Greatest player of all time

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Lionel Messi
11
41%
Pelé
3
11%
Diego Maradona
8
30%
Cristiano Ronaldo
2
7%
Franz Beckenbauer
0
No votes
Johan Cruyff
1
4%
Alfredo Di Stéfano
0
No votes
Ferenc Puskás
0
No votes
Zinedine Zidane
1
4%
Ronaldo (Brazil)
1
4%
 
Total votes: 27

Risky
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Re: Greatest player of all time

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Jesus, I've just look up who did play in that game though and fucking hell I saw some ridiculously good players play that night:

Ronaldinho, Henry, Eto'o, Xavi, Iniesta, Yaya Toure, Thuram for Barca and then Pires, Senna, Cazorla and Godin playing for Villarreal.
Bob Sacamano
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Re: Greatest player of all time

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I loved watching Cazorla.
Bob Sacamano
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Favourite of all time is a better topic imo. Greatest is honestly one of the more boring conversations to have about football because you can only skirt around players that were top footballers but couldn’t be in the convo.
TheRam
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Re: Greatest player of all time

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Messi and it’s not even debatable for me imo, especially since he’s been successful for Argentina.

R9 for a period was an absolute phenomenon though. There’s never been a player like him with the speed, power, agility and technique.

The doctors at Inter even said his knees couldn’t keep up with the speed and agility he had with the ball.

I would have Modric in the conversation as well. Players like that don’t get the recognition they deserve but he’s the best midfielder I’ve seen play. In terms of trophies he must be the most successful midfielder of all time and could have even won a World Cup with Croatia he was that good.

They had a good team, but they get nowhere without a player like him in the middle. He ran the show in that 2018 semi and showed us what a proper world class midfield looks like.
biziclop
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Re: Greatest player of all time

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He wasn't the best player but the player I enjoyed watching the most was Hugo Sanchez.

Brownie
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Maradona without a shadow of a doubt for me
Matt1878
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Bob Sacamano wrote: Fri Sep 12, 2025 9:20 pm Favourite of all time is a better topic imo. Greatest is honestly one of the more boring conversations to have about football because you can only skirt around players that were top footballers but couldn’t be in the convo.
Yeah agree totally, its as much a debate on the definition of greatest isn't it. To be honest I was interested to see if it was Messi or Maradona and I'd had a skinful while watching Maradona vids on youtube.

I went with Maradona, as he both broke my heart and blew my 10 year old mind in 1986. I can understand the Messi shouts though.
Matt1878
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Shogun wrote: Fri Sep 12, 2025 2:46 pmAdded a poll
Thanks Shogs, I must have spent a good 10 seconds looking for the poll option.
Robioto
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Re: Greatest player of all time

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Based on my age and who I have watched extensively, IMO:

1. Lionel Messi
2. Ronaldo
3. Zinedine Zidane
4. Cristiano Ronaldo
5. Andres Iniesta
Mouse
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Probably Maradona for me. I think Messi and Ronaldo have an advantage in this era of wall to wall world football and social media. Also, the position you play make a huge difference. Being an old bastard. I’d add in Banks and Zoff, Eusebio (gets additional stars for being the greatest player my dad ever saw kick a ball, and that include Pele) and I loved watching great defenders like Paulo Maldini and Franco Barsesi. Also, despite him being a bit of a prick, Platini.

So, yes, Maradona followed by any of the above in whatever order Lyon like plus a few I’ve forgotten. Feck yes, the Belfast Boy!
Mallyman
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For me it would be Pele. Only saw him once and he got hacked to pieces at Goodison by Bulgarian thugs.
biziclop
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Mallyman wrote: Mon Sep 15, 2025 11:40 am For me it would be Pele. Only saw him once and he got hacked to pieces at Goodison by Bulgarian thugs.
Thank you for remembering the story correctly, half the time the Hungarian team are blamed for that these days.
Mallyman
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Farkas was the guy I remember from that Hungary side.

Just looked him up and he died tragically young at 47.
777Kidnappings
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Mouse wrote: Sun Sep 14, 2025 4:04 pm Probably Maradona for me. I think Messi and Ronaldo have an advantage in this era of wall to wall world football and social media. Also, the position you play make a huge difference. Being an old bastard. I’d add in Banks and Zoff, Eusebio (gets additional stars for being the greatest player my dad ever saw kick a ball, and that include Pele) and I loved watching great defenders like Paulo Maldini and Franco Barsesi. Also, despite him being a bit of a prick, Platini.

So, yes, Maradona followed by any of the above in whatever order Lyon like plus a few I’ve forgotten. Feck yes, the Belfast Boy!
Think they have a disadvantage. We see every game they play. We saw Maradonas highlights.
velimski
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Re: Greatest player of all time

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GOAT Messi

Joint FOATS Dragan Stojkovic, Zinedine Zidane AND R9.
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