Best Soccer Players Of Each Decade

Discussion in 'Players & Legends' started by Daniel96, Jan 1, 2012.

  1. Once

    Once Member+

    Apr 16, 2011
    Decade by decade I personally would put it like follows:

    1930s
    1) Meazza. For being great pretty much throughout the entire decade and leading Italy to those two WCs.
    2) Sarosi. He was the best player of the second half of the decade I feel. Very impressive at domestic level, continental (well, Mitropa actually) and country.
    3) Sindelar. For his rep as such a gifted player, cornerstone of the legendary Wunderteam. For some reason, not so successful at domestic level, including some seasons his team did quite bad.

    1940s
    1) Moreno. Said to be extremely well-rounded. Very successful and worshiped everywhere he went. Stalwart of the legendary La Maquina. There is a reason why he is the 5th (I think) best ever player from South America according to IFFHS.
    2) Then its too hard to say because of WWII and all. Hard to compare South America to Europe because of that. I would not quite know what to say.

    1950s
    1) Di Stefano. Greatest club player ever IMO. Led Millonarios to become the Blue Vallet. Then Madrid to win all those European Cups. A lot of people think of him as the greatest footballer ever and it has to be form what he did during that decade.
    2) Puskas. A very close second. His national team career is incredible. If not for those years he was forced to waste.. who knows.
    3) I would say Kopa. Fantastic with Reims, Madrid and the French national team. Said to have been very very skillful, even spectacular.

    1960s
    1) Pele, who else? No need to say much. There was a before and after Pele in football due to the global reach of his figure. Not to mention what they say about his skills.
    2) Eusebio. In fact, from 1965 onwards he is the top player in the world the way I see it.
    3) Either Suarez or Charlton. The first was great during the first half and the second one was great during the second half. Hard to say.

    1970s
    1) Cruyff. More than a few rank him as the very best player ever. Had a furious first half of the decade. He scored a lot less and won almost nothing during the second one, but remained one of the best players in the planet nonetheless.
    2) Beckenbauer. One of the most successful players of all time. The best none purely offensive player ever by far (I say purely because he did have an impact in attack, but I hope you know what I mean). You know how much it gotta take to be considered up there with the best of them ever not being an offensive player? A lot. Unrepeatable.
    3) Müller. The greatest goalgetter ever. What else can you say. Just look at his stats in league, European Cup, national team, Word Cup... Im almost sure NOBODY was that consistently prolific at so many levels for so long.

    1980s
    1) Maradona. That man was ridiculous. Was there anybody better than him ever? Maybe, but I personally dont think so. If I could play football like anybody I chose, I would play like Maradona played without a second's hesitation in my picking. C'mon! You all know you would chose the same :p
    2) Platini/Zico. Two of the top10 players ever in my book. Very even until 1984, but the French still had two or three great years left in him. Maybe that gives him the edge.
    3) Van Basten. For some, the best striker of all time. He is definitely up there IMO. Had his career not been cut short..

    1990s
    1) Ronaldo. Before the injuries he was just incredible. The things he could do.. very hard to stop. If not for the injuries he would have very likely ended up in the top3 with Pele and Maradona.
    2) Zidane. Had an outstanding second half and I personally used to love his elegance and class. Some consider him the greatest player of the last 20 years and its not so hard to understand why IMO.
    3) Not sure. Perhaps Baggio.

    2000s (until now)
    1) Messi. If he continues doing what he is doing for only a couple more years and has a great tournament with Argentina at some point.. it will be hard to argue against his inclusion in the top5 of all time at the very least IMO.
    2) Ronaldinho. He had those incredible Barsa years.
    3) Zidane or Henry. Not sure, maybe someone else. Cristiano is up there too I guess. Dont quite like him for some reason.
     
  2. PuckVanHeel

    PuckVanHeel Member+

    Oct 4, 2011
    Club:
    Feyenoord
    Yes, the Latin-American and Southern-European lobby to put Ronaldo in the top three of all-time was strong just as the lobby for Messi is nowadays. There are a couple of reasons for it of course. One is that neither Maradona or Pelé are liked by the FIFA (although Pelé received together with FIFA-darling Beckenbauer a centennial award in 2004, unlike Maradona or Cruyff). Maradona has always been an awkward, provocating figure and Pelé made war with an old Havelange. Not very smart of mr. Pelé.

    And then there is the problem that the top three (note: there are always 'three', the number three is a sacred number in human history, like the Holy Trinity) is complemented by either Platini, Cruyff or Beckenbauer (the last one is grossly overrated vis-a-vis other defenders). This is unacceptable for the latin lobby.
     
