LOL The idiot is the one who thinks that Garrincha doesnt deserve to be in this Poll Who does not deserve to be in this Poll is that POS Neymar
Not sure if anyone else has mentioned him but there is also Jimmy 'Jinky' Johnstone from Celtic's 1967 European Cup winning side:
so you heard? but not knowing perse ? Well back to your first post, in Garrincha's era (60-70) there were many great DF in fact they were classified as ALL TIMES (TOP10 ) in DeGuia, B.Moore, N. Santos, D. Santos, Carlos Alberto, Shnellinger , Fachetti ... Nilton Santos was widely regarded as among TOP3 best LB in ALL time. Guess what? He was nutmeged TWICE (in a row) by Garrincha in his first duo - Nilton got sold and convinced Brazil coach to invite Garrincha to NT in WC58. Often Garrincha could pass 4,5 players AT WILL in his time. Now in this era, WHO would be (possibly) in TOP100 DF? name some? besides may be Ramos and Lahm ...
[I might have pointed this out once before: as someone who actually saw Omar Sivori in action; he would DEFINITELY be a contender for this list IMHO.]
[I noticed that you mentioned Liverpool cult hero Chris Lawler over in the LFC history forum, mate. !!]
Whenever I see a discussion like this, I think of people playing on crap pitches wearing something other than soccer boots playing with something not quite balanced or round, who still manage to keep the ball at their feet and make moves up and down the "field." People you never heard of who could do things unimaginable to me - and perhaps to people we judge to be great in ideal conditions and ideal equipment. I'll always remember watching fishermen in an Azorean village playing on a bare patch of ground surrounded by walls made of volcanic rock, all of them wearing galoshes, and being amazed at what some of them were doing with the ball. Of course "fisherman in the Azores wearing galoshes" doesn't work well in a poll, but perhaps "someone we never heard of" might.
Exactly, every video I've seen of Garrincha doesn't impress me. He had very good acceleration which he used to kick the ball towards the byline and deliver a cross and he also spent lots of time faking the same defender 3 times before kicking the ball to the byline. His close control was nothing special at all. He didn't go on slaloming runs past 3 or more defenders. I agree Pele's dribbling was much better, he had a flow to his dribbling and went past multiple players without stopping. I think Garrincha was the Denilson of the 50s, his dribbling was more for show but lacking skill. The best dribblers are Maradona, Messi and Best. They had the best close control, agility and due to their short height they had a low centre if gravity that let them turn quicker.
Best Dribbler all time: 1. Pelé 2. Garrincha 3. Maradona 4. Messi 5. Cruyff 6. Best 7. Ronaldo 8. Zidane 9. Ronaldinho 10. Matthews
Prime: 1.Pele 2. Ronaldo 9 3. Messi 4. Maradona 5. Cruyff 6. Ronaldinho 7. Best 8. Garrincha 9. Zidane 10. Cristiano
from the options listed i'd take Maradona. Pierre Littbarski was also a phenomenal dribbler back in the 80's, probably germanys greatest alongside Reinhard Libuda (60s-70s).