheorghe Hagi not voted for (31) Kaka not voted for (28) Hristo Stoichkov not voted for (16) Mario Kempes not voted for (17) Emilio Butragueno not voted for (12) Zbigniew Boniek not voted for (9) Kenny Dalglish not voted for (42) Gabriel Batistuta not voted for (17) George Weah not voted for (35) Andriy Shevchenko not voted for (28) Enzo Francescoli not voted for (5) Michael Laudrup not voted for (40) Luis Figo not voted for (32) Dejan Savicevic not voted for (31)
My Top 100 (just only adding points to the first 50): 01. Pelé (Brazil) (50) 02. Diego Maradona (Argentina) (49) 03. Johan Cruyff (Holland) (48) 04. Franz Beckenbauer (Germany) (47) 05. Zinedine Zidane (France) (46) 06. Garrincha (Brazil) (45) 07. Zico (Brazil) (44) 08. Alfredo Di Stéfano (Spain) (43) 09. Michel Platini (France) (42) 10. Ronaldo (Brazil) (41) 11. George Best (Northern Ireland) (40) 12. Ferenc Puskás (Hungary) (39) 13. Leonidas (Brazil) (38) 14. Roberto Carlos (Brazil) (37) 15. Romário (Brazil) (36) 16. Franco Baresi (Italy) (35) 17. Lev Yashin (Soviet Union) (34) 18. Didí (Brazil) (33) 19. Paolo Maldini (Italy) (32) 20. Marco van Basten (Holland) (31) 21. Ronaldinho (Brazil) (30) 22. Thierry Henry (France) (29) 23. Bobby Charlton (England) (28) 24. Rivaldo (Brazil) (27) 25. Lothar Matthäus (Germany) (26) 26. Roberto Baggio (Italy) (25) 27. Gerd Müller (Germany) (24) 28. Rivelino (Brazil) (23) 29. Eusébio (Portugal) (22) 30. Giuseppe Meazza (Italy) (21) 31. Michael Laudrup (Denmark) (20) 32. Cafú (Brazil) (19) 33. Carlos Alberto (Brazil) (18) 34. José Leandro Andrade (Uruguay) (17) 35. Bobby Moore (England) (16) 36. Matthias Sindelar (Austria) (15) 37. Fernando Redondo (Argentina) (14) 38. Teófilo Cubillas (Peru) (13) 39. Roy Keane (Ireland) (12) 40. Javier Zanetti (Argentina) (11) 41. Stanley Matthews (England) (10) 42. Gabriel Batistuta (Argentina) (9) 43. Daniel Passarella (Argentina) (8) 44. Ladislao Kubala (Spain) (7) 45. Juan Alberto Schiaffino (Uruguay) (6) 46. Elías Figueroa (Chile) (5) 47. Zizinho (Brazil) (4) 48. Luís Figo (Portugal) (3) 49. José Manuel Moreno (Argentina) (2) 50. Djalma Santos (Brazil) (1) 51. Domingos da Guia (Brazil) 52. Andriy Shevchenko (Ukraine) 53. Adolfo Pedernera (Argentina) 54. Steven Gerrard (England) 55. Frank Rijkaard (Holland) 56. Kaká (Brazil) 57. Tostao (Brazil) 58. Lilian Thuram (France) 59. Gunnar Nordahl (Sweden) 60. Gianluigi Buffon (Italy) 61. Raymond Kopa (France) 62. Pavel Nedved (Czech Republic) 63. Omar Sívori (Italy) 64. Gérson (Brazil) 65. Obdulio Varela (Uruguay) 66. Gianni Rivera (Italy) 67. Marcel Desailly (France) 68. Dino Zoff (Italy) 69. Luis Suárez (Spain) 70. Fritz Walter (Germany) 71. Peter Schmeichel (Denmark) 72. Falcao (Brazil) 73. Ruud Gullit (Holland) 74. Lionel Messi (Argentina) 75. Patrick Vieira (France) 76. Zbigniew Boniek (Poland) 77. Francisco Gento (Spain) 78. Sepp Maier (Germany) 79. Denis Law (Scotland) 80. Sócrates (Brazil) 81. Sándor Kocsis (Hungary) 82. Héctor Scarone (Uruguay) 83. Alessandro Del Piero (Italy) 84. Dennis Bergkamp (Holland) 85. Francesco Totti (Italy) 86. Enzo Francescoli (Uruguay) 87. Kenny Dalglish (Scotland) 88. Alessandro Nesta (Italy) 89. Edgar Davids (Holland) 90. Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal) 91. Josef Masopust (Czechoslovakia) 92. Hugo Sánchez (Mexico) 93. Éric Cantona (France) 94. Ricardo Bochini (Argentina) 95. Sandro Mazzola (Italy) 96. Oliver Kahn (Germany) 97. Just Fontaine (France) 98. Oleg Blokhin (Soviet Union) 99. Ryan Giggs (Wales) 100. Johan Neeskens (Holland) Adding to the last count... Pelé - 199 Johan Cruyff - 195 Diego Maradona - 194 Ferenc Puskás - 177 Franz Beckenbauer - 176 Michel Platini - 176 Alfredo Di Stéfano - 174 Zinedine Zidane - 174 George Best - 173 Zico - 158 Bobby Charlton - 152 Ronaldo - 149 Marco van Basten - 146 Garrincha - 139 Eusébio - 135 Paolo Maldini - 119 Gerd Müller - 113 Lev Yashin - 111 Franco Baresi - 108 Bobby Moore - 108 Roberto Baggio - 102 Lothar Matthäus - 98 Romário - 93 Ruud Gullit - 83 Thierry Henry - 83 Ronaldinho - 83 Rivelino - 74 Stanley Matthews - 66 Didí - 60 Michael Laudrup - 60 Dennis Bergkamp - 57 Peter Schmeichel - 50 Jürgen Klinsmann - 43 Kenny Dalglish - 42 Lionel Messi - 38 Leonidas - 38 Roberto Carlos - 37 John Charles - 36 George Weah - 35 Luís Figo - 35 Daniel Passarella - 33 Johan Neeskens - 33 Gheorghe Hagi - 31 Dejan Savicevic - 31 Josef Bican - 30 Giuseppe Meazza - 29 Paolo Rossi - 29 Sándor Kocsis - 28 Kaká - 28 Andriy Shevchenko - 28 Rivaldo - 27 Fritz Walter - 26 Cristiano Ronaldo - 26 Gabriel Batistuta - 26 Francisco Gento - 25 Sandro Mazzola - 25 Uwe Seeler - 24 Cafú - 19 Imre Schlosser - 18 Carlos Alberto - 18 Karl-Heinz Rummenigge - 17 Mario Kempes - 17 José Leandro Andrade - 17 Ladislao Kubala - 16 Hristo Stoichkov - 16 Just Fontaine - 15 Matthias Sindelar - 15 Ruud Krol - 14 Fernando Redondo - 14 Luis Suárez - 13 Teófilo Cubillas - 13 Gunnar Nordahl - 12 Emilio Butragueño - 12 Roy Keane - 12 Gianni Rivera - 11 Javier Zanetti - 11 Duncan Edwards - 10 Elías Figueroa - 10 Zbigniew Boniek - 9 Raymond Kopa - 7 Juan Alberto Schiaffino - 6 Enzo Francescoli - 5 Giacinto Facchetti - 4 Zizinho - 4 Dino Zoff - 3 Telmo Zarra - 2 Djalma Santos - 2 José Manuel Moreno - 2
Interesting votes from both of you and thanks for keeping things up to date with the points. Kyle, I know of Josef Bican and judging by his reputation and the amount of goals scored he would seem a potential candidate for this type of list. I suppose its hard to compare to a similar type of player now such as Torres and even hard to judge him against the likes of Tommy Lawton from his day. Of the greats from the past it's the pre-war ones which are obviously hardest to find video footage on eg Meazza and Bican. Peru, thanks for the top 100 (I think it's a good job we arent counting 100 though ;-)). I know that Cubillas was a top player and I have a book which includes him as one of the best of all time (140 in book). Like I said because of the poll originally being about the Mail's list I kept my choices similar to theirs but there would have been a few more make my top 50 otherwise (wouldn't alter poll significantly as the 2 