1980-1989 Strikers avg. player 2.87 Völler 3.08 Mill 3.21 Klinsmann 3.22 Waas 3.26 Abel 3.29 Hrubesch 3.31 Fischer 3.35 Pinkall 3.37 T.Allofs 3.41 Walter Notable absentees: 3.47 Riedle 3.51 Kuntz 3.57 D.Hoeness 3.60 Wohlfarth Wingers avg. player 2.31 K.Rummenigge 2.98 Cha 3.00 Del'Haye 3.01 Littbarski 3.03 K.Allofs 3.03 Hässler 3.05 Milewski 3.11 Reinders 3.14 Wuttke 3.22 Seliger Offensive Midfielders avg. player 2.21 Breitner 2.74 Nickel 2.76 Magath 2.80 Meier 2.83 Thon 2.84 Dorfner 2.84 Hintermaier 2.84 Bracht 2.85 Bold 2.87 Allgöwer Notable absentees: 2.91 Raducanu 2.96 Sigurvinsson 3.17 Burgsmüller 3.19 Möller 3.20 Woodcock Defensive Midfielders avg. player 2.69 Matthäus 2.76 Lerby 2.94 Dürnberger 2.95 Olsen 2.96 Möhlmann 2.97 Kraus 2.99 Hadewicz 3.00 Rolff 3.00 Sidka 3.00 Niedermayer Stoppers avg. player 2.43 K.Förster 2.73 Kohler 2.74 Buchwald 2.76 Hollmann 2.80 Körbel 2.85 Steiner 2.85 Grobe 2.94 Siegmann 2.94 Gruber 2.96 Koch Sweepers avg. player 2.48 Bast 2.62 Neues 2.63 Dietz 2.66 Hieronymus 2.71 Herget 2.71 Strack 2.73 Augenthaler 2.75 Jakobs 2.75 Bratseth 2.77 Pezzey 2.77 Sebert 2.77 Wohlers Full Backs avg. player 2.36 Briegel 2.73 Kaltz 2.75 B.Förster 2.82 Horsmann 2.85 Reuter 2.87 Huber 2.93 Dremmler 2.95 Brehme 2.95 Elmer 2.98 Pflügler Notable absentee: 3.21 Berthold Goalkeepers avg. player 2.26 Hellström 2.42 Schumacher 2.43 Kamps 2.47 Stein 2.50 R.Wimmer 2.51 Köpke 2.51 Kargus 2.52 Kneib 2.55 Roleder 2.55 Greiner Notable absentees: 2.56 Pfaff 2.56 Immel 2.68 Illgner
why do you categorize these players as Winger? Cha & K.Allofs(Forward), Hässler & Wuttke(Off. Midfielder). of course they also played in Winger, but their prime positions were not Winger, were they?
When I was working on the 1970s I already pondered on whether I should adapt the positional categories to the tactical changes that occurred in the 1980s in Germany, namely the 3-5-2 system which by the late-1980s had become the default tactical setup of almost all Bundesliga sides. What changes would that bring to the positional categories? First of all, two-striker system with one targetman who would operate mostly in the penalty box or near to it and one more mobile technically sound support striker who would often drop back into midfield (maybe even to the point of becoming an midfielder in away games) or move out to the flanks often. The wingers were still there but they too would operate from a withdrawn position, thus becoming lateral midfield players. In fact, even most of the best full backs would need a new name as they would be seen stationed more often in a midfield position and thus the term wing back could have replaced full back. Even the stopper could have been dropped being replaced with the new name man-marker, a more mobile version of the old stopper who was dedicating his footballing life to shadowing the center forward. With most teams not sporting a traditional center forward anymore, but two more mobile strikers, the old stopper had to go making way for two mobile man-markers. And most top teams were now operating with a sweeper playing in