RedCafe All-Time Top-30 | Attacking midfielders (number 10s) | Results are incoming...

[harms]

39. Johnny Haynes, Isco. 9 points

Johnny Haynes

One of the most outstanding talents that England had in the 1950's-60's, Haynes was a magnificent playmaker with seemingly unlimited passing range. His signature move was the diagonal through-ball, often delivered blind and on the turn, as if Haynes could sense the opening without having to see it. Always a perfectionist, he demanded only the best from himself and from others. Pretty much all of his England partners, from Finney to Greaves, call him the greatest passer of the ball that they've seen (there's also a similar quote Pelé... the man loves his compliments). Allan Mullery's one was the most specific though: "Johnny was the greatest passer of a ball I’ve known. He could lay it within six inches of a colleague. A yard wasn’t good enough for Johnny." He was at the heart of England’s historic 9-3 defeat of Scotland in 1960. In the same year he was voted Sportsman of the Year — so when in 1961 he became the first £100-a-week footballer, nobody was surprised.

Sadly, his career for England was cut short by a horrible car accident. When a policeman found him, he cheerfully noted: "Don't worry son, you've only broken your legs" — but that phrase sounds very different when you're a professional footballer. After that injury, Haynes was never the same — and while he had managed to keep playing for Fulham for almost a decade, he never got another call up for England again (prior to the accident he had captained England 22 times, and, being only 27, was expected to lead them in the 1966 World Cup). Fulham, that reached 2 FA Cup semi-finals in 1958 and 1962 would struggle to remain competitive and Haynes would eventually retire with only 1 trophy to his name — a South African league title that he had won in a semi-retirement. With 658 games and 158 goals for the club, he is the greatest figure in Fulham's history rivalled only by Michael Jackson, who attended their game once.

Isco

I'm a bit surprised by his inclusion and I don't think that I need to describe his (still on-going even though it doesn't feel like it) career in detail. When Isco & Thiago dominated the 2013 U-21 Euros it looked like the whole world is at their feet and the all-mighty Spain doesn't need to worry about its future with the replacements for Xavi & Iniesta already being ready. Isco, at the time Malaga player, had already shown his potential both in the league (securing their first victory over Real Madrid in 29 years) and in Europe — Malaga narrowly missed the semi-final with Reus & Santana (Dortmund would reach the final that year) scoring 2 decisive goals in the added time.

His dog named Messi ("I named my dog 'Messi' because Messi is the best in the world, and so is my dog" — you can't really argue with the logic) probably wasn't too happy with Isco's next move — he would sign for Real Madrid who were desperate to sign Spanish next big thing. He's been there for 8 years now, but he never really established himself as a key player of the starting XI — even though you can't dismiss his achievements there either. His trophy room with 4 CL & 2 La Liga titles is quite impressive, but a man of his talent should've played a bigger role in those — Isco usually played as a 12th man (first substitution for either creative midfielders or attackers) and didn't fully exploit Bale's horrible patch of form or Ronaldo's departure.

 

[Jim Beam]

Andy Möller

 

[Joga Bonito]

His dog named Messi ("I named my dog 'Messi' because Messi is the best in the world, and so is my dog" — you can't really argue with the logic)

 

[harms]

38. Herbert Prohaska. 10 points

Prohaska is generally considered to be one (if not the one) of Austria's greatest ever players. When UEFA asked Austrian FA to name their most outstanding player over the past few years in 2003 (hence the important note — Matthias Sindelar doesn't qualify), they chose Prohaska — ahead of Hans Krankl, goalscorer extraordinaire. A more surprising bit of trivia that a year later Austrian FA also named him Austrian Footballer of the Century — but then the vote was decided by a telephone poll and I would assume that a lot of Sindelar's prime demographic weren't very active at the time. But enough of that, let's talk about the player himself.

Like most on those list, Prohaska was a young prodigy — making his professional debut at the mere age of 16. Austrian football was in a huge crisis at the time, having missed out on a 4th consecutive World Cup qualification, so the whole country was watching the youngster, who was a sign of things to come. At the age of 19 he was already an established starter for Austria Vienna, scoring 9 goals in 34 league appearances — that was enough to earn his first Austrian Player of the Year award (the one that was given out by the Kronen Zeitung, at the time it was the only one, the official one would be introduced only in 1984). Three years later, with 2 Bundesliga titles under his belt, he went to the 1978 World Cup — after heroically securing its place in the finals with a goal against Turkey. The country was ecstatic with the first World Cup appearance in 20 years, the crucial qualifying game against Turkey got a cool name ("Spitz of Izmir" — you'll think that I'm ranting about dogs again but "spitz" comes from "Sau-Spitz", which is a term for a toe-poke finish in German) & Prohaska became a national hero. The best was yet to come though. Austria finished the first group round on top of the group — ahead of Brazil on secondary metrics. The second group stage wasn't going as well as the first one with the inexperienced team losing the first two games, making the last one irrelevant in terms of tournament perspectives. The opponent also seemed unbeatable — it was West Germany, the reigning World Champions... the last time Austria had won against any Germany team was 47 years ago — before the Anschluss, WWII & Separation of Germany. And yet this game would stay in Austrian football folklore forever — as the Miracle of Cordoba. Hans Krankl was the hero of that game — scoring 2 goals, including a brilliant winner at the 87' minute, but it was Prohaska who had the last touch — I'll give you a transcript of Edi Finger's (Austrian journalist) commentary from the last minute, it gives you a better understanding of what this victory meant to the people:

... Germany sends everyone to the front. A chance for the Germans! Well? It is wide! Oh, Abramczik, I'd like to kiss Abramczik for it. He really helped us -- alone in front of the goal. Brave Abramczik has shot wide. The poor guy will fret. 30 seconds to go. 3–2 for Austria. After 47 years, ladies and gentlemen, an Austrian national team, but what a team, a world class team that's performing today, is in the lead 3–2 against the Federal Republic. And I don't dare to watch anymore. The ball's kicked out of the match. Referee Klein from Israel, a truly outstanding referee, it was not easy for him today, but he performed magnificently up to now. 45th minute, once again the ball's with Germany and Prohaska kicks it away. And now it is over! It's over, it's finished it's done, it's over! Germany has been beaten, ladies and gentlemen, for the first time in 47 years, Austria has defeated Germany

Over the next couple of years Prohaska’s game developed exponentially and he was starting to play with a real swagger. His powerful dribbling and intricate passing ability saw him cut through teams with ease and it started to become apparent that he was outgrowing Austrian football. In the summer of 1980, Serie A opened its doors to foreign players once more and when Italian champions Inter Milan came calling with the promise of European Cup football, Prohaska could not refuse. He became the first non-Italian to play for them for 14 years! He didn't win any silverware there but he nevertheless will be never forgotten by Inter fans — in his second season Austrian played a crucial role in the famous Derby della Madonnina. AC Milan was on a brink of relegation & Inter's victory (with 2 Prohaska goals — one for and one against) all but ensured it.

