Am I the only one that thinks that Garrincha is an overrated dribbler? Probably the most controversial thing to say in football. Although I may be ignorant to how he maybe revolutionized dribbling?
Maradona and Messi: They stick to the basics and you might even know which way they are going to turn (they both loved to go left) but do you know how far they are going to push the ball? do you know if they are gonna keep the ball glued to their foot? are they gonna do a body feint and go the other way? And then theres the great acceleration, and using their bodies to shield off defenders. Ronaldo: he loved to do 1 on 1's and used a full range of tricks in his arsenal to get by players, elastico, step-overs, but never over elaborated, he would stick to one move and execute it explode out and it would work almost every time. Michael Laudrup: Great dribbler, should be mentioned on this thread. His style was more going with the flow of the ball, letting the ball do the work. C.Ronaldo: To me to be a great dribbler another key is not making it obvious that you are about to have a 1 on 1 showdown. When R9 played there would be many cases where it would be a potential 1 v1 and everyone would hold their breath anticipating a crazy move, but he would pass it. Then another 1v1 situation, he would pass again. Then finally he would do an amazing move and blow past the defender. C. Ronaldo makes it so obvious that hes gonna have a showdown then it looks like he gets excited and tries combining every move he learned since he was a baby all at once, haha. Although he has gotten a lot better the past 2 seasons. He is still the 2nd best player on earth, his dribbling is just over rated.
I don't know about the success rate (probably not as high as the players above), but as far as football magic is concerned there are two greats: Okocha and Ronaldinho. Those guys had the moves, which made football more than just a game. They almost never kept to the basics, but thanks to this they probably have the biggest collection of amazing moves (albeit Ronaldinho being the more prolific of the two, although I personally don't think Okocha was worse, just didn't have the luck to have his best form at a big club like Ronnie).
Effective dribbling in the modern game is far easier and safer to produce on a consistent basis now. Ronaldinho and his peers produce pieces of skill that would get you put into row z in the days of way back. Saying that though, I think Maradona is, was, and will remain, the best pure and most effective dribbler the game has ever seen. Pele, Cruyff, Rivelino ect, all helped invent moves that now make dribbling a specialized art, but no one player has dominated the game like Maradona in the ability to dictate the flow of a match by carrying the ball at pace. Take away the circus value of most tricks we see in a C.Ronaldo or Ronaldinho, and I would say a Best, Barca times Ronaldo, or even Giggs or Iniesta, are all better pure dribblers of a ball than either of the two Ronnies.
He was a great possession holder of the ball, not necessarily a great runner with the ball. There’s a reason why he would come off the bench for Brazil. He was very entertaining to watch, though.
I would vote Maradona first and then Best. I like simple dribbles that leave defenders behind in a seemingly effortless way. Could include Messi in a third place there. Dont care much for tricks and overly flashy stuff. Gotta give Garrincha his due as well, though sometimes watching available footage I feel it is overloaded with that one characteristic move of his in which he goes to his right after a quick faint to the left. It worked like a charm, but he wasnt a one-trick-pony, was he?
I gotta give Cruyff his due as well. His acceleration and ability to shift gears was 2nd to none. Pele at his absolute best would incinerate the opponent’s defense. You mentioned George Best, a great choice, because I got to see him for the first time in the NASL and he was special. They couldn’t take the ball away from him. He was that good. I will also mention someone that you young fellas may not have heard about: Ruben Paz, from Uruguay. He was similar in style to Maradona during the 80s. In fact, in 1980 he was being compared to him, but eventually that comparison stopped shortly after. I got to see his exploits upfront when he played in Argentina. He’s the finest player I’ve seen playing for Racing. He was also one of the finest free-kick takers that my eyes have seen. He would make my top 10 easily. Uruguay has produced great players in that regard. Bengoechea and Francescoli were experts as well.
To me what matters is can you beat defenders and buy yourself space on the dribble. This is why I cannot rate CR7 very highly. From the recent era Messi, Iniesta, Henry, Kaka', and Ronaldinho could all dribble over/through defenders pretty consistently. I don't see C. Ronaldo doing that often. In fact, on RM alone I think Higuain and DiMaria might be superior dribblers.
Most aspects of Garrincha's game are underrated, if anything. It's not like his dribbling didn't have purpose. It helped his team to score, to win.
how about this riquelme dribbling skill? mine, almost like zidanesque shielding dribbling skill enjoy it [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PT9gIy9PAkg"]riquelme (ball retention) - YouTube[/ame]
Garrincha's actually a bit of a one off too. His disability actually made his skill set impossible to stop back in the day. His knees and lifestyle eventually caught up, then gave up on him, but for a short period of time he was a freakish, abnormal, weird beast of a player. You won't see anybody else play like him ever again, because in the modern game very few players can now reach the top without elite level athleticism or fitness, let alone two legs that could have come from two separate human beings.
Nice description in most cases. Great pick on Laudrup and an interesting one on CR. The Maradona bit is somewhat inaccurate though. Unlike Messi, he liked to showboat..a lot too, especially during his youth days. The type of stuff he did with the ball in Argentinos Juniors were simply out of this world. Elastico, rabona and many other skills that haven't been seen before or after Diego.
Ruben Paz...eei..a great player, much underestimated, ditto his fellow countryman Enzo, a man that made a football game a spectacle.
agree ... I can name many ahead of Higuain just within Argentina squad at present in dribbling ... Messi, Aguero tevez Riquelme Di Maria and even veteran Janetti
Yes. Garrincha was great. I also want to throw in George Best into the mix. I particularly liked his style and attitude towards dribbling. He would actually stop the ball, and call out defenders who had annoyed him, to make a fool of them. That is a great player and that is one of the beautiful aspects of football. So the top 5 (imo): Maradona Ronaldo Messi Best Garrincha
Haha, I agree on you on C. Ronaldo, and the bolded part maybe laugh because its probably true. Great analysis of the players. Can you also do Garrincha and George Best.
Thought this was pretty funny: [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gcaTuaUKfPI&feature=related"]Maradona Challenge - YouTube[/ame]
No, you are not. In all honesty I doubt that anyone who watched all Brazil '62 matches will see Garrincha how they've seen him before watching a full game.
In the game against England '62 his dribbling resulted in loss of ball possesion roughly 9 out of 10 times.
Garrincha was a great talents in his feet but a childlike brain in the head. Before the game vs England, he had never known where England is and who Haynes, Moore and Charlton were! All he heard was like " we are gonna face one of the best team in Europe" So his answer was " Watch, I will go out and nutmeg them ALL" (he thought WC game is just like any game he played friendly inside Brazil). Meanwhile, England team led by Haynes were well PREPARED to deal with Garrincha: "How do you set about stopping the unstoppable?" Haynes said. "Walter [Winterbottom] talked a lot about possible ways of dealing with Garrincha and warned especially about his free-kicks" As Garrincha tried to keep his words "nutmeg them all", well ... I agreed he had OVERDONE his dribbling - trying so hard in such a tense game- but even so... However, LUCKILY (for England) Garrincha lost so many balls, otherwise the results could have been worse ... than 3goals lost ! Ironically, all 3goals were coming off Garrincha's feet: scored 2goals and made a freekick to result Vava's tapping in the 3rd.
Just can't argue with the results. Pele went out with an injury, Garrincha created nearly all of Brazil goals leading them to the trophy. Still I've never seen any (influential) player making so many brainless plays and floating around like it's an exhibition game.