Top-3 dribblers of each era

Discussion in 'The Beautiful Game' started by Gregoire1, Mar 17, 2023.

  1. Gregoire1

    Gregoire1 Member

    Dec 4, 2020
    Name top-3 dribblers of each football era since 1960.

    1960s:

    1. Pele
    2. Garrincha
    3. Best

    1970s:
    1. Cruyff
    2. Rivelino
    3. Bochini

    1980s:
    1. Maradona
    2. Zico
    3. M.Laudrup

    1990s:
    1. Ronaldo9
    2. Romario
    3. Baggio

    2000s:
    1. Ronaldinho
    2. Zidane
    3. Henry

    2010s:
    1. Messi
    2. Neymar
    3. Hazard\Cristiano

    2020s so far:
    1. Mbappe
    2. Musiala
    3. ?

    Overall:
    1. Messi
    2. Pele
    3. Maradona
     
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  2. PDG1978

    PDG1978 Member+

    Mar 8, 2009
    Club:
    Nottingham Forest FC
    I thought I'd give it a go from the 1930s, just keeping to naming a player in only one decade - I kept Michael Laudrup in the 80s as I'm thinking for dribbling there can be a good case his peak was in that decade and ditto put Zico in the 70s, while I put Stanley Matthews in the 40s but guess I could have potentially gone a decade either side of that (and I did go with the 40s too for Finney, but late 40s and early 50s are probably the options) and I thought Garrincha in the 60s seemed right and Sivori could be a similar case of early 60s peak for dribbling as well as overall; likewise Baggio and Futre might be interchangeable between 80s and 90s for example, and Zidane goes in the 00s kind of by virtue of the 90s being more stacked for options and that making up my mind by default - I've extended to 5 options, though it makes it trickier and even more uncertain having to name that many for the 30s and 40s:

    1930s:
    1 Meazza
    2 Orsi
    3 Sindelar
    4 Tommy Walker
    5 Puc

    1940s:
    1 Matthews
    2 Finney
    3 Martino
    4 Bican
    5 Liedholm

    1950s:
    1 Wilkes
    2 Kopa
    3 Vukas
    4 Julinho
    5 Vincent

    1960s:
    1 Best
    2 Pele
    3 Garrincha
    4 Sivori
    5 Albert

    1970s:
    1 Cruyff
    2 Bochini
    3 Zico
    4 Susic
    5 Rivelino

    1980s:
    1 Maradona
    2 M.Laudrup
    3 Littbarski
    4 R.Baggio
    5 Futre

    1990s:
    1 Ronaldo
    2 B.Laudrup
    3 Figo
    4 Savicevic
    5 Ortega

    2000s:
    1 Ronaldinho
    2 Henry
    3 Zidane
    4 Joaquin
    5 Pires

    2010s:
    1 Messi
    2 Hazard
    3 Robben
    4 Neymar
    5 Ribery

    2020s so far:
    1 Mbappe
    2 Musiala
    3 Mitoma
    4 Rodrygo
    5 Pedri


    Overall (hard to be definitive about the order, or excluding other possibilities like Pele, Garrincha and Wilkes, I think):
    1 Best
    2 Maradona
    3 Cruyff
    4 Ronaldo
    5 Messi
     
  3. carlito86

    carlito86 Member+

    Jan 11, 2016
    Club:
    Real Madrid
    Susic as in safet susic?

    He’s really a 1980s player(in terms of recognition at least)unless you mean he was more capable before this?
     
  4. PDG1978

    PDG1978 Member+

    Mar 8, 2009
    Club:
    Nottingham Forest FC
    Yeah, Safet I was thinking although he had a brother who was for sure more a 70s player and liked to dribble too, so I should have specified really:


    Yeah, Safet's profile in the 80s was bigger I suppose, playing in France, but he did become a top player during the 70s at Sarajevo and starred in some International games already (whether his peak could be deemed 1979 or something is maybe hard to be sure about):

    Just like the 90s was crowded with other options, the 80s was too though I felt, if having Baggio and Futre in there anyway, so it might have been a bit like Zidane's case where that made my mind up by default on Safet Susic (I'm not sure I have reason to believe he was definitely a better dribbler in the 80s than the 70s, but having said that perhaps he'd have a case vs Baggio for dribbler in the 80s - probably a close call I'm thinking, and ditto Futre who's one where I'm not totally sure whether some Atletico Madrid dribble goals I saw were 80s or 90s actually...maybe it's the same for you in that respect I'm guessing).
     
