What players really excite you when you watch them play? For me: Cassano - the best touch in football today, could probably juggle a grapefruit. Ronaldinho - always smiling and embarrassing opponents. Totti - quickest mind in football, does the unexpected and pulls it off. Henry - pure power and pace, a little bit pre-injury Ronaldo. Kaka - elegance, beauty and talent. Makes everything look simple. Alex (Cruziero) - glorius left foot. Download a goal of his when he played for Palmeiras a few years back. His ball control and touch boggle the mind.
Add Cristiano Ronaldo, Arjen Robben, and Van der Vaart to your list and we have a winner!! Zidane might also qualify. Maybe in the future, young Robinho as well!!
Fabian Barthez. David James. The stadium starts to buzz when they decide to impose themselves on the match.
Gary Doherty, the most exciting player off all time; versatile, too. Damien Duff is another one for that list, I love to see soembody that grew up about 2 miles/3km down the road from me playing the dribbling game as well as some of the very best on the planet.
Bald Boy For me its Veron. Some of the passes he pulls of are crazy. Brilliant to watch. I only started to see him play when he went to Man Utd. He got injured for the start of his first season, got injured for the 2nd half of his 2nd season and then got injured for the whole season when he moved to Chelsea. Feel sorry for the guy cos he could be brilliant.
Roberto Carlos. It's a cliche among football fans/writers to poke fun at his "lack of defensive skills," but do an inventory of Real Madrid's classic goals over that last few seasons, and more often not, Roberto Carlos had a critical touch. He never ceases to amaze me. A very special player in my book. The other player who I find myself intriqued with a lot recently is Dennis Bergkamp. His playing time and scoring have decreased over the past few seasons, but his passing...amazing. Players who can make that killer final pass in the offensive 1/3 always rank high on my list, and he does it brilliantly-it's something to anticipate when you see him in that position. And he is still capable of creating the most sublime goals.
Shevchenko - He's still great, but watching pre-surgery Sheva go at goal was like seeing a mad beast charge through a pack of helpless villagers. Hardly pretty but damn fun to watch if you're a Milan fan. Ronaldo - I didn't like how he treated the club that supported him through his dark times but it's amazing how he can still light up a defense post-injury. Roberto Carlos - agree with Real Ray. It's a shame Inter let him go. Saviola - This guy is a joy to watch as well, and he's like the size of my little brother! D'Alessandro - one of my favorites. When he touches the ball, it's either a moment of pure genius or total stupidity. But the fun is in the anticipation. I haven't been able to watch him as much since he moved to Wolfsburg but I'd wager his brilliance still outweighs his follies. C. Tevez - He was my favorite of the young talents last year. Combined grit and skill beautifully. He hasn't looked as sharp in the games I've seen this season but I still get excited when he has the ball. His teammate Iarley is notable too. Quaresma - whatever happened to him?? He looked outstanding in Barcelona's preseason when I had pegged him for greatness. As for the aged yet still active players...Roberto Baggio still has a few tricks I think, sadly he'll be retiring soon. I agree with Ray on Bergkamp too.
after watching Millwall v. Tranmere in the FA cup this weekend, I'll say that Paul Ifill could be getting a call from some Premiership clubs this offseason. He has a good bit of pace.
Denilson: back in the late-1990's when he can dribble past any defender.... Zidane: that 360 degree spin move!! Kaka:version, fancy footwork.... Aimar: skills and elegrant passes Ronaldo: fancy footwork plus accurate shooting. Davids: Power plus grace....
Ronaldo - better dribbler to create a shot than anyone in the world, maybe ever Ronaldinho - magical with the ball, and plays with fun and passion like hes still at home in the favelas in Brazil Cassano - I remember when I saw him v Real at Giants Stadium - age 19 i believe - and you could tell he was very very special Kaka - one of the most underrated shots in the game, and can pass too Zidane - show me a game when he made more than 3 bad passes. Forget bad, find me 2 non-PERFECT passes in the same game
On a more serious note!! Zidane Ronaldinho Ronaldo Henry Aimar Robinho I like a player that knows how to dance...and the above do that very well!!
I wish everybody would shut up about Kaka!!! He hasn't proved anything yet except he has good potential. Rivaldo is a far superior player, so give HIM some respect.
Kaka has been an absolute star for Milan so far this year, possibly the best player in Serie A so far and this is his first season in Europe. Also given that this is a thread about exciting players it is understandable that people are so impressed with him. Rivaldo was a far superior player about 2 years ago when Kaka was still a boy, but since their respective moves to Milan Kaka has moved ahead. Kaka has the potential to be better even than Rivaldo was at his peak.
Rivaldo WAS a superior player. Kaka so far has done more in the Serie A than Rivaldo ever did. Not that as hard. But keep in mind that he's helped to give Rui Costa some time on the bench. Not an easy thing to do for a kid his age and for a team loaded with all the talented midfielders that Milan has right now.
A lot of you have rightly gone for the bigger names, but I wanted to mention someone a lot of us (especially in the US) might not get to see: Philip Lahm from Stuttgart. I caught the first leg of the Stuttgart/Chelsea match-up, and he did some really exciting stuff. Had problems finishing, but some really exciting moves to get past defenders. He'll be really scary in a few years, I'm sure.