For some time now, I’ve been working on some lists of the greatest ever players in each position. Some of you might have seen my own thread on the greatest players in English league history www.bigsoccer.com/forum/showthread.php?t=620289 or the thread that inspired it by Gregoriak of their German equivalents https://www.bigsoccer.com/forum/showthread.php?t=420539 Basically over the coming months I will reveal the 100 best players (in my opinion) in each position, who have ever graced the game. These will be the finest footballers to kick a ball since the codification of the game in 1863. Let me start by outlining some of the criteria that I have applied: 1. Peak performance. How good were they at their very best. 2. Longevity and consistency. How long did they perform well for. 3. Achievements. Where did they get to in the game, how much did they win and what style did they do it in. Furthermore I have excluded all players aged below 28 today, as I do not feel they have a sufficient "body of work" on which to be judged. All eligible current players have probably been judged slightly more harshy than they might be as it is difficult to fully evaluate a career until it is over. These criteria naturally favour some of the players from the bigger nations and bigger clubs. I’m afraid that is largely unavoidable. But if you disagree with any of my selections then please let me know. That is what these threads are for. This is just a bit of fun and I've tried to include players across all eras. I'm not pretending it is in any way definitive, but it's there for some debate and hopefully a few people (including myself) can learn a bit more about some forgotten greats. I’d like to thank some of the members of the BigSoccer history group for their input on this as well. Please do not post your thoughts in this thread. I will set up a designated discussion thread for these threads. I will delete any posts in this thread. Please though do contribute. I am really going to try to get this forum back on track, but I will need the input of many members of this board. If you have any feedback or questions about this then please put them in the discussion thread. https://www.bigsoccer.com/forum/showt...7#post19314177 To help people understand the positions of the players I have created this thread on the history of tactics as well as providing definitions of each position to make it easier. https://www.bigsoccer.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1269077 Enjoy!
As this is probably the most complicated position I have dealt with so far I just wanted to state again some of the types of players that will be featured in this list. Not all are classic defensive midfielders, so please understand that I have had to draw the line somewhere between the types. Midfielders Half-back: Generic term to cover all of the midfield line under the pyramid and WM formations. This terminology continued into the sixties, well beyond the use of the formations that went with it. Centre-half: Although the term has now been bastardised to mean a central defender, it originally meant the central player in the half-back line. They acted as the key link between the defence and attack, and as such played an instrumental playmaking role. (No contemporary example) Right or left-half: In the pyramid the lateral members of the half-back line, who would be charged with marking the opposing wingers as well as providing a link to the attack. Under the WM these were generic terms to refer to central midfielders. (No contemporary example) Central midfielder: Generic term to cover all central midfielders. In these lists a term to cover an all round midfielder who has elements of each of the other central midfield positions. (Example: Michael Ballack) Anchor: A defensive minded midfielder who often sits deep and looks to break up the opponents’ play. Likely to act as a holding midfielder and look to incept passes, and cut off passing lines. (Example: Claude Makelele) Destroyer: A defensive midfielder who plays at a high tempo and actively seeks to break up play by hunting down opponents and making tackles. They are likely to have limited attacking responsibilities and will normally look for more talented players once they have won the ball. (Example: Gennaro Gattuso) Box to box midfielder: A midfielder who covers the length of the pitch and is as likely to be found in the opposing box as his own. They require great energy and stamina to cover every blade of grass (Example: Michael Essien) Deep lying playmaker: A withdrawn midfielder who sits in a deep position to dictate the play. They will commonly pick up the ball from the defence and distribute it with long raking passes. (Example: Andrea Pirlo)
