Yes, I probably have underrated Pepe. Not because of Pele´s presence but more because Zagallo played ahead of him in both 1958 and 1962 WC. But he was in fact injured but it just sticks to my mind that he didn´t perform in these two WC´s. I should upgrade him. Germano for Santamaria - agreed
I love this list. I totally agree. The only thing I'm sad is that Bobby Charlton doesn't have a place in the XI. I'm equally sad that Masopust isn't included. The XI would also be ultra-attacking with a 3-2-5 and two midfielders who could very well play as insiders. I think the one you have is very good. It's a shame there can't be twelve players, because Trappatoni would deserve it, having surely had his best season (just like Cesare Maldini's).
This season, I'm completely convinced that the Ballon d'Or should have gone to Luisito Suárez. In fact, I'd put him ahead of Pelé. I miss Zoco on the list. This player wasn't a fine stylist, but he played with great consistency, standing out this season like the best. He won the European Nations Cup, performing very well after a great tournament, lost to Real Madrid in the European Club Cup final, and also, as was customary in these years, won the league (if I'm not mistaken in my calculations, he achieved the fourth-best average rating on "Marca"). Without being accused of being chauvinistic, the Spaniards Rivilla, Lapetra, Iríbar and Marcelino would also deserve a place on this list. In the ideal team I once drew up, we only disagreed on one player: Djalma Santos. Of course, he would still have great prestige, but Rivilla's phenomenal season could be rewarded with that place in the XI.
THE 50 BEST FOOTBALLERS 1971- HOW IT MIGHT HAVE LOOKED: GOLD: Johan CRUYFF (Ajax) SILVER: Franz BECKENBAUER (Bayern) BRONZE: George BEST (Manchester U) 4. JAIRZINHO (Botafogo) 5. TOSTAO (Cruzeiro) 6. Gerd MÜLLER (Bayern) 7. Sandro MAZZOLA (Inter) 8. Günter NETZER (Mönchengladbach) 9. RIVELINO (Corinthians) 10. GERSON (Sao Paolo) 11. Willem VAN HANEGEM (Feyenoord) 12. Luis ARTIME (National) 13. Teofilo CUBILLAS (Alianza Lima) 14. Josip SKOBLAR (Marseille) 15. Wlodzimierz LUBANSKI (Gornik) 16. Luigi RIVA (Cagliari) 17. PELE (Santos) 18. Piet KEIZER (Ajax) 19. Berti VOGTS (Mönchengladbach) 20. Dragan DZAJIC (Red Star) 21. Bobby MOORE (West Ham) 22. Gianni RIVERA (AC Milan) 23. Carlos ALBERTO (Santos) 24. Ferenc BENE (Ujpest) 25. Wolfgang OVERATH (FC Cologne) 26. Albert SHESTERNYOV (CSKA Moscow) 27. Wilfried VAN MOER (St. Liege) 28. Giacinto FACCHETTI (Inter) 29. Roberto BONINSEGNA (Inter) 30. Jose Omar PASTORIZA (Independiente) 31. CAJU (Botafogo) 32. Gordon BANKS (Stoke) 33. PIRRI (Real Madrid) 34. Bobby CHARLTON (Manchester U) 35. Elias FIGUEROA (Penarol) 36. Hector CHUMPITAZ (Universitario) 37. Ladislao MAZURKIEWICZ (Atletico Mineiro) 38. Billy BREMNER (Leeds United) 39. Paul VAN HIMST (Anderlecht) 40. DIRCEU (Cruzeiro) 41. EUSEBIO (Benfica) 42. Karl-Heinz SCHNELLINGER (AC Milan) 43. Johan NEESKENS (Ajax) 44. Martin CHIVERS (Tottenham) 45. Yevhen RUDAKOV (Dynamo Kiev) 46. Murtaz KHURTSILAVA (Dynamo Tblisi) 47. Jürgen GRABOWSKI (Frankfurt) 48. Jimmy JOHNSTONE (Celtic) 49. Antilio ANCHETA (Nacional) 50. Alan BALL (Everton) Player of The Season goes to 1st Cruyff - 2nd Best 3rd Mazzola 4th Beckenbauer 5th Netzer 6th Müller. Overall, Cruyff takes over as the world´s finest footballer. Best isn´t finished yet as one of the best in the world. The Brazilians still riding high their WC wave the previous year. The Germans roar. BEST XI: BANKS - VOGTS - MOORE - BECKENBAUER - FACCHETTI - GERSON - MAZZOLA - BEST - CRUYFF - TOSTAO - MÜLLER MICHELS (Manager) Banks the world´s best goalkeeper at this point. Pushed by Mazurkiewicz and an emerging Rudakov. Vogts takes RB. It could have been Carlos Alberto. Facchetti maybe a little past his peak but still regarded the best LB. Moore and Beckenbauer continues. Gerson & Mazzola in midfield. Van Hanegem very close. Jairzinho & Rivelino could have been the wingers. GOLDEN BOY: 1. Johan NEESKENS (Ajax) 2. Uli HOENESS (Bayern) 3. Paul BREITNER (Bayern) 4. Rainer BONHOF (Mönchengladbach) 5. Kevin KEEGAN (Scunthorpe)
HE 50 BEST FOOTBALLERS 1972- HOW IT MIGHT HAVE LOOKED: GOLD: Johan CRYUFF (Ajax) SILVER: Franz BECKENBAUER (Bayern) BRONZE: Gerd MÜLLER (Bayern) 4. Günter NETZER (Mönchengladbach) 5. JAIRZINHO (Botafogo) 6. Johan NEESKENS (Ajax) 7. Teofilo CUBILLAS (Arianza Lima) 8. Wlodzimierz LUBANSKI (Gornik) 9. Piet KEIZER (Ajax) 10. Sandro MAZZOLA (Inter) 11. RIVELINO (Corinthians) 12. Willem VAN HANEGEM (Feyenoord) 13. Dragan DZAJIC (Red Star) 14. Luigi RIVA (Cagliari) 15. Gianni RIVERA (AC Milan) 16. Kazimierz DEYNA (Legia) 17. Ferenc BENE (Ujpest) 18. Gordon BANKS (Stoke) 19. PELE (Santos) 20. TOSTAO (Cruzeiro) 21. Bobby MOORE (West Ham) 22. Murtaz KHURTSILAVA (Dynamo Tblisi) 23. Hristo BONEV (Plovdiv) 24. Paul VAN HIMST (Anderlecht) 25. George BEST (Manchester U) 26. Billy BREMNER (Leeds United) 27. Elias FIGUEROA (Internacional) 28. EUSEBIO (Benfica) 29. Paul BREITNER (Bayern) 30. ADEMIR da Guia (Palmeiras) 31. Gerrie MÜHREN (Ajax) 32. Wolfgang OVERATH (FC Cologne) 33. Josip SKOBLAR (Marseille) 34. Berti VOGTS (Mönchengladbach) 35. Barry HULSHOF (Ajax) 36. Hector CHUMPITAZ (Universitario) 37. Miguel Angel BRINDISI (Huracan) 38. CAJU (Flamengo) 39. Herbert WIMMER (Mönchengladbach) 40. Jimmy JOHNSTONE (Celtic) 41. Yevhen RADUKOV (Dynamo Kiev) 42. Jupp HEYNCKES (Mönchengladbach) 43. Antal DUNAI (Ujpest) 44. PIRRI (Real Madrid) 45. Pedro ROCHA (Sao Paolo) 46. Hugo SOTIL (Deportivo Mun) 47. Wilfried VAN MOER (St. Liege) 48. Robert GADOCHA (Legia) 49. Francis LEE (Manchester C) 50. Ruben AYALA (San Lorenzo) Player of The Season was a crowded affair. In my book Cruyff probably had the best season of his entire career. But so did Müller, Netzer and Cubillas and Beckenbauer won the Ballon d´Or. So, it was tough. But when one of the best players in history has his best season, he must be Player of the Season. So, Player of the Season goes to 1st Cruyff 2nd Müller 3rd Netzer 4th Beckenbauer 5th Cubillas 6th Jairzinho 7th Neeskens. Overall, Cruyff cannot be touched even if the Germans won the Euro´s. Not having Netzer on the podium doesn´t feel right. Maybe he should have been. He was sensational and soon to be sought after by all the big clubs eventually ending up at Real Madrid. I just feel the two other Germans still had an ever so slightly lead based on overall rep at the time. BEST XI: BANKS – VOGTS – MOORE – BECKENBAUER – BREITNER – NEESKENS – NETZER – CUBILLAS – JAIRZINHO – MÜLLER – CRUYFF. Rinus MICHELS (Manager) Banks the best keeper yet again. Vogts was injured much of the season. I still believe he was considered the best in his position - pushed by Suurbier and Dobias. Moore was clearly declining by now best illustrated with his error against West Germany at the Quarterfinal stage of the Euro 1972. However, I believe his star was still big enough to be considered in this team. It could as easily have been Khurtsislava, Figueroa, Hulshof or Chumpitaz. The midfield of Neeskens, Netzer and Cubillas – NO doubt. Keizer will feel unlucky not to have a place. He was (very) close. GOLDEN BOY: 1. Oleg BLOKHIN (Dynamo Kiev) 2. Uli HOENESS (Bayern) 3. Marinho CHAGAS (Botafogo) 4. Fernando MORENA (Penarol) 5. Norberto ALONSO (River Plate) A young Ukrainian with the name of Oleg Blokhin wins the Golden Boy Award. He made his name at the Olympics and had the world at his feet.