  3. PuckVanHeel

    PuckVanHeel Member+

    Oct 4, 2011
    Club:
    Feyenoord
    I would not choose him. He was a football-player that was dependable on particular moments. That is the foremost 'problem' I have with him and I agree with Cruyff on this point.
    The funny thing is, it was also perceived that way in the 1980s. I read in another thread here that some World Soccer editor didn't even put him the 1986 all-star line-up because he wasn't very consistent. When Maradona scored that famous goal against England, our commentator said immediately 'if anyone has a doubt about who is the best player in the world...' I never understood that comment, esp. in that particular context, until I began to read old publications and watch old videos. The funny thing is, there were some, very justified, doubts.

    If I've to choose someone then it is Platini (no, not Cruff because he always played with heavy pain).
     
  4. Once

    Once Member+

    Apr 16, 2011
    What do you mean here, Puck? I did not know FIFA did not like Pele. Thats new to me. Anyways, how is FIFA not liking Maradona nor Pele (if you say so..) a reason for any kind of lobbying (as you called it) to insert Ronaldo in the all time top3?

    I always thought that the top3 was Pele and Maradona plus either Di Stefano or Cruyff, personally favoring the Argentine.
     
  5. PDG1978

    PDG1978 Member+

    Mar 8, 2009
    Club:
    Nottingham Forest FC
    Here's my attempt for the start, middle and end of decades for the 30s, 40s, 50s and 60s - I only included 5 for the early 40s with Fritz Walter plus four players who were playing league football so there's a couple extra for the late 30's; I also merged the mid and late 40's:

    Early 30's - Meazza (Ita), Sindelar (Aut), Binder (Aut), James (Sco), Nasazzi (Uru), Orsi (Arg/Ita), Bastin (Eng).
    Mid 30's - Meazza (Ita), Bican (Aut), Sarosi (Hun), Leonidas (Bra), Nejedly (Cze), Orsi (Ita), Ferrari (Ita).
    Late 30's - Matthews (Eng), Meazza (Ita), Lawton (Eng), Bican (Aut/Cze), Piola (Ita), Leonidas (Bra), Sarosi (Hun), Erico (Par), Zsengeller (Hun).
    Early 40's - Bican (Cze), Moreno (Arg), Zizinho (Bra), Pedernera (Arg), F.Walter (Ger).
    Mid-late 40's - Finney (Eng), Matthews (Eng), Lawton (Eng), V.Mazzola (Ita), Ademir (Bra), Zizinho (Bra), Di Stefano (Arg), F.Walter (Ger), Nordahl (Swe), Gren (Swe), Wilkes (Hol), Deak (Hun), Puskas (Hun), Labruna (Arg).
    Early 50's - Puskas (Hun), Di Stefano (Col), Hidegkuti (Hun), Finney (Eng), Kubala (Cze/Hun/Spa), Liedholm (Swe), Kocsis (Hun).
    Mid 50's - Di Stefano (Col/Spa), Puskas (Hun), Kubala (Spa), Schiaffino (Uru/Ita), Kocsis (Hun), Finney (Eng), Wilkes (Hol).
    Late 50's - Di Stefano (Spa), Pele (Bra), Yashin (Sov), Edwards (Eng), Kopa (Fra), Fontaine (Fra), Didi (Bra).
    Early 60's - Pele (Bra), Garrincha (Bra), Eusebio (Por), Yashin (Sov), Rivera (Ita), Puskas (Spa), Suarez (Spa).
    Mid 60's - Pele (Bra), Eusebio (Por), Moore (Eng), B.Charlton (Eng), Beckenbauer (Ger), Banks (Eng), Greaves (Eng).
    Late 60's - Best (NI), Pele (Bra), B.Charlton (Eng), Beckenbauer (Ger), Dzajic (Yug), Rivera (Ita), Cruyff (Hol).

    As a reminder I went with these are the top 3's:
    30's/40's - Matthews, Finney, Meazza.
    50's - Di Stefano, Puskas, Yashin.
    60's - Pele, Best, Eusebio.

    70's, 80's, 90's, 00's and finally 2009-2012 to follow sometime.
     
  6. Once

    Once Member+

    Apr 16, 2011
    That is quite a strange statement and I really dont understand what is meant by it. I would like to, because its nice to know what all time greats think of other all time greats. What is Cruyff talking about?
    In this clip, besides hearing some people talk about Maradona, you can hear Cruyff talk in the beginning after Lineker-Maradona... Is he putting Pele and Maradona at the same level or is it an unfinished sentence taken out of context (both?)?If it is the latter, would you have any idea how it ended?
    [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vKujbuI0tE8"]Gary Lineker meets Maradona Introduction - YouTube[/ame]

    And what was so inconsistent about Maradona in 1986? Reading all kinds of new stuff for me from you today, Puck.
     