front of the man-markers instead behind the stopper, resembling perhaps more a defensive midfielder instead of a defensive sweeper (Matthias Herget the most fitting example). In the end I didn't want to make it too complicated mostly because I wanted to make direct comparisons possible between the three decades that I analysed [see note at the end]. Even in the 1960s and 70s one could argue about the tactical categories really mirroring the actual role a player had on the pitch. There are some cases where it was not easy determining in which category a player should be put. Regarding the players you mentioned directly, I think Thomas Hässler does fit the 1980s-version of a winger quite well. While he rightly is considered a midfielder throughout his career, in this case the term "winger" to me does not mean that a player has to be a forward. The two lateral players in a 5-man-midfield might be referred to as wingers when their task was mainly an offensive one, like in Hässler's case. Someone like Brehme, often used as lateral player in a 5-man midfield was still mainly tasked defensively, thus for the sake of continuity in this exercise I labelled him a full back. Looking at the players that I put into the wingers category, we see two types there. A player like Hässler who was a lateral midfielder mostly and then the roaming support striker, who would be prone to drifting to the touchline and usually a very skillful player who could beat one or two defenders on the flank and then be capable of sending in well-tuned crosses or who would thrust into the penalty box on his own, again using his dribbling skills. That's the kind of player we already had in the 1970s, like Simonsen, Lippens and various others. In the 1980s these players would be seen roaming more because they had more space (only two forwards and only three clean-cut defenders opposed to the three forwards and four defenders a decade earlier - but only if there were no wing backs on the team) and they would cherish playing centrally as well because that's where they could pick up the ball most frequently and could get involved in build-up play. These players wanted to spent more time on the ball than a mere striker or old-fashioned winger would get. The question is now, because of their variety, should I put them out of the wingers category and into the offensive midfielders category? As I said, I wanted to avoid introducing a new category called "support strikers" for the sake of continuity. When I look at the names of the players I just described, Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, Klaus Allofs, Wolfram Wuttke, Pierre Littbarski, I do think of them as being forwards by nature far more than being midfield players. That's why I still put them in the wingers category. The hardest player to decide upon was Cha, because he was a support striker far more than the others but as I said, I didn't want to introduce that category. So in his case, I too felt he was more a forward by nature than a midfielder (at least during his best years starting around 1979 and 1980) and