The fact that Faccheti won everything with Inter and, with a wing advantage, was the best full-back in the world, could have put him a little higher in the rankings. Regarding Rivera, I didn't include him in my ranking at the time; I'll review it in any case, but I'm afraid that, despite his seventh-place finish in the Ballon d'Or, his performance this season was far from his best. His average rating in the league was very poor, with just two goals scored, and, if that weren't enough, Milan was eliminated first-time in the Fairs Cup. I'd also like to suggest some names from the league, a competition I know the most about and have the most information about: Griffa and Glaría of Atlético Madrid and Lapetra of Zaragoza. I also have two legends from Atlético Madrid and Real Madrid outside (although close to) the top 50: Adelardo and Zoco, respectively. In the starting XI, both Schnellinger and Djalma Santos are good options, but given the small difference in performance between them, it might be better to place Djalma on the right, as it would be impossible to remove Facchetti on the left. In my starting XI, I used a 4-2-4, placing Griffa as a center-back alongside Moore; I'm convinced his performance was excellent. Finally, between Amancio and Jose Augusto, despite being very close, there are two details that make me lean toward the Portuguese: his great international campaign, both with the national team and with his club, reaching the final of the European Cup, where, despite excellent individual performances, he couldn't win the title. However, with Real Madrid, Amancio didn't make it past the quarterfinals, and with the Spanish national team, he only played one game, which he lost... El hecho de que Faccheti ganase todo con Inter y que, con una sideral ventaja fuese el mejor lateral del mundo, pudiese hacer que estuviese un poco más arriba en el ranking. Respecto a Rivera, en su momento no lo incluí en mi ranking; lo revisaré en cualquier caso, pero me temo que, a pesar de ocupar el 7º lugar en el Balón de Oro, su rendimiento durante esta temporada no fue, ni mucho menos, el mejor. Su rating promedio en liga fue muy discreto, apenas consiguió dos goles y, por si fuera poco, el Milan fue eliminado a la primera en la Copa de Ferias. También quisiera sugerirte algunos nombres de la liga, competición de la que tengo mayor conocimiento y datos: Griffa y Glaría del Atlético de Madrid y Lapetra del Zaragoza. Yo también tengo fuera (aunque cerca) del top 50 a dos leyendas del Atlético de Madrid y del Real Madrid: Adelardo y Zoco, respectivamente. En el XI, tanto Schnellinger como Djalma Santos son buenas opciones, pero dado que la diferencia de rendimiento entre ellos fue escasa, tal vez sería mejor colocar a Djalma por la derecha, ya que por la izquierda sería imposible quitar a Facchetti. En mi XI hice un 4-2-4 para colocar como central al lado de Moore a Griffa; estoy convencido de que su nivel fue excelente. Por último, entre Amancio y Jose Augusto, a pesar de que los tengo muy cerca el uno del otro, hay dos detalles que hacen que me decante por el portugués: su gran campaña internacional, tanto con la selección como con su club, llegando a la final de la Copa de Europa, en la cual, a pesar de tener una excelente labor individual, no pudo conseguir el título. Sin embargo, con el Real Madrid, Amancio no superó la fase de cuartos de final y con la selección española apenas disputó un partido, el cual, además, perdió...
THE 50 BEST FOOTBALLERS 1973- HOW IT MIGHT HAVE LOOKED: GOLD: Johan CRUYFF (Ajax) SILVER: Franz BECKENBAUER (Bayern) BRONZE: Gerd MÜLLER (Bayern) 4. Günter NETZER (Mönchengladbach) 5. Johan NEESKENS (Ajax) 6. RIVELINO (Corinthians) 7. Kazimierz DEYNA (Legia) 8. JAIRZINHO (Botafogo) 9. Gianni RIVERA (AC Milan) 10. Wlodizmierz LUBANSKI (Gornik) 11. Ferenc BENE (Ujpest) 12. Miguel Angel BRINDISI (Huracan) 13. EUSEBIO (Benfica) 14. PELE (Santos) 15. Teofilo CUBILLAS (Basel) 16. Billy BREMNER (Leeds United) 17. Piet KEIZER (Ajax) 18. Sandro MAZZOLA (Inter) 19. Dragan DZAJIC (Red Star) 20. Oleg BLOKHIN (Dynamo Kiev) 21. Luigi RIVA (Cagliari) 22. Willem VAN HANEGEM (Feyenoord) 23. Elias FIGUEROA (Internacional) 24. Paul BREITNER (Bayern) 25. Ruud KROL (Ajax) 26. Fernando MORENA (Penarol) 27. Hristo BONEV (Plovdiv) 28. Berti VOGTS (Mönchengladbach) 29. Giacinto FACCHETTI (Inter) 30. Dino ZOFF (Juventus) 31. Wolfgang OVERATH (FC Cologne) 32. Hector CHUMPITAZ (Universitario) 33. Herbert WIMMER (Mönchengladbach) 34. CAJU (Flamengo) 35. Carlos CASZELY (Colo-Colo) 36. Barry HULSHOF (Ajax) 37. ADEMIR da Guia (Palmeiras) 38. Marinho CHAGAS (Botafogo) 39. Uli HOENESS (Bayern) 40. Pat JENNINGS (Tottenham) 41. Hans-Jürgen KREISCHE (Dynamo Dresden) 42. Henning JENSEN (Mönchengladbach) 43. Jupp HEYNCKES (Mönchengladbach) 44. Gregorz LATO (Stal Mielic) 45. Emlyn HUGHES (Liverpool) 46. Martin CHIVERS (Tottenham) 47. Luis PEREIRA (Palmeiras) 48. Roberto BONINSEGNA (Inter) 49. Bobby MOORE (West Ham) 50. Robert GADOCHA (Stal Mielic) Player of The Season goes to 1st Cruyff – 2nd Müller 3rd Beckenbauer 4th Rivera 5th Deyna 6th Brindisi 7th Zoff 8th Bremner 9th Netzer 10th Eusebio Overall, Cruyff is clear. Not as clear as Pele a decade earlier but clear, nonetheless. Still mainly the Germans who are chasing him. BEST XI: ZOFF – VOGTS – FIGUEROA - BECKENBAUER – BREITNER – NEESKENS – NETZER – RIVELINO – MÜLLER – CRUYFF Rinus MICHELS (Manager) Banks abdicates his throne mainly due to his car crash in October 1972. Figueroa takes over from Moore. Chumpitaz and Hulshof being his main rivals at this point. At LB we have a battle. Breitner won it but Krol and Chagas were not far behind. Rivelino takes Jairzinho´s spot otherwise the team is the same as the year before in the midfield and forward positions. Deyna was closest to getting in. Based on this 1972/73 season alone Brindisi, Rivera and Bremner probably deserved a place – but it was NOT enough for overall selection. GOLDEN BOY: 1. Rene HOUSEMAN (Huracan) 2. Ricardo BOCHINI (Independiente) 3. Norberto ALONSO (River Plate)
