Most skillful US field players of all-time (your top 10)

not the best, but the most skillful

In order

1. Clint Dempsey
2. Clint Mathis
3. Landon Donovan
4. Tab Ramos
5. Thomas Dooley
6. Claudio Reyna
7. Roy Wegerle
8. Joe-Max Moore
9. Eric Wynalda
10. Marcelo Balboa

The fact that you don't have JOB on this list is criminal.

Starting a thread is a privilege and a responsibility dude.

My most skillful-

1. Clint Dempsey
2. John O'Brien
3. Tab Ramos
4. Claudio Reyna
5. Landon Donovan
6. Jose Francisco Torres
7. Freddy Adu
8. Roy Wegerle
9. Earnie Stewart
10. Thomas Dooley

Most skillful?
1. Tab Ramos
2. Tab Ramos
3. Tab Ramos
4. Tab Ramos
5. Tab Ramos
6. Tab Ramos
7. Tab Ramos
8. Tab Ramos
9. Tab Ramos
10. Tab Ramos



SuperCooper, that is one strange list that you have there.
Dempsey #1 and Donovan #3? You're out of your freaking mind.
Thomas Dooley #5? lol, wtf man?!?!?!?!?

Man, I agree. And Tab Ramos belongs in everybody's top 3.

I rank Dempsey #1 too, mainly because of his impeccable form in qualifiers, and in big games (Spain 2009, Italy 2006).

Almost making my list was Stuart Holden and Clint Mathis. Mathis would have been in my top 3 if I didn't watch so many games featuring him woefully out of shape.

Seriously, my list would be..................
1. Tab "freaking" Ramos (too easy)
2. Clint Mathis
3. Clint Dempsey
4. John O'Brien
5. Jose Torres
6. Claudio Reyna
7. Earnie Stewart
8. Roy Wegerle
9. Joe Max Moore
10. Landon Donovan (his game is predicated much more on speed than it is pure skill)

Holden certainly has that ability, and he's got his own kind of skill too.
He's a better striker of the ball than anyone on that list other than maybe Mathis.
Also, the thing with Dempsey is that he seems to get more goals from pure tenacity than he does pure skill.
That Spain goal was an effort goal.
If Dempsey would have netted more of his chances that he had against Slovenia and Algeria then he gets my no.1 spot, even ahead of my man Tab, but damn, he missed a buttload of chances in this past Cup.

I know this might sound odd, but what about anyone from the 1930s teams? Technically it's all time US Top 10 after all...

Hugo Perez would give Tab for the #1 spot.

I had Perez in the back of my mind but I'll be honest, I only really saw him play at the end of his career on that '94 team, so I really didn't feel comfortable putting him on it.
I've heard from a couple people that he had great technical ability.

Not in order: Keep Dempsey, Mathis, Donovan, Ramos, Reyna, Wynalda, and then put in O'Brien, Pope, Perez, Patenaude.

Earnie Stewart? Seriously?

I can't believe how bad people's memories are.

My top 4 would be Perez, Ramos, Pope (defense can be skillful) and Dempsey. Everyone else is a step below.

I'm personally not 100 years old, so I never got to see any of those guys actually play. So I limit my list to guys I did see play. I also will limit myself to guys who have played a consisted role or prolonged role with the Nats. So guys like Torres, Adu, Feilhaber haven't done enough to make the list.

1. Tab Ramos
2. John O'Brien
3. Clint Dempsey
4. Claudio Reyna
5. Landon Donovan
6. Thomas Dooley
7. Hugo Perez
8. Tony Sanneh (if not for injuries I think he would have been remembered on most lists here)
9. Clint Mathis (if not for cheeseburgers and mexican food he would have been remembered much higher on this list)
10. Eddie Pope

I left off JOB unintentionally, as well as Hugo Perez.

They would replace Balboa and Wegerle in my book

Pope and Patenaude?

Good name for a vaudeville duo. Don't remember seeing many stepovers from them, though (don't really remember anything about Patenaude.)

Pure skill?
No particular order and heavily weighted towards strength on the ball, vision and passing ability (as opposed to, say, the ability/willingness to do a Rabona in an international):

Ramos, Reyna, O'Brien, Donovan, Adu, Feilhaber

Can't make it to 10 without adding a lot of filler (refer to other lists in this thread).

Patenaude? was anybody alive and old enough and able to remeber watching him play in 1930 or in his last year in 1936. Unless someone has some video footage hidden in the attic.

How are we defining "skill"?

Most skillfull, as in the most technically proficient. Best touch. Best ball control skills. Most precise/accurate passing. Best shooting. Best intelligent off the ball movement.

1. O'Brien
2. Ramos
3. Reyna
4. Donovan
5. Dempsey
6. Mathis
7. Dooley
8. Perez
9. Wynalda
10. Cherundolo


And for kicks, putting them into a hypothetical XI with Friedel in net:

-----Dempsey----Mathis----Wynalda-----

Donovan------Reyna----Perez------Ramos

-----O'Brien----Dooley----Cherundolo-----

-----------------Friedel------------------

A bit lightweight in the back, but they would have been entertaining.

Could have been or might be on the list with more Nat's games: Preki, Adu, Torres, Feilhaber.

Perez had decent ability. I think Perez was kind of overrated. Or maybe, back then, the US played such a bunkering style it was hard to notice.

Yeah, Earnie Stewart. Stewart was an enigma because while he had a terrible first touch, he had outstanding vision, and was a clinical finisher. He had the great ability to slow down or speed up a game. And he played great in the 1994 World Cup.

Atleast nobody put down Cobi Jones or Pablo Mastroeni.

It wasn't that hard to notice. Perez easily belongs in the top 10.

This thread is about most skillful players. I mean, guys with a terrible first touch need not apply. And I agree, he had a terrible first touch. He had a great engine, a great attitude, leadership qualities, was a pretty good crosser/striker of the ball, and I might even give you "outstanding vision". The problem is, he gave the ball away far too often, and to say he was a "clinical finisher" is downright laughable. There is no other U.S. player that I saw grab/rub his head more often after putting a good scoring chance wide or over the bar. For me, it's a lasting image.

In no particular order for me.

1. Cobi Jones
2. Pablo Mastroeni
3. Rico Clark
4. Jonny Bornstein
5. Marvell Wynne
6. Jay DeMerit
7. Eddie Johnson
8. Frankie Hejduk
9. Robbie Findley
10. SFS

Yeah but he still knows what to do with the ball after he blazes by people with his speed - he is a clinical distributor and a clinical finisher.

Good distribution makes him a great "skill" player IMO. For example, I think many would agree that good distribution is the best of Fabregas's and Xavi's many skills.

Many "speed" players don't know what to do with the ball after they blaze by people... I see this happen to Theo Walcott sometimes. For an MLS example of this, see Shea Salinas with Philly. Donovan does not have this problem.

Preki, forgot about that dude. Someone mentioned him a few posts above and brought back some memories, just a few though as he didnt play much with the nats! Not a bad left foot though on that guy.