100. Paul McStay Central Midfielder Scotland 22/10/1964 76 caps (9 goals) Clubs: Celtic http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_McStay
99. Aaron Winter Central midfielder Holland 1/3/1967 84 caps (6 goals) Clubs: Ajax, Lazio, Internazionale, Ajax, Sparta Rotterdam http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aron_Winter
98. Josef Kostalek Half-back Czechoslovakia 31/8/1909 43 caps (2 goals) Clubs: Sparta Prague http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Josef_Košťálek
97. Jorge Burruchaga Central midfielder, attacking midfielder Argentina 9/10/1962 59 caps (13 goals) Clubs: Arsenal de Sarandi, Independiente, Nantes, Valenciennes, Independiente http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jorge_Burruchaga
96. Eliseo Mourino Centre-half, central midfielder Argentina 3/6/1927 ? caps Clubs: Banfield, Boca Juniors http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eliseo_Mouriño
95. Giacomo Bulgarelli Central Midfielder Italy 24/10/1940 29 caps (7 goals) Clubs: Bologna http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giacomo_Bulgarelli
94. Bobby Murdoch Central Midfielder Scotland 17/8/1944 12 caps (6 goals) Clubs: Celtic, Middlesbrough http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bobby_Murdoch
93. Nobby Stiles Destroyer England 18/5/1942 28 caps (1 goal) Clubs: Manchester United, Middlesbrough, Preston North End http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nobby_Stiles
92. Phillip Cocu Central midfielder, utility player Holland 29/10/1970 101 caps (10 goals) Clubs: AZ Alkmaar, Vitesse Arnhem, PSV Eindhoven, Barcelona, PSV Eindhoven, Al-Jazira http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phillip_Cocu
91. Dino Baggio Box to box midfielder Italy 24/7/1971 60 caps (7 goals) Clubs: Torino, Internazionale, Juventus, Parma, Lazio http://www.sporting-heroes.net/files_footballworldcup/BAGGIO_Dino_19940709_GH_L.jpg
90. Bo Larsson Central midfielder, forward Sweden 5/5/1944 70 caps (17 goals) Clubs: Malmo, Stuttgart, Malmo http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bo_Larsson
89. Adelardo Rodriguez Deep lying playmaker Spain 26/9/1939 14 caps (2 goals) Clubs: Badajoz, Atletico Madrid http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adelardo_Rodríguez
88. Paul Ince Anchor, destroyer England 21/10/1967 53 caps (2 goals) Clubs: West Ham United, Manchester United, Internazionale, Liverpool, Middlesbrough, Wolverhampton Wanderers, Swindon Town, Macclesfield Town http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Ince
87. Emerson Anchor Brazil 4/4/1976 73 caps (6 goals) Clubs: Grêmio, Bayer Leverkusen, Roma, Juventus, Real Madrid, AC Milan, Santos http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emerson_Ferreira_da_Rosa
86. Yuri Voinov Central Midfielder USSR 29/11/1931 23 caps (2 goals) Clubs: Zenit Leningrad, Dynamo Kiev http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yuri_Voinov
85. Jimmy Gibson Half-back Scotland 12/6/1901 8 caps Clubs: Partick Thistle, Aston Villa http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jimmy_Gibson_(footballer_born_1901)
84. Roger Bocquet Half-back, full-back Switzerland 9/4/1921 48 caps (2 goals) Clubs: Lausanne Sports http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roger_Bocquet
83. Rafael Martin Vasquez Central midfielder, left midfielder, playmaker Spain 25/9/1965 38 caps (1 goal) Clubs: Real Madrid, Torino, Marseille, Real Madrid, Deportivo La Coruña, Club Celaya, Karlsruhe http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rafael_Martín_Vázquez
82. Paul Bonga Bonga Half-back Congo 25/4/1933 ? caps Clubs: Lion d'or, Sporting Club, Union, Daring Club Motema Pembe, Standard Liege, Charleroi http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Bonga_Bonga
81. Vladimir Muntian Central midfielder, deep lying playmaker USSR 14/9/1946 49 caps (7 goals) Clubs: Dynamo Kiev http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vladimir_Muntian
80. Jose Carlos Bauer Centre-half Brazil 21/11/1925 29 caps Clubs: Sao Paulo, Botafogo http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/José_Carlos_Bauer
79. Rene Van de Kerkhof Central Midfielder, Right-winger Holland 16/9/1951 47 caps (5 goals) Clubs: FC Twente, PSV Eindhoven, Apollon Smyrnis, Seiko, Helmond Sport, FC Eindhoven http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/René_van_de_Kerkhof
78. Romeo Benetti Destroyer Italy 20/10/1945 55 caps (2 goals) Clubs: Juventus, Sampdoria, AC Milan, Juventus, AS Roma http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Romeo_Benetti