THE 50 BEST FOOTBALLERS 1974 - HOW IT MIGHT HAVE LOOKED: GOLD: Johan CRUYFF (Ajax) SILVER: Franz BECKENBAUER (Bayern) BRONZE: Gerd MÜLLER (Bayern) 4. Johan NEESKENS (Ajax) 5. Kazimierz DEYNA (Legia) 6. RIVELINO (Corinthians) 7. Elias FIGUEROA (Internacional) 8. Grezegorz LATO (Stal Mielic) 9. Willem VAN HANEGEM (Feyenoord) 10. Günter NETZER (Real Madrid) 11. Paul BREITNER (Bayern) 12. Rob RENSENBRINK (Anderlecht) 13. Ferenc BENE (Ujpest) 14. Ruben AYALA (Atletico Madrid) 15. Teofilo CUBILLAS (Basel/FC Porto) 16. Oleg BLOKHIN (Dynamo Kiev) 17. Robert GADOCHA (Legia) 18. Billy BREMNER (Leeds United) 19. CAJU (Flamengo) 20. Berti VOGTS (Mönchengladbach) 21. Ruud KROL (Ajax) 22. Dino ZOFF (Juventus) 23. Marinho CHAGAS (Botafogo) 24. JAIRZINHO (Botafogo) 25. Sandro MAZZOLA (Inter) 26. Dragan DZAJIC (Red Star) 27. Gianni RIVERA (AC Milan) 28. Luis PEREIRA (Palmeiras) 29. Branko OBLAK (Hajduk) 30. Wolfgang OVERATH (FC Cologne) 31. Uli HOENESS (Bayern) 32. Hristo BONEV (Plovdiv) 33. Johnny REP (Ajax) 34. Rainer BONHOF (Mönchengladbach) 35. Ralf EDSTRÖM (PSV) 36. Joachim STREICH (Hansa Rostock) 37. Fernando MORENA (Penarol) 38. Ricardo BOCHINI (Independiente) 39. Sepp MAIER (Bayern) 40. Miguel Angel BRINDISI (Huracan) 41. Luigi RIVA (Cagliari) 42. PELE (Santos) 43. Carlos BABINGTON (Huracan) 44. Carlos CASZELY (Levante) 45. ZICO (Flamengo) 46. Jürgen SPARWASSER (Magdeburg) 47. Jan TOMASZEWSKI (Lodz) 48. Wim JANSEN (Feyenoord) 49. Kevin KEEGAN (Liverpool) 50. Hugo SOTIL (Barcelona) Player of The Season goes to 1st Cruyff 2nd Beckenbauer 3rd Deyna 4th Neeskens 5th Figueroa 6th Lato 7th Van Hanegem 8th Rivelino 9th Müller 10th Chagas 11th Breitner 12th Bremner Overall, Cruyff is still the best despite the Germans being crowned world champs. Strangely the Germans chose Overath over Netzer for the NT. The Dutch were by now on everybody´s lips and so were the Poles. The Brazilians disappoints. Going into the WC Rivelino, Caju and Chagas are their star players by now. Much was also expected of Ayala of Argentina. BEST XI: ZOFF – VOGTS – FIGUEROA – BECKENBAUER – BREITNER – NEESKENS – DEYNA – LATO - CRUYFF – MÜLLER – RIVELINO Rinus MICHELS (Manager) Not much to debate this time. Zoff was clearly the best goalkeeper in the world at this stage even if Maier, Tomaszewski and Hellström had good seasons. Vogts and Beckenbauer cannot be touched. Breitner was pushed a little by Krol and Chagas. Figueroa by Pereira. The only thing to consider is whether to switch from 4-4-2 to 4-3-3. If so Van Hanegem or Bremner comes in for Lato. GOLDEN BOY: 1. Ricardo BOCHINI (Independiente) 2. Mario KEMPES (Rosario Central) 3. Daniel BERTONI (Independiente) Three Argentinians for the Golden Boy Award. Maybe that could be a sign of things to come by the next WC in four years!
THE 50 BEST FOOTBALLERS 1975 - HOW IT MIGHT HAVE LOOKED: GOLD: Johan CRUYFF (Barcelona) SILVER: Franz BECKENBAUER (Bayern) BRONZE: Elias FIGUEROA (Internacional) 4. RIVELINO (Fluminense) 5. Oleg BLOKHIN (Dynamo Kiev) 6. Kazimierz DEYNA (Legia) 7. Johan NEESKENS (Barcelona) 8. Gregorz LATO (Stal Mielic) 9. Teofilo CUBILLAS (FC Porto) 10. Rob RENSENBRINK (Anderlecht) 11. Norberto ALONSO (River Plate) 12. Fernando MORENA (Penarol) 13. Gerd MÜLLER (Bayern) 14. Günter NETZER (Real Madrid) 15. Paul BREITNER (Real Madrid) 16. Billy BREMNER (Leeds United) 17. Berti VOGTS (Mönchengladbach) 18. Willem VAN HANGEM (Feyenoord) 19. Dino ZOFF (Juventus) 20. PIRRI (Real Madrid) 21. Jupp HEYNCKES (Mönchengladbach) 22. Brank OBLAK (Hajduk) 23. Sepp MAIER (Bayern) 24. Rainer BONHOF (Mönchengladbach) 25. Ralf EDSTRÖM (PSV) 26. Ruud GEELS (Ajax) 27. Peter LORIMER (Leeds United) 28. NELINHO (Cruzeiro) 29. ZICO (Flamengo) 30. Allan SIMONSEN (Mönchengladbach) 31. Dragan DZAJIC (Bastia) 32. Hristo BONEV (Plovdiv) 33. Dudu GEORGESCU (Dinamo Bucharest) 34. Colin TODD (Derby) 35. Luis PEREIRA (Palmeiras) 36. Ricardo BOCHINI (Independiente) 37. Jürgen GRABOWSKI (Frankfurt) 38. Wolfgang OVERATH (FC Cologne) 39. Ivo VIKTOR (Dukla Prague) 40. Josip KATALINSKI (Nice) 41. Robert GADOCHA (Legia) 42. Hugo SOTIL (Barcelona) 43. LEIVINHA (Palmeiras) 44. Rene HOUSEMAN (Huracan) 45. Henning JENSEN (Mönchengladbach) 46. Herbert WIMMER (Mönchengladbach) 47. Mario KEMPES (Rosario Central) 48. Pat JENNINGS (Tottenham) 49. Hector SCOTTA (San Lorenzo) 50. Humberto COELHO (Benfica) Player of The Season goes to 1st Figueroa 2nd Blokhin 3rd Beckenbauer 4th Alonso 5th Cruyff 6th Vogts 7th Rivelino 8th Morena 9th Heynckes 10th Nelinho Overall, it was never Cruyff´s season, however, I believe he still had enough to be considered the best player in the world in most football communities around the world. BEST XI: ZOFF – VOGTS – FIGUEROA – BECKENBAUER – NELINHO – NEESKENS – DEYNA – RIVELINO – CRUYFF – MORENA - BLOKHIN Hannes WEISSWEILER (Manager) Zoff still the best goalkeeper but it could have been Maier. Breitner had become a midfielder so Nelinho takes his place. Neeskens & Deyna could have been replaced by Breitner & Netzer who by now formed a formidable partnership in Madrid. Morena could have been replaced by Müller or Heynckes. Alonso will feel unlucky only getting a place on the bench. GOLDEN BOY: 1. Jose Antonio CAMACHO (Real Madrid) 2. Americo GALLEGO (Newells Old Boys) 3. REINALDO (Atletico Mineiro) Camacho wins the Golden Boy award, however, keep your eyes open for this kid in third place. I promise you this kid has potential.
