Redcafe's All-Time Top 30 | Midfield Playmakers | Full List Available

[harms]

25. Liam Brady, Cesc Fàbregas — 72 points

'Chippy' had everything a midfielder could want - skill, vision, balance, strength, a powerful shot and the ability to glide past opponents at will. Like all great players he always had time on the ball and almost always chose the right option. On a football pitch, Brady's brain and feet worked in perfect harmony. Arsenal had signed him at the mere age of 15 and a little Irishman had made his first team debut at 17. The club was in a relative slump in the 70's and Brady had rose to the challenge — by the 1980, when he had left Arsenal, they had reached 3 FA Cup finals (winning one) and lost Cup Winner's Cup final on penalties. Brady was absolutely instrumental in those campaigns — thrice he was voted club's footballer of the year and in 1979 he was chosen as a PFA Player of the Year, becoming the first foreign player to win the award.

After the Italian borders were re-opened for foreign transfers in 1980, Juventus were looking to sign top international talent. Brady's performance in Arsenal's 1979/80 Cup Winner's Cup campaign, especially his semi-final performance against Juve, convinced L'Avvocato that he was the one — and soon after he paid a little over £500,000 to bring Chippy to Italy. Brady would spend 2 seasons at Juve, winning 2 Serie A titles — perhaps the best testament to his quality would be Old Lady's fans' reaction to the news of Michel Platini's signing. Many were outraged, because this meant that their new Irish hero would be leaving the club — even though in hindsight this looks like a hilarious overreaction. Platini would go on to win everything there is to win with Juve (including 3 Ballon d'Ors), while Brady's career went only downhill from there — he'd spend another 5 years in Italy, playing for Sampdoria, Inter and Ascoli, but he'll never reach the same heights again.

Another Gunners legend that left them at the peak of his powers for a continental giant. For a while after he broke through he looked like an all-time great in the making — a lot had argued that the unique combination of his qualities that he had possessed would define the new type of a midfield playmaker. He was raised in La Masia, that was based around Cruyff's philosophy and especially focused on the technical aspect of the game (that was at the very beginning of its prolonged domination over the world's football) — and then, as a youngster, he had moved to Premier League at the peak of its powers — and his adaptation to a very direct, energetic and physical approach of English football didn't take too long. Arsenal fans were ecstatic about their new poster boy — especially after the 18 y.o. had shined in 2006 CL semi-final against Juventus, with ex-Gunners captain Patrick Vieira playing directly against him. And it only got better — his performances in 2006/07 & 2007/08 got him numerous personal accolades and he was even competing with Cristiano & Torres for PFA Player of the Year and Young Player of the Year awards, winning the latter in 2008.

He got the armband in the next season, but it was around that time that the speculation about his potential return to Barcelona started. A young and promising™ Arsenal was underachieving, while Barcelona & Spanish football in general was on the rise. Fabregas had won the 2008 Euros with Xavi, Iniesta & the rest and even got included in Team of the Tournament. That was the beginning of one of the longest and most boring transfer sagas of modern times. In 2010, during the World Cup win celebration, Pique, Puyol & Reina even pulled Barcelona shirt on him — everyone knew that this was coming and only Gunners were trying to deny the inevitable. But when the transfer actually happened, somehow the supposed Xavi successor struggled to fit in, even though he had played with most of his new teammates on the international level. He was even shoehorned up front in pointless attempts to make sense of this long-awaited transfer, but it didn't really work — he wasn't awful, he produced decent numbers, but he had failed to improve the team and even made them more predictable in big games. Eventually, he and Barcelona agreed that it was time to move on — and Cesc had tried to come back to Arsenal, only for Wenger to deny him that opportunity. Surely, they didn't need a past-it player when they had just signed Mesut Özil from Real Madrid... Instead, Cesc signed for Chelsea — and, alongside Diego Costa, he had become the catalyst for their success. In his 5 seasons at Chelsea he had won the Premier League twice, once even coming close to breaking Henry's assists per season record. He clearly was past his best, but the quality of his passing was still incredible. Sadly, like many teenage superstars, he had faded away quite early — and very drastically. At the mere age of 32 he is already semi-retired in France, with his pay check being the only thing that reminds us that he was once a top, top player.