main ones I have inserted anyway). Rather than order my next 50 (some of which would probably make my top 50) I'll list them in order of when they played: (just for interest like Peru's 51 to 100 choices) Giussepe Meazza Tom Finney Nandor Hidegkuti Ladislao Kubala Raymond Kopa Just Fontaine Duncan Edwards Jimmy Greaves Denis Law Gordon Banks Gianni Rivera Carlos Alberto Tostao Jairzinho Dragan Dzajic Kazimierz Deyna Rob Rensenbrink John Robertson Gaetano Scirea Roger Milla Socrates Karl-Heinz Rummeingge Preben Elkjaer Jean Tigana Jan Ceulemans Glenn Hoddle Pierre Littbarski Gary Lineker John Barnes Frank Rijkaard Enzo Scifo Matthias Sammer Eric Cantona Claudio Caniggia Paul Gascoigne Gianfranco Zola Davor Suker Brian Laudrup Fernando Redondo Cafu Rivaldo Henrik Larsson Ryan Giggs Robert Pires David Beckham Pavel Nedved Francesco Totti Patrick Vieira Raul Robinho. This was quite tricky as I had a few more than 50 but in the end I've left out a few goalkeepers/full backs to include the attacking players - also I know that there looks like a lot of recent players - I don't necessarily say that players from long ago can't be as good but I have just put in the ones I most rate from the knowledge I have. Hopefully this thread will work out ok and although there will be a lot of players (even with 50 not 100 so that a lot of these and Peru's names plus anyone else that adds to the 50 won't have to be talleyed) we should have a nice list at the end and a top 50. I know that if we have loads of voters then the points for Pele, Maradona, Cruyff etc will be very high though!
Yeah, Bican is the type of player I like to include in these lists, someone who may not be aswell known as more recent players but who had an outstanding record. Unfortunately, there's a distinct lack of footage or even literature on many of these pre-war players such as Bican, Schlosser and many more and so people tend to leave them out when it comes to taking part in things like this. I therefore try to favour these kinds of players more than the typical choices like Kaka or Ronaldinho. There are probably a great deal of quality players that I've left out of my top fifty, Littbarski was one of them that you listed, but I don't think you can ever make a "perfect" list, it's more down to personal opinion and preference.
After a quick check on the points it looks like Puskas's total is showing with 12 too many points so the revised standings are: Pelé - 199 Johan Cruyff - 195 Diego Maradona - 194 Franz Beckenbauer - 176 Michel Platini - 176 Alfredo Di Stéfano - 174 Zinedine Zidane - 174 George Best - 173 Ferenc Puskás - 165 Zico - 158 Bobby Charlton - 152 Ronaldo - 149 Marco van Basten - 146 Garrincha - 139 Eusébio - 135 Paolo Maldini - 119 Gerd Müller - 113 Lev Yashin - 111 Franco Baresi - 108 Bobby Moore - 108 Roberto Baggio - 102 Lothar Matthäus - 98 Romário - 93 Ruud Gullit - 83 Thierry Henry - 83 Ronaldinho - 83 Rivelino - 74 Stanley Matthews - 66 Didí - 60 Michael Laudrup - 60 Dennis Bergkamp - 57 Peter Schmeichel - 50 Jürgen Klinsmann - 43 Kenny Dalglish - 42 Lionel