Who is your favourite football player of all time?

[T]

I'm going with who i've seen live and not on TV

I've seen some great footballers play over the years while watching Liverpool.... for me Robbie Fowler stands out... Messi of course and Dalglish... i doubt i'll ever see a great goalie again but Peter Schimichal was outstanding... Bergkamp was just a cracking footballer and prob a few others i forgot but will put if i remember them...

[IanIan]

I like Messi, I like the fact that he's modest and humble. I can't be bothered with arrogant footballers with their bling and tattoo's and choreographed goal celebrations (Lee Sharpe's 'sharpey shuffle' always annoyed me).

Robbie Fowler's probably my favourite player ever, in terms of identifying with a player and liking his style of play. He was deadly in those early years at Liverpool, pity he played in such a comparatively unsuccessful side. He also signed my programme when I was about 14 and seemed pretty down to earth.

Messi & Zidane are the two most talented footballers I've seen (only via TV though). I liked Le Tissier as a player, and the fact he looked like such a slob with his shirt untucked and his socks rolled down. Wasn't very keen on tracking back or running around the pitch like a headless chicken (a style I borrowed from heavily when I used to play Sunday League) but scored some incredible goals (something I failed to match). As a pundit he's a complete bore though.

I liked Peter Beardsley too, just for the fact he was such an unlikely football star. Certainly no David Beckham in terms of looks. Dennis Bergkamp was a great, great player too. That goal he scored for Holland in World Cup '98 was fantastic.

If he played for any other team I'd probably quite like Paul Scholes. But he's a United player and I'm duty bound to despise him (while still respecting his talent).

[Tom123]

Messi is underrated going by this thread.

This man is my favourite.

[Reasonable Doubt]

And he starred in a Ken Loach film. Can't get much more legendary than that.

[Johnni]

Originally Posted by Ceega

You can hardly blame a player for having the good fortune to play for a club team which is far better than every other team in its domestic league bar one.

The assertion that he needs to move away to another league is somewhat fatuous. Barcelona have been the best team in the world in the last few seasons and Messi has won three European Cups with them - a competition that is arguably more prestigious than the World Cup in modern day football.

Its not his fault but the reason why i'm saying he's overrated not cos he crap but that he's being compared as touted as someone who he is not yet. His crime his that he's being considered as the greatest in some corners when thats unfair on him as he's relatively young. To be called overrated doesn't mean you are not very good.
To be considered one of the greatest (or potentially) he has to do more in his career which is why i'm like 'wtf' when people say he is the best of all time cos his career hasn't even finished yet lol.

[gSteve]

Marco van Basten or Gary Lineker
I also liked the Brazilian striker Edmundo who was nicknamed The Animal, and the brazilian left winger Denilson

[FuzzyDuck]

Thanks for the Barnsey compilation Benfica. Great memories. I loved how he made it all look so effortless and his one step curling free-kicks were sublime. Not like the strikes of some players nowadays who just smash the ball towards a general area of the goal using their instep and let the movement of the new balls do all the work (Ronaldo and Lampard spring to mind).

With regards to his England career I think he also sufffered, as many other talented players did at that time (Hoddle, Waddle, Beardsley), from being just another player in a team that was based more on functionality rather than skill and creativity. Which is a shame because England did have some quality players. I think he also revealed at one time that he felt under pressure to do something every time he got the ball because he knew it would be a while before he saw it again (with memories of that goal against Brazil also weighing him down). Liverpool were so dominant that if something never came off for him he knew it wouldn't be long before he saw it again. And he was given the confidence and the freedom to try things and not to worry about the things he wasn't so good at.

[Saponara_Immobile]

Bati-Gol!

[Johnni]

^ Goal machine he was, 56 goals in 78 games for Argentina.

[Saponara_Immobile]

Yeah he was phenomenal, I loved his volleying technique especially. Must be up there with Van Basten on that one.

[neilm]

Maybe we should rename this thread the best Forward of all time seeing as defenders and midfielders have barely gotten a mention!

But to continue in that theme, Id say Messi is defo the best to be currently playing. Hes only 24 years old though and who knows by the end of his career he may well be proven to be the best of all time.

I suppose Maradona would be the all time great, although others such as Pele and G Best would have to be up there.

And although from a different era Ferenc Puskas is often described as being the best player pre the modern era.

