Following on from the Best Dribblers thread, I'd like to know who you think were the fastest dribblers. The fastest with the ball at their feet. And I mean dribblers with a very good level of control. Not just kick the ball 5-10m away and run after it like Rommedahl, Odonkor, Caniggia, Bale, Walcott, Overmars. Even Cristiano falls into this category IMO. I would say Ronaldo 9, Kaka, Ryan Giggs, Robben, Brian Laudrup, Magico Gonzalez.
First we have to differentiate between "quick" and fast. 1- Quick: (more due to good acceleration in SHORT distance, but not so much speed in long distance) Romario, Owen, Van Basten, Batistuta, Muller , Zico , Ronaldinho, Garrincha (special case: he got speed but due to his uneven legs he could not run fast in long distance) and lately Neymar (but he got potential to develop in speedy run at long distance) 2- Fast: (due to speed more long distance) Kaka, Henry, Overmars, Juninho Paulista, Theo Walcott, Robben ... and lately Lucas 3- Quick and Fast: Pele. Maradona, Eusebio, Cruijff, Magico, R9, Messi, CR7 .. (Garrincha and Neymar were border line in this group)
I wouldnt actually say R9 is a fast dribbler. Sure he knocked the ball 10 yards in front of him and chased after it faster than everyone but that should count more for general speed than for dribbling speed. He did have quick feet when it came to his moves though
Not to change the topic, but something I was wondering about and needed more expert opinions to evaluate. Looking at the best players with ball handling footskills on the ball and ability to change direction or start/stop quickly off the dribble, do most have genetic makeup to have short legs in relation to their upper body/torso? If you ignore the overall height of the player but look at body type of legs compared to upperbody is there any coorelation? With short legs and longer torso, the center of gravity comes down considerably and its harder to knock a player off the ball. Longer legs take more time to accelerate up to speed from a stopped position compared to shorter leg individuals with more "turbo" boost off the line and to make very sharp & quick cuts. Any truth to this or am I just crazy?
You may not be that crazy .. just got a COMMON MISTAKE in such speculation (actually there were quite a few people in this forum also "think" so) STATS said you maybe wrong: Look at a few best sprinters in the history (best acceleration and best strides) Usain Bolt was 6'5 (very very tall ) Carl lewis was 6'3 (very tall) Some fast players with best acceleration and speed In football: Ronaldo 6'1 Henry 6'1 C.Ronaldo 6'2 Cruijff 5'11 Robben 6'0 Rommedahl 5'10
im just saying how do you evaluate dribbling speed; is it one touch per stride, one touch every 3 strides, one touch every....4 strides..you see what i'm getting at?
NO ... unles you nitpicked on a few games? Did you have a STATS that showing Ronaldo kicked the ball 3,4 m away in most the time ??? Go wear more GLASSES well go and count for me if you can and here are just some of his games and here was his famous one ... you can estimate how quick he dragged the ball up and scored from 66yards away with 5,6 DF bothring ... that was EXTREMELY fast and Effective (actually more difficult than maradona vs England since he faced only 1 at atime while R9 constantly got 2 every time he touched the ball )
thanks for the response and the insults. The second video you posted demonstrates what i would consider dribbling (as opposed to booting the ball ahead and chasing it), and ronaldo was fast, but the defender caught up with him.
Run @ 7:28 demonstrates what I mean. Ronaldo did everything perfectly and even managed to slow down his pace to nutmeg the De Boer but he clearly kicks the ball ahead a couple meters during his run so would this be considered dribbling speed or general speed? Ronaldo was unstoppable in this game
Aaron lennon fits the bill for fast current footballer whilst still keeping it tight, as does sterling, robben and ribery
My point wasn't about overall tall guys vs short guys, but on body proportion (leg length compared to torso). You can be tall but also have a long torso with shorter proportioned legs. It just seems from my observations both in how long Messi's upper body is compared to his short churning legs and also seeing children and teens whom have longer torsos and very short legs seem to have a much greater ability to start explosively and stop and change directions more quickly than guys with long legs and shorter upperbodies. And your point about Bolt being 6'5'' and great sprinter. Well that is 100M and longer. I'd take Messi over Volt on for a 10M run, touch ground, and run back 10M (a very basic suicide run). That ability to start and stop on a dime is what in my mind make from genetics standpoint the best "controlled"/possession style dribbling soccer players. Weaving through traffic and still keeping control of the ball.
Messi will only catch Bolt's a$$ ... Did you really have the number seconds that Messi can run 10m? Bolt walks over 10m with 2 strides and Messi would need 4,5 OK?
you forgot eusebio who was extremely fast. when he was 18 or 19 he was champion of portugal i believe on the 100 metres and 200 metres.
yes thanks ... those names just pooped in my mind ... Eusebio was like an unstoppable beast in the 60's (just like R9 in late 90's) with power, and fast dribble runs
You may have a point, Ronaldo9 has very short legs compared to his upper body! Almost comical looking. But then again the lanky Kaka was also rapid in the first few metres.
If by "fast" you mean how fast players can run with kicking the ball, R9, Kaka, Walcott etc. If by "fast" you mean the frequency how fast player can adapt, change direction and caress the ball, it's Messi and it's not even close.
You can't compare Walcott to Kaka and Ronaldo9. Kaka and Ronaldo had very good ball control whilst running fast, not to the level of Messi but still good. Look at Kaka's goals against Fenerbahce l, Argentina and that goal he scored for Sao Paolo he changed direction well against Fenerbahce. Likewise Ronaldo's goal against Compostela. Walcott often runs with the ball behind him! Messi runs at the same speed as Maradona and George Best, they also did the same things he did, although his agility is better.
Yeah I agree, where as Messi is the other extremity of "fast", Walcott is propably the other, Kaka and R9 are somewhere in the middle of the raw speed, and speed of control.
you don;t have a CLUE what is fast? - with the ball at the feet: R9 is arguably the best, Messi Maradona Cruijff, Best and Pele were among them - lately Neymar and Lucas have good promise - without the ball (to control): Theo Walcott, Roberto Carlos, Robben, Henry were another group (kicking and running) Please NEVER mention Walcott next to R9 as there was a HUGE GAP (unreachable) between them