THE 56 BEST FOOTBALLERS 1976 - HOW IT MIGHT HAVE LOOKED: GOLD: Franz BECKENBAUER (Bayern) SILVER: Johan CRUYFF (Barcelona) BRONZE: Elias FIGUEROA (Internacional) 4th Rob RENSENBRINK (Anderlecht) 5th RIVELINO (Fluminense) 6th Johan NEESKENS (Barcelona) 7th Teofilo CUBILLAS (FC Porto) 8th Oleg BLOKHIN (Dynamo Kiev) 9th ZICO (Flamengo) 10th Gerd MÜLLER (Bayern) 11th Kazimierz DEYNA (Legia) 12th Kevin KEEGAN (Liverpool) 13th Michel PLATINI (Nancy) 14th Rainer BONHOF (Mönchengladbach) 15th Ivo VIKTOR (Dukla Prague) 16th Berti VOGTS (Mönchengladbach) 17th Ruud KROL (Ajax) 18th Paul BREITNER (Real Madrid) 19th Roberto BETTEGA (Juventus) 20th Jupp HEYNCKES (Mönchengladbach) 21. Günter NETZER (Real Madrid) 22. Francesco CAUSIO (Juventus) 23. Grezegorz LATO (Stal Mielic) 24. Daniel PASSARELLA (River Plate) 25. PIRRI (Real Madrid) 26. Alan SIMONSEN (Mönchengladbach) 27. Marius TRESOR (Marseille) 28. Anton ONDRUS (Slovan) 29. Dominique ROCHETEAU (St. Etienne) 30. Herbert WIMMER (Mönchengladbach) 31. Sepp MAIER (Bayern) 32. Dino ZOFF (Juventus) 33. Osvaldo PIAZZA (St. Etienne) 34. Luis PEREIRA (Atletico Madrid) 35. Marian MASNY (Slovan) 36. Branko OBLAK (Schalke) 37. Henning JENSEN (Mönchengladbach) 38. Ivan CURKOVIC (St. Etienne) 39. Tibor NYILASI (Ferencvaros) 40. Klaus FISCHER (Schalke) 41. Dudu GEORGESCU (Dinamo Bucharest) 42. NELINHO (Cruzeiro) 43. Ruud GEELS (Ajax) 44. Wolfgang OVERATH (FC Cologne) 45. Francesco GRAZIANI (Torino) 46. Mario KEMPES (Rosario Central) 47. Fernando MORENO (Penarol) 48. LEIVINHA (Atletico Madrid) 49. Willem VAN HANEGEM (Feyenoord) 50. Johnny REP (Valencia) 51. Norberto ALONSO (River Plate) 52. Marco TARDELLI (Juventus) 53. Hugo GATTI (Boca Juniors) 54. Osvaldo ARDILES (Huracan) 55. Viktor KOLOTOV (Dynamo Kiev) 56. Zdenek NEHODA (Dukla Prague) Player of The Season: 1st Beckenbauer 2nd Figueroa 3rd Rensenbrink 4th Zico 5th Rivelino 6th Keegan 7th Platini 8th Viktor Overall, it very muddled at this point. Cruyff is surely considered the best still in many countries. But the way he exited the Euro´s where he didn´t even stay for his country´s third place game due to a small injury and being suspended tarnished his reputation a little. It was somewhat ugly how the Dutch went out of this tournament. I was tempted to keep Cruyff at first place but in the end I didn´t. BEST XI: VIKTOR – VOGTS – FIGUEROA – BECKENBAUER – KROL – NEESKENS – BONHOF – RIVELINO – CRUYFF – MÜLLER – RENSENBRINK LATTEK (Manager) GOLDEN BOY: 1. REINALDO (Atletico Mineiro) 2. Ray WILKINS (Chelsea) 3. Rüdiger ABRAMCZIK (Schalke)
https://www.bigsoccer.com/threads/the-50-best-footballers.2134762/#post-42901397 https://www.bigsoccer.com/threads/the-50-best-footballers.2134762/#post-42902604 Re: this btw, I think I realised now, thanks to @comme posting various things that have been found on his own 1950/51 thread he has started (including also the CdS top-rated 1950/51 Serie A players by position that schwuppe had found and posted for example). It's in effect a Europe XI (without English/British players considered) and reserve XI from mid 1950/51 (end of 1950 calendar year XI I suppose), and CdS highlights Parola and Nordahl having been selected in Team A, Wilkes, Hansen and Annovazzi in Team B, and with no place for some players they mention as in theory worth places I suppose: Bobek, Walter and Mermens from outside Italian football plus the other Swedish imports at Milan Gren and Liedholm - they could be taking cues in that summary from Jean Cornu of France Football and his own summary by the looks of it too though I guess (without setting Google Translate to work on anything today again) Corriere dello Sport 1951 - 32 - Fascicolo: 12
I guess Happie you may have looked at that link anyway via Arriaga's thread, but just to summarise a bit more what I understand: - The selections were made in Zurich in December 1950 as potential Continental Europe XIs, in theory to play vs South America and/or England. - Team A was Zeman; Neury, Parola, Marche; Cajkowski, Barufka; Melchior, Mitic, Nordahl, Puskas, Gainza - Team B was Beara; Rudas, Carre, Happel; Annovazzi, Dajic; Basora, Wilkes, Zarra, J.Hansen, Vukas - Players that France Football suggest for Team A are Wilkes (despite admiration for Mitic) and Dajic (who makes a good pairing with Cajkowski). - Surprise exclusions were considered to be Bobek, Fritz Walter, Mermens, Gren and Liedholm but it doesn't seem totally clear who would be centre forward or inside left in a France Football-selected Team A, although Puskas was noted as being selected on reputation and in any case wouldn't be available to play, so presumably he would be replaced given those 5 names being specified (Bobek, Walter or Liedholm could be put at inside left I guess, but it's possible to use Bobek or Mermens as winger in an XI maybe too, or even Liedholm as LW like he had been previously perhaps - Bobek as LW with Nordahl still CF for Team A might be likely? - not clear I think in the summary anyway, and it's not suggested that Gainza wouldn't still be in it necessarily anyway I think....).
That is certainly a nice link. Like you mention, I have seen it before and it of course played quite a significant role in my rankings. Now that I see it again I´m almost certain that I´m going to change my choice of goalkeeper for 1950 from Maspoli to Zeman. But when I have completed all seasons all the way up to 2024-25 (which comes out in August) I will take a closer look at all comments made and make small adjustments to my rankings. I will try to answer all comments as they are very much appreciated, however, the adjustments will have to wait until I´ve completed all seasons. A player I always felt like I underestimated when I made the initial rankings was Marche. I knew I wanted him in for several seasons but there always seemed to a player that just came before him. Zeman, Parola, Marche, Cajkowski, Mitic, Nordahl, Puskas, Gainza, Beara, Happel, Annovazzi, Basora, Wilkes, Zarra, Hansen and Vukas, Bokek, Gren, Liedholm, Walter I NEVER underestimated. I might have got it a bit wrong in regard to which years these players had their absolute peak (even if I try very hard to get that right) but they were all players who I regarded worldbeaters. For the players not mentioned I´ve either considered their star not to be bright enough OR they have fell off my radar completely. I will have to look at that.