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  5. Legolas10

    Legolas10 Member

    Real Madrid
    Jun 5, 2020
    This guy rates everything based on how much fame/ reputation the player has , and no objectivity or rationality. I've noticed from few threads
     
  6. carlito86

    carlito86 Member+

    Jan 11, 2016
    Club:
    Real Madrid
    #6 carlito86, Mar 17, 2023
    Last edited: Mar 17, 2023
    For me anyways going back to the 1980s only



    1980s decade Top 10

    Diego Maradona
    Gheorghe Hagi


    Roberto baggio
    Vasilis Hatzipanagis

    Would’ve been as high as third but his ability wasn’t tested against real defenders
    Magico Gonzales
    Paulo futre
    Micheal laudrup
    John Barnes
    Zico/Enzo Francescoli
    Bruno conti



    1990s Top 10
    Dejan savecevic
    Did his damage against top club teams be it Bayern,Barcelona,Milan etc
    He’s out on his own

    Roberto baggio
    Ronaldo nazario
    Dragan stojkovic
    Micheal laudrup
    Ariel Ortega
    Rivaldo
    Alessandro del piero
    Zinedine Zidane
    Romario



    2000s top 10
    Ronaldinho gaucho
    Cristiano Ronaldo
    Lionel Messi
    Thierry Henry
    Zinedine Zidane
    Andres iniesta
    Robert pires
    Gudjohnsen
    Ronaldo nazario
    Zlatan ibrahimovic




    2010s Top 10
    Lionel Messi
    Neymar Jr
    Hatem Ben Arfa
    Arjen Robben
    Eden hazard
    Frank Ribery
    Andres iniesta
    Kylian Mbappe
    Cristiano Ronaldo
    Adama Traoré(purely for the destruction he caused in the PL at the end of the decade)




    Top 5 dribblers from this time frame IMO

    Lionel Messi
    Diego Maradona
    Dejan savecevic
    Roberto baggio
    Ronaldo nazario



    Favourite dribblers from this timeframe

    Diego Maradona
    Dejan savecevic
    Ronaldo nazario
    Cristiano Ronaldo
    Lionel Messi



     
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  7. carlito86

    carlito86 Member+

    Jan 11, 2016
    Club:
    Real Madrid
    #7 carlito86, Mar 17, 2023
    Last edited: Mar 17, 2023
    Between baggio and savecevic the difference in dribbling I’d say was

    baggio was more likely to score a spectacular dribbling Goal vs a top tier team in a domestic league context
    He was a vastly superior finisher in my opinion

    However Savecevic on his day would destroy a top tier club team across 90 minutes in a way no one from his era could

    He is the only player from that era I’m sure could average 6-7 dribbles per 90 during his best phases
    And he would do that with pure technique because he was hardly fast at all IMO

    destruction of every single Bayern player on the pitch


    Bayern Munich was a top 2 team in the world back then
    http://elofootball.com/index.php?season=1990-1991#club


    Destruction of Barcelona 1993/94

    Great dribbling assist on the massaro goal and arguably scored the best final goal in UCL history
    People forget this goal but that’s their problem

    Was a phenomenon dribbler vs Manchester United in the super cup 1991

    Even vs Milan towards the tail end of the 80s
    Specifically 88/89 if I recall correctly(although that maybe stojkovic who was the main dribbling threat in that match)
     
  8. PDG1978

    PDG1978 Member+

    Mar 8, 2009
    Club:
    Nottingham Forest FC
    I think Savicevic was pretty fast to be honest Carlito; more than Baggio anyway. I agree he was a very technical/creative dribbler though at times, as well as a smooth and precise one at other times.
     
  9. carlito86

    carlito86 Member+

    Jan 11, 2016
    Club:
    Real Madrid
    I think that savicevic performance vs Bayern is the best dribbling performance in EC/CL history
    What do you think?