Messi - 38 Leonidas - 38 Roberto Carlos - 37 John Charles - 36 George Weah - 35 Luís Figo - 35 Daniel Passarella - 33 Johan Neeskens - 33 Gheorghe Hagi - 31 Dejan Savicevic - 31 Josef Bican - 30 Giuseppe Meazza - 29 Paolo Rossi - 29 Sándor Kocsis - 28 Kaká - 28 Andriy Shevchenko - 28 Rivaldo - 27 Fritz Walter - 26 Cristiano Ronaldo - 26 Gabriel Batistuta - 26 Francisco Gento - 25 Sandro Mazzola - 25 Uwe Seeler - 24 Cafú - 19 Imre Schlosser - 18 Carlos Alberto - 18 Karl-Heinz Rummenigge - 17 Mario Kempes - 17 José Leandro Andrade - 17 Ladislao Kubala - 16 Hristo Stoichkov - 16 Just Fontaine - 15 Matthias Sindelar - 15 Ruud Krol - 14 Fernando Redondo - 14 Luis Suárez - 13 Teófilo Cubillas - 13 Gunnar Nordahl - 12 Emilio Butragueño - 12 Roy Keane - 12 Gianni Rivera - 11 Javier Zanetti - 11 Duncan Edwards - 10 Elías Figueroa - 10 Zbigniew Boniek - 9 Raymond Kopa - 7 Juan Alberto Schiaffino - 6 Enzo Francescoli - 5 Giacinto Facchetti - 4 Zizinho - 4 Dino Zoff - 3 Telmo Zarra - 2 Djalma Santos - 2 José Manuel Moreno - 2
Awesome thread, bud, and you show by the zeal on feedbacks you're a most apt man for the matter, IMO. For now can't share my votes (I'm perhaps too self-demanding), but your comment above made me recall the first games I've seen, around 75. You may agree with me, when I watch live my club in action, all my eyes are humanly capable to view are things we basically find, relating with football, in the planet Earth anytime, a field, a ball and exhaustively trained bodies moving (the guy on the bench I'm assuming to fit in brain standards). Actually new, for me, are the video speeds, not players' ones: footage qualities, in high or slow motions, could ship a young viewer to Mars...
My attempt goes like this. Pelé - 50 (249) Cruyff - 49 (244) Maradona - 48 (242) Di Stéfano - 47 (221) Garrincha - 46 (185) Beckenbauer - 45 (221) Puskas - 44 (209) Platini - 43 (219) Moreno - 42 (44) Eusébio - 41 (176) Zico - 40 (198) Van Basten - 39 (185) Best - 38 (211) Müller - 37 (150) Scarone - 36 (36) Romário - 35 (128) Bobby Charlton - 34 (186) Arsenio Erico - 33 (33) Zidane - 32 (206) Leônidas - 31 (69) Matthews - 30 (96) Ronaldo - 29 (178) Yashin - 28 (139) Figueroa - 27 (37) Zizinho - 26 (30) Edwards - 25 (35) Pedernera - 24 (24) Valentino Mazzola - 23 (23) Didi - 22 (82) Sindelar - 21 (36) Schiaffino - 20 (26) Meazza - 19 (48) Hugo Sánchez - 18 (18) Cubillas - 17 (30) Fritz Walter - 16 (42) Sívori - 15 (15) Luisito Suárez - 14 (27) Weah - 13 (48) Rivelino - 12 (86) Rivera - 11 (22) Passarella - 10 (43) Bobby Moore - 9 (117) Tostão - 8 (8) Kubala - 7 (23) Nilton Santos - 6 (6) Paolo Maldini - 5 (124) Gullit - 4 (87) Francescoli - 3 (8) Kopa - 2 (9) Friedenreich - 1 (1)
Thanks for the vote Fried. And I know what you mean about all the different video speeds, angles etc... Still, to watch a good match live is unique as you can see the whole pitch and choose where to look (it's nice that you can get replays later though). I see Gremio have had the likes of Ronaldinho and Eder playing for them early in their careers. Pele has a nice lead now...