  7. PDG1978

    PDG1978 Member+

    Mar 8, 2009
    Club:
    Nottingham Forest FC
    Cruyff didn't actually put Maradona in his top 5 when he gave his vote for the France Football Player of the Century (voted by Ballon D'or winners) it seems:
    https://www.bigsoccer.com/forum/showpost.php?p=23141548&postcount=16
    https://www.bigsoccer.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1597402
    Somebody on Xtratime seemed to think Cruyff's vote was entered backwards which might make sense looking at it but I don't know.

    It did seem on the clip you showed he was at least saying that when you talk about Maradona it's like talking about Pele though Once. At first I mis-read your post and thought you'd meant Cruyff had compared Maradona to Lineker ;)(hence despite Lineker being an excellent player that would've been a dubious 'compliment' especially as Lineker didn't prosper under Cruyff at Barca).
     
  8. PDG1978

    PDG1978 Member+

    Mar 8, 2009
    Club:
    Nottingham Forest FC
    btw, it probably goes without saying, but the names I included for the 30's and 40's were very much guesswork. Likewise to an extent for the 50's and 60's but there is more info and footage to go on and some of the choices are pretty obvious for those decades I think.
     
  9. Once

    Once Member+

    Apr 16, 2011
    The backwards thing might very well be so, who knows. Now, those votings are quite suspicious to say the least. Guys like Rummenigge and Gullit have actually stated they considered Maradona the best ever (saying even that he was above Pele), yet in the voting they push him back quite a bit. Gullit even puts Gordillo ahead of him. Thats inexplicable. I wonder if when the voting was organized voters were given any sort of guidelines or specific criteria to form their top5s..
     
  10. msioux75

    msioux75 Member+

    Jan 8, 2006
    Lima, Peru
    I'm gonna give it a long view :cool:

    I like to make a long-list in Europe, similar to South America. Maybe top-15 by period, since Europe had more depth in class players.
     
  11. msioux75

    msioux75 Member+

    Jan 8, 2006
    Lima, Peru
    From the last posts, i think that Once & PDG1978 made a consistent lists.
    All players mentioned were world class and in their peaks in those eras :cool:
     
  12. Daniel96

    Daniel96 Member

    Aug 12, 2011
    Australia, NSW
    Club:
    FC Barcelona
    Nat'l Team:
    Brazil
    Very Good list man, Once and PDG1978 have the best posts on this thread :)

    1980s - Pele is better than Maradona haha :)
    Zico vs Platini? Who is better? Ive hardly seen much of them.

    2000s - Zidane vs Henry = Zidane, Because I think Thierry Henry always relied on his speed. While Zidane played better and is overall a better player.
    Henry vs CR7 = I dont know? I dont really like CR7 much but he is a really good goal scorer.

    In a few years I think the 2010s will be like this
    2010s - Messi and Neymar = Defiently
    but who will be the 3rd player? Ganso, Lucas Moura, Hazard, Gotze?
    We need to wait until 2014 World Cup to have a better idea for the best players of the 2010s.
     
  13. PuckVanHeel

    PuckVanHeel Member+

    Oct 4, 2011
    Club:
    Feyenoord
    Because they are in need for someone like Michael Jordan who can sell the sports to the outside world. The lone-wolf nature of Maradona (and also Cruyff but he is from a small country so not very marketable) and the quarreling with the other legend Pelé is not very beneficial for the sport. They are in need for a 'new' ambassador. Someone who is also an ambassador for the current globalised football sport, the champions league era, rather than someone who is an icon of the 1980s or 1970s.

    Not for me. With some reservations I would put Di Stefano at one, Pelé at two (his 1970 world cup gives the edge, he showed there that he can be a team player) and Cruyff at three. I do not buy the argument that Cruyff or Di Stefano is inferior to Pelé or Maradona. In contrary, both are in certain key areas superior. That Di Stefano was among the first latin-americans to actually make it in Europe is also a big plus for me.

    I think that Cruyff says it in a general manner, how it is generally seen. Nevertheless, he made in the 1980s some comments about Maradona which are in my opinion right. He said two times that Maradona depends on some moments in the match. That means: he had in a match about four or five times where he did something amazing with the ball but he had, to say it bluntly, the rest of the match no added value.
    PDG1978 might be right that he didn't place Maradona in his top five. He had been more positive about Platini and also assuming that he reserved a place for his idol Di Stefano, there might indeed be no place for Maradona in his top five.