    If I had the time to calculate he definitely completed double digit dribbles
    Definitely

    He practically humiliated every single outfield opposition player
    Savicevic just doesn’t dribble past you he literally leaves you on your ass

    Twitter would’ve had a field day with this match
    He turned 10 different guys into boateng 2015
     
  10. carlito86

    carlito86 Member+

    Jan 11, 2016
    Club:
    Real Madrid
    Was the dynamo Dresden goal from this season?
    2C7EA4D1-E1D2-4247-A829-47495292D3A9.gif
     
  11. LaPulga22

    LaPulga22 Member

    Messi FC
    Argentina
    Mar 10, 2023
    An argument can be made to put Messi in the 2000‘s and even In 2020-23
     
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  12. PDG1978

    PDG1978 Member+

    Mar 8, 2009
    Club:
    Nottingham Forest FC
    Possibly. I guess it's a big call considering all games, but I wouldn't say definitely not off the top of my head; the difficulty for older games would be availability of footage though I suppose anyway (George Best vs Rapid Vienna 1968/69 seems a likely contender potentially, but with minimal footage, for example)
    Yeah, I think that was in the away game in Dresden which got abandoned after a pitch invasion, with Red Star Belgrade awarded the game by default (so whether that's officially a goal in that case I'm not sure, but it was a great one for sure I'd say anyway).

    I think this is a very good general/dribbling game by Savicevic, vs Sampdoria, and for a good moment to see he did have good speed I think 0:54 would be a good choice anyway
     
  13. Al Gabiru

    Al Gabiru Member

    Jan 28, 2020
    I thought Bocchini was more of a game controller (like iniesta) than a dribbler, no?

    In 2020 so far, you mustn't forget vini jr. He's a average finisher (although is getting better), but his ability to break lines shouldn't be underestimated.

    Ortega, Okocha and Denilson are among the best of the 90s

    Despite Robinho not having exploded, he was one of the best in his era too (2000-10) in terms of dribbling.
     
  14. PDG1978

    PDG1978 Member+

    Mar 8, 2009
    Club:
    Nottingham Forest FC
    Dribbles followed by slide-rule passes were Bochini's biggest forte I think
     
  15. victorcalello38

    Feb 28, 2017
    Club:
    Montevideo Wanderers FC
    1930-34: Sindelar, Orsi, Meazza
    1935-39: Sarosi, Moreno, Leonidas,
    1940-44: Moreno, Pedernera, Zizinho
    1945-49: Zizinho, Matthews, Martino
    1950-54: Wilkes, Basora, Puskas
    1955-59: Garrincha, Julinho, Kopa
    1960-64: Pelé, Garrincha, Sivori
    1965-69: Best, Pelé, Beckenbauer
    1970-74: Cruyff, Rivelino, Jairzinho
    1975-79: Zico, Bochini, Cubillas
    1980-84: Maradona, Gonzalez, Zico
    1985-89: Maradona, M.Laudrup, Futre
    1990-94: Baggio, Savicevic, B.Laudrup
    1995-99: Ronaldo, Figo, Giggs
    2000-04: Ronaldinho, Zidane, Riquelme
    2005-09: Messi, C.Ronaldo, Ribery
    2010-14: Messi, Robben, Neymar
    2015-19: Messi, Neymar, Hazard
    2020-so far: Mbappé, Vinicius, Neymar

    1930-2023: In any order...Maradona, Pelé, Messi
     
  16. LaPulga22

    LaPulga22 Member

    Messi FC
    Argentina
    Mar 10, 2023
    do we underestimate di maria´s dribbling ability?
     
  17. carlito86

    carlito86 Member+

    Jan 11, 2016
    Club:
    Real Madrid
    #17 carlito86, Mar 18, 2023
    Last edited: Mar 18, 2023
    If I was to amend my list 1990s to include some players who skipped my mind and swap the positioning of other players

    1990s
    Dejan savicevic




    Roberto baggio
    Ronaldo nazario
    Dragan stojkovic
    Luis Figo
    Micheal laudrup
    Rivaldo
    Andrei Kanchelskis

    Brian laudrup
    Zinedine Zidane

    Elite 1990s dribblers who Just missed/Honourable mentions
    Hristo stoichkov
    Ryan giggs
    Ariel Ortega
    Romario
    George Weah
    Alessandro del piero
    Boban

    All these highlighted players at their peak would be the best dribbler in the world in 2023

    Some others Names to be given consideration
    David ginola
    Marc overmars
    Canniga
    Giussepe Signori
     
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  18. carlito86

    carlito86 Member+

    Jan 11, 2016
    Club:
    Real Madrid
    Even Zola

    There’s just too many from the 1990s
     
  19. PDG1978

    PDG1978 Member+

    Mar 8, 2009
    Club:
    Nottingham Forest FC
    Georgi Kinkladze for sure would be in the mix, I think (probably him and Weah were next in line for 90s players for my own list)
     