Current Standings: Pelé - 249 Johan Cruyff - 244 Diego Maradona - 242 Franz Beckenbauer - 221 Alfredo Di Stéfano - 221 Michel Platini - 219 George Best - 211 Ferenc Puskás - 209 Zinedine Zidane - 206 Zico - 198 Bobby Charlton - 186 Marco van Basten - 185 Garrincha - 185 Ronaldo - 178 Eusébio - 176 Gerd Müller - 150 Paolo Maldini - 124 Lev Yashin - 139 Romário - 128 Bobby Moore - 117 Franco Baresi - 108 Roberto Baggio - 102 Lothar Matthäus - 98 Stanley Matthews - 96 Ruud Gullit - 87 Rivelino - 86 Thierry Henry - 83 Ronaldinho - 83 Didí - 82 Leonidas - 69 Michael Laudrup - 60 Dennis Bergkamp - 57 Peter Schmeichel - 50 George Weah - 48 Giuseppe Meazza - 48 José Manuel Moreno - 44 Jürgen Klinsmann - 43 Daniel Passarella - 43 Kenny Dalglish - 42 Fritz Walter - 42 Lionel Messi - 38 Roberto Carlos - 37 Elías Figueroa - 37 John Charles - 36 Matthias Sindelar - 36 Hector Scarone - 36 Luís Figo - 35 Duncan Edwards - 35 Johan Neeskens - 33 Arsenio Erico - 33 Gheorghe Hagi - 31 Dejan Savicevic - 31 Josef Bican - 30 Teófilo Cubillas - 30 Zizinho - 30 Paolo Rossi - 29 Sándor Kocsis - 28 Kaká - 28 Andriy Shevchenko - 28 Rivaldo - 27 Luis Suárez - 27 Cristiano Ronaldo - 26 Gabriel Batistuta - 26 Juan Alberto Schiaffino - 26 Francisco Gento - 25 Sandro Mazzola - 25 Uwe Seeler - 24 Adolfo Pedernera - 24 Ladislao Kubala - 23 Valentino Mazzola - 23 Gianni Rivera - 22 Cafú - 19 Imre Schlosser - 18 Carlos Alberto - 18 Hugo Sanchez - 18 Karl-Heinz Rummenigge - 17 Mario Kempes - 17 José Leandro Andrade - 17 Hristo Stoichkov - 16 Just Fontaine - 15 Omar Sivori - 15 Ruud Krol - 14 Fernando Redondo - 14 Gunnar Nordahl - 12 Emilio Butragueño - 12 Roy Keane - 12 Javier Zanetti - 11 Zbigniew Boniek - 9 Raymond Kopa - 9 Enzo Francescoli - 8 Tostao - 8 Nilton Santos - 6 Giacinto Facchetti - 4 Dino Zoff - 3 Telmo Zarra - 2 Djalma Santos - 2 Artur Friedenreich - 1.
So now it's my turn. I'm sure it's flawed, but I tried my best and would appreciate some criticism for further improvment. TOP 50 [FONT="]#1 Pelé – 50[/FONT] [FONT="]#2 Diego Maradona – 49[/FONT] [FONT="]#3 Alfredo Di Stéfano - 48[/FONT] [FONT="]#4 Franz Beckenbauer - 47 #5 Johan Cruyff - 46 #6 Ferenc Puskás – 45[/FONT] [FONT="]#7 Garrincha – 44 #8 Michel Platini – 43[/FONT] [FONT="]#9 Ronaldo - 42[/FONT] [FONT="]# 10 Eusébio – 41[/FONT] [FONT="]# 11 Gerd Müller - 40[/FONT] [FONT="]# 12 Zinedine Zidane – 39[/FONT] [FONT="]# 13 Zico - 38[/FONT] [FONT="]# 14 Bobby Charlton – 37[/FONT] [FONT="]# 15 Marco van Basten - 36[/FONT] [FONT="]# 16 Lev Yashin – 35[/FONT] [FONT="]# 17 Ruud Gullit - 34[/FONT] [FONT="]# 18 George Best – 33 # 19 Paolo Maldini – 32[/FONT] [FONT="]# 20 Romário – 31[/FONT] [FONT="]# 21 Ronaldinho –30[/FONT] [FONT="]# 22 Franco Baresi - 29 # 23 Bobby Moore – 28[/FONT] [FONT="]# 24 Didí –27[/FONT] [FONT="]# 25 Rivelino –26[/FONT] [FONT="]# 26 Giuseppe