    Maradona's two greatest games in that tournament were in my view against England and Belgium. His performance in the final was good but not extraordinary.
    With inconsistent I mean that he wasn't in every game as good and also inconsistent throughout the match. For example, making the wrong choices, loosing the ball very easy etcetera. On youtube you can also see him making the most ridiculous passes but what you don't see is how often he looses the ball with choosing the most difficult option. That happened very often.

    We now see that 1986 tournament as the benchmark for every other player but at that time it wasn't unilaterally seen that way! That doesn't mean they were right. They might have been wrong actually, just as the press was wrong in hyping Ronaldinho a few years ago.

    This is what Keegan said about Cruyff:
    I also think that Platini and Di Stefano was such a type of player but Maradona wasn't. It is btw also the reason why Cruyffs goal-tally dropped in Barcelona. You mentioned that in your post but that was a logical result of playing in a less gifted team and his different playing style to accommodate for it (the German coach Weisweiler tried to correct that but it wasn't a success). If you want to have an impression about his impact in Catalonia, this is a good start:
    [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CrJgXU1jxbo"]Johan Cruijff - En Un Momento Dado - YouTube[/ame]

    By the way, did you consider Deyna or Rivelino as number three for the 1970s?
     
  14. PDG1978

    PDG1978 Member+

    Mar 8, 2009
    Club:
    Nottingham Forest FC
    Early 70's - Cruyff (Hol), Beckenbauer (Ger), Best (NI), Muller (Ger), Jairzinho (Bra), Deyna (Pol), Netzer (Ger).
    Mid 70's - Cruyff (Hol), Beckenbauer (Ger), Muller (Ger), Neeskens (Hol), Krol (Hol), Zoff (Ita), Deyna (Pol).
    Late 70's - Zico (Bra), Maradona (Arg), Dalglish (Sco), Kempes (Arg), Cruyff (Hol), Rensenbrink (Hol), Platini (Fra).

    Recap of my top 3 for 70's: Cruyff, Beckenbauer, Muller.
     
  15. PuckVanHeel

    PuckVanHeel Member+

    Oct 4, 2011
    Club:
    Feyenoord
    Yeah, always thought Dalglish was an amazing player. Even more so than Keegan, based on the few games/highlights I've seen.
     
  16. PDG1978

    PDG1978 Member+

    Mar 8, 2009
    Club:
    Nottingham Forest FC
    Here's a documentary you might like:
    [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WvoMoRiNpz0"]'Kenny', a Kenny Dalglish Documentary - part 1 - YouTube[/ame]
    The other parts are linked in the suggested videos I should think.

    As alluded to by people like Denis Law and Ian St John in the video (both are Scottish admitedly) he was more of a magician than Keegan who was a hard-working runner/goal poacher though he too could link well with team-mates and even played in midfield a bit in Germany and for England.
     
  17. PuckVanHeel

    PuckVanHeel Member+

    Oct 4, 2011
    Club:
    Feyenoord
    Well, I do not know as much about Keegan, maybe you can indicate better their relative value but the link-up play of Dalglish was one of his best qualities I think. Very clever player and also capable of "making war" in the 16 yard box.
     
  18. PDG1978

    PDG1978 Member+

    Mar 8, 2009
    Club:
    Nottingham Forest FC
    Early 80's - Zico (Bra), Platini (Fra), Maradona (Arg), Dalglish (Sco), Rummenigge (Ger), Socrates (Bra), Hoddle (Eng).
    Mid 80's - Maradona (Arg), Platini (Fra), Zico (Bra), Scirea (Ita), Elkjaer (Den), M.Laudrup (Den), Tigana (Fra).
    Late 80's - Maradona (Arg), van Basten (Hol), Matthaus (Ger), Gullit (Hol), Baresi (Ita), Rijkaard (Hol), Lineker (Eng).

    Recap of my top 3 for 80's - Maradona, Platini, van Basten.
     
  19. United_xxx

    United_xxx Member

    Aug 10, 2004
    Thailand
    Club:
    Manchester United FC
    Not consistent throughout the match? Based on feeling or stat? Then, I think all the players you have mentioned were also inconsistent too. They often made mistakes. They are human after all.

    I remember that few years ago vegan showed on soccerpulse that Maradona got the minimum rating as 9 for all the match he played in Mexico86 (may be 8.5 in one match I am not sure). Is this not good enough?

