The last 10 posts or so you have only talked about me. And GIFs argue a point, they are just media, or means to argue it.
Good point. I never understand nor buy in an argument of who is the most complete player. Football is a game of 11 men and each one covers certain zone and delivers certain results according to coach tactics. There is NO one who could play evenly good from #1 , 2, up to #11 on the pitch! Now among the best "attackers" all time: I can name a few who could be considered as "very complete" in Di Stefano, Hidegkuti, Didi Pele, Cruijff, Beckenbauer , Rivelino, Bobby Charlton, Zico, Platini, Gullit, Hagi ... as TOP15 most complete all time! Why? these legends could do control midfield, scoring goals, create chances, do freekick corner kick, provide leadership and lastly DEFEND well (at least good enough) - some could even do GK like Pele Di Stefano ... I might miss a few names, but that would be about it! Others were just ... not as complete as people think! (for example: Maradona , Puskas ,Tostao Garrincha, Best, Eusebio ... not so good in defense ... while Zidane, Laudrup, Mathews, Kopa ... could not play well as pure striker )
A solid opinion piece by James Maw on Jack Wilshere of Arsenal and the nature of more "complete" English footballers/gifted attacking players: http://www.fourfourtwo.com/features/why-jack-wilshere-has-done-himself-his-peers-disservice
haha ... not sure if you think or buy in either case ... " "English players are complete" or they start producing "more complete players" ???
Iniesta had 5 too... And I start to doubt whether I should trust OPTA. I saw that they assigned some turnovers and lost possession to Messi, but at the very end of the game Messi had suddenly 0 turnovers and 0 times dispossessed.
In today game, Messi played much deeper like a true AM. He did very well in control midfield agree. However his "passing" (deadly ones) was just missing in this game (most of his vision pass was just not that precised though = otherwise Barca could have scored more)
Iniesta made a huge mistake (rarely though) to have nearly "gifted" CR7 a goal ... thanks to Valdes reaction! This "mistake" reminded me of the one from Cerezo that helped "Intaly won Brazil" in 82 ... GOSH ...
Second lowest passing accuracy of all starters. That is controlling midfield? No, he provides directness. Which is ofc harder than just making 100 sideways passes.
I had also highlighted Messi's missing acuracy in his passing But in honesty, I would not count on OPTA STATS to use their data as "a bible" - even though I Agree their data became more and more valid and 'useful" ! we had some discussion in the past (related to OPTA stats about passing % ) For example, I had said " its easier for a Xavi or Busquet or Iniesta ... to made A LOT of square passes within 10-15feet to their next team mates, and that had BOOSTED UP their passing %! But it may be unfair to other players (like Messi in this game, or a Zico WC82 or a Ronaldinho in Barca 05-07) who "DARE" to make more "visionary passes" = more RISKY = less acuracy surely....
Currently I'd say the most complete player in world football is Yaya Toure. Because he seems at home pretty much wherever he's played. For example, I'd imagine he'd be as good at centre back as he would be up front. Due to him being well rounded in both attack and defence.
Kinda agree ... Yaya Tourre reminded us an early form of Redondo, Rijkaard, Tigana, Veira and Edgar Davids ... as very complete MF - so far he lacked of "peak" moment like Redondo and Rijkaard (UCL)
Agree with Luker too. Futhermore, after moving to Manchester, he's shown what he's capable of, offensively, in concerning vision and through passes.
I never rated Redondo that high. He wasn't as complete as Touré IMO. Also not as complete as the other ones you mentioned, perhaps. His career is also massively upgraded by one game, or to say it better: one backheel.
I've said it before & I'll say it once more: Sir Tom Finney of PNE & England as an under-appreciated candidate for the "gong" in the OP...
Currently I'd have Vidal as the most complete... he can defend and attack equally effectively. He can play the sides too, something I dont see Toure being capable of. A fortnight ago against Madrid he was leading stats in passes attempted (controlling mid) and balls recovered + interceptions. All this being a man down for large portions of the game. PS: I dont even see how James can rate some names above Best in terms of being complete. Best was very good playing in centre midfield, several times, a position that requires good defensive abilities. Offensively he has nothing to envy any of the other greats either. How did you come to the conclusion that Zico, Rivelino, Platini, Pele, Hagi are more complete than Best i.e good at both offense and defense is what I assume you mean? Any matches you can reference? Di Stefano, Cruyff and Gullit I can agree but the rest?
Also a question for others if they know: do you have some games in mind where Best played centrally on midfield? And did defensive work?
A career retrospective on Best by Steve Curry that asks how Best would handle the modern game: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/fo...ed-todays-defenders-including-John-Terry.html
Best did play a few games (very few) as a "tresquartista" behind 1 striker. Often he switched from Right to Left wing (just like CR7 or Figo or Di Maria) I can only agree to say "Best was among the most complete ATTACKER" and that was it (same mould of Puskas, Jairzinho, Garrincha, Maradona, Zidane, Laudrup , Blokhin, Savicevic ... who are "weak" in defense) He was never a great "midfielder" who can do defensive work if needed. He did not do much midfield control (or never) Hidegkuti/Pele/Di stefano/Didi/Cruijff/Rivelino/Platini/Zico/Bobby Charton and even Socrates were more "complete" in that sense.
A blog entry by Tony Park where he comments on an article/feature written by Cilve Bond for the FA News magazine clear back in 1967: http://manutd24.co.uk/2011/08/01/retrospective-4-manchester-uniteds-tactics-in-1967/ Notice how Bond goes into quite a fair amount of detail about Best excelling in a midfield role in Sit Matt Busby's (& Jimmy Murphy's) version of a 4-3-3 formation...
============================================ Note there are different sub category in term of "complete player" 1- Absolutely COMPLETE player (in all dimension and characteristics) in historical order: Hidegkuti, Didi, Di Stefano, Pele, Bobby Charton, Rivelino, Cruijff, Beckenbauer ... Zico, Socrates, Platini, Gullit (I guess the list stops here) 2- Most Complete Attacker in attacking basis and "some MF" work (AM/winger) Zizinho, Puskas, Kopa, Gento, Mathews, Garrincha, Jairzinho, G.Best, Rivera, Cubilas, Lato, .. Maradona, Stoitchkov, Laudrup Figo, Zidane, Rivaldo Totti and lately Iniesta, Cecs ... 3- Most Complete FW/Striker (purely attack and score) Kocis, Eusebio, G Muller, Ressenbrink, Kempes, Van Basten, Rummenigge, Savicevic, Romario, Baggio, Ronaldo, Ronaldinho, Henry, .. and to some extent Batistuta, Sheva, Raul. Del Piero, Etoo to lately ... Messi, CR7 , Drogba, Forlan... 4- Most complete Midfielder (all round box to box, defense to attack) Duncan Edwards, Beckenbauer, Neeskens, Van hanegem, Gerson, Falcao, Cerezo, Redondo, Rijkaard, Hagi, to lately Xavi, Pirlo, ( and to some extent Dunga, Keane, Vieira, E Davids, Veron, Yaya tourre ...) 5- Most complete Defenders (cover all base, from flanks to stopper to sweeper) N.Santos, C.Alberto, Beckenbauer, Scirea, Breitner, Krol, Gentille, Bergomi, Maldini, Thuram Canavaro .. and to some extent: Zanetti, P.Lamp , Ramos , Abidal ...
"Messi can't tackle" - half fit Messi playing in the wing has more tackles than any defender, in the freaking Clasico. That's a classic right there.