Meazza - 25[/FONT][FONT="][/FONT] [FONT="]# 27 Sándor Kocsis – 24[/FONT] [FONT="]# 28 Raymond Kopa - 23[/FONT] [FONT="]# 29 Lothar Matthäus – 22[/FONT] [FONT="]# 30 Thierry Henry – 21[/FONT] [FONT="]# 31 Rivaldo – 20[/FONT] [FONT="]# 32 Karl-Heinz Rummenigge – 19[/FONT] [FONT="]# 33 Gianni Rivera – 18[/FONT] [FONT="]# 34 Stanley Matthews – 17[/FONT] [FONT="]# 35 Leonidas – 16[/FONT] [FONT="]# 36 Nándor Hidegkuti - 15[/FONT] [FONT="]# 37 Dennis Bergkamp – 14[/FONT] [FONT="]# 38 José Leandro Andrade – 13[/FONT] [FONT="]# 39 Roberto Baggio - 12[/FONT][FONT="][/FONT] [FONT="]# 40 Peter Schmeichel -11[/FONT] [FONT="]# 41 Djalma Santos – 10[/FONT] [FONT="]# 42 Nilton Santos – 9[/FONT] [FONT="]# 43 Fritz Walter – 8[/FONT] [FONT="]# 44 Elías Figueroa – 7[/FONT] [FONT="]# 45 Carlos Alberto - 6[/FONT] [FONT="]# 46 József Bozsik - 5[/FONT] [FONT="]# 47 Matthias Sindelar - 4[/FONT][FONT="][/FONT] [FONT="]# 48 Zizinho – 3[/FONT] [FONT="]# 49 Falcao - 2[/FONT] [FONT="]# 50 [/FONT][FONT="]Daniel Passarella – 1[/FONT] Standing after my vote: [FONT="]Pelé – 299[/FONT] [FONT="]Diego Maradona - 291 Johan Cruyff – 290[/FONT] [FONT="]Alfredo Di Stéfano - 269 Franz Beckenbauer - 268 Michel Platini – 262[/FONT] [FONT="]Ferenc Puskás – 254[/FONT] [FONT="]Zinedine Zidane - 245 George Best - 244 Zico – 236[/FONT] [FONT="]Garrincha - 229 Bobby Charlton - 223 Marco van Basten - 221 Ronaldo - 220 Eusébio - 217 Gerd Müller – 190[/FONT] [FONT="]Lev Yashin – 174[/FONT] [FONT="]Romário - 159 Paolo Maldini - 156[/FONT] [FONT="]Bobby Moore - 145 Franco Baresi – 137[/FONT] [FONT="]Ruud Gullit - 121[/FONT] [FONT="]Lothar Matthäus - 120 Roberto Baggio - 114 Stanley Matthews – 113[/FONT] [FONT="]Ronaldinho - 113 Rivelino - 112 Thierry Henry - 104 Didí - 109 Leonidas – 85[/FONT] [FONT="]Giuseppe Meazza - 73[/FONT] [FONT="]Dennis Bergkamp – 71[/FONT] [FONT="]Peter Schmeichel - 61 Michael Laudrup – 60[/FONT] [FONT="]Sándor Kocsis - 52[/FONT] [FONT="]Fritz Walter - 50 George Weah – 48[/FONT] [FONT="]Rivaldo - 47[/FONT][FONT="] José Manuel Moreno – 44[/FONT] [FONT="]Daniel Passarella – 44[/FONT] [FONT="]Elías Figueroa - 44 Jürgen Klinsmann - 43 Kenny Dalglish – 42[/FONT] [FONT="]Matthias Sindelar – 40[/FONT] [FONT="]Gianni Rivera - 40 Lionel Messi - 38 Roberto Carlos - 37 John Charles - 36 Hector Scarone – 36[/FONT] [FONT="]Karl-Heinz Rummenigge - 36 Luís Figo - 35 Duncan Edwards - 35 Johan Neeskens - 33 Arsenio Erico – 33[/FONT] [FONT="]Zizinho – 33[/FONT] [FONT="]Raymond Kopa - 32 Gheorghe Hagi - 31 Dejan Savicevic - 31 Josef Bican - 30 Teófilo Cubillas – 30[/FONT] [FONT="]José Leandro Andrade - 30 Paolo Rossi - 29 Kaká - 28 Andriy Shevchenko - 28 Luis Suárez - 27 Cristiano Ronaldo - 26 Gabriel Batistuta - 26 Juan Alberto Schiaffino - 26 Francisco Gento - 25 Sandro Mazzola - 25 Uwe Seeler - 24 Adolfo Pedernera – 24[/FONT] [FONT="]Carlos