THE 55 BEST FOOTBALLERS 1977 - HOW IT MIGHT HAVE LOOKED: GOLD: Johan CRUYFF (Barcelona) SILVER: Kevin KEEGAN (Liverpool) BRONZE: Michel PLATINI (Nancy) 4th Franz BECKENBAUER (Bayern) 5th Allan SIMONSEN (Mönchengladbach) 6th ZICO (Flamengo) 7th RIVELINO (Fluminense) 8th Elias FIGUEROA (Palestino) 9th Johan NEESKENS (Barcelona) 10th Rob RENSENBRINK (Anderlecht) 11th Mario KEMPES (Valencia) 12th Roberto BETTEGA (Juventus) 13th Teofilo CUBILLAS (FC Porto) 14th Rainer BONHOF (Mönchengladbach) 15th Oleg BLOKHIN (Dynamo Kiev) 16th Franco CAUSIO (Juventus) 17th Klaus FISCHER (Schalke) 18th Luis PEREIRA (Atletico Madrid) 19th Ruud KROL (Ajax) 20th Kazimierz DEYNA (Legia) 21. Berti VOGTS (Mönchengladbach) 22. Tibor NYILASI (Ferencvaros) 23. Daniel BERTONI (Independiente) 24. REINALDO (Atletico Mineiro) 25. Daniel PASSARELLA (River Plate) 26. Grezegorz LATO (Stal Mielic) 27. Marius TRESOR (Marseille) 28. Ray CLEMENCE (Liverpool) 29. Gerd MÜLLER (Bayern) 30. Toninho CEREZO (Atletico Mineiro) 31. Sepp MAIER (Bayern) 32. Osvaldo PIAZZA (St. Etienne) 33. Francesco GRAZIANI (Torino) 34. Roberto BONINSEGNA (Juventus) 35. Dino ZOFF (Juventus) 36. Dudu GEORGESCU (Dinamo Bucharest) 37. Ruud GEELS (Ajax) 38. Dominique BATHENAY (St. Etienne) 39. Kenny DALGLISH (Celtic) 40. David KIPIANI (Dinamo Tblisi) 41. Dominique ROCHETEAU (St. Etienne) 42. Emlyn HUGHES (Liverpool) 43. Manfred KALTZ (HSV) 44. Giancarlo ANTOGNONI (Fiorentina) 45. Marco TARDELLI (Juventus) 46. Ossie ARDILES (Huracan) 47. Rene HOUSEMAN (Huracan) 48. Hugo GATTI (Boca Juniors) 49. Roberto DINAMITE (Vasco da Gama) 50. CAJU (Botafogo) 51. DANNY McGRAIN (Celtic) 52. Andrzej SZARMACH (Stal Mielic) 53. Heinz FLOHE (FC Cologne) 54. Hans KRANKL (Rapid Vienna) 55. Ruben AYALA (Atletico Madrid) 55. Ubaldo FILLOL (River Plate) Player of The Season: 1st Keegan, 2nd Cruyff, 3rd Simonsen, 4th Platini, 5th Zico 6th Bettega 7th Rivelino Overall, Cruyff is back as the best player in the world. This was never Beckenbauer´s season, in fact it was his last season among the best. However, he was still regarded world-class for one last season. Lubanski was back for the Polish; however, he was never the same as before his terrible injury in 1973 vs England. Boniek emerges as a young star, but he is still just outside this top 55. The Argentinians were gearing up for the World Cup on home soil even if there was still doubt about whether they would host the event. BEST XI: CLEMENCE – VOGTS – FIGUEROA – BECKENBAUER – KROL – NEESKENS – BONHOF – PLATINI - CRUYFF – KEEGAN – SIMONSEN Udo LATTEK (Manager) Spoilt for choice between the posts. Clemence chosen just before Maier, Fillol, Zoff and even Tomaszewski. Beckenbauer would not be there based on this season alone, however, he would based on overall rep. Zico, Rivelino, Bettega & Resenbrink could easily had be chosen. GOLDEN BOY: 1. REINALDO (Atletico Mineiro) 2. Diego MARADONA (Argentinos Juniors) 3. Jan CEULEMANS (Lierse) 4. Patrick BATTISTON (Metz)
This is a fantastic thread for me as I have been learning about football history over the past 10-15 years. I have been following the thread in my free time for about a month before signing up for an account. Thank you @Titanlux for regularly sharing your own opinions as well. It's a shame Neil Franklin stopped playing top flight football right before the 1950 cutoff, as I would have liked to see how highly you rated him before his move. Maybe you can share a quick opinion on him in general. He is a player that I struggle to rate accurately- a lot of his peers rated him highly as a traditional defender and I can never really tell if this was influenced by their own desire to help his image by inflating his quality, up against the way English clubs turned on him. On top of his traditional defensive quality, his playstyle was also vastly different and more progressive than what defenders were expected to do at the time, complicating things further. I am never sure how favorably he compares to Billy Wright.
THE 56 BEST FOOTBALLERS 1978 - HOW IT MIGHT HAVE LOOKED: GOLD: Mario KEMPES (Valencia) SILVER: Johan CRUYFF (Barcelona) BRONZE: Kevin KEEGAN (HSV) 1. Robby RENSENBRINK (Anderlecht) 2. RIVELINO (Fluminense) 3. ZICO (Flamengo) 4. Kenny DALGLISH (Liverpool) 5. Michel PLATINI (Nancy) 6. Paolo ROSSI (Vicenza) 7. Roberto BETTEGA (Juventus) 8. Allan SIMONSEN (Mönchengladbach) 9. Franco CAUSIO (Juventus) 10. Teofilo CUBILLAS (Alianza Lima) 11. Daniel PASSARELLA (River Plate) 12. DIRCEU (Vasco da Gama) 13. Johnny REP (Bastia) 14. Ruud KROL (Ajax) 15. Johan NEESKENS (Barcelona) 16. Rainer BONHOF (Mönchengladbach) 17. Oleg BLOKHIN (Dynamo Kiev) 18. Arie HAAN (Anderlecht) 19. Toninho CEREZO (Atletico Mineiro) 20. Daniel BERTONI (Independiente) 21. Ubaldo FILLOL (River Plate) 22. Elias FIGUEROA (Palestino) 23. Osvaldo ARDILES (Huracan) 24. Peter SHILTON (Nottingham F) 25. Leopoldo LUQUE (River Plate) 26. Klaus FISCHER (Schalke) 27. REINALDO (Atletico Mineiro) 28. Grezegorz LATO (Stal Mielic) 29. Marius TRESOR (Marseille) 30. Willy VAN DE KERCKHOF (PSV) 31. Ricardo BOCHINI (Independiente) 32. Ray CLEMENCE (Liverpool) 33. John ROBERTSON (Nottingham F) 34. MIGUELI (Barcelona) 35. Marco TARDELLI (Juventus) 36. Bruno PEZZEY (Wacker) 37. Heinz FLOHE (FC Cologne) 38. Antonio CABRINI (Juventus) 39. Zibigniew BONIEK (Widzew) 40. Hansi MÜLLER (Stuttgart) 41. Tibor NYILASI (Ferencvaros) 42. Ronnie HELLSTRÖM (Kaiserslautern) 43. Trevor FRANCIS (Birmingham) 44. Liam BRADY (Arsenal) 45. SANTILLIANA (Real Madrid) 46. Gaetano SCIREA (Juventus) 47. Laszlo FAZEKAS (Ujpesti) 48. Roberto DINAMITE (Vasco da Gama) 49. ASENSI (Barcelona) 50. Alberto TARANTINI (Boca Juniors) 51. Ray WILKINS (Chelsea) 52. Archie GEMMILL (Nottingham F) 53. Didier SIX (Marseille) 54. Uli STIELIKE (Real Madrid) 55. FALCAO (Internacional) 56. Karl-Heinz RUMMENIGGE (Bayern) Player of The Season: 1st Kempes 2nd Keegan 3rd Rensenbrink 4th Rossi 5th Krankl 6th Dalglish 7th Passarella 8th Krol 9th Bettega 10th Simonsen Overall, this is one of the most difficult seasons yet. There was a “before the World Cup” and an “after The World Cup”. Before The World Cup everybody was talking about Rivelino, Zico and Platini as the three main stars on show. And of course, of Cruyff and Keegan who weren’t there. Dalglish, Bettega and Rensenbrink next in line. Nobody was talking Kempes and Rossi – Nobody. So, before The World Cup we had these 8 main stars. Rivelino, Zico, Platini, Dalglish, Cruyff, Keegan, Bettega and Rensenbrink. How much can