he more often than not was playing like a lateral forward in his early incarnation for Frankfurt. One might argue that Norbert Meier, who I put into the category of offensive midfielders, could just as well have been place in that of wingers. Meier was operating like a left winger at the start of his career and then gradually morphed into a central offensive midfielder for Werder Bremen. I decided to put him in the midfielders category simply by looking at his average grade which was just too high for a winger but fitting for an offensive midfielder. Meier just was not the second-best winger of the 1980s thus I just had to place him among the midfielders (where he's still top 5). [Note: I plan to arrive at a combination of the best-graded players of all three decades for each positional category at the end of this exercise. Obviously, players in the 1960s received far better grades than in the following decades. This cannot be due to players just getting worse of course, but must have different reasons. I plan to adjust this development of "grade deflation" to make players' grades from different years more comparable. Because of this comparison, I need to keep the positional categories the same for all three decades.]
The following is a look at the average grades of the observed players (not all players that were graded by sportmagazin respectively kicker-sportmagazine, only those that were in the top 20 of each season for the positions goalkeeper, defense, midfield, forwards - the categories the kicker website allows you to filter). Per decade: 2.39 (1960s) 2.66 (1970s) 3.02 (1980s) average grade altogether: 2.69 per season: 1963-64 2.39 1964-65 2.43 1965-66 2.36 1966-67 2.36 1967-68 2.35 1968-69 2.44 1969-70 2.59 1970-71 2.58 1971-72 2.60 1972-73 2.67 1973-74 2.68 1974-75 2.66 1975-76 2.65 1976-77 2.67 1977-78 2.73 1978-79 2.77 1979-80 2.80 1980-81 2.90 1981-82 2.87 1982-83 2.94 1983-84 3.05 1984-85 3.15 1985-86 2.96 1986-87 3.14 1987-88 3.18 1988-89 3.20
This is the overview of all observed players. I tried to eliminate uneven grades per decade as far as possible by adjusting all grades of all players to the average grade 2.69. I think it is still skewed in favor of 1960s players but not that strongly. 1963-1989 Strikers avg. player 2.49 Seeler 2.54 Völler 2.64 Jensen 2.71 Mill 2.74 G.Müller 2.77 Klinsmann 2.81 K.Täuber 2.80 Waas 2.83 Burgsmüller 2.84 Toppmöller 2.85 Brungs 2.87 Walitza 2.89 Solz 2.90 C.Müller 2.91 Fischer 2.92 R.Budde 2.94 Walter 2.94 Riedle 2.94 Pohlschmidt 2.97 Rodekamp 2.97 Kostedde 2.99 Neubarth 2.99 Criens 3.00 Emmerich 3.00 Keller 3.00 Wenzel 3.00 Brunnenmeier 3.00 T.Allofs 3.01 Wendt 3.02 Hrubesch 3.03 Kuntz 3.03 Worm 3.04 Löhr 3.04 Svensson 3.10 Wegmann 3.10 Wohlfarth 3.10 Pinkall 3.12 Leifeld 3.14 D.Hoeness 3.15 Reichert 3.16 Ökland 3.16 Kaczor 3.17 Klotz 3.18 Remark 3.18 Frank 3.21 Reimann 3.24 Furtok 3.24 D.Müller 3.27 Matischak 3.27 Andersen 3.30 Edvaldsson 3.31 Dickel 3.33 Weiss Wingers avg. player 2.36 Simonsen 2.46 K.Rummenigge 2.46 Rupp 2.56 Held 2.58 Hornig 2.60 E.Kremers 2.62 Hässler 2.62 Maas 2.62 