Greatest Players in German Football History

In 2006, I came up with a ranking of the best Bundesliga players (1963-2006) by position. Now, 11 years later, I have decided to update that ranking. This update will not only include players from 2006 to 2017 but also will go back to 1900 to cover all important players, not only those that left a mark in the Bundesliga.

These rankings are an entirely subjective endeavour and are not meant to be set in stone. The players that are featured are mostly German but foreign players that left an impact in German football are also included. A foreign player has had to spend a minimum of three seasons in Germany to be included, though.

All players have to be born before 1990. For German players, their whole career is assessed, including years spent outside of Germany. This includes domestic and international club career and performances in the national team.

For foreign players, only their years in Germany are assessed. This includes domestic and international club career while in Germany, but not performances for their respective national teams.

Players that spent the entirety or majority of their careers in East Germany are not assessed.

The same goes for players from Austria between 1938 and 1945 when Austria was part of Germany, even if they played for the German national team.

Over the span of 117 years tactical developments meant that the roles of players changed a lot. I had to find a guideline to classify players into the same tactical positions even if they played 100 years apart. I hope that the following diagrams explain how players from different eras were classified in similar tactical categories:

















A very important aspect in compiling these rankings was a player's level of domination, critical appraisal and exploits during his era. Some might say that an average player from 2010 is automatically better than the best player from 1910. As this can neither be proven nor refuted, it is a pointless argument to make. One could make a counter argument with the best player of 2010 not being able to play to his potential if transferred to 1910 because he would not come to terms with boots, balls, pitches and lack of referee protection in 1910. Modern "one touch football" is close to impossible to recreate with the gear and pitches available in 1910. Thus one might argue that a player that managed to stand out in 1910 must have been exceptionally talented and would not look out of place in a modern side if given the time to adjust to modern gear and general conditions. The same cannot be said the other way. I strongly doubt that a modern player could adapt to conditions in 1910. These conditions were elementally worse than what the modern player could fathom. It would just be too much of a change to the worse to function the same way as in 2010. The player from 1910 however would be delighted because he would face an unimaginable upgrade of the conditions he is used to.

From 1955 onwards, a valuable resource is the Kicker ranking of Germany's best footballers, which is published semi-annually.

Sources for player biographies:

‘Libero Spezial – der deutsche Fußball (1900-1920)’ by IFFHS
‘Libero Spezial – der deutsche Fußball (1920-1933)’ (two parts) by IFFHS
‘Deutschlands Fussballnationalspieler – das Lexikon’ by Jürgen Bitter
‘Deutschlands Fussball-Länderspiele – Eine Dokumentation 1908-1989’ by Raphael Keppel
‘Spielerlexikon 1890-1963’ by Lorenz Knierim & Hardy Grüne
‘Spielerlexikon 1963-1994’ by Christian Karn & Reinhard Rehberg
‘Torjäger – Eine Typologie des Vollstreckers’ by Lorenz Knierim
‘Stuhlfauths Zeiten – Die goldenen Jahre des Fußballs’ by Christoph Bausenwein

As well as countless issues by ‘Kicker’ magazine

 

What I did was compare Neuer to those keepers that were generally rated as Germany's best ever before him and in this comparison Neuer came out on top in every category. Thus my decision was pretty swift and easy. I didn't look at his trophy haul, which would naturally be far less impressive if he had stayed at Schalke. But it didn't influence my decision anyway (Sepp Maier has a bigger trophy haul and still he's only #4). Him still being active shouldn't count against him. Of course there's the possibility that he blows the next two big tournaments or can't keep up his level for the remainder of his career (similar to Kahn after 2002). But that remains to be seen. Maybe if I update this list in 10 years he will drop to a lower position (or maybe not).

 

Thanks!