    For the part of loosing the ball, it is well understandable. It is simply due to his teammates being unable to keep possession well (Argentine team 86, Barcelona, and Napoli). But I don't see any think wrong with the desire to keep attacking all the time since football is about scoring goals not the percent of possession. See the video below and I am sure Maradona's passing skill is way underrated by some fans here.

    [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RW7pTee0Agc"]MARADONA 11.05.2011 World Team Caucasus - YouTube[/ame]
     
  20. PDG1978

    PDG1978 Member+

    Mar 8, 2009
    Club:
    Nottingham Forest FC
    I think Keegan was very good at getting on the ball and playing one-two's etc and was also sharp at getting on the end of knock-downs, crosses into the box and suchlike. He was a pretty good finisher too.

    Dalglish had more of an imagination and played a lot of 'genius' type through-balls particularly to Ian Rush and he also had a great first touch and could be a brilliantly accurate finisher with both boots. He could also score the 6-yard box type goals very well too though.

    I'd be interested if anybody has insight or footage into Keegan while playing for Hamburg as I haven't seen very much of him from that time (moreso possibly in an England shirt than a Hamburg one).
     
  21. PDG1978

    PDG1978 Member+

    Mar 8, 2009
    Club:
    Nottingham Forest FC
    Early 90's - van Basten (Hol), M.Laudrup (Den), Baresi (Ita), R.Baggio (Ita), Maldini (Ita), Savicevic (Yug), Bergkamp (Hol).
    Mid 90's - M.Laudrup (Den), Weah (Lib), Savicevic (Yug), R.Baggio (Ita), Klinsmann (Ger), Romario (Bra), Cantona (Fra).
    Late 90's - Ronaldo (Bra), Figo (Por), Zidane (Fra), Bergkamp (Hol), Raul (Spa), Rivaldo (Bra), Shevchenko (Ukr).

    Recap of my top 3 for 90's - M.Laudrup, Ronaldo, Figo.
     
  22. PuckVanHeel

    PuckVanHeel Member+

    Oct 4, 2011
    Club:
    Feyenoord
    I never understood the fuss about Klinsmann, TBH. Cannot even stand in the shadow of someone like Butrageuno, for example.

    Also strange to see Maldini in the early 90s list while his prime was probably in the mid 90s.
     
  23. PDG1978

    PDG1978 Member+

    Mar 8, 2009
    Club:
    Nottingham Forest FC
    Early 00's (2000-2003/04) - Zidane (Fra), Figo (Por), Henry (Fra), Shevchenko (Ukr), Cafu (Bra), Totti (Ita), Pires (Fra).
    Mid 00's (2003/04 - 2006/07) - Ronaldinho (Bra), Henry (Fra), Kaka (Bra), Zidane (Fra), Shevchenko (Ukr), Vieira (Fra), Nedved (Cze).
    2007/08-now - Messi (Arg), C.Ronaldo (Por), Iniesta (Spa), Xavi (Spa), Sneijder (Hol), Torres (Spa), Robinho (Bra) - (I was pretty undecided for the final list as a few players have short spells of form clearly above their average level etc - I felt the top two had to be obvious though I'd understand the basis if someone put the two Spain/Barcelona midfielders ahead of CR7).

    Recap of my top 3 for 00's - Zidane, Ronaldinho, Henry.
     
  24. PDG1978

    PDG1978 Member+

    Mar 8, 2009
    Club:
    Nottingham Forest FC
    True about Maldini but I had less attacking players to rival him in the early 90's and I think he was consistently near his best level from late 80's when he was a star youngster onwards (perhaps his mobility, running with the ball, quickness into challenges etc was even at it's best in the late 80's/early 90's while he became more of an expert defender in general from the mid-90's including being a very accomplished centre-back?).

    As for Klinsmann, I felt he did hit a purple patch in his career for Tottenham, Bayern and Germany around that time and was doing well in all the years in the mid-90's. Personally I'd tend to rate him over Butragueno though the Spaniard was a little bit more inventive/inspirational perhaps and maybe a better pure goal poacher too; Klinsmann was I think as a striker more complete and could score lots of different types of goals.
     
  25. PuckVanHeel

    PuckVanHeel Member+

    Oct 4, 2011
    Club:
    Feyenoord
    Strange, I see Klinsmann as the better goalpoacher. Butragueno was often more a second-striker I think with Sanchez as pure goal-scorer. I rate Butragueno pretty high (even higher than Raul?). Talking about an all-round striker, I tend to go for Völler I think.
     

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