Hölzenbein 2.64 Popivoda 2.65 Cha 2.67 Heynckes 2.69 Thielen 2.70 Littbarski 2.70 Riedl 2.72 Del'Haye 2.73 U.Hoeness 2.73 Steffenhagen 2.73 Heiss 2.75 K.Allofs 2.77 Volkert 2.78 Libuda 2.78 Lippens 2.79 Kögl 2.79 Rühl 2.80 Wuttke 2.81 Geye 2.81 Pirrung 2.83 Cebinac 2.83 Milewski 2.84 Le Fevre 2.85 Görts 2.87 Lienen 2.89 Rebele 2.90 Herzog 2.92 Gecks 2.93 G.Dörfel 2.93 Eckstein 2.94 Wosab 2.94 Eggeling 2.97 van Gool 2.99 Brenninger 3.00 Kentschke 3.00 Seliger 3.01 Sandberg 3.01 Reinders 3.01 Gründel 3.01 Kitzmann 3.02 Abramczik 3.05 Simmes 3.05 Bührer 3.06 Kelsch 3.08 Ordenewitz 3.14 Wunder 3.16 Mathy 3.20 Turowski Offensive Midfielders avg. player 2.10 Netzer 2.20 Breitner 2.23 Keegan 2.37 H.Müller 2.44 Thon 2.45 Oblak 2.45 Dorfner 2.46 Meier 2.49 Gayer 2.50 Grabowski 2.51 Overath 2.51 Krämer 2.54 Allgöwer 2.54 A.Schmidt 2.54 Gress 2.55 Raducanu 2.57 Sigurvinsson 2.57 Hintermaier 2.59 Bold 2.60 Ulsass 2.62 Huberts 2.63 Konietzka 2.63 Zaczyk 2.63 Hermann 2.64 Strehl 2.67 Magath 2.68 Seel 2.68 von Heesen 2.68 Lux 2.69 Siemensmeyer 2.69 Horr 2.69 Nickel 2.69 Weller 2.70 Beer 2.70 Möller 2.71 Herrmann 2.72 Küppers 2.72 Harforth 2.74 Bongartz 2.74 Ohlhauser 2.74 Hosic 2.75 Köppel 2.76 Bracht 2.76 F.Funkel 2.77 Schreier 2.77 Koulmann 2.78 Schwabl 2.79 Hönig 2.80 Wrenger 2.82 Flohe 2.84 Bittcher 2.85 Huttary 2.85 Hickersberger 2.87 Gaudino 2.88 Hochstätter 2.89 Bechtold 2.89 Gersdorff 2.89 Kulik 2.89 Memering 2.90 Trimhold 2.90 Scheer 2.91 Rahn 2.94 Ettmayer 2.94 Engels 2.95 Handschuh 2.95 Kapitulski 2.95 Woodcock 2.96 Götz 2.97 Wild 2.93 Borchers 3.00 Pagelsdorf 3.01 Kobluhn 3.05 Bein 3.06 M.Rummenigge 3.09 Laumen 3.14 H.Neumann Defensive Midfielders avg. player 2.03 Marx 2.12 W.Schmidt 2.36 Perusic 2.37 H.Sturm 2.37 H.J.Neumann 2.43 Lerby 2.44 Matthäus 2.50 Olsen 2.51 Nolden 2.52 H.Wimmer 2.53 Friedrich 2.55 Schuster 2.56 Neuser 2.57 Kurrat 2.58 Kapellmann 2.60 van Haaren 2.60 Larsson 2.61 Rolff 2.63 Groh 2.63 Reisch 2.63 Luttrop 2.66 Hoffmann 2.67 Tenhagen 2.67 Linssen 2.67 Drehsen 2.68 D.Danner 2.69 Nachtweih 2.70 Falkenmayer 2.70 Stielike 2.71 Bonhof 2.71 Dietrich 2.73 Kalb 2.74 Kohlars 2.76 Hesse 2.76 Hadewicz 2.77 Lorenz 2.79 A.Schütz 2.79 Pavlic 2.79 Kraus 2.79 M.Müller 2.79 Dürnberger 2.80 Geisert 2.80 Woelk 2.80 Hartwig 2.81 Sidka 2.82 Niedermayer 2.84 Hattenberger 2.84 Dooley 2.85 Zorc 2.86 Simmet 2.86 Hermandung 2.86 Zobel 2.87 Ferner 2.87 Weikl 2.88 Lütkebohmert 2.98 Kroth 2.91 Möhlmann 2.92 Votava 2.93 Björnmose 2.94 Roth 2.95 H.Schulz 2.96 Dusend 2.96 Heese 2.97 Lorant 3.07 Bommer 3.11 W.Sturm 3.12 W.Schäfer 3.14 Okudera Stoppers avg. player 2.19 Witt 2.23 K.Förster 2.34 Rüssmann 2.36 Kohler 2.38 Buchwald 2.41 Kliemann 2.44 Weber 2.51 L.Müller 2.53 Jakobs 2.54 Kaack 2.54 Steiner 2.56 G.Zimmermann 2.57 W.Funkel 2.59 Körbel 2.59 G.Schäfer 2.62 Strack 2.62 Plessers 2.63 Hollmann 2.64 Diehl 2.67 A.Reinhardt 2.68 Gruber 2.68 Kutowski 2.69 Schlindwein 2.69 Giske 2.70 Kriegler 2.71 Tsionanis 2.71 Beiersdorfer 2.72 Horst 2.73 Reich 2.73 Eder 2.73 Koch 2.73 Hupe 2.74 Kree 2.74 Assauer 2.75 Olk 2.76 Zech 2.76 Menne 2.77 Lindner 2.77 Siegmann 