a World Cup change how the football world rates the players? That´s difficult when you weren´t there, however, I believe the above is pretty accurate. Rivelino was still seen as The King of The World Cup with his two Crown Princes Zico and Platini ready to take over. However, Brazil flopped at the World Cup even if they came third. And Platini was overshadowed by a world-class Marco Tardelli vs Italy and he never recovered during this World Cup. Speaking of Italy Dino Zoff was by now considered finished. Klaus Fischer was by far the leading marksman for West Germany by this point. However, he didn´t perform either. Scotland were fancied in the World Cup like never before or since. Peolpe even talked about them winning the Cup. They hugely disappointed. They thought Peru was finished. They thought Cubillas was finished. He was NOT! There were two SA Player of The Year votes. One before the WC (Cerezo won with Reinaldo coming second) and another after the WC which Kempes obviously won. 1978 was election year for the Presidency in Barcelona and as we know it, candidates promises players if they are elected. At this point Trevor Francis and Paul Mariner were promised so they were obviously hot names. The biggest fish, however, was that they wanted to swap Neeskens for Keegan. The most talked about name in the English League was, however, Tony Woodcock who came from almost nowhere and fired Notts Forest the Championship. BEST XI: FILLOL – BOSSIS – KROL – PASSARELLA – CABRINI – NEESKENS – BONHOF – KEMPES – CRUYFF – KEEGAN – RENSENBRINK Brian CLOUGH (Manager) GOLDEN BOY: 1. Diego MARADONA (Argentinos Juniors) 2. Hugo SANCHEZ (UNAM) 3. Juan BARBAS (Avelleneda)
And I might add this from the Soccer Magazine SHOOT. They asked 100 journalist just after the World Cup who they saw as the TEAM of THE TOURNAMENT: This is the result of the vote: Number of votes in bracket FILLOL (55) - SARA (31) - BELLUGI (53) - KROL (76) - TARANTINI (79) - BONIEK (38) BENETTI (33) - DIRCEU (68) - CAUSIO (81) - ROSSI (86) - KEMPES (100)
I also haven't really seen anything significant of him in terms of footage, and find it hard to get a proper idea about his level at peak as it were, but although you may have also seen this thread I guess, and anyway already know about his peers valuing him highly, I can tell you what was said in the write-ups of the players who included him in their XIs: https://www.bigsoccer.com/threads/interesting-best-xi.325564/page-64#post-41987995 Stanley Matthews called him "one of England's All-Time great centre halves", although put John Charles in that place in his XI Harry Johnston said he was a "cultured centre-half who would fit in perfectly alongside the dynamic Burgess" Billy Wright said he was "a superb stylist with an instinctive positional sense" and "If Neil had been satisfied with the maximum £20 he was earning at Stoke City he would have played for England for at least another four years" Nat Lofthouse calls him "cultured" and Tom Finney just says he was the best centre-half he ever played with - considering he thought very highly of Billy Wright then that's a significant praise of Franklin, who does seem to be a consistent pick for him (at least when he selected an XI just by himself as opposed to in combination with Bill Shankly) https://www.bigsoccer.com/threads/the-best-games-of-the-best-players.2071047/page-36#post-41857457
He always seems a very consistent pick for those who played with or against him. As a centre back, he will obviously be compared to others in his position, but for me what makes him hard to rate is the lack of footage, but also how much can be left unclear in statements about him being the best in his position for England before Moore. There is quite a wide range that this could refer to, because it just confirms they thought him a better player than Wright. It's left a little unclear exactly how good they thought he was, even if they praise every aspect of his game as the best they'd seen, it still comes back to how he compares to others who played the position. @Happie11 this might be outside your preparation for this thread, but if you have the time, I would love to know how Franklin would have compared to the world's best across all positions in the year of time before your first entry in this thread (1949). Again, maybe it's an unreasonable ask, if it would require having to plan out the best in the world for a year you weren't planning to cover. I am not sure. I think he and Wright are quite a bit above the other CBs England has produced, barring Moore. Before I did more research, I used to think Wright was a lesser player than I now think him to have been, and that Franklin was better. Seeing Wright high up on the early entries in this thread confirmed that readjustment was likely accurate. The possibility that because Franklin was ostracized when returning to England, his early contemporaries might have wanted to sing his praises and the effect that could have had on retrospective opinions has always bothered me a little bit. It doesn't make me think less of him, just leaves me a bit unsure, especially with the lack of footage.
I could well be wrong, but I often find it harder to assess centre halves with a reduced amount of footage than I do compared to any other position on the pitch. So even moreso with Franklin, it's a shame we don't have much. It is the most reactionary role on the field and one that relies on positioning. So IMO you can tell how good their best plays were, but that's about it, because if I look at CBs who do have lots of recorded footage, what I think determines their quality is their consistency at making above average shut downs / tracking, being in a good position etc, but you can find evidence that they're great from just a few games that can be more misleading than other positions. How effective they were on their team is harder to gauge compared to watching Eusebio destroy a defense. When I used to watch modern football, I did not feel confident rating a CB unless I followed their team or saw at least 50 games of them playing, and I was often wrong in my estimation of CBs on teams I did not watch often. When looking at historical defenders I often keep an eye out for comments like 'would never make a mistake' or 'kept the team's foundation together' or something like that. I just find it harder to see for myself than when revisiting a winger or fullback. That being said I do generally trust contemporary opinions.