 

[harms]

24. Toni Kroos — 77 points

A player who had almost chose Moyes over an illustrious career at Real Madrid with 3 Champions League titles. We all know his story — Kroos had been one of the most productive creative influences in world football over the past decade. He had started as a more attacking player, but soon found his best role — an old-fashioned midfield playmaker with a ridiculously consistent creative output. Some may question his lack of mobility that probably keeps him from reaching a proper all-time level, but he had won everything there was to win — both at the club and the international level (well, technically Euros aside), and he was absolutely crucial in all that success.

23. Robert Prosinečki — 79 points.

One of the most ridiculously gifted players of his time — watching Prosinečki at his best was an absolute delight. He was untouchable, toying with his opponents and cutting through teams like a hot knife through butter; his creative passing and set piece ability was nothing short but outstanding. Sadly, his peak was quite short — in the early 90's he was voted Yugoslav Footballer of the Year, World Cup Best Young Player & also finished 5th in Ballon d'Or list of 1991, when Crvena Zvezda had won the European Cup (somehow Pancev finished 2nd ). He was the first one to move abroad, transferring to Real Madrid that very summer, but that move ended up as a disappointment. His general light-hearted attitude towards his life, football & everything, as well as big injury issues had stopped him from fully realising his seemingly endless potential. He'll never reach the heights of his younger days at Crvena Zvezda and we all know what had happened with Yugoslavian national team that could've challenged for biggest honours in the 90's if not for the politics. I'll end this with his quote:

you remember the goals but to me that was irrelevant, what mattered to me is to do a ball roll at some point

 

[Šjor Bepo]

His general light-hearted attitude towards his life, football & everything, as well as big injury issues had stopped him from fully realising his seemingly endless potential. He'll never reach the heights of his younger days at Crvena Zvezda and we all know what had happened with Yugoslavian national team that could've challenged for biggest honours in the 90's if not for the politics. I'll end this with his quote:

Tbh i was thinking that as well, but after listening to the podcast with him it got me thinking as he was asked why he "flopped" at Madrid and he said how he struggled because of the war home, big part in everyones life that i completely ignored when it comes to football. If you actually look at that yugoslav generation, tons of talent and id say 99% of them underachieved and could have done much better - war in the crucial part of their careers as the common denominator.

 

[Fortitude]

Tbh i was thinking that as well, but after listening to the podcast with him it got me thinking as he was asked why he "flopped" at Madrid and he said how he struggled because of the war home, big part in everyones life that i completely ignored when it comes to football. If you actually look at that yugoslav generation, tons of talent and id say 99% of them underachieved and could have done much better - war in the crucial part of their careers as the common denominator.

Great point. Football must have been surreal for them amongst such a devastating backdrop.

 

[harms]

Tbh i was thinking that as well, but after listening to the podcast with him it got me thinking as he was asked why he "flopped" at Madrid and he said how he struggled because of the war home, big part in everyones life that i completely ignored when it comes to football. If you actually look at that yugoslav generation, tons of talent and id say 99% of them underachieved and could have done much better - war in the crucial part of their careers as the common denominator.

Fair enough, that would seriously affect anyone in that situation.

 

[harms]

22. Ernst Ocwirk. 95 points

Ocwirk almost made the top-20 based only on his reputation — that can be seen both as a negative and as a positive, considering your personal point of view. Sadly, there's no full games with him playing available, but you can read a detailed review of his game at Spielverlagerung (in German) https://spielverlagerung.de/2015/12/05/tuerchen-5-ernst-ocwirk/ or even enjoy Scrappy (<3) teaching an actual German on how to translate a German article: https://www.redcafe.net/threads/general-discussion-thread.446840/page-4#post-25520155

There's a big argument about where would he fit in today's game — be it a box-to-box, deep-lying playmaker or even a center back role, but there's no doubt about him being one of the most outstanding talents of him generation and his nickname Clockwork suggests that he'd probably be a midfield orchestrator of Xavi or Pirlo's mould today.