After that Prohaska moved to AS Roma, becoming a crucial piece in yet another history-denying victory. With Prohaska playing a role of a midfield conductor, joining Di Bartolomei, Ancelotti and Falcão (I absolutely adore that midfield by the way), the giallorossi had finally won a Serie A title — the first one in 41 years! Prohaska's influence was undeniable, even though his midfield partners got more plaudits — he provided the platform for them to shine on. AS Roma won only one out of four games that they've played without him that season. It was Prohaska's last season in Italy before he returned home, to Austria Vienna... and who knows, maybe he was that missing piece that stopped Roma from getting a historic treble next season — they've won the Italian Cup, finished runners up to Juventus in the league & lost to Liverpool in the European Cup final on penalties.

 

[harms]

37. Juan Mata, 11 points.

Have a nice week. Hugs,

Juan

 

[Ladron de redcafe]

"... Fulham, that reached 2 FA Cup semi-finals in 1958 and 1962 would struggle to remain competitive and Haynes would eventually retire with only 1 trophy to his name — a South African league title that he had won in a semi-retirement. With 658 games and 158 goals for the club, he is the greatest figure in Fulham's history rivalled only by Michael Jackson, who attended their game once."

That bit

 

[Isotope]

80s' and 90s' are best era for AM. Now it's almost none. Maybe KdB, Bruno, who else?

 

[harms]

36. Matt Le Tissier. 14 points

The literal embodiment of a cult hero. Le Tissier spent his entire career at Southampton, never winning a trophy or even finishing higher than seventh in the Premier League, yet his name will be forever remembered not only by the Saints fans but by all who had the privilege of seeing him play. Even outside of his otherworldly goals & cool appearance he has influenced the league's history like few players before or since. It was Le Tissier's master-class against Manchester United in 1986 — an 18 years old had scored 2 goals in a 4:1 victory for Southampton — that finally forced Reds to part ways with Ron Atkinson (he was sacked 2 days later) & sign a certain Alex Ferguson.

You can find the most surprising names among Le Tissier's fans — like Xavi, who had idolised him growing up... although, thinking about it, it makes perfect sense — despite being one of the most memorable players in Premier League's history, Le Tissier was very much a continental footballer by nature, prioritising technique and flair over grit, hard work and determination.

He could simply dribble past seven or eight players, but without speed — he just walked past them. For me he was sensational.

Peak Le Tissier performance came around the mid 90's, under the management of Alan Ball (who knows a thing or two about beautiful football!). During that one and a half seasons (from January 1994 to July 1995) Le Tissier had scored 34 goals (only Shearer had more) & made 23 assists (no one even came close), including legendary hat-trick against Liverpool.



It was almost enough to kickstart his England career as he got his first cap in 1994... but he'll only get 7 more. During the preparations for the 1998 World Cup he had even scored a hat-trick for England B team, trying to convince Glenn Hoddle to take him to France. But Hoddle didn't (which is quite interesting — you'd expect a bit more from a manager who himself had been often overlooked by his contemporaries because of his continental style of playing). “Maybe it was just because he wanted to still be the best player in training,” Le Tissier later suggested, when asked why he thought neither he or Gascoigne had been included in that squad.

His last goal came during Southampton's last ever match at The Dell, a stadium where they've spent 103 years playing. In a dramatic thriller of a game against Arsenal, Le Tissier snatched the victory with a last-minute strike, making the score 3:2. "It had to be him, didn't it?". Coincidentally, it would be his 100th goal in the Premier League — he was the first midfielder to reach that mark.

 

[Isotope]

Fascinating writing on Le Tessier, harms.

 

[harms]

34. Gianfranco Zola, Krasimir Balakov. 15 points

Zola got into top-tier football pretty late — at the age of 23 he was still playing in Serie C. Leaving for Napoli in 1989 seemed like a huge change — especially for a guy who had never lived outside of his native Sardinia. Thankfully, Diego Maradona himself, at the highest point of his career, made sure to properly welcome shy Sardinian: "Finally! They've bought a guy even shorter than me!". Jokes aside, it's hard to overstate the importance of Maradona's influence over Zola — the young man obsessively tried to copy Maradona's every Maradona's move and, soon enough, he became a regular feature in the starting XI. In came to the point when, upon his departure, Diego stated that Napoli doesn't need to look for anyone to replace him as the team already had Zola. Now, replacing Maradona was an enormous task, but Gianfranco did as well as you can expect from a mere mortal — scoring 12 goals and providing 12 assists in the first Maradona-less season. Sadly, Napoli's finances were in disarray so they've had to sell him.

At Parma he has cemented his place as one of the league's best players, scoring 49 goals in 102 league appearances. Sadly, the arrival of Carlo Ancelotti as a manager had meant that Zola's career at the club was coming to the end — young Carlo was not yet a shrewd tactician who always found a way to fit in all of his best players, but rather a strict follower of Sacchi's principles. And there was no place for a fantasista in Sacchi's 4-4-2.

Well, one's loss is another's gain. Zola had joined Chelsea for £4.5m in November 1996. Already 30 years old, he was desperate to leave a mark there — and the initial skepsis from both the players and the fans was soon displaced with awe and admiration. He became FWA Player of the Year, despite coming to Chelsea during the season and led them to their first major trophy in 26 years — FA Cup. If there was a Cantona-esque figure in Chelsea's history, it was Zola — and the league itself has benefitted massively from this transfer that, alongside Cantona and Bergkamp, introduced new, continental playing style as well as the international status to Premier League that slowly started to outgrow Serie A as the biggest and the most entertaining league in the world.



Let me pass the mic to his former Chelsea teammate:

“Gianfranco would be one of the first on the training field and one of the last off,” recalls Duberry. “There was one time when the boss, Ruud Gullit, said to the young English players, ‘You lot aren’t technical enough, so you’re going out half an hour early to do some skill exercises’. There was Jody Morris, Andy Myers and myself, and we saw it as a punishment. Why were we having to do that when Frank Leboeuf and Roberto Di Matteo were in the changing room sipping espressos, watching us from the window and laughing?

“Zola sensed that. He’d say, ‘Dubes, come on, I’ll come and do them with you – it’s not punishment. See it the other way, as a way to better yourself’. He and Vialli both came out. When you could see Gianfranco getting something out of it, everyone else changed their approach. He was only around 4ft 2in, but was a mammoth of a man – his gravitas, his warmth. When people ask me to name the best I ever played with, I don’t hesitate – it was Zola.”

“But what he did at Chelsea was great as it was, and the club did win things during that period. It was the influence he had on other Chelsea players like Frank Lampard, too. The attention to detail, to practise and work hard – it rubbed off on anyone who joined the club. People talk about Jose Mourinho putting that mindset into Chelsea, but Zola had already been doing it. He had such an impact there. He transformed the club.”

In some ways, Balakov appears to be almost a caricature of your typical number 10. A headstrong figure who locked horns at various intervals with coaches and team mates alike in his day, his artistic sensibilities are reflected off the pitch by the vast and growing collection of paintings he keeps in a gallery in a wing of his house. The Bulgarian ticks all of the prime playmaker boxes – vision, skill, astonishing technique and the audacity to try what others wouldn’t dare to attempt. He also possessed a veritable Swiss army knife of a left foot, as capable of powering home a high velocity free kick from 30 yards as subtly unlocking illustrious defences with a stunning through ball. Yet while many number 10s founder and fade as age catches up with them, or fail to adapt on moving to a different league, Balakov’s strength and work rate enabled him to make the switch effortlessly from Portugal to the more robust Bundesliga, despite being 29 by the time he arrived in Germany in the spring of 1995, and he continued to be the main man for club and country well into his 30s.