My personal Fav player was Willie Miller but Ime an Aberdeen fan so Ime biased somewhat!

[Ben1981]

My personal favourite was Paolo Di Canio. He had bags of character and determination and nearly always livened up any game he played in due to his unpredictable nature. I hear hes the same as a manager.

[T]

Originally Posted by Deliverance?

My personal favourite was Paolo Di Canio. He had bags of character and determination and nearly always livened up any game he played in due to his unpredictable nature. I hear hes the same as a manager.

He always made me chuckle coz you didn't know what he would do next abit like Mario Ballotelli at the mo...

[Ben1981]

Yeah hes a similar one. Your never sure what your going to get with him on the pitch. A moment of sublime skill or pure madness. Every team should have a player like these two just for the talking points they raise.

[Onit]

Zidane, the man was beautiful.

[Named User]

Rooney. His style of play wouldn't look out of place on a playground. He's like that kid who could go past the entire class to score, but was equally adept at tracking back and taking the ball from you. Screw all this "spreading the play" nonsense that the Spaniards do, give me the fast and furious striker type anyday!

And in terms of memorable moments, his debut hat-trick against Fenerbahce in the Champions League was pretty good, but my favourite Rooney moment just so happens to be his favourite goal! Great minds...:

An honourable mention for favourite player goes to Jay Jay Okocha!

[WeiJingsheng]

Originally Posted by Named User

Rooney. His style of play wouldn't look out of place on a playground. He's like that kid who could go past the entire class to score, but was equally adept at tracking back and taking the ball from you. Screw all this "spreading the play" nonsense that the Spaniards do, give me the fast and furious striker type anyday!

And in terms of memorable moments, his debut hat-trick against Fenerbahce in the Champions League was pretty good, but my favourite Rooney moment just so happens to be his favourite goal! Great minds...:

An honourable mention for favourite player goes to Jay Jay Okocha!

Rooney has pretty much curbed that wreckless style he had.
Plays like a classy Spaniard these days.

Jay Jay was awesome.

[Named User]

Originally Posted by VinceMasuka

Rooney has pretty much curbed that wreckless style he had.
Plays like a classy Spaniard these days.

Jay Jay was awesome.

I was going to say something along those lines. I suppose it's good for the Utd team that he's matured somewhat and become a little more selfless (in terms of positioning anyway), but...I don't know? I just wish he would trust the midfield sometimes and be willing to take the ball and drive straight towards the box. Nowadays, he's more of a link-up man and relies on crosses.

[Johnni]

Originally Posted by VinceMasuka

R
Plays like a classy Spaniard these days.

You got a hard-on for these Spaniards it seems lol.

[WeiJingsheng]

Originally Posted by Johnni

You got a hard-on for these Spaniards it seems lol.

Tbf, he did say 'spreading the play' Spanish nonsense. Couldn't have that left unchallenged.

[FuzzyDuck]

Originally Posted by Johnni

You got a hard-on for these Spaniards it seems lol.

Oh, the irony.

[Johnni]

Where's the irony?

[Johnni]

That's 1 Spaniard not Spaniards lol.

[FuzzyDuck]

Johnni & Fernando

[Poster]

Has to be Stevie Gerrard for me, as I got to see him throughout his prime. Others such as Dalglish I know only off video clips.

[cymruambyth26]

From my generation it has to be Ryan Giggs.

Robert Earnshaw not far off........a great goalscorer the little man!

Mind you after this season Craig Bellamy is sneaking into my thoughts as well.

[aVoice2use]

Tony Yeboah - i am baised of course

Mind you the goals he scored that season were 'pure class'

same he turned out to be one of the forerunners of the greedy b'stard footballer that have wrecked the game.

Many other great footballers to choose from as well.

[Jam]

The man, the myth, the legend.

[Spock]

Just something really classy about the guy; plus the fact that he always seemed to have a slight melancholy about him (only further intensified by that world cup miss) i slightly love him a little bit (and i actually always liked the divine pony tail)

[buttonlane]

Loved Gazza, Maradona was a God but it has to be Messi.
Genius in our game on a level never seen before. Hes raised the bar like maradona did and made the impossoble seem possible. Now everyone is following.

Yes, he looks like a Belgium chocolate seller, But his talent is as sweet, as rich and as pure as they come.

Regardless of what he does in the rest of he career, hes done enough already for me to turn around and say.....