Johan Cruyff, Leo Messi, Sergio Busquets, Clarence Seedorf, Xavi Hernandez. These guys immediately come to mind. The decisions, spatial awareness, quickness of mind, recognition and anticipation of things and doing it all at very high speed is what differentiates these guys from the rest IMO.
Oddly enough THE player around now who has so much time on the ball and just seems to be playing a higher level is FDJ !! He seems to be a bit ahead of all those around him somehow .. complete awareness ( not unlike Busqs in the respect)
Again like FDJ he always had so much time almost as though he was playing a different game to the others . I recall his international teammates Petite and Viera being interviewed once and they said that he did things in training that appeared impossible and he was from another world.. high praise from two great players
Lampard is a funny one .. came from a family of footballers but when early on his career it was said/thought by some - that he was only playing because his uncle Harry was picking the team .. ( West Ham) Wiki describes him as creative and technically gifted which I simply don’t agree with.. He was initially known as textbook Charlie by his detractors.. I never had him down as a natural player more coached .. he developed into a great all round / scoring midfielder though
Diego Maradona had the football IQ of a veteran world class professional when he was only 16-17 years old he was already technically accomplished as a finisher, dribbler, an incredible athlete and a great playmaker
Off the top of my head I might be choosing between: Johan Cruyff Xavi Juan Schiaffino (apparently) Dennis Bergkamp Taking it up to a dozen names, with others who could be in close contention I think: Sergio Busquets Franz Beckenbauer Michael Laudrup Osvaldo Ardiles Nigel Clough Dragan Stojkovic Gaetano Scirea Andrea Pirlo Taking it further, to 22 names, by adding some who probably excelled in football IQ too in a few ways: Clarence Seedorf Jean Tigana Alain Giresse Kenny Dalglish Raymond Kopa Dejan Savicevic Nandor Hidegkuti Didi Andres Iniesta Xabi Alonso
Frenkie is nowhere near the Xavis level of iq at the moment. He has all the preconditions to get there. He aint there. So often he would get himself into difficult situations because he takes a touch or two too much. Sometimes he gets himself out of it because he is a freakishly technically gifted, but often doesnt. Xavi virtually never lost possesion not because he had the Iniestas or Modrics level of technical abilities to get himself out of difficult situations, but because he rarely put himself in the situations where he has to get himself out of. He was seeing the game two steps ahead at all times. He is a personification of a player that plays football with purpose. Basically every touch or decision he made was the right one. Be it one touch short pass, one touch long pass, dribbling, backpass, etc. At the moment, he is my number one pick for football iq. Frenkie is merely showing the glimpses of an athletic, clever, technically gifted midfielder. Tho i have no doubt that with experience he will get there. Zidane is a phenomenal player no doubt. But at no point do i see this praises have anything to do with football iq. Zidane imo managed to the things he did because of his exceptional technical abilities. I dont think his decision making was ever at historical level. When i think of a high iq footballer i think of players that seamed to think while they were playing and simultaniously were making great decisions. I can already tell that many great athletes will be overlooked in this thread and people will fancy physically ungifted midfielders. Someone like Messi has to be on the list,.. has to! Cristiano is definitely up there for his ability to find himself in scoring opportunities. I can see how people would fancy Thomas Muller over Cristiano in this segment merely because former was physically and tehnically sterile. Cristiano is much better in terms of football iq tho. Pele seamed to play like a modern footballer while everybody else was lost on the pitch. Maradona and essentially any top, historical player deserves the mention. Nobody is that good without having a high football iq. Di stefano. Of todays players, Ozil comes to mind. Incredible (attacking) football brain, but he is not aggressive enough in penalty box to be considered valid candidate. From defenders, Van Dijk obviously. De Bruyne is definitely up there.
FDJ seems to have that and I can see him growing into one of the cerebral players of his generation. Sometimes it's like he has anticipated his oppositions reaction to his next move before he makes that move. Such a joy to watch.
Lampard’s football IQ is quite underrated and he’s a smart man in general. Also, yes he wasn’t really your technically gifted midfielder, but he had great work ethic which made him a beast.
I’m definitely impressed with Frenkie and his preparation. Finally, we got a manager who would utilise him very well https://www.givemesport.com/1517276...celona-games-proves-hes-going-to-the-very-top
Interesting take. I'd love to hear more about this as I only ever watched him play in the UCL and the odd Serie A game, so not nearly enough samples to know, and even when I did, I wasn't focusing on him at all. I'll admit I paid way more attention to Pirlo, Vidal, and Pogba, who were all more interesting players to me.
This would make the highlight reel of anyone of Messi, Maradona, Laudrup, zico, piksi,cruyff,rivelino etc Lampard was capable of merging technical ingenuity with world class end product maybe not as consistently as those names but he was no hardworker This is a ballon dor podium player with a greater offensive output than prime Ronaldinho
Paul Scholes must be in the list of all time most intelligents, Juan Roman Riquelme also should be in the list. Gianni Rivera must be among the candidates. Among active footballers Messi, Busquets and NGolo Kante are exceptional. Considering CR7's off-the-ball play, positioning and anticipation, he should also be considered among the most intelligents. Then, there was Micheal Carrick who was very good at assessing and intercepting the possible passing lanes. But enough to be among all time greats? I would say no, he was exceptionally intelligent at only of this part of the game, he was intelligent in other areas of the game but not exceptional. So, who would be my pick for "the most intelligent ever"? Probably Johan Cruyff. Hard to choose if it is Pele or Cruyff, but to me it seems Cruyff is. Paul Scholes and Riquelme were the players I enjoyed watching the most. Even more than Ronaldinho.
I think there is an understandable bias towards creativity and anticipation as the marks of intelligence. I wonder though where "decision making" ranks among the "intellectual skills".
Nilton Santos, the encyclopedia of Football. Bozsik, the most farsighted player of the classic era. Pedernera and Kopa , two of the greatest estrategist players ever