THE 60 BEST FOOTBALLERS 1979 - HOW IT MIGHT HAVE LOOKED: GOLD: ZICO (Flamengo) SILVER: Kevin KEEGAN (HSV) BRONZE: Diego MARADONA (Argentinos Juniors) 4 Paolo ROSSI (Perugia) 5 Michel PLATINI (St. Etienne) 6 Karl-Heinz RUMMENIGGE (Bayern) 7 Kenny DALGLISH (Liverpool) 8 Mario KEMPES (Valencia) 9 FALCAO (Internacional) 10 Ruud KROL (Ajax) 11 Hans KRANKL (Barcelona) 12 Daniel PASSARELLA (River Plate) 13 Alan SIMONSEN (Mönchengladbach) 14 Liam BRADY (Arsenal) 15 Franco CAUSIO (Juventus) 16 Osvaldo ARDILES (Tottenham) 17 Roberto BETTEGA (Juventus) 18 Trevor FRANCIS (Nottingham F) 19 Toninho CEREZO (Atletico Mineiro) 20 Ubaldo FILLOL (River Plate) 21 Johan NEESKENS (Barcelona) 22 Robby RENSENBRINK (Anderlecht) 23 Rainer BONHOF (Valencia) 24 Zbigniew BONIEK (Widzew) 25 Peter SHILTON (Nottingham F) 26 Marco TARDELLI (Juventus) 27 Bruno PEZZEY (Frankfurt) 28 Manfred KALTZ (HSV) 29 Paul BREITNER (Bayern) 30 Antonio CABRINI (Juventus) 31 Norberto ALONSO (River Plate) 32 Julio Cesar ROMERO (Sportivo) 33 Giancarlo ANTOGNONI (Juventus) 34 Marius TRESOR (Marseille) 35 Dominique ROCHETEAU (St Etienne) 36 Oleg BLOKHIN (Dynamo Kiev) 37 Uli STIELIKE (Real Madrid) 38 John ROBERTSON (Nottingham F) 39 Johnny REP (St Etienne) 40 Graeme SOUNESS (Liverpool) 41 Friedrich KONCILIA (Wacker) 42 Carlos CASZELY (Colo-Colo) 43 Ray CLEMENCE (Liverpool) 44 Elias FIGUEROA (Palestino) 45 JUNIOR (Flamengo) 46 Roberto DINAMITE (Vasco da Gama) 47 Rüdiger ABRAMCZIK (Schalke) 48 Klaus ALLOFS (Düsseldorf) 49 Laurie CUNNINGHAM (WBA) 50 Daniel BERTONI (Sevilla) 51 Juan Manuel ASENSI (Barcelona) 52 DIRCEU (America) 53 Claudio GENTILE (Juventus) 54 Ronnie HELLSTRÖM (Kaiserslautern) 55 Robert PROHASKA (Austria Vienna) 56 Zdenek NEHODA (Dukla Prague) 57 Kees KIST (PSV) 58 Tony WOODCOCK (FC Cologne) 59 Safet SUSIC (Sarajevo) 60 Walter SCHACHNER (Austria Vienna) Player of The Season: 1st Keegan 2nd Maradona 3rd Zico 4th Falcao 5th Dalglish 6th Rummenigge 7th Krol Overall, it was up in the air. Kempes- last season´s no. 1 – was called a 12-day wonder. The player with the most potential was clearly a young prodigy called Maradona but was he ready to overtake the throne already? In Italy Giordano was wanted by the big clubs as was Salvatore Bagni dubbed the “Italian Keegan” who they saw as Causio´s replacement. A raw rookie, an 18-year-old Franco Baresi, was making strides. Keegan was by far the best player in the Bundesliga and clearly still ahead of Rummenigge. In Spain Neeskens - as well as the Barcelona fans - were shocked by Barcelona´s statement that his contract wouldn´t be renewed. Simonsen – as his replacement -would have a hard time winning over the fans as Asensi stated. In the English League Dalglish was surely considered the beat at this point. Brady and Shilton follow him onto the podium. And like the Italians believed they had the new Keegan in Bagni, the English thought the same about a guy called Kevin Reeves from Norwich. By the end of the season Asensi, Zico, Boniek, Causio, Koncilia, Platini, Krol, Pezzey, Kaltz and Rossi were asked to name their Best XI. In goal only Fillol and Koncilia got voted. At RB Kaltz got the most votes (4). At LB Cabrini received 8 votes. At CB Passarella (8), Krol (7) and Pezzey (6) received the most votes. In the engine room Ardiles (7), Tardelli (3), Bonhof (4) and Neeskens (3) received the most votes. As attacking midfielder Causio (6), Keegan (6), Platini (5), Kempes (4) Simonsen (3) were looked upon as the best. Zico only got one vote and that was his own. Maradona would also only get one vote. Likewise, for Dalglish. Up front there were 9 votes for Rossi. The only vote he didn´t get was his own! Krankl was next with 3 votes. Learning this, I of course considered if it was right to award Zico first place. However, he was the only non-European voter, so I took these votes with a grain of salt. BEST XI: FILLOL – KALTZ – PASSARELLA – KROL – CABRINI – ARDILES – FALCAO – ZICO – MARADONA – KEEGAN – ROSSI Bob PAISLEY (Manager) GOLDEN BOY: 1 Diego MARADONA (Argentinos Juniors) 2 Ramon DIAZ (River Plate) 3 Bernd SCHUSTER (FC Cologne)
HE 50 BEST FOOTBALLERS - HOW THE 1970s MIGHT HAVE LOOKED: With the 1978-79 season the 1970s now concludes. Before we embark on 1980s - A little overview of how the Decade might have looked. 1970: PLAYER OF THE SEASON: JAIRZINHO OVERALL WORLD´S BEST PLAYER: PELE GOLDEN BOY: Miguel Angel BRINDISI BEST MANAGER: Ernst HAPPEL 1971: PLAYER OF THE SEASON: Johan CRUYFF OVERALL WORLD´S BEST PLAYER: Johan CRUYFF GOLDEN BOY: Johan NEESKENS BEST MANAGER: Rinus MICHELS 1972: PLAYER OF THE SEASON: Johan CRUYFF OVERALL WORLD´S BEST PLAYER: Johan CRUYFF GOLDEN BOY: Oleg BLOKHIN BEST MANAGER: Rinus MICHELS 1973: PLAYER OF THE SEASON: Johan CRUYFF OVERALL WORLD´S BEST PLAYER: Johan CRUYFF GOLDEN BOY: Rene HOUSEMAN BEST MANAGER: Rinus MICHELS 1974: PLAYER OF THE SEASON: Johan CRUYFF OVERALL WORLD´S BEST PLAYER: Johan CRUYFF GOLDEN BOY: Ricardo BOCHINI BEST MANAGER: Rinus MICHELS 1975: PLAYER OF THE SEASON: Elias FIGUEROA OVERALL WORLD´S BEST PLAYER: Johan CRUYFF GOLDEN BOY: Jose Antonio CAMACHO BEST MANAGER: Hannes WEISSWEILER 1976: PLAYER OF THE SEASON: Franz BECKENBAUER OVERALL WORLD´S BEST PLAYER: Franz BECKENBAUER GOLDEN BOY: REINALDO BEST MANAGER: Udo LATTEK 1977: PLAYER OF THE SEASON: Kevin KEEGAN OVERALL WORLD´S BEST PLAYER: Johan CRUYFF GOLDEN BOY: REINALDO BEST MANAGER: Udo LATTEK 1978: PLAYER OF THE SEASON: Mario KEMPES OVERALL WORLD´S BEST PLAYER: Mario KEMPES GOLDEN BOY: Diego MARADONA BEST MANAGER: Brian CLOUGH 1979: PLAYER OF THE SEASON: Kevin KEEGAN OVERALL WORLD´S BEST PLAYER: ZICO GOLDEN BOY: Diego MARADONA BEST MANAGER: Bob PAISLEY OVERALL TOP-10: FOR 1970-1979: 1. Johan CRUYFF 2. Franz BECKENBAUER 3. Gerd MÜLLER 4. Kevin KEEGAN 5. JAIRZINHO 6. Johan NEESKENS 7. RIVELINO 8. Kenny DALGLISH 9. Mario KEMPES 10. Oleg BLOKHIN BEST XI: ZOFF - VOGTS - KROL - FIGUEROA - BECKENBAUER - NEESKENS - NETZER - JAIRZINHO - CRUYFF - MÜLLER - RIVELINO BENCH (26 man squad): MAIER - CARLOS ALBERTO - PASSARELLA - LUIS PEREIRA - BREITNER - WIMMER - BREMNER - OVERATH - ZICO - DALGLISH - SIMONSEN - LATO - DEYNA - RENSENBRINK - KEEGAN MICHELS (Manager)