Alberto - 24 Ladislao Kubala - 23 Valentino Mazzola - 23 Cafú - 19 Imre Schlosser - 18 Hugo Sanchez - 18 Mario Kempes - 17 Hristo Stoichkov - 16 Just Fontaine - 15 Omar Sivori – 15[/FONT] [FONT="]Nándor Hidegkuti – 15[/FONT] [FONT="]Nilton Santos -15 Ruud Krol - 14 Fernando Redondo - 14 Gunnar Nordahl - 12 Emilio Butragueño - 12 Roy Keane – 12[/FONT] [FONT="]Djalma Santos - 12 Javier Zanetti - 11 Zbigniew Boniek - 9 Enzo Francescoli - 8 Tostao - 8[/FONT] [FONT="]József Bozsik - 5[/FONT][FONT="] Giacinto Facchetti - 4 Dino Zoff - 3 Telmo Zarra – 2[/FONT] [FONT="]Falcao - 2[/FONT][FONT="] Artur Friedenreich - 1[/FONT] [FONT="][/FONT]
Thanks for the vote Schwuppe and for keeping the scores current. Obviously everyone votes a little different but at first glance I see lots of great players from all era's in your list. I suppose I have Cruyff a little higher but I wouldn't think it is outrageous to have him 5th when considering the legend of Di Stefano and Beckenbauer's unique role.
As a matter of interest the Mail also asked the current Championship Manager 'boffins' to name their top 10 and they chose: 1) Pele (currently top of this threads list) 2) Diego Maradona (currently 2nd) 3) Alfredo Di Stefano (currently 4th) 4) Johan Cruyff (currently 3rd) 5) Zinedine Zidane (currently 8th) 6) Franz Beckenbaur (currently 5th) 7) George Best (currently 9th) 8) Ferenc Puskas (currently 7th) 9) Michel Platini (currently 6th) 10) Zico (currently 10th) So those are the same ten players topping the current standings in this thread. The Daily Mail (whose vote I included in the count - Zico was in 11th though) had Bobby Charlton inside the top 10 not Zico. Without my own vote Garrincha would have a score above Zico to put him in the top 10 instead though.
The following link takes you to the article: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/fo...eatest-players-history-football-Nos-10-1.html
Zidane and Goerge Best were a bit too high in rating BTW, Just looking at their same Daily survey of best 10 freekickers (all time) we can tell HOW ACCURATE their source is (strictly younger fans voting on PC) 10 Sinisa Mihajlovic (Yugoslavia/Serbia & Montenegro) 9 Zinedine Zidane (France) 8 Zico (Brazil) 7 Paul Gascoigne (England) 6 Rivelino (Brazil) 5 Roberto Carlos (Brazil) 4 Ronaldinho (Brazil) 3 Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal) 2 Juninho Pernambucano (Brazil) 1 David Beckham (England) Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/fo...10-free-kick-kings-history.html#ixzz0cd60rENW In freekick, NO ONE with the right mind would ever forget PLATINI. Yet his name was NOT even in the TOP10! Also missing Maradona is another JOKE! Who are C.Ronaldo, Gascogne, Zidane Ronaldinho ... to compare with 3 most memorial freekick specialists: 1- ZICO 2- PLATINI 3- MIHALOJVIC 4 Rivelino 5 Maradona