Greatest Wingers of all time?

[Tricky Tree]

Wingers seem rarer and rarer these days but were once the norm. Garrincha springs to mind as a great from the past, Ryan Giggs as one from today.

[srv fan]

I don't know about all time, but it is pretty clear that the two best wingers of the past 15 years are Ryan Giggs and Luis Figo. No one else is even touching them.

[Cassano]

Bruno Conti

K3URACZvmjM

[Excape Goat]

Jimmy Johnstone
Kurt Harim(misspelled?)

[zenden]

John Barnes

[xTottixCorex]

I play wing myself and i think about this topic all the time. obviously, Garrincha and Sir Stanley Matthews are the 2 names that first come to mind. then after that it's a toss up. John Barnes mid to late 80's at liverpool was the best winger in the world bar none. Ryan Giggs AND Luis Figo have to be in the discussion. a forgotten name is Chris Waddle, who was the best player in the world in the early 90's playing in France.

unlike the discussion of who the best of all time where there's about 4-5 names in the mix. there are about 8-10 players you can name among the best wingers of all time. the crappy part is that aside from cristiano ronaldo and the long, LONG line of wingers Portugal seem to produce on a regular basis, there are no more pure out-an-out wingers left in the game anymore.

[Catel]

Larbi Ben Barek ?

[johan neeskens]

Robbie Rensenbrink.
Marc Overmars.
Arjen Robben.
Dennis Bergkamp (started his career as a right winger).

[sidis]

Garrincha
canhoteiro
denilson

overmars

[blue87francis]

Jose Dominguez.

Well in my world he is.

[Excape Goat]

How can I forget about Gento?

[Teso Dos Bichos]

Best, Czibor, Keizer, Finney

The change in formations killed the traditional winger/foward, as 4-4-2 requires players to contribute defensively as well.

[eirebhoy]

Jimmy Johnstone - Voted Best ever Celtic player a few years ago before he died last year. The star of the 1967 European Cup winning team.

ol68Kr-Ukf0

[xTottixCorex]

I like this Jinky tribute better

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[dor02]

Garrincha and Stanley Matthews are the best. Their stories are very remarkable because at a young age, Garrincha had very distorted legs and there was the possibility of him not walking again and Matthews played until he was 50 years old. George Best, Kevin Keegan, Tom Finney, Francisco Gento, Zoltan Czibor, Kurt Hamrin and Bruno Conti were also great wingers. Rivelino is one of the more modern wingers but a great player.

Barnes and Waddle were very gifted players but they weren't Top Fiven or Top 10 wingers. Maybe for talent alone, Barnes could have been there.

Reinhard Libuda is arguably the most underrated winger ever.

[erictheking]

Jesper Olsen

[johan neeskens]

Best, Czibor, Keizer, Finney

The change in formations killed the traditional winger/foward, as 4-4-2 requires players to contribute defensively as well.

Round where I live there's plenty of sides who still play the traditional 4-3-3 with wide wingers.

[babaorum]

Dominique Rocheteau used to be a skillfull winger in the late 70's/early 80's.

[Teso Dos Bichos]

Round where I live there's plenty of sides who still play the traditional 4-3-3 with wide wingers.

Even then the standard is not the same. While they might nominally play as fowards they are still expected to be able to contribute defensively and most can function in a number of different attacking roles. The traditional winger/foward is dead.

[xTottixCorex]

Garrincha and Stanley Matthews are the best. Their stories are very remarkable because at a young age, Garrincha had very distorted legs and there was the possibility of him not walking again and Matthews played until he was 50 years old. George Best, Kevin Keegan, Tom Finney, Francisco Gento, Zoltan Czibor, Kurt Hamrin and Bruno Conti were also great wingers. Rivelino is one of the more modern wingers but a great player.

Barnes and Waddle were very gifted players but they weren't Top Fiven or Top 10 wingers. Maybe for talent alone, Barnes could have been there.

Reinhard Libuda is arguably the most underrated winger ever.Keegan and Best were more forwards then wingers. Rivelino was a key member of that 1970 world cup winning team as a left winger, and a great one at that.