High IQ: Ronaldo. It was only after he got injured and lost his great physical advantages that we were able to appreciate how smart he plays.
Well...he only has one red card for France.....since then he's learned to control it very well and has been a very mature and professional player on the pitch AND off.
Cristiano ronaldo is skillful but has very little end product so I guess you could say he has an on-field low IQ.
Riquelme has a high IQ. Not the fasted guy but always finds the room to either send someone through or get off a good shot. He also looks more composed on the ball than anyone other than ZZ and Ronaldinho.
High IQ:Mauro Silva, Onopko, Lizarazu and a player of whom I'm a big fan, Ballack. Low IQ:Couto, Baros, Pancaro, Ricardo, Balde and Carvalho also does some stupid things on occasions.
High IQ:Vogel, Fabregas, Schneider, Voronin, Karpin, Solano, Djorkaeff, Scholl, Pedro Barbosa, Larsson, Mautinho, Alenichev. Low IQ:Cesar, Duscher, Diouf, Alpay, Placente, Dida, Barthez, Wiltord, Kanu, Pistone, Angulo, Zebina. Fabregas is a very clever player.
Low- Djimi Traore ( love that maradona he tried when he scored his own goal) High - Andrea Pirlo , doesnt win 50/50 balls, not a tackler, not fast, not big, but in the end he is such a vital piece to Milans puzzle b/c of his beautiful passes
High - Francesco Totti, I have always said that he has been a Top 5 world class player for the past few years BUT I think he is the best player in the world WITHOUT the ball. Some of the things he does and his positioning is just world class, he truly has a high football IQ. Low - Pauleta (Portugal), I have never seen a striker so out of position and completely zoned out like Pauleta is half of the time.
I don't think that's so much a case of him being stupid, but more a case of him being too young. He's learning, and you gotta agree that he has already reduced the flashy/inconsequent stuff a little...
High IQ - Ruud van Nistelroy - he changes a team's defensive gameplan with his movement off the ball, his passes and hold up play are always very good, he's not creative like most other high IQ players, but he's the smartest forward in today's game. He has an instinct both for where the ball will end up, and when and where the defender(s) will show up. Low IQ - Djbril Cisse, he's an absolute nutter, he's got amazing pace, amazingly powerful shot, but all he wants to ever do is shoot from 30yrds... he wasted his talent. Is it just me or has Ronaldinho not been mentioned? He's so ingenious in attack its frightening, his improvs are just jaw dropping... I think Deco deserves honorable mention as well.
Smart on the pitch Ricardo Carvalho, small stature, not particularly fast... but superb deffender Deco... ask any Porto or Barça fan Rui Costa... still has great vision Kaká... that pass to Crespo in the CL final defines him Filipo Inzaghi... opportunistic son of a b*** Henrik Larsson... same as above Frank Lampard... superb vision and passing Dumb: Quaresma... too dumb to fulfill his immense potential. Doesn't know when to pass the ball, always tries to do something more... Denilson... same as above
I agree with you completely on them all. Especially with Inzaghi, I am Italian and I was never a big Inzaghi fan and always complained when he got the starter over certain other strikers BUT he always seemed to find the back of the net and create chances out of nothing. He seems to need more chances to score than a guy like Vieri but he also creates alot more than a Vieri type striker.
I don't know if anyone posted it already but there has been a study in Germany recently, where they've SCIENTIFICALLY proven, that in order to score goals, you have to be as dumb as possible, because the less brain activity you have in any given situation, the more likely you are to score. Didn't surprise me though, I mean look at all those great strikers and show me someone who can do an expansion into partial fractions. I say way to go Rooney.
First off I would like to start by saying this is an interesting topic. I agree that although it takes a great deal of intelligence or smarts to play football at the professional level, there are players with High football IQs and players with Low football IQs. But the one thing I do not agree with most posters about is the fact that physically inferior players with less speed; endurance; strength than the average footballer are given more credit and are seen as more intelligent players because of the lack of natural ability they posess. I believe that it does take a great deal of intelligence to compensate on the field for talent or ability that you do not have but I also feel that players that are physically superior also deserve credit for being intelligent players. The reason for this is just because a player is naturally gifted does not mean they will make it far in the professional game and it takes intelligence to know the strengths that you posess and use it correctly in the right situations against the opponents. That is the main reason I do not feel that players with amazing dribbling, shooting skills and speed should not be overshadowed by slower; physically inferior athletes when discussing a brains on the field. Basically, a slower less physically capable player can be indeed smart and make wise decisions on the field but that is not necessarily the reason for their success in their career it also has a lot to do with the players around them that help make their lack of ability go unnoticed.