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  20. carlito86

    carlito86 Member+

    Jan 11, 2016
    Club:
    Real Madrid
    #20 carlito86, Mar 19, 2023
    Last edited: Mar 19, 2023
    I think top 3 is too easy

    They are usually uncontested and inarguable

    It becomes more murky the further you go down
    In the previous list that I jotted down I felt del piero was a more dangerous dribbler vs Zidane
    especially when he got into his famous “del piero zone” it was usually goodnight and goodbye

    But then del piero was rarely if ever a legitimate world class dribbling threat in any major intl tournament
    Like literally ever not even once in a single game I can recall

    Zidane on the other hand looked a world class dribbler in World Cup 98 at moments at least and of course he bettered this few years later in 2000

    I also felt strange leaving out Romario even though I included him in the other list

    I sided with kanchelskis over giggs for his superior solo goal dribbling threat even though giggs has his rare moments too(Arsenal 99 or even juventus 2003)
    https://theconventionalplaymaker.wo...n-giggs-vs-juventus-2002-03-champions-league/

    Even Cantona could be in my third list(with signori,canniga etc even if he was markedly slower as those player he was capable)

    The peak of waddle was in the early 1990s too right?
    If so he’s definitely in(even above kanchelskis)
    He destroyed a legendary Milan backline singlehandedly and was probably/arguably the most talented player In french football when it was the 1st or 2nd best league in the world during the very late 80s going into the very early 90s



    I’ll return to this once more when I have a proper think about it
     
  21. PDG1978

    PDG1978 Member+

    Mar 8, 2009
    Club:
    Nottingham Forest FC
    Yeah, I'd say early 90s would be Waddle's peak (at Marseille and Sheffield Wednesday), although I'm pretty sure he scored a solo goal dribbling down the left for Tottenham in the 80s.
     
  22. carlito86

    carlito86 Member+

    Jan 11, 2016
    Club:
    Real Madrid
    That is actually a wicked football compilation(the music goes with it perfectly)
     
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  23. PDG1978

    PDG1978 Member+

    Mar 8, 2009
    Club:
    Nottingham Forest FC
    The Waddle one is a good one too - I just gave it a watch and hadn't noticed/watched it before. Funnily enough, by Rensenbrink70, given along with Mario Kempes, I think Rob Rensenbrink would have been my next port of call for my 1970s list.

    Quite a lot of 1980s clips on it actually, when he was playing for Tottenham (one or two from his Newcastle days too). If you're not sure on a particular clip I can probably confirm whether it was 80s or 90s, and which team he was playing for.
     
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  24. Sexy Beast

    Sexy Beast Member+

    Dinamo Zagreb
    Croatia
    Aug 11, 2016
    Zagreb
    Club:
    --other--
    Nat'l Team:
    Croatia
    he seems to me as a great player at combining dribbling with other skills, but not per se a pure dribbler..

    Kanchelskis seems to me as a lesser version of Figo. Great winger, but at least this compilation didn't showcase his dribbling skills as something special. He mostly had pace.

    Kinky is great. Definitely above those two.

    This is such a hard topic to discuss as dribbling is very hard to quantify and measure, plus we don't have any stats to compare them.

    Regardless, if Bochini is mentioned then I believe many more midfielders of past 15 years must be mentioned

    Santi Cazorla
    Modrić
    Verratti
    Thiago
    Kovačić


    Obviously ISCO


    Also question is what is meant by dribbling? Is press resistance taken into consideration or only winger (#10) type players deserve a mention?

    There are many more:

    Adama Traore
    Maximin
    Zaha

    Holly trinity of dribbling by 2nd class players in epl in recent times

    Zaha has some of the most ridiculous, smooth, dribbling combos I've ever seen


    Coman
    Coutinho

    I see Ousmane Dembele is left out of converstaion so far:


    And of course. Kvaradona:
     
  25. PDG1978

    PDG1978 Member+

    Mar 8, 2009
    Club:
    Nottingham Forest FC
    Just a quick reply as I'm logging off now, but while I see it like you on Kinkladze, and perceive Bochini a bit differently (not to disagree it is the combination of dribbling and passing that was his stand-out feature), I would also have to lean to agreement on Kanchelskis although I did think he was a very good winger in his day (for pure dribbling I'd have to be honest and say team-mate Giggs was able to run more fluently with the ball though I feel in general) - this goal may not have been on the video in this thread though I think (again maybe not a 'pure dribbling' example as such, but for sure a great solo goal after running with the ball)
    https://youtu.be/QubC7F1fDnM
     

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