Cruyff was just so much more athletically gifted and a significantly better finisher that I don't think piksi as talented as he was had he tools to hurt a team in a similar way You had piksi as a greater technician as platini so maybe what platini himself was alluding to was he simply couldn't do with the ball what piksi could Career achievement is a separate thing but in talent alone piksi was probably great as a European footballer has ever been Puskas with 700-800 goals as a inside forward a player who also directly assisted another GOAT level scorer in sandor kocsis isn't inferior to any player(European or south American) If he is than certainly not by much
I don't know whether you'd just want everyone to discuss it until a consensus emerged, or to take some kind of vote? I'm also not sure what points system we'd use in a vote, but if it was simply two points for our top 10 choices and one point for the next 10, then you could count this as my vote (without Schiaffino, so the other Uruguayan is slotted in, but I would have had Le Tissier and Scifo right on the cusp I think too, from my former list): Top 10 (alphabetical order) - Dennis Bergkamp, George Best, Alessandro Del Piero, Glenn Hoddle, Michael Laudrup, Diego Maradona, Ronaldinho, Dragan Stojkovic, Zico, Zinedine Zidane Next 10 (alphabetical too) - Roberto Baggio, Eric Cantona, Johan Cruyff, Enzo Francescoli, Gheorghe Hagi, Lionel Messi, Pele, Gianni Rivera, Francesco Totti, Marco van Basten
This would be even tougher than a list of the greatest. That is once we've even defined what technique itself is I'll go with a basic definition of technique: the ability to execute an action - therefore a better technician executes it more accurately more frequently. In football (on the ball) technique then probably comes down to control (touch), passing, dribbling, shooting. Ultimately, those are the only options you have when a ball is played towards you (if we expand it to include keepers we can talk of handling and throwing). You can either control it, pass it, dribble it or shoot it. Or a combination of them. With this in mind, if I was to attempt a list. I'd have a top tier which would include players who could execute all four actions at a very high level. Then a 2nd tier with players who could execute at least 3 at a very high level and the fourth at a much higher than average level and so on ...
I would switch Baggio and Del Piero. Why do you have Alessandro in the first tier and Baggio in the second? Antonio Cassano and Magico Gonzalez deserve to be in a top 10 IMO.
I think I would prefer any discussion to be general, rather than challenging my choices mate, as these are obviously going to be close calls and I don't have any wish to get into arguments about it. Of course that doesn't mean I insist my opinion/vote is 'correct' any more than yours for example. But to give an answer to this one, as best I can, I would say that Del Piero's particularly exquisite shooting techniques (although Baggio's could be great too and somewhat similar) weighed quite heavily for me. In terms of controlling the ball, and moving with it, technically I'm not sure he was worse than Baggio, but I think the Divine Ponytail was a bit more elusive when in full flow and a bit smoother with his movements (not necessarily his touches) when rounding defenders and goalkeepers, so I think he had better dribbling potential in certain situations.
I didn't mean to challenge you. I apologize if it came that way. I just want to know your way of selection.
Oh, no, it's ok Alessandro I'm not upset about it! Sorry, if I worded things a bit wrongly myself, but yes I was just clarifying I might not want to get into lengthy discussion about every choice I made....or be able to make a convincing case for every choice. No problem anyway, and it was a nice idea to start the thread, and it's cool that you are enthusiastic about it! I think there has been some good exchange on the thread, and some decent debate too, but yes I do think it is quite hard to settle on a definitive 10 and be sure about it.
Magico Gonzalez: He's rated 99 in TEC on pesstatsdatabase.com. The means that his first touch is as good as any. Also possesed some eye catching skills. Great variety in his finishing: lobs, free kicks, volleys. Top 10 technique for me.
Continued( shot technique) 3:19 A lob from 25 yards and a literally impossible angle Only a technical genuis could execute this shot with pinpoint precision
I'm not going to go over why Zidane was nowhere the 2nd most technical player in the history of football Please if you may rank Zidane according to these categories Playmaking THROUGH balls (If Micheal Laudrup was a 10/10 what would zidane be?) Long balls (if platini and netzer were a 10/10 what would zidane be?) Mid range passes (if Messi,zico and Maradona were a 10/10 what would zidane be?) Crossing (If David Beckham was a 10/10 what would zidane be?) One touch passes (if totti was a 10/10 what would zidane be?) Backheel passes (if socrates,totti and Cristiano were a 10/10 what would zidane be?) Weak foot passes (if Cruyff was a 10/10 what would zidane be) Finishing Finesse shots (if Bergkamp was a 10/10 what would zidane be?) Placement (if Baggio and Messi were a 10/10 what would zidane be?) Long shot without accuracy (if Roberto Carlos was a 10/10 what would zidane be) Long shot with accuracy (if puskas,eusebio,cristiano,,Pele and batistuta were a 10/10 what would zidane be?) Headers (if kocsis and cristiano Ronaldo were a 10/10 what would zidane be ?) Volleys (if van Basten and cristiano were 10/10 what would zidane be? ) Predatory and opportunistic finishing (if gerd muller and Romario were a 10/10 what would zidane be?) Etc
Zidane's could pass very well with his weak feet. And while Zidane's passing wasn't as accurate as other great playmakers, the actual execution of his passes(including first time passes) was perfect. From the clips I've seen of Cruyff he didn't use his wesk foot more or better then Zidane. And comparing in finishing with Muller and Romario? It's like comparing Muller and Romario's passing accuracy with Laudrup's and Riquelme's. For me technique is what you do with a ball. Yes it also influences first time passing, volleys etc. Aspects which Zidane was great.
Zidane was unmatched for his first touch ( and second) , his awareness and vision , his graceful movement with the ball .. I always recall Vierra and Petite ( two great players ) raving about Zidane’s ability.. they said he was from another universe and he did things in matches that other players only did in practice..
How touch was amazing, but there were other players who had better vision(Laudrup, Totti, Rui Costa).
2:04 R9 played the game as if he earned bonus points for slaying defenders Haven't seen this move repeated before or after
Responding to the bolded in the above quoted posts (and getting a sense of deja vu). So, do these count - By my reckoning, Zidane has passed 3 players and beaten the goalkeeper in both the above instances. Since much of the footage from his early years is not available, the perceptions that people have created are from his later years. By that time he had became rather circumspect in his dribbling and from what I have seen, even though he could easily get out of situations wherein he was double teamed, he was unwilling to continue to dribble when he had created space for himself in such a fashion and would often rather pass the ball to another player instead. Players who are historically considered as great dribblers tend more often to go for it and dribble the remaining defenders themselves in such a situation, rather than passing the ball.
Here's one more - Edit: Wanted to mention here that, Zidane starts from a stationary position after receiving a long ball and beats the first two men with zero use of pace. Also note how any of the players considered to be historically great dribblers would have continued their run to make use of the space created, instead of passing the ball t a teammate as he did.
A highlight reel that could rival almost any all time great legend https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.re...8yt0m/how_good_was_matthew_le_tissier_really/