THE 62 BEST FOOTBALLERS 1980 - HOW IT MIGHT HAVE LOOKED: GOLD: Diego MARADONA (Argentinos Juniors) SILVER: ZICO (Flamengo) BRONZE: Karl-Heinz RUMMENIGGE (Bayern) 4 Kevin KEEGAN (HSV) 5 Michel PLATINI (St. Etienne) 6 Kenny DALGLISH (Liverpool) 7 FALCAO (Internacional) 8 Ruud KROL (Ajax/Whitecaps) 9 Daniel PASSARELLA (River Plate) 10 Bernd SCHUSTER (FC Cologne) 11 Jan CEULEMANS (Club Brügge) 12 Paul BREITNER (Bayern) 13 Manfred KALTZ (HSV) 14 Giancarlo ANTOGNONI (Fiorentina) 15 Roberto BETTEGA (Juventus) 16 Mario KEMPES (Valencia) 17 Oleg BLOKHIN (Dynamo Kiev) 18 Liam BRADY (Arsenal) 19 Peter SHILTON (Nottingham F) 20 Toninho CEREZO (Atletico Mineiro) 21 Bruno PEZZEY (Frankfurt) 22 Gaetano SCIREA (Juventus) 23 Zbignew BONIEK (Widzew) 24 SOCRATES (Corinthians) 25 Luis ARCONADA (Sociedad) 26 Uli STIELIKE (Real Madrid) 27 Allan SIMONSEN (Barcelona) 28 Hansi MÜLLER (Stuttgart) 29 Terry McDERMOTT (Liverpool) 30 Erwin VANDENBERGH (Lierse) 31 Horst HRUBESCH (HSV) 32 Greame SOUNESS (Liverpool) 33 Herbert PROHASKA (Inter) 34 JUNIOR (Flamengo) 35 Wilfried VAN MOER (Beveren) 36 Hans KRANKL (Barcelona) 37 Trevor FRANCIS (Nottingham F) 38 Frank ARNESEN (Ajax) 39 Antonio CABRINI (Juventus) 40 Kees KIST (AZ) 41 SANTILLIANA (Real Madrid) 42 Karlheinz FÖRSTER (Stuttgart) 43 Hans-Peter BRIEGEL (Kaiserslautern) 44 John ROBERTSON (Nottingham F) 45 Tony WOODCOCK (FC Cologne) 46 Klaus ALLOFS (Düsseldorf) 47 Claudio GENTILE (Juventus) 48 Dino ZOFF (Juventus) 49 Soren LERBY (Ajax) 50 QUINI (Gijon) 51 Laurie CUNNINGHAM (Real Madrid) 52 Walter SCHACHNER (Austria Vienna) 53 Daniel BERTONI (Sevilla) 54 Ubaldo FILLOL (River Plate) 55 Safet SUSIC (Sarajevo) 56 Viv ANDERSON (Nottingham F) 57 Alessandro ALTOBELLI (Inter) 58 Osvaldo ARDILES (Tottenham) 59 Ray CLEMENCE (Liverpool) 60 Marius TRESOR (Marseille) 61 JUANITO (Real Madrid) 62 DIRCEU (Atletico Madrid) Player of The Season: 1st Maradona 2nd Rummenigge 3rd Zico 4th Schuster 5th Ceulemans 6th Breitner 7th Dalglish Overall, it was now a three-horse race between Maradona, Rummenigge and Zico. This is the podium at this point – no questions asked. However, the order on the podium could be very much up to debate. In April Guerin Sportivo made a market value of the players. They ranked Maradona – Zico – Francis – Woodcock – Cunningham – Brady – Socrates – Rummenigge – H Müller – Birtles – Dalglish – Keegan – Schachner – Krankl – Platini. Maradona worth the triple of Zico in second place! Before The Euro´s L´Equipe highlighted the three best players in the tournament going into the tournament 1 Rummenigge 2 Keegan 3 Krol Beckenbauer ranked the world´s three best players in his opinion 1 Maradona 2 Rummenigge 3 Keegan. He was NOT in doubt who to put as his no. 1. Keegan was still very much hot. He announced that he would retire after the WC 1982. So, with his contract at HSV expiring he knew his next contract would be his last. There was no shortage of offers. Vancouver Whitecaps wanted him before they settled on Krol. The big Spanish clubs wanted him and as he declined them in favour of a move to Southampton, he would be booed the whole match when England went to Spain in March. Guerin Sportivo also ranked the best young players: 1 H Müller 2 Brady 3 Arnesen 4 Cunningham 5 Cabrini 6 Birtles BEST XI: SHILTON – KALTZ – PASSARELLA – KROL – JUNIOR – FALCAO – SCHUSTER – MARADONA – ZICO – RUMMENIGGE – KEEGAN Bob PAISLEY (Manager) GOLDEN BOY: 1 Diego MARADONA (Argentinos Juniors) 2 Pierre LITTBARSKI (FC Cologne) 3 CARECA (Guarani) 4 Franco BARESI (AC Milan) 5 Yannick STOPYRA (Sochaux)
Could Cha Bum-Kun be considered for 1980? I think it was his highest ever peak as a player for the following reasons: 1. Recognition from the media Although his performance did dip after a blistering start, he was rated Welklasse (world-class) as the number one rated foreigner in the Bundesliga for the first part of the 1979/1980 season. This includes non-German players such as Kevin Keegan, and Bruno Pezzey. Of course, a couple of months of good club-form isn't everything, but I do think it showcases what a strong impression he left on the local media at the time. He also was selected in the squad of Future Team of Europe by Guerin Sportivo, an Italian magazine, meaning his UEFA Cup exploits, and excellent domestic form was not entirely unnoticed by non-German media. He was selected as one of the reserve members alongside Klaus Allofs, who made the list of 62, and also Hartwig and Carrasco, who did not make the list of 62. There is an untranslated photo of the article in the link below (Kicker report on the Guerin Sportivo article). [키커 원본] 차범근 구에린 스포르티보 '미래의 유럽팀' 선정 기사 - 포텐 터짐 최신순 - 에펨코리아 2. Contributions beyond mediocre goal-tallies Although his goal-tallies by themselves are quite low to warrant a placement, he was originally a winger to begin with in Korea, meaning his contributions often went beyond goals. Although I'm not sure how to verify the tallies, a dedicated fan in Korea has individually sifted through multiple German newspapers, credited Cha Bum-Kun with 15 goals and 19 assists (I don't think the criteria is entirely OPTA-standard to be fair) across all competitions for the 1979/1980 season specifically. His goal-threat was more of a bonus, that came within a larger overall package. This season is also his best season in terms of overall goal-involvement, even though he became more prolific as a goal-scorer later on, during in his European stay. I don't have his precise statistics, but I would estimate that he probably would rank quite high in terms of fouls-drawn also, especially within his own team. He was quite heavily fouled and frequently focused upon, if you watch his games. 3. Recognition from his peers Hans-Peter Briegel, the defender named on the list of 62, once admitted in an interview that he struggled more versus Cha Bum-Kun, than most attackers in the Kicker article linked below. [키커 원본] "차범근은 루메니게와 동급의 선수" 한스 페터 브리겔의 극찬 - 포텐 터짐 최신순 - 에펨코리아 The part "Schwierigkeiten er zu gibt, hatte er eigentlicht nur mit Bum-Kun Cha", translates into "He admits that he only had difficulties with Bum-kun Cha". From what I've read and seen, it does look like he was Eintracht Frankfurt's best player from the get-go, especially before he was heavily targeted in terms of fouls and before he suffered injuries from brutal fouls. Lothar Matthaus commented on him, years later on. Matthaus on Germany's "special relationship" with Asia - ESPN Notice Matthaus seems to focus more on his pace and ability to run at defenders (I personally don't agree with his complements on his technique, it wasn't anything outstanding), more so than his actual goal-threat. 4. Team achievements Eintracht Frankfurt ended up winning the UEFA Cup in 1980 (with Cha Bum-Kun scoring 3 goals, and 2 OPTA-standard assists from what I can count on YouTube, although the original tally provider credits him with 3 assists in the competition) and for my money, even in the games he did not score or assist, he was pretty action-packed, and a generally a pain in the arse for defenders to handle. I think he played a large role, in Eintracht Frankfurt's first ever European trophy, as the best performing player (in my opinion) in the squad across the season, especially across the all competitions.