2.78 Schwager 2.78 Grahammer 2.78 Dusek 2.79 Anders 2.80 Schwarzenbeck 2.80 Pirsig 2.81 Grobe 2.83 Kutzop 2.85 Giesemann 2.87 Moser 2.90 Blusch 3.02 Wörmer Sweepers avg. player 2.18 Beckenbauer 2.22 Fichtel 2.28 Wenauer 2.30 Bäse 2.34 Bratseth 2.36 Holcer 2.42 Sieloff 2.42 Sebert 2.43 Witlatschil 2.43 K.Franke 2.48 Schmitt 2.49 Hieronymus 2.50 Bast 2.52 W.Schulz 2.53 Zewe 2.53 Damjanoff 2.57 Augenthaler 2.58 Foda 2.61 Roentved 2.61 Versen 2.62 Neues 2.64 Steinmann 2.65 Fach 2.66 Neuberger 2.66 Hörster 2.66 Hannes 2.66 Buljan 2.67 Pezzey 2.67 Weyerich 2.67 Wohlers 2.69 Binz 2.70 Eisele 2.70 Struth 2.71 Biskup 2.71 Melzer 2.72 Herget 2.72 Martinelli 2.72 T.Wild 2.73 Trinklein 2.73 Haebermann 2.74 Sauer 2.75 Wittkamp 2.76 Kempe 2.78 Gelsdorf 2.79 Cullmann 2.79 Brück 2.81 Hellingrath 2.81 Bruns 2.82 Bregman 2.87 R.Gerber 2.89 W.Paul 2.89 Demuth 2.97 Loose Full Backs avg. player 2.05 Vogts 2.33 Briegel 2.42 Dietz 2.44 Höttges 2.46 Reuter 2.47 Kaltz 2.48 Jusufi 2.48 Saida 2.50 Bleidick 2.51 Heidemann 2.53 Lutz 2.55 Patzke 2.57 Pflügler 2.57 Kafka 2.61 Brehme 2.61 H.Zimmermann 2.62 B.Förster 2.64 Weiner 2.64 Borowka 2.65 Sabath 2.66 Wittmann 2.69 Fromm 2.69 Otten 2.70 Seibold 2.70 Bella 2.70 Elmer 2.71 Piontek 2.71 Martin 2.73 Stiller 2.73 Helmer 2.73 Sobieray 2.74 Grzyb 2.74 Geils 2.74 Schaaf 2.75 Koppenhöfer 2.75 Reichel 2.75 Hansen 2.76 Huber 2.76 Görtz 2.76 Prestin 2.77 Zembski 2.78 Merkhoffer 2.78 Gerland 2.78 Baltes 2.78 Lameck 2.78 Rausch 2.78 Konopka 2.80 Wöhrlin 2.80 Regh 2.81 Sziedat 2.81 Wehmeyer 2.81 K.Meyer 2.81 Berthold 2.82 Nowak 2.82 Hein 2.82 Coordes 2.84 Winkhold 2.84 Ritschel 2.85 Redder 2.85 Wolf 2.85 Köhnen 2.85 Horsmann 2.85 Dremmler 2.86 W.Schneider 2.86 Hidien 2.86 Schmidradner 2.89 Bandura 2.89 Semlitsch 2.90 Ferschl 2.91 Borg 2.95 Krauss 3.01 H.Kremers 3.04 J.Täuber 3.24 Willmer Goalkeepers avg. player 2.02 Franke 2.02 Sawitzki 2.05 Hellström 2.06 Gross 2.06 Kamps 2.12 Burdenski 2.13 Köpke 2.13 Radenkovic 2.14 Stein 2.17 Maier 2.21 M.Paul 2.22 Tilkowski 2.24 De Beer 2.25 Pfaff 2.25 Ehrmann 2.26 Roleder 2.26 Wolter 2.26 Wabra 2.27 Nigbur 2.27 Illgner 2.28 Scholz 2.28 Rynio 2.28 Immel 2.29 Kargus 2.29 Manglitz 2.32 Schumacher 2.32 Zander 2.32 Kunter 2.32 Linders 2.33 Vollack 2.33 Vollborn 2.33 R.Wimmer 2.34 Welz 2.34 U.Zimmermann 2.36 Koitka 2.36 Zumdick 2.36 Greiner 2.37 Kneib 2.38 V.Danner 2.40 M.Müller 2.42 Daniel 2.44 Bernard 2.43 Kleff 2.52 Schnoor 2.53 Schnarr 2.57 Öczan 2.57 Heinze 2.65 Sude 2.90 Podlasly
Highest positive deviation from the average grade per season: 1963-64 better than average grade +0.89 Krämer +0.72 Seeler +0.69 W.Schmidt 1964-65 +0.73 Sieloff +0.67 Tilkowski +0.66 W.Schmidt 1965-66 +0.94 Marx +0.76 Maier +0.67 Beckenbauer 1966-67 +0.70 Wolter +0.69 Beckenbauer +0.57 Maier 1967-68 +0.83 Bäse +0.61 Netzer +0.61 Vogts 1968-69 +0.86 Beckenbauer +0.79 Vogts +0.73 Gross