Krasimir Balakov had a brilliant European career. His first foreign club was Sporting Lisbon, where he had played alongside Luis Figo and Paulo Sousa — although you can argue that that side had underachieved relative to its talent, only winning one Portuguese cup during Bulgarian's time there. His next transfer would prove to be the most decisive move of his career. Balakov went to Shuttgart where he won two UEFA Intertoto Cups (2000 and 2002), DFB-Pokal (1997), before retiring in 2003 — in his last season Shuttgart finished as a runner up to Bayern Münich, a fantastic achievement for that club at the time. During the mid-nineties, Krasmir Balakov, Geovanni Elber and Fredi Bobic formed the famed “magic triangle” at Stuttgart. The trio is still talked about in hushed tones at the Mercedes-Benz Arena. Floating just behind the strikers, Balakov was the focal point, the “head of the triangle” who would make the bullets for the brawny yet skillful combo of Elber and Bobic. The trio shared an ability to combine almost telepathically, delighting fans and neutrals alike with one touch passing and brilliantly intricate, devil-may-care attacking play. He thrice made it into kicker's team of the season as well as becoming Bulgarian Footballer of the Year twice, beating none other than Ballon d'Or winning Hristo Stoichkov! Shuttgart fans absolutely adored him and even officially chosen him as their club's best ever player.

His career for Bulgaria was very impressive as well — most notably it was the 1994 World Cup campaign that really put him on the map. Bulgaria made is as far as the semi-finals (their highest ever finish, obviously), narrowly losing out to Baggio's Italy. It was mainly due to Stoichkov & Balakov — two Bulgarian stars even made it into the official Team of the Tournament! His international career stretched over three decades and included 92 appearances, one of the highest tally of any Bulgarian footballer. As the ever-authoritative Jonathan Wilson notes, Stoichkov and Balakov complemented each other perfectly, the latter being the ‘schemer’ behind the former’s cutting edge. Off the field however, as Wilson also alludes to, the duo had a fractious relationship. Whether characterised as a clash of egos between two men who were not shy about making their voices heard, or as a conflict between Balakov the model pro vs Stoichkov the maverick, the two did not see eye to eye. This culminated in an almighty shouting match between the two at half time during Bulgaria’s quarter final against world champions Germany…which promptly fuelled their astonishing comeback and one of the greatest shocks in world cup history.

 

[harms]

32. Álvaro Recoba, Antonio Sastre. 16 points

San Siro was buzzing with excitement — Inter fans were about to witness the debut of their new signing, 20-years old Brazilian Ronaldo, that had just been named FIFA World Player of the Year. Another signing — 21 years-old Álvaro Recoba signed from Uruguaian Nacional, was sitting on the bench, and I doubt that anyone had even noticed him before the game — all eyes were on O Fenomeno. Yet, for Brazilian the game wasn't going according to plan — with 20 minutes to go Inter was 1 goal down (Brescia's goal came through another future legend, 18-years old Andrea Pirlo, who had found Dario Hubner with his accurate pass). Recoba's equaliser came with 10 minutes of the game remaining — thunderous shot with his left foot went straight into the top corner, leaving a keeper no chance. Five minutes later, Inter got a promising free kick — Recoba took the ball & no one seemed to question his decision. Another left-footed shot — this time a well-placed curler, and Inter are already in the lead that they aren't giving away. It takes a special talent to upstage Ronaldo himself on his debut — and Recoba was pretty special indeed.



He would at Inter for the next 11 years — way longer than Ronaldo — earning genuine love and adoration not only from the fans but also from Moratti himself. “Alvaro is not just a footballer,” Moratti would later say. “Alvaro is football.” But to say that this stay was successful or, at least, in any way deserving of Recoba's talent, would be an overstatement. Despite becoming the world's highest paid player in 2001 (according to some sources), Recoba was not even a regular starter for most of his time — it was hard to rely on him throughout the season but there were always moments when he would suddenly come alive, producing moments of pure magic.

Antonio Sastre (lazily copied a good write-up from www.cfclassics.co)

Antonio Sastre was a rare breed indeed - a pre-war playmaker, one of the first of their kind, some even say that he invented the modern playmaking style in Argentina. He would become one of the biggest influences on future players of his ilk. Sastre was also known as one of the first players to be noted for his ability to adapt to almost any position on the pitch, his coolness on the ball and tactical intelligence helped him create his very own 1930s version of Total Football. Despite his flexibility, his intelligence and skill on the ball meant that he was best-suited playing along the front line, and he was most dangerous when dropping behind an out-and-out forward and creating chances.

Sastre started his senior career with Independiente and stayed with El Rojo for eleven years, much of it spent forming a formidable attacking trident alongside Vicente de la Mata and Arsenio Erico. Erico had a phenomenal strike-rate, and De la Mata wasn't far behind either, but it was Sastre who was the creator, dropping deep to pick up the ball and then direct things for his team-mates. Sastre would inspire Independiente to two Argentine league titles, in 1938 and 1939, breaking the dominance of River Plate.

In 1942, now aged 31, Sastre left Independiente and moved to Brazilian club São Paulo where he would enjoy a brilliant swansong to his career, forming another fantastic partnership, this time with Leonidas, the World Cup Golden Boot winner from the 1938 tournament. They hadn’t won a championship since 1931 and Sastre was influential in helping them to win three Paulista championships.

Unfortunately, he never got the chance to play in the World Cup, as the tournament he probably would have starred in, the 1938 World Cup in France, was boycotted by Argentina in response to the decision to hold a second successive World Cup in Europe. The other subsequent tournaments, 1942 and 1946, were cancelled because of World War II. However, Sastre did win the Copa America three times, which is no mean feat itself.

Sastre's legacy has been well documented in South America and has been widely praised for the beautiful footballing style which he adopted. César Luis Menotti, Argentina's manager from their 1978 World Cup triumph, once said, "Antonio Sastre was the best player I have ever seen. He was capable of playing in any position in a team.", whilst Vicente Feola, Sastre's coach at São Paulo, also recalled his influence, “he had the same importance to us as Zizinho in the 1950s and Gérson in the 1970s”. But perhaps the greatest acknowledgement of Sastre's footballing pedigree was highlighted in 1980 when he was awarded his country's Diploma of Merit as one of the top five players in Argentina's history (the other four were Diego Maradona, Alfredo Di Stéfano, Adolfo Pedernera and José Manuel Moreno). If you're going to share an accolade, then that's pretty good company to keep!

 

[harms]

30. César Cueto, Adolfo Pedernera, 21 points

César Cueto

Another one in the line of great attacking midfielders of the 80's that had to live in the shadow of Maradona, Zico & Michel Platini. Nicknamed "El Poeta de la Zurda" ("left-footed poet"), Cueto was arguably the most technically gifted player in history of Peruvian football, earning 51 caps for his country, appearing in 2 World Cups and winning Copa America in 1975. He never get to play in Europe, but he did spent a huge chunk of his career abroad — in Colombia, during the time when the league was overflowing with cartels' money. He was adored there by the fans and players alike — Carlos Valderrama hails him as his favourite player & personal inspiration and here's an exert from the interview of one of Pablo Escobar's murderous crooks (Cueto spent 4 seasons at Escobar's team, Atlético Nacional):

He was an idol. We watched him on television with El Patron. We didn't go to the stadium, because we were at war. But César Cueto is and will always be in the DNA of all the soccer fields in Medellín

Funnily enough his second Colombian club, América de Cali was owned by Escobar's fiercest competitors, the Cali cartel — that transfer probably has some fascinating backstory. Anyway, after spending 8 years in Colombia he came back to his boyhood club Alianza Lima (it was his third stint there!) where he had spent the last years of his illustrious career.

