My friends and I have spent hours discussing who is the greatest player of our generation. We are 23 and 24 but I am obviously encouraging those younger and older to chime in. I'm not entirely sold on this, but let me put out Zidane. He has won every major competition and has scored goals in each and has also been named FIFA player of the year. Let the discussion begin.
You'll have to define "generation" by years of birth (ie: 1967-1987). Are we talking the "X" generation? Anything post-Maradona? And, "best". If we are talking about players who are still playing, then it would have to be the defender for AC Milan, Maldini. No player has been so dominating in his position for so long with so much consistency, amongst those still playing. Maybe it is too soon to say amongst those playing as of November, 2004, but for any playing still up to this point, it would be hard to beat Maldini. Maybe Ronaldihno, but it is too soon to say. The trouble is that the younger players playing now have yet to solidly make their case. I have mentioned Maldini in defence and Ronaldinho in mid-field. In terms of solid and consistent accomplishment amongst current players, I would have to add Shearer (or Henry) at forward and either Dida or Barthez in goal.
i 23 and the player that has influence me th most has to be ronaldinho andfigo. best well in the 10 years who do you think probably zidane or ronaldo from real madrid.
Why Rivaldo? And let me say that Maldini is a solid selection. Too often defenders are overlooked in such discussion but has there been a more consistent and dominant player in the last twenty years? I think not.
If we can include Roberto Baggio then my pick would be Alan Shearer. We can't forget that Beckham plays a mean midfield too. Yes, I am wrought from English stock...
... mod's note ... This is off-topic for the FIFA and Tournaments board. Moved to The Beautiful Game board.
Oh dear. I'm an '85 kid, here's my selections by position: GK: Schmeichel DF: Maldini DM: Keane AM: Giggs FW: Baggio ST: Romario The number of Man Utd players is because they have been the dominant team of my life-time. Anyway, those who just missed out include Kahn, Baresi, Hagi, Rivaldo, Cantona, Van Basten, etc. I tried to avoid selecting players that I haven't seen a lot of and relatively young players like Ronaldinho (etc).
I'd say its Zidane or Ronaldo. I think that both will eventually be considered two of the top 10 players ever, while nobody else in the recent years will be in my opinion. Zidane is the perfect attacking mid, and has scored in the biggest games: WC final, CL final, etc. Same with Ronaldo -- has succceeded, and dominated, everywhere he's played, every season he's played. This season he hasn't been so dominant, but I think he will be back to his best soon. He also has a knack for scoring on the biggest stages. Romario, Shearer, and Maldini also deserve consideration, and depending on how Ronaldinho, Adriano, Tevez, CRonaldo, etc., do in the future, they could make the list too.
Ronaldo, hands down. No player was more feared than him when he was at Barca. Before all his injuries, he was the fastest player I've ever seen with a ball at his feet. That, plus he was as skillful as anyone. He would receive the ball at midfield and take on the entire backline all by himself and score. I've never seen a more dominant player. I think if he hadn't had injury problems, he would have ended up being in contention for best player ever. Even after his injuries, he has had great success, winning FIFA Player of the Year, European POY, and World Cup MVP. Even when he has been in terrible shape, he has scored 20+ goals. Also, he has dominated in Brazil, Holland, Spain, Italy, Spain again, and in the World Cup. He's not just a one-league-wonder, like Henry (I can't believe somebody mentioned him in this thread. He had more red cards than goals in Korea/Japan and his reputation has been built upon beating up on mediocre to bad opposition). Ronaldo is definitely the best I've ever seen. Also, his wife is a total babe.
I'm 19, the greatest player I've seen in my lifetime is Zinidine Zidane. Of course, I've still, hopefully, got a good 60 years of watching football left in me, so who knows?
Being 23, the players who I consider to have been the best of my generation are; Roberto Baggio Ronaldo Zinedine Zidane
i like these choices - but then i have to ask - do players like matthaeus, van basten, etc qualify? what about maradona? he played up until the 94 world cup... i skimmed throught the thread, so i apologize if this has been asked earlier, but could somebody give me a concrete definition of what 'our generation' means? PS - im born in 1981
I was thinking from like '94 to now. The original poster said he was 23 or 24, so that seems about right. It kinda depends. Maradona can't really qualify since his greatest accomplishments years before '94.
lol, well i started watching football during italia 90... since im born in 81, im 23 as well, but people start watching the game at different times, obviously... 94 to now is fair enough, i guess... i was hoping for a reply like that - ie, players that have taken the world stage only from a certain date onwards... i think it would have to be zidane (although i despise him ) and ronaldo... in terms of impact on the game (not strictly on the field ), beckham should probably be included as well, hehehe... and, imo - baggios best days were until 1994 as well...
Yeah, I was just using '94, because that was the year the US had the World Cup, so I figured many Americans about our age would have caught on to soccer at that time. That was certainly what sparked my interest in soccer.
I'll say from about 1996 and up, I'll definitely catch some flak for this but oh well this is Big Soccer: 1) Ronaldo - too bad he suffered injury woes. What a phenomenal talent when he was healthy. 2) Lillian Thuram - Yes Zidane gets all the camera, glitz and glamour, but to me this was France's best player during their Golden Age of 1998 - 2000. Everyone gloats about Zidane scoring the the WC finals, but Thuram's only 2 international goals ever came in the semi-final vs. Croatia when they were trailing, even more impressive considering he's a defender. 3) Pavel Nedved - Better than Zidane over the past 5 years if you ask me. And has been his equal or better anytime they faced one another on the pitch whether for club or country. Just hasn't been lucky to win a international trophy or club trophy in Europe.
Are we talking about most talented, or the one who has created the most success? There are many talented players mentioned here that haven't led teams to big championships... which makes me think they cannot really be the 'best' (not matter how talented they were). Really, why talk about talent if it doesn't accomplish the biggest goals (no, not football goals).
because soccer is a team game. Some players were not blessed to have been on great teams or to have been from great soccer nations. It's almost impossible for one player to carry a team of stiffs. This is not basketball. Soccer is played with 22 players on a field over 6,000 square yards. Even the best players can't cover the whole field in this game Anyway, which player mentioned in this thread hasn't been on successful teams? All the players mentioned in this thread seem to have been on great club and national teams.
I like Thuram as much as the next guy, but that's just not true. Blanc was the more instrumental defensive player for France, Maldini the better fullback overall (probably the best LB ever, imho).