1969-70 Outfield players +1.09 Beckenbauer +0.77 Vogts +0.69 Netzer Goalkeepers +0.74 Maier +0.71 Manglitz +0.56 Radenkovic 1970-71 Outfield players +0.89 Beckenbauer +0.67 Vogts +0.64 Netzer Goalkeepers +0.58 V.Danner +0.55 Nigbur +0.54 Kunter 1971-72 Outfield players +0.69 Beckenbauer +0.67 Netzer +0.48 Fichtel Goalkeepers +0.57 Nigbur +0.52 Franke +0.44 Burdenski 1972-73 Outfield players +0.85 Vogts +0.79 Beckenbauer +0.71 Rüssmann Goalkeepers +0.82 Franke +0.74 Bernard +0.64 Heinze 1973-74 Outfield players +0.89 Beckenbauer +0.62 Grabowski +0.53 Dietz Goalkeepers +0.80 Nigbur +0.68 Pauly +0.56 Linders 1974-75 Outfield players +0.87 Vogts +0.78 Beckenbauer +0.69 Grabowski Goalkeepers +0.66 Franke +0.63 Hellström +0.57 Maier 1975-76 Outfield players +0.86 Vogts +0.77 Beckenbauer +0.68 Dietz Goalkeepers +0.65 Kargus +0.62 Franke +0.59 Maier 1976-77 Outfield players +0.71 Vogts +0.67 Beckenbauer +0.55 Simonsen Goalkeepers +1.02 Gross +0.79 Franke +0.70 Nigbur 1977-78 Outfield players +0.70 Dietz +0.67 Rüssmann +0.52 K.Förster Goalkeepers +0.82 Hellström +0.73 Burdenski +0.61 Nigbur 1978-79 Outfield players +0.83 Keegan +0.62 Bast +0.62 Martin Goalkeepers +0.86 Burdenski +0.77 Hellström +0.71 Nigbur
1979-80 Outfield players +0.93 Breitner +0.80 Briegel +0.56 Tenhagen Goalkeepers +0.69 Nigbur +0.68 Schumacher +0.61 Franke 1980-81 Outfield players +0.74 Pezzey +0.69 Briegel +0.69 Hannes Goalkeepers +0.77 Koitka +0.75 Hellström +0.69 Schumacher 1981-82 Outfield players +0.69 Rüssmann +0.66 Bast +0.62 Magath Goalkeepers +0.93 Franke +0.73 R.Wimmer +0.66 Burdenski 1982-83 Outfield players +0.85 Bast +0.76 Matthäus +0.75 Breitner Goalkeepers +0.94 Franke +0.76 Burdenski +0.73 Kargus +0.73 Schumacher 1983-84 Outfield players +0.98 Herget +0.83 K.Förster +0.74 K.Rummenigge Goalkeepers +0.87 Schumacher +0.85 Franke +0.81 Roleder 1984-85 Outfield players +0.69 Lerby +0.67 Herget +0.63 Pezzey Goalkeepers +0.77 Ehrmann +0.76 Stein +0.68 Greiner 1985-86 Outfield players +0.69 Meier +0.64 Hörster +0.57 Pezzey Goalkeepers +0.61 Burdenski +0.55 Immel +0.46 Pfaff 1986-87 Outfield players +0.64 Rahn +0.58 Jakobs +0.58 Wuttke Goalkeepers +1.01 Kamps +0.71 Stein +0.59 Kargus 1987-88 Outfield players +0.85 Kohler +0.66 Bratseth +0.60 Hässler Goalkeepers +0.80 Köpke +0.71 Kamps +0.63 Stein 1988-89 Outfield players +0.70 Bratseth +0.62 Kohler +0.62 Augenthaler Goalkeepers +0.78 Ehrmann +0.78 Köpke +0.73 De Beer
Highest positive deviation from the average grade per season: +1.09 Beckenbauer (1969-70) +1.02 Gross (1976-77) (Goalkeeper) +1.01 Kamps (1986-87) (Goalkeeper) +0.98 Herget (1983-84) +0.94 Marx (1965-66) +0.94 Franke (1982-83) (Goalkeeper) +0.93 Breitner (1979-80) +0.93 Franke (1981-82) (Goalkeeper) +0.89 Krämer (1963-64) +0.89 Beckenbauer (1970-71) +0.89 Beckenbauer (1973-74) +0.87 Vogts (1974-75) +0.87 Schumacher (1983-84) (Goalkeeper) +0.86 Beckenbauer (1968-69) +0.86 Vogts (1975-76) +0.86 Burdenski (1978-79) (Goalkeeper) +0.85 Vogts (1972-73) +0.85 Bast (1982-83) +0.85 Franke (1983-84) (Goalkeeper) +0.85 Kohler (1987-88) +0.83 Bäse (1967-68) +0.83 Keegan (1978-79) +0.83 K.Förster (1983-84) +0.82 Hellström (1978-79) (Goalkeeper) +0.82 Franke (1972-73) (Goalkeeper) +0.81 Roleder (1983-84) (Goalkeeper) +0.80 Nigbur (1973-74) (Goalkeeper) +0.80 Briegel (1979-80) +0.80 Köpke (1987-88)