Adolfo Pedernera

Pedernera played a key role in not one, but two club sides that have their own nicknames — that's how you know that the team was quite special.
La Máquina was probably the greatest side that River Plate had ever managed to assembly — with the front line of Juan Carlos Muñoz, José Manuel Moreno, Adolfo Pedernera, Ángel Labruna and Félix Loustau they had won three Primera División titles and three Copa Aldao's in the space of just 5 years. Muñoz and Loustau played on the wings, Moreno and Labruna focused more on goalscoring while Pedernera was the brain of the operation — he was renown for his phenomenal passing and intelligence.
After spending 11 years at River Plate Pedernera decided to travel around, eventually ending up in Colombia (we have a theme today, don't we?). He had joined Millonarios, a side that already had Alfredo Di Stéfano and Nestor Rossi on their books. The Colombian press were ecstatic, praising the new signing to no end:

a phenomenon, an artist, a master of passing, and a show of intelligence. After the debut of El Maestro, everything is possible

Everything was possible indeed. They'll win 4 league titles in 5 years and their marvelous style of play would earn them a nickname "Ballet Azul". Di Stéfano said that they've had to develop a special strategy as to not to humiliate their opponents too much — after achieving a 5-goal lead they'd stop scoring... apparently once they've had to implement it in 9 games in a row! And it wasn't just domestic domination — in 1952 Millonarios went to a European tour, beating Real Madrid 4:2 (and twice more after Madrid asked for a chance to fix their reputation) and in 1953 they've won Pequeña Copa del Mundo (Small Club World Cup) — the predecessor of the International Cup. So, does it really surprise you that his partner Di Stéfano considered Pedernera the greatest player that he ever saw?

The best player I ever saw in my life, was Adolfo Pedernera. Undoubtedly, Maradona was exceptional, fantastic. The best in years. One can not ignore even Pele. But for heaven’s sake, though it is difficult to draw comparisons, Pedernera was a very complete player who could play anywhere on the pitch

 

[harms]

29. Pablo Aimar. 38 points

Aimar's introduction to European football couldn't have happened in a better way. He's made his debut soon after Valencia signed him for a club-record fee of €24 million — facing the intimidating Manchester United midfield of Giggs, Scholes, Keane & Beckham... and after 90 minutes of seemingly endless tricks and feints even Johan Cruyff was full of praise:

He’s got the lot. Tremendous touch, takes up excellent positions, picks out his team-mates brilliantly and can make any pass. Aimar has everything needed to make an impact in Europe. Imagine how good he is going to be in a few years.

It was to be expected though — for years now he was hailed to be the long-awaited successor to Diego Maradona (albeit playing for River Plate). The Divine Cokehead himself was full of praise:

Valencia have taken the best player in Argentina

Pablo is the only current footballer I'd pay to watch. He’s been the best player in Argentina over the last couple of years and is even more talented than Riquelme or Saviola

There was a two-year golden spell in which Aimar won two La Liga titles, the 2004 UEFA Cup and the UEFA Super Cup, while finishing one game short of a Champions League medal in 2001. But a player of Aimar’s ability should have dominated at the top for a decade in the way that Zinedine Zidane did. Niggly injuries had a large part to play in his decline. Six seasons with Valencia were followed by two campaigns at fellow La Liga side Real Zaragoza, the last of which ended in relegation. Five years at Benfica followed, in which Aimar won a Portuguese league title and four league cups, before El Payaso went rogue and joined Malaysian side Johor Darul Ta’zim for eight games. From there it was a romantic return to River Plate and Estudiantes Rio Cuarto, the two clubs at which it all started for Aimar.

So where does Aimar rank? While some will question his legacy and that he faded far too quickly after Valencia’s double, highlighting that he failed to live up to Maradona’s billing, his career should be remembered without the taglines. Above the trophies, Aimar played a brand of football that was as exhilarating as it was refreshing. He was easy to watch and able to link play between teammates with the deftest of touches, as evidenced by his magnificent goal against Liverpool in the Champions League for Valencia. He made the fans dream – as well as a young boy by the name of Lionel in Rosario.

(Aimar was) the player I most looked up to as a boy

28. Mesut Özil. 49 points

If you need a reminder of just how good of a creator Mesut was at his peak — take a look at his video. At the time of recording he was still in the lead, even Messi had less assists than him at the same age. I do believe that he's the closest thing that we've had to Michael Laudrup since Brian Laudrup — unmatched vision, sublime technique and slightly questionable attitude that stopped him one step short of reaching the sky. He was born in the wrong era where number 10s weren't needed anymore — and in order to compete with other-wordly Barça Madrid had to adapt, even if that meant selling a player that averaged more than 20 assists per season during his time at the club.



In my mind his club career has ended in 2013 — I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw that he had spent 8 years at Arsenal (compared to 3 at Real Madrid). He does have 3 FA Cups to show for it though as well as some impressive individual records — be it the 19-assists-per-PL-season benchmark that only been ever beaten by Henry or him reaching 50 assists in the league faster than any other player (in 141 appearances — 2 less than Eric Cantona).

His international career was even more impressive — he seemed to suit its pace better and Löw definitely knew how to use him best. Even with Bayern Münich breaking all of the records it was Özil who was voted German Player of the Year season after season — 5 times during a 6-year spell to be precise, with only Toni Kroos breaking his spell in 2014. Although looking back at it and seeing that Müller hasn't won it even once makes me question the criteria.

 

[harms]

27. Gunnar Gren. 57 points

Probably the least celebrated member of the Gre-No-Li trio — but not for the lack of talent! Gren, Nordahl and Liedholm first caught the world's attention at the 1948 Olympic games, where the Swedish team won the competition seemingly without breaking a sweat. 2 goals from Gren and another one from Nordahl did the job in the final against a very strong Yugoslavian side featuring Bobek, Vukas and Čajkovski. A year later the trio would be reunited in Milan, with all three Swedes signing for rossoneri. They took the league by storm — Nordahl is still AC Milan's all-time top scorer, Liedholm would play the club for 12 years... only Gren's love story with AC Milan seems to be a complicated one.

In his first season Gren, always more of a creator rather than a prolific goalscorer, scored an incredible 18 goals. His 9 goals in the next season helped Milan to the scudetto. His numbers kept dropping though and the owners were starting to think that Gren may have been past it. He was never a fast player, always making the ball do the running for him. His apparent slowness was also seen as a sign of a possible deterioration though. At the end of the 1952/53 he was sold to Fiorentina — Gren was far from happy with how the things ended up for him and rossoneri and went into the season extremely motivated. Fiorentina's attack — Gren, Bacci and Gratton was laughed off by the press as the "turtle trio", but Bernardini was adamant that it will work — and that Gren would find his feet again, no longer constraint by Milan's tactical set up. Fiorentina finished the next season on 44 points, level with AC Milan, with Gren orchestrating their entire offensive game. A year and a few new shining signings later and Gren's written off again — this time he goes from Fiorentina to Genoa.

He would save the best for last, of course. June 3, 1956, Genoa faces Fiorentina in the last game of the season. Genoa are only 9th, despite Gren's incredible 23 league goals, while Fiori are comfortably at the top of the league, with scudetto already in their hands. The only have one goal now — with 20 wins and 13 draws they are on course to finish the season unbeaten... Gratton scores first, Fiorentina is 1 goal up. Then, suddenly, the whistle goes — Genoa are awarded a penalty. Usually it's Frizzi who takes them, but he's failed to beat the keeper last week and can't find the courage to take the ball. Gren steps up and calmly slots it in — 1:1, 74'. 9 minutes later, Frizzi scores the second. With a minute to go Carapellese adds in the third — victory! And, more importantly, no unbeaten record for Fiorentina.

This was Gren's last game in Italy — after the summer break he comes back to Sweden to Örgryte. But he wasn't finished yet! The Gre-No-Li trio was recalled to the national team right before the 1958 World Cup, after a long break (due to their "professional" status). 37-years old Gren was the oldest player on the team but he played a crucial role in Sweden reaching the final — featuring in 5 games and scoring an all-important goal in the semi-final against West Germany. By some reports he even made it into the Team of the Tournament but since there weren't any official TotT at the time it's hard to verify.

He was the Maradona of the fifties. He could make the ball do anything and he was capable of winning any game on his own

 

[harms]

26. Carlos Valderrama. 60 points

While his club career is relatively underwhelming — aside from the years spent playing in the Colombian league and MLS he only spent 4 seasons in Europe, ultimately failing to fully adapt to its pace and physicality (although he did help Montpellier to win Coupe de France)... but his international career is pretty much perfect. He had played in 3 World Cups and 5 Copa Americas, earning 111 caps and capturing hearts and minds all across the worlds with his unique style, on and off the pitch. Long before tiki-taka was a thing, there was toke-toke, a Colombian style of pass and move, with the playmaker dropping as deep as the defensive line to pick up the ball. It’s a style that invokes the hypnotic rhythm of Colombian salsa. It’s the rhythm of Barranquilla, the base of Colombian football since the mid-1980s.

Under Maturana’s leadership, Colombia qualified for their first World Cup since 1962, with a squad largely based on the hugely successful Atlético Nacional and América de Cali. While the greats of the 1990s were still to come through – the likes of Faustino Asprilla and Adolfo Valencia, whose cutting edge was missing from this 1990 side – alongside Valderrama and Rincón there was a squad with a solid defence, modern attacking full-backs and, in René Higuita, a goalkeeper who was as captivating as anyone on the pitch.

The West Germans may not have been captivated, so much as unable to impose themselves on the game at all. They simply couldn’t get the ball. Having already qualified, they may not have been at full strength for this game, but such was the domination of the Colombians it mattered little.

Colombia’s plan to simply keep the ball away from danger for the remainder of the match, however, was flawed, and their reluctance to actually attack kept things goalless. West Germany would, of course, have enough possession at times to push forwards. A minute from time, Littbarski beat Higuita at his near post, and Colombia were out. “In many ways it’s a shame,” said Barry Davies on commentary. “Because if they had wanted to play, they would have been a decoration for the last 16.”

They had wanted to play, though, just not in the way out northern European eyes would perceive it. It had spectacularly backfired, however. Davies had bemoaned Valderrama for contributing little and doing his team a disservice, but that was to miss the purpose of his contribution. The plan hadn’t been to attack; it had been to control. And Valderrama did that for 89 of the 90 minutes, before the moment it had threatened to all go wrong.

The clocked ticked beyond the 90th minute as the match restarted, and now Colombia simply had to score. It was as though the challenge stirred them into sudden action. As though they felt slighted at the imposition and the impunity of it all. It was as if they collectively thought to themselves, “So you want to test us, do you? You want us to score now? Ok, no hay problema.”

Colombia played the ball out from the back to Valderrama in midfield, whose swift turn suddenly put his side on the offensive. He and Rincón, the two most potent attacking threats in the team, then played a few quick passes, pinging it from one to the other. Eduardo Galeano describes this movement in Football in Sun and Shadow as “yours and mine, mine and yours, touch after touch,” with the Germans unable to even come close to the ball.

Before you knew it, Rincón had ambled into space and Valderrama’s exquisite pass split the German defence asunder to find him. Rincón, clean through on goal, simply nudged the ball softly between the onrushing Bodo Illgner’s legs to score. It had all happened to fast that it took a moment to take it in.

The Colombians were going crazy on the pitch, in the stands and in the commentary box. “Viva Colombia!” was the cry on Colombian television, as that same message flashed on the screen in the simple multi-coloured graphics of a rudimentary computer game.

The sheer audacity of their ability to just flick a switch, change mindset in an instant and, in such a vital moment, to score what was in some ways a simple goal, but one that was born of the Colombian footballing mentality and its rhythm, was glorious to me. To have that ability stored up ready for it if was needed was one thing; to actually do it when given only moments to save your World Cup was quite another.

In the fast and furious European game he wasn't always at his ease. He was a natural exponent of 'toque', keeping the ball moving. But he was so gifted that we could give him the ball when we didn't know what else to do with it knowing he wouldn't lose it... and often he would do things that most of us only dream about

 

[harms]

25. Jan Ceulemans. 61 points

Truly a player like no other — a deceptively gifted attacking midfielder with physique of Marouane Fellaini. He was hardly a playmaker but he still operated in that space between the strikers, cleverly combining his advantage in strength & height with ability to dribble past multiple opponents to pose an unsolvable conundrum for the opposition's defense. He was also a prolific scorer — with 230 goals in 514 club appearances he isn't far off 1 in 2 gpg rate. He holds the record of most Belgian Golden Shoes (Belgian player of the season award) won with 3 — only van Moer matches him in that regard. Ceulemans had spent his entire career in Belgium — first at his boyhood club Lierse and later with Club Brugge, with which he had won 3 league titles, a cup and tons of other stuff.

Ceulemans tended to take his big career decisions the same way as he approached a goalkeeper. His hips would go in one direction, convincing his opponent of his intentions, but instead, almost like a slaloming skier, he would use his knees to devastating effect, propelling himself in the opposite direction. In the summer of 1980, AC Milan were left sat on the turf, wondering just what had occurred before their very eyes. Ceulemans went to AC Milan, agreed terms in principal, posed for photos with the Rossoneri hierarchy, then promptly went back to Belgium and changed his mind on the transfer. Ceulemans had been here before. Three years earlier, he was presented with the chance to leave his hometown club, Lierse S.K, for either of the two Belgian powerhouses, Anderlecht or Club Brugge, who were locked in a heated battle for his signature.

Favouring the feeling he got on his visit to Brugge, he committed himself to the 1977 double winners, ahead of the opportunity to team up at Anderlecht with the electric Rob Rensenbrink. The one condition that Ceulemans attached to the deal was that he would be allowed one last season on-loan with Lierse. Brugge, in their eagerness to beat Anderlecht to the punch, reluctantly agreed. Just what difference Ceulemans would have made to the Brugge 1978 European Cup campaign was forever lost, as they reached the final, where they were defeated at Wembley by Bob Paisley’s Liverpool.

Ceulemans' brightest moments happened with the international team though, for which he had earned 96 caps and scored 23 goals. 2 of his tournaments stand out — the 1980 Euros, where Belgium were only stopped in the final by the genius of young Bernd Schuster and the 1986 World Cup — Belgium finished 4th, Ceulemans scored three goals and got into the Team of the Tournament.


24. Pedro Rocha. 67 points

Whether performing as a midfield link man or as an out-and-out striker, the Uruguayan moved with a casual and sinuous grace, at his best seeming to drift past opponents at will, displaying control, imagination and precision at the creative core of the team. There was dynamite as well as silk in the Rocha repertoire, and he was capable of erupting suddenly and explosively, delivering powerful shots with either foot. His critics accused him of slowing the play unduly, but if his style could seem languid, still it was a delight to the eye.

He was a part of the all-conquering Peñarol side of the 60's with which Rocha won 8 league titles, 3 Copa Libertadores and 2 Intercontinental Cups — all of that in the space of just 12 seasons! After that Rocha, an Uruguayan with Brazilian heritage, went to Brazil to try to achieve success there — with São Paulo he had won Campeonato Paulista twice as well as the national championship, for the first time in history of the club (scoring 119 goals in 393 appearances). Rocha, who retired in 1980, collected the first of his 52 full caps in 1961, scored 17 goals for his country and figured in the World Cup final tournaments of 1962, '66, '70 and '74, the first Uruguayan to complete such a quartetSome interesting trivia by anto:

When he joined Sao Paulo he was hailed as one of the 5 best players in history arriving in the league by the Brazilian media. Pedro used to correct them substituting in history with in the world but even that would be remarkable seeing as Brazil had just won the WC with multiple legendary #10s.

To this day people wonder what might have been if he didn't get injured in the run up to that WC.

 

[harms]

23. Dragan Stojković. 95 points

How many footballers have cars named after them? Well, Stojković has. And I'm not even talking about that Ferrari that he had enlisted a poor blind woman to order for him to avoid paying an import tax, fecking up the lives of thousands of real disabled people from Serbia in the process. He is so adored in Japan for his 7 seasons at Nagoya Grampus that the local car manufacturer Toyota decided to name their new car "Pixis", referencing Dragan's own nickname "Piksi". It's quite incredible that a player of his talent spent the longest stint of his club career in J-League but this is how it is — a story of Stojković is an archetypical story of an underachieving genius, capable of reaching the sky but settling for a non-challenging life. It wasn't all on him, of course — throughout his career he often suffered from injuries (like the one that forced him to miss the Champions League final in 1993) and political turbulence that hindered the careers of so many Balkan players of the 90's.

How many times have you heard about a "new Maradona"? Stojković, often referred to as "Maradona from the Balkans", is one of the few footballers that actually showed enough promise for this label to actually have any real basis. Piksi started his career in Radnički from Niš where he was born on March 3rd 1965 (you might not know this, but Radnički played in UEFA Cup semifinals in 1982). He played there for 5 seasons and in 1986 he transfered to Red Star. That’s where he had his best years, becoming the best Yugoslav player. He scored 54 times for Red Star in 120 matches. He was a number 10, a real artist with a dribbling ability that left many defenders in his wake. Just look at this goal scored directly from corner in a derby vs Partizan! That goal was one of Stojkovic’s greatest moments in an exemplary career. He attempted things that only players who have a lot of self confidence and quality could. Even now, if you read his interviews you can sense the confidence that would sound like arrogance if he was just some player. But he wasn’t.



He won two national titles with Red Star & one National Cup, also being named as the best player of Yugoslavian league twice. Stojkovic played plenty of legendary games throughout his career. Red Star’s Champions Cup game vs Milan, when one of the greatest teams in the history was saved by Belgrade fog, is one such example. He was also part of the Red Star team that were up by 3 goals against the mighty Real Madrid in the Champions Cup after 40 minutes.

He left Red Star in the summer of 1990 and went to Olimpique Marseille, owned by rich and controversial- Bernard Tapie. He was a big signing that was meant to help Marseille reach the top of European football, along with other big names like Waddle, Papin, Abedi Pele, Mozer etc. They reached the final of Champions Cup in the ‘90/’91 season and fittingly met with Stojković’s beloved Red Star. It was probably the most boring final of any European Cup ever, but it was at least interesting because of Piksi’s match against his old team. When it came to penalties, he was asked to take one, but he famously answered to his coach Raymond Goethals: “Why don’t you take it? If I take it and score, the whole Yugoslavia will hate me. If I miss, France will hate me”. Whether that’s truth or just a legend is unknown, but the fact is he didn’t want to take a penalty against the team he loved.

Before that season, however, there was a World Cup to be played in Italy. Yugoslavia went through to the knock-out phase from the group in which Germany dominated. In the first knock out match, Yugoslavia played vs Spain and thanks to Piksi’s two magnificent goals, went through to quarter finals where they lost to Maradona’s Argentina on penalties. Stojkovic (as well as Maradona!) missed his penalty. Unfortunately, very soon after he came to Marseille he suffered a knee injury which forced him to miss most of the season. He spent a season in Verona in 1992 on loan, came back to Marseille, but injuries would always be a problem. These recurring injuries proved to be a stumbling block in Stojkovic’s bid to realise his true potential.

In 1994 he began his Japanese adventure. He signed for Nagoya Grampus Eight, the club which was then managed by a certain Arsene Wenger, and had Gary Lineker in its squad sheet. It was speculated in Serbian media multiple times that Wenger might suggest Stojkovic as his heir when he leaves Gunners. Two of them are still great friends and, as Stojković said in a recent interview, they often talk about football and coaching. Stojković ended his playing career in 2001 and immediately became the president of Yugoslav Football Association.

(the write-up is mostly stolen from here)

 

[harms]

22. Kazimierz Deyna. 120 points

Deyna's career started off a bit weird — after making his debut for ŁKS Łódź on 8th October 1966 18-years old midfielder immediately got drafted... by the army. It was, of course, the undefendable trick that Legia Warsaw used when they needed to sign someone — the club was officially backed by the military so playing for Legia counted as doing the service. Think back on it if you would wonder later why most of the Poland hated Legia and Deyna, its leader and best player, by proxy.

His time at Legia was an unquestionable success though — 2 league titles, 2 cups, 304 appearances and 93 goals... his legacy as Legia's best ever player is unrivalled. The club even reached the semi-finals of the 1970 European Cup, narrowly losing out to van Hanegem's Feyenoord. Fans adored him. They called Deyna "the croissant king" — you'd be excused to think that the fans were making fans of his eating habits but it was due to the distinct curved trajectory of his trademark passes.

He almost single-handedly won Poland the final of 1972 Olympic games, scoring a brace in the final (securing himself a lead in the top scorer race with impressive 9 goals), which set the tone for the upcoming decade. Poland was trying to establish itself as part of the new European elite. The next international tournament, the 1974 World Cup, was a chance to further establish Deyna's reputation — at home and abroad. And even though Poland was beaten by an inevitable Müller's goal in the semi-final, they've shown themselves capable of competing with the best of the best (Breitner even said that the Poles were the best side of that tournament, although I do suspect that it was a bit of a back-handed compliment targeted at Cruyff & co.). Deyna finished the tournament with 3 goals, the same as Johan Cruyff, and his wonderful passes were the main reason behind Grzegorz Lato picking up the Golden Boot with 7 goals.

After that summer there was no shortage of offers from European elite. Real Madrid did the usual thing of sending Deyna a signed shirt with his name on the back. Legia wasn't even going to entertain the idea though — Poland wasn't going to let its brightest star move to the Capitalist West. Considering Deyna's performances for the national side you'd think that he was a fan-favourite but it was far from it. He was extremely unpopular within a significant amount of Polish fans due to his Legia affiliations. Sometimes it looked borderline absurd — like in the 1978 World Cup qualifier against Portugal (Poland needed at least a draw to qualify). The booes started right at the very beginning, when the squads were announced through the speakers. His every touch was accompanied by booes and whistles. The whole stadium elated in a unified cheer to celebrate Poland's goal... only to immediately go back to complete silence when the scorer was announced — of course it was none other than Deyna.

In Poland you were able to legally get a transfer abroad only after you've turned 30. When the time finally came, the offers from Madrid, Bayern & AC Milan weren't at the table anymore, so he had to settle for what he's got... which was Manchester City. The fee of £120,000 was paid by City in office equipment. An archetypical midfield playmaker with a tendency to slow the game down he didn't fit in well in England, soon finding himself on the bench. After a total of 38 games in 3 seasons he changed moody Manchester to sunny San Diego, where he'd spend the rest of his playing days (scoring 49 goals in 106 MLS appearances).

 

[harms]

21. Wesley Sneijder. 132 points

According to some experts, Sneijder could've been mentioned in the same breath as Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo if he had been more committed:

I have to be honest and admit that I could have been mentioned in the same breath as Messi and Ronaldo if I had been 100 per cent committed

I have to be honest and admit that I don't fully share that sentiment although Wesley was certainly a special player. His 2009/10 season will go down in history as one of the best individual seasons by any midfielder in the XXIth century — Sneijder was absolutely integral both for the treble-winning Inter and for Netherlands that were one Robben shot away from winning the World Cup. He would never reach that level again though and you can argue that his career was a bit underwhelming for a player of his apparent historical stature — Sneijder holds an all-time appearance record for the Dutch national team.

Like many of Dutch talents he started out at Ajax, winning just one league title in his 5 seasons there. His individual performances were quite impressive though, especially in the last season where Sneijder had scored 22 goals in 47 appearances. It earned him a high-profile transfer to Real Madrid that was betting everything on the oranje — Sneijder, Robben and Drenthe joined van Nistelrooy in the quest to elevate the club back to the level of European elite. They've retained the league title in his first season there with Wesley chipping in respectable 9 goals, but their European campaign was, frankly, a disaster — Real was comfortably eliminated by Totti's Roma in the first play off round. The next season was even worse — Barcelona, rejuvenated under the reign of managerial prodigy Pep Guardiola, wiped the floor with them in Spain (finishing up 9 points and +39 GD ahead of them)... in Europe things were even worse — another first round elimination against Liverpool with an embarrassing aggregate score of 5:0. Something needed to change.

Sneijder was sold to Inter in the summer of 2009 for a mere 15 mil. It turned out to be the best move of his entire career — winning everything there was to win. I don't think that I need to elaborate more on that — I'm sure that everyone remembers Mourinho's unlikely triumph there. Sneijder was to Mourinho what Suárez was to Herrera (there are so many similarities between those two Inter sides!) — the brain of the operation, responsible for creating chances and establishing a clear routes of transition. It's hard to highlights one player that was solely responsible for their success — every part of that team worked perfectly, but it goes without saying that without Sneijder there would be no treble.

After being sidelined at the 2010 Ballon d'Or vote he seemed to have lost a lot of his motivation. His numbers in the next 2 seasons were still respectable but his influence on the team had weakened... so it didn't come as a surprise when in 2012/13 he and Inter parted ways. Sneijder went to Galatasaray, essentially guaranteeing himself an early retirement, although he still had one good tournament left in him. In 2014 Louis van Gaal called him up for the World Cup and Sneijder was pretty decent all things considered, helping a really underwhelming Dutch squad to a surprising third place finish.

By the way, look at that Ferenc Puskás tribute It's always nice to see another football history aficionado

 

[Šjor Bepo]

Sneijder

 

[harms]

20. Jari Litmanen. 140 points

Frank Rijkaard, Litmanen's teammate in the 1993–94 and 1994–95 seasons, once said:

Dennis Bergkamp was brilliant for Ajax but the best No. 10 we ever had was Jari

Jari had great vision. He was always free. You could always give him a pass. Not so fast but always right on time. He could also defend, Bergkamp didn’t defend. I think for Ajax it was perfect that Dennis left and Jari came

Jari Litmanen is one of the most unique players on this list and this includes all of the names that are yet to be revealed. He was in many ways the antipode of the orthodox number 10 — a slow-ish central playmaker that relied on his vision and technical excellence to dictate the attacking play around him. I wonder how Jari would've fared in modern football (can you imagine how good he would've been playing for Pep's City?) but what he had shown under van Gaal at Ajax was already enough to fondly remember him 25 years later.

Of course, Litmanen had excellent technique, but I did put those quotes about Bergkamp first for a reason. However good his first touch was, it wasn't on par with Bergkamp's — and it was almost an impossible job to follow one of the most gifted players of all-time. Jari managed to do it with ease — all because of his unique combination of spatial awareness and in-game intelligence. Van Gaal's 3-4-3 diamond from mid-90's was one of the greatest examples of system-based teams that put the collective ahead of individuals — every player, even those as talented as Rijkaard, Kluivert and Seedorf, had extremely specific roles... Litmanen was given full freedom. Not because his individual skillset allowed him to decide the games on his own in spite of the system — but because he understood the needs of the system better than anyone else.

I can go into detail describing his career post-Ajax but his nickname, sadly, can do it better and using less words — there's a reason why he was widely known as "The Glass Man".

I remember one time he played a good game at the Arena and we were so happy he was back fit again. He said he felt great but then an hour later he stepped into his car and something went in his back. They almost had to get an ambulance to get him out

He always seemed to be in the physio room and he always seemed to have his ankle strapped up

Jari was always one of the first ones at Melwood every day. He was always working out in the gym. He did his best to look after himself but the shame was that his body just didn’t seem to be able to handle the demands. He suffered from a lot of niggling injuries. I remember him taping up his ankles before every session. He was always adamant that he had to do the strapping himself

I do want to highlight one relationship that he has established during his spell at Barça that highlights his underappreciated influence on the modern game. During his time in Catalonia, he took a teenage Xavi under his wing.

Van Gaal told me to watch how Jari practised and how he controlled situations. His technique was an example to me. Jari was a true mate and helped me a lot

Although I can't ignore an even more memorable quote by Xavi that helps to paint a more thorough portrait of Jari Litmanen, the eccentric genius that he was:

When I think of Jari, I think of the sauna. He would go in there every day. He wouldn’t wear underwear but he had football boots on. I wondered about it. He said that way the boots would fit better

 

[Šjor Bepo]

Love that you started doing themes - yesterday frauds, today class acts.

 

[Demyanenko_square_jaw]

Never quite became a big fan of Sneijder, despite being my kind of player in style. He had so much hype from the Dutch on football forums back near the end of his Ajax days, so i tried to watch him a good amount and he didn't really live up to it. His style at the time seemed too "set piece" ish and focused on moments. Undeniably could be deadly if given space to play a long pass or shot from the edge of the box, however not versatile or involved enough as 10 during the 90 minutes of open play to match the expectations.

I wasn't surprised to see him struggle at Real Madrid, or come undone with a bad game against the poor man's Spain passing sophistication of the Russian midfield. World Cup 2010 and the legendary Inter season where Mourinho got the absolute best out of him was a great comeback, showing how well that with an improved workrate his approach could suit pragmatic direct or counterattack football, but it didn't last long. A couple of good seasons at Galatasaray ( a move that highlighted a loss of ambition) but i thought his extended run throughout the last decade still being in the Dutch NT seemed to have a lot more to do with the lack of emerging competition for his role.

 

[Physiocrat]

By the way, look at that Ferenc Puskás tribute It's always nice to see another football history aficionado

 

[harms]

19. Ricardo Bochini. 141 points

Only one point ahead of Litmanen is, interestingly, the complete opposite of him — probably the most orthodox number 10 that you're ever going to get. While Litmanen was all about the movement, Bochini mastered the art of lack of it. He is, quite likely, the greatest ever master of la pausa — the exceptional and rare talent of delaying a pass in waiting for a teammate to reach the optimal scoring position, bypassing defenders, leaving the teammate one-on-one with the goalkeeper. That kind of pass is called, in Argentina at least, bochinesco (bochinesque pass). Strikers in a Bochini-Independiente team had only two tasks; making the run, finishing the chance. Beating a defender? Bochini’s precise assist would do that job, sometimes two or three players at once.



“Yo aprendí con usted a sentarlos de culo,” said Diego Maradona of his ídolo, Ricardo Bochini. Translated roughly, El Diego was saying “I learnt from him how to sit people on their arse.” It's really weird that Maradona chose him as his favourite — on and off the pitch, they were so different. But even though his game wasn't really about dribbling past players it's not that he wasn't capable of it — his famous goal against Peñarol was very much a predecessor of Maradona's goal of the century. Eight men. That’s how many Bochini had beaten against Peñarol, but then it was how many players Independiente had left on the pitch looking for an equaliser. Football has consistently shown that nothing is impossible. But if ever there has been an appropriate situation to deem impossible, it may have been this. Trailing with a quarter of an hour remaining, with eight men. Bochini thought nothing of the sort. He played a one-two with Bertoni, of course, and struck, unbalanced and leaning back on his heel, with his left foot to win Independiente the 1977 Nacional on away goals.

“A midget, ungainly, imperturbable, without a powerful shot, nor header, nor charisma,” is what Hugo Asch wrote of Ricardo Bochini. All of it is true. But Bochini was a genius if not your typical footballer. Bochini won 15 trophies with Independiente, playing 740 games in 19 years. He didn’t move to Europe, instead staying to conquer Argentina. In 2007, a street near Independiente’s stadium was named after him. In the area around the stadium and across Buenos Aires, Bochini can be seen on the walls of bars and restaurants in that iconic red Adidas Independiente kit, surrounded by trophies. It was once claimed that “the style of Independiente died when Bochini retired.”

As Maradona aptly said:

watching him play drove me crazy with delight

 

[harms]

18. Juan Román Riquelme. 164 points

Fittingly enough, Ricardo Bochini is followed by his modern reincarnation — everything that I've said about Bochini's playing style is true for Riquelme as well. They share enormous admiration for each other — while Riquelme often refers to Bochini as "the teacher", the latter had this to say about Juan Román:

Riquelme is the last player that I saw who is similar to me and everyone compares us. He assists in the same way, he mastered la pausa although, quite importantly, he has a better shot than me

After growing up as the eldest son of a local gang member in a poor family, Riquelme’s journey to the top flight of multiple leagues is a true rags-to-riches story. Being born in Buenos Aires in 1978 and living there most of his life, it was only natural that he would be picked up by the Argentine youth team at Argentinos Juniors in 1992. At that club, Riquelme started playing as a central midfielder, the position that he would play for the majority of his career. In 1995, he was picked up by Boca Juniors, a club that became home for the young Argentine and the place where he would establish himself as a brilliant footballer.

From the first moment that Riquelme entered the First Division with Boca Juniors in 1996, fans began to see his potential for greatness. Not only was his first ever game in that league a win, but he also quickly gained a reputation for being the next Diego Maradona because of his position as the ‘enganche’ the Argentine term for the attacking midfielder. Unlike Maradona, who was often praised for his lightning-fast playing style, Riquelme was known for his ability to slow down the game to his pace and take advantage of any opportunity to score a goal. He was a true playmaker with a light but consistent touch on the ball and a good sense of how to create space for his teammates to score. According to Spanish coach Luis Aragonés, “He is one of the few players that always put the ball where it should go.” These skills led to him earning three First Division wins Boca Juniors as well as two back-to-back championship titles at the Copa Libertadores. After such a fantastic display in South America, no one can wonder why Riquelme was picked up by FC Barcelona in 2002.

Of course, like a lot of things in Riquelme’s story, the situation was a lot more complicated and interesting than a simple transfer. Shortly before the move, Riquelme’s brother was kidnapped, and the criminals forced Riquelme to pay a ransom for his safe return. Wanting to get far away from that situation, after his brother was freed, Riquelme took Barca’s offer of €10 million and left for Spain. The move was also the result of contract disputes at Boca Juniors and some political signings at Barcelona. The Catalan coach Louis van Gaal said that the move was not his choice but rather the decision of the higher-ups at the club. Because of his indifference towards the star athlete, Gaal almost never played Riquelme, and when he did, he would play him as a winger, denying him the ability to shine in the role he excelled at.

Villarreal CF became Riquelme’s saving grace during that period. After a season of feeling underappreciated and underutilised, Riquelme was loaned to the Yellow Submarine, where he became a star player and a regular starter. Along with the excellent coaching of Manuel Pellegrini and some historic figures like Marcos Senna, Santi Cazorla, and Diego Forlán, with whom Riquelme formed a goal-scoring super team, assisting Forlán in winning the Golden Boot that season, Riquelme helped Villarreal reach unprecedented success including third place in LaLiga in the 2004/05 season, a feat that led to their legendary run at the UEFA Champion’s League the next year, where we made it all the way to the semi-finals. That run ended when Riquelme missed a crucial penalty in the last minute of the game. It was a bitter defeat, and according to sports journalist Sid Lowe, “He… never recovered.”

(stolen from here)

Did you know?

The only thing I regret in my career was a decision that I took, when at the hotel in England before the semi-final with Arsenal, when Manchester United came to buy me and I said no. I stayed at Villarreal, because I was very comfortable with my team-mates

 

[harms]

The full list is in the OP btw.