21. Juan Sebastián Verón. 136 points

A player, whose reputation got tarnished because of his move to England, but what a player he was at his peak... During the late 90's it wouldn't be outlandish to name him as the best midfielder in the world, even if we include players of Zidane's profile into this category — he was that good. He was not a trequartista, which was usually a role for the biggest Serie A stars, as he played a bit further back, albeit with full freedom to roam around, orchestrating the game, playing one-twos and even scoring at a decent rate. In the legendary season of 1999/00, when Lazio had won their first Serie A title in God knows how many years, he was the most capped players in their squad that included the likes of Nedved and Nesta. When United signed him for an English transfer record at the time, he was supposed to be the final piece of the puzzle that would ensure United's European domination for years to come — but La Brujita had failed to fully adapt to English football and eventually got sold to Chelsea with Scholes and Keane cementing their place in the middle.

He was elegant and athletic and he covered ground effortlessly. Indeed, football seemed almost too easy for Veron, which is perhaps why he has had image problems with fans. He never seemed to be trying too hard, trusting instead in his athleticism and his brilliant technique (reminds you of anyone?). When he had played for Manchester United, he and David Beckham played out an amazing warm-up routine before every game. They would take up positions on opposite touchlines and stroke the ball across the pitch in long sweeping arcs to one another, neither ever having to move even a step to receive the others pass. It served as a way for each to find his range. Once Veron's range was found, he was capable of punishing any opposition with a series of searching passes between defenders.


He had a small renaissance at Argentina, where he had enjoyed huge success — 2 years in a row he was voted South American Footballer of the Year and the fans had named him the best player of the 2009 Copa Libertadores cup, which he had won with Estudiantes.

 

[harms]

20. Deco. 140 points

One of the overlooked players of the noughties, Deco was the driving force behind Mourinho's Porto & Ronaldinho's (sorry, Frank) Barcelona. Usually attacking midfielders, especially those who achieve as much as Deco did, immediately achieve undeniable star status — but the introverted playmaker always tried to stay out of the public's focus. His story is really unusual — born in Brazil, he had moved to Portugal at the age of 20, eager to make a name for himself. He would end up as a Portugal international, earning an impressive amount of 75 caps, even though Luis Figo himself was quite vocally against his inclusion in Portugal's squad for 2004 Euros.

As for his club career, Graeme Souness, the newly appointed manager of Benfica would once again show his immaculate judgment by selling the young prodigy. After a year spent playing for Salgueiros, Deco would sign for Porto — a historical move that would kickstart the greatest era in club's history. With Deco as their main creative source Porto would win 3 league titles, UEFA Cup and, finally, the Champions League title in 2003/04 — Deco would be named Portuguese League footballer of the Year, UEFA Club Footballer of the Year at the end of that season as well as finishing second in Ballon d'Or vote & getting the 2004 CL final MotM award. After that, he had finally got his dream transfer to Barcelona (the one that failed to go through during the previous summer), slotting seamlessly next to Xavi and Iniesta in their midfield behind Ronaldinho — his natural introversion, spatial awareness and technical arsenal made him look like a La Masia veteran. He would lead Catalonians to their second ever CL win, which signified the beginning of a new era for the club — Barcelona had finally regained their status as a European heavy-weight and just in a few years they'd further ensure their dominance with Guardiola replacing Rijkaard and Messi reaching his insane peak. In 2005/06 though, Deco would be voted UEFA Club Midfielder of the Year for the second time (only Mendieta and Modrić can match him in this regard). He had joined Chelsea before the beginning of 2008/09 season — and although he was not able to reach his previous heights in England, their supporters will always remember the little Brazilian with fondness, especially for his impact in their golden double.

I was born in Brazil and it would be a lie to say that I'm Portuguese now and not Brazilian. But I love Portugal and I love playing for the national team

 

[Joga Bonito]

Graeme Souness, the newly appointed manager of Benfica would once again show his immaculate judgment by selling the young prodigy.

 

[harms]

19. Xabi Alonso. 172 points

Perhaps the best indication of his quality was that Del Bosque didn't hesitate to put Xabi Alonso in Barcelona's all-conquering midfield trio. It's not often that international managers get their hands on such perfectly balanced units and it takes a really special player to even consider the risks of messing around with something that already works (and works brilliantly). Well, Xabi was a really special player. His passing was superb, his positioning was immaculate — it's no surprise that he had managed to perform admirably in England, Germany and Spain as well as on the international arena, winning pretty much everything there is to win. Sometimes more high-profile players like Gerrard take most of the plaudits but I feel that this is a list where Xabi finally get the credit he deserves.




17. David Silva, Kevin de Bruyne. 180 points

Arguably the greatest Premier League player of the last decade, David Silva also gets a place on our list. Between him and Alonso they have amassed an insane 239 caps for Spain. Silva often played further forward or on the wings, but he wasn't an archetypical number 10 — and Guardiola used him as a number 8 alongside De Bruyne in a team that's played arguably the best football this league had ever seen. Silva was a player who had produced bits of magic with an almost machine-like efficiency — but he never the one to chase the spotlight in a Scholes-like fashion. It's such a shame that we haven't signed him from Valencia when there was a chance.

He’s a spectacular footballer. He has been throughout his career. For the national team he has been a cornerstone of that generation of highly talented Spanish footballers. David was a vital component and absolutely essential to that team - one of the most talented players Spain has ever produced, without a shadow of a doubt

He pulls the strings on the pitch. A brilliant footballer with great movement, he can score, assist, a player who decides a game. He’s got so much to his game, that I would consider him one of the best ever

Kevin de Bruyne has already reserved a place for himself in the pantheon of Premier League greats — and at the age of 29 it looks like only injuries are going to stop him from challenging the likes of Keane/Vieira/Scholes (who is going to bite?) as the best midfielder in league's history. He has been shifted around by Guardiola, playing and excelling at every position he was asked to play in — be it a more conventional number 10, playmaking box-to-box, wide midfielder of even a false 9. His assist numbers are simply ridiculous and it's a crime that he still haven't won Premier League's Player of the Year, especially in the record-breaking 2017/18 season, he is equally capable of playing a Rui Costa-esque through-ball or making a Beckham-esque cross, and his powerful shots are finding their target with a scary precision.

 

[harms]

16. Nils Liedholm. 194 points

Legendary Swede is one of the most influential figures in history of Serie A — alongside his compatriots he had formed a famous "Gre-No-Li" trio at AC Milan (Gunnar Gren, Gunnar Nordahl and Nils Liedholm), but with 12 seasons at the club — he had matched Gren's and Nordahl's records combined. The latter story surely is a myth, but even the existence of such a myth shows you what type of a player Liedholm was — apparently it took him two years of playing for Milan before Liedholm misplaced his first pass at the San Siro — the rarity prompted a five-minute ovation from the home crowd. He was equally talismanic for the national team — in 1948 Sweden with Liedholm won the Olympics and in 1958 a 35 years old playmaker captained his side on their way to the World Cup final, even scoring its opening goal (although there was no stopping of Brazilian juggernaut — Pelé and co. scored 5 goals to secure the victory). After his retirement he became a manager and spent another three decades at Serie A, winning league titles with both AC Milan and AS Roma.

15. Gérson. 240 points

Gérson was called "the brain" of Brazil's 1970 side, arguably the greatest international team ever assembled. He formed a great partnership with Clodoaldo at the base of Brazilian midfield, orchestrating the play from deeper areas with his incredible left foot (in Brazil he was known as 'Canhotinha de ouro', the golden left foot). His performance at the World Cup is often considered to be one of the first examples of deep-lying playmaker — perhaps only Bozsik interpreted the role in a similar fashion before Gérson. At the club level he had played for 4 Brazilian giants — Flamengo, Botafogo, São Paulo and Fluminense; his most successful spell happened at Botafogo, where he had assumed the role of Didi's successor (the same is true for Seleção). With Jairzinho and a couple of oldies in Garrincha, Nílton and Zagallo they posed the biggest threat to Pelé's Santos on the domestic arena.

 

[harms]

14. Wolfgang Overath. 285 points

Throughout both the 60's and the 70's Helmut Schön was forced to choose between Günter Netzer and Wolfgang Overath for a starting place in West Germany's midfield — both were world-class playmakers, but one of them had to sit on the bench, causing endless debates between fans and journalists alike. And even though Netzer was a more popular figure among them and twice became German Footballer of the Year (to Overath's zero), Schön had a clear favourite — he started Overath in all three World Cups in question (1966, 1970 and 1974). Netzer's only big international tournament, the blistering 1972 Euros, happened simply because Overath got injured before the tournament. The former famously stated that "Overath was born to play for Germany". This preference was probably due to Overath's superior defensive discipline, but no one should underestimate his passing ability — he is, without a doubt, one of the most gifted passers of the ball not just of his generation, but of all-time. He is also a one-club man, who had spent his entire adult career at FC Köln — even helping them win the Bundesliga title in its inaugural season; unsurprisingly, he still holds club's all-time appearances record with 549 games played.

13. Josef Masopust. 287 points

Immensely skilful, beautifully balanced and incisively intelligent, Josef Masopust was prodigiously industrious in his box-to-box role, and although he was no bruiser, he was adept at breaking up opposition attacks with crisply-timed tackles and shrewd interceptions. His passing was a delight, invariably accurate and often penetrative, but it was his jinking forays, frequently beginning in his own half and ending deep inside enemy territory, that became his trademark. He had a characteristic knack of switching the ball from foot to foot as he danced past opponents as if they were training cones, his bewildering high-speed sidesteps being tagged as "Masopust's Slalom", prompting Pelé to joke that his ball-work was so wonderful that he must have been born in Brazil. Personally, the comparison that comes to my mind when I watch Masopust is Andreas Iniesta — a more defensive version of him who probably haven't quite matched Iniesta's passing ability and vision, but they both seemed to possess the same kind of otherworldly elegance with the ball.

Players from Eastern Europe tended to be overlooked by France Football's Ballon d'Or for obvious reasons — Western journalists rarely got the chance to watch them play and TV-coverage was pretty much non-existent at the time. Yet Masopust joins Yashin as one of the rare winners of the award that were unlucky to born on the wrong side of the Iron Curtain — his performance at the 1962 World Cup, crowned by the opening goal in the final, captured the mind of anyone who saw it (and also none of Brazilians were eligible to win it ).

 

[harms]

12. Bernd Schuster. 291 points

Bernd Schuster was a mind-blowing talent — an enigmatic midfielder took the world by storm aged only 20. He had played only 2 out of 4 games of the 1980 Euros, but that was enough to become the second best player of the tournament (behind peak Karl-Heinz Rummenigge) and also to finish 2nd in that year's Ballon d'Or vote (again, behind Rummenige and ahead of the likes of Platini, Dalglish etc.). He could run up and down the pitch all night long like it was nothing, he was smart and aggressive — but most importantly, when he had the ball, magic happened. Long passing, short passing, a weirdly-angled volley or a dribbling run, Schuster was great at everything. He even played as a sweeper — both in the beginning and at the end of his career, which showcases his spatial awareness, defensive nous and discipline. After the Euros the highly sought-after Schuster transferred to Barcelona, where he would make up a brilliant partnership with Diego Maradona. Weirdly enough, Schuster led them to a league title... in a season that followed Maradona's scandalous departure to Napoli. During his time in Spain, Schuster suffered a few serious injuries, one of which significantly limited his athletic capabilities — he had lost quite a bit of his pace and agility, so his career had followed a natural progression, from a roaming box-to-box like playmaker to a more reserved and calculated midfield orchestrator. He would leave Barcelona for Real Madrid after 8 seasons at Catalonia — and later he would make a similarly controversial move without leaving the capital, from Real to Atletico. He didn't care much about the public opinion, as you can imagine. As for his international career, sadly, it ended shortly after the famous Euros — Schuster was constantly debating with German FA, national manager and the star midfielder Paul Breitner... until he decided to retire from international football at the age of 24.

11. Luka Modrić. 309 points

Luka Modrić became the first player to break Messi & Ronaldo's Ballon d'Or winning streak that lasted for 10 years — and although many disagreed with this decision, it looked like a karmic compensation for years that Modrić had spent in the shadow of others, not getting respect that he had reserved. After 4 brilliant years at Spurs, in which Modrić had shown that he is clearly ready to make a step up, he was signed by Real Madrid for a significant sum. A season went past and Marca in their usual fashion named him the worst transfer of the summer — a high, but hardly justified praise. The rest is history though — in the season after the next one Modrić helped Madrid to win La Décima, officially becoming the best midfielder in Spain, and then proceeded to win three more, being an integral part of Madrid's team. Modrić unique ability to resist any kind of pressing, brilliant vision & passing range made him pretty much invincible at the top of his game. Even after another playmaker in Kroos (less mobile and defensively sound) joined Madrid, Modrić not only kept his place, but also managed to adapt his game and improve himself and everyone around him — perhaps an underrated, but very important ability to have. For Croatia Modrić had often produced quality performances even against the toughest opponents (Spain especially), but his swan song was during the 2018 World Cup, where he had led his team to the final — although in the end he and Croatia had to settle for a second place.

 

[GodShaveTheQueen]

His performance at the World Cup is often considered to be one of the first examples of deep-lying playmaker — perhaps only Bozsik interpreted the role in a similar fashion before Gérson.

And Ocwirk

 

[Edgar Allan Pillow]

Surprising we have Modric over Schuster!

Oh, he's still a great player but lucky to play in a era where he has no competition (apart from the 2 GOATs ofc)

 

[harms]

10. Willem van Hanegem. 355 points

"Too slow and too one-dimensional. Not suited for modern football" — that was Rinus Michels' reaction when he was offered to sign 24 years old Wim van Hanegem for Ajax. 2 years later van Hanegem would win European Cup with Feyenoord — they were the first ever Dutch side to win the trophy; van Hanegem was their brightest star. 4 years later van Hanegem would become a crucial part of Rinus Michels' Clockwork Orange — the great Dutch side that reached the 1974 World Cup final and captured people's imaginations with the exiting and modern concept of totaalvoetbal.

You'd struggle to find a similar player — grizzly bear-like, with an ungainly running style, but you'd forget all about it once he'd have the ball in his feet. He'd hit the ball toe-first as if it was a balloon. Every pass he made looked like it had been sliced but each and every one sailed over his opponent and landed at a teammate’s foot. His mentality was also something that is worth talking about. Despite the rivalry between him and Johan Cruyff (both on a club and on an individual level), he accepted a secondary role for Netherlands, playing his heart out for the team. In the words of no one other than Johan Cruyff himself: "van Hanegem has one advantage over me. When I have a bad game, I'm useless. When van Hanegem has a bad game, he rolls up his sleeves and starts tackling".

9. Andrea Pirlo. 364 points

I spent the afternoon of Sunday 9 July, 2006 in Berlin sleeping and playing the PlayStation. In the evening, I went out and won the World Cup

Surely I don't need to remind anyone of Andrea Pirlo? He was the face of the resurgence of a deep-lying playmaker role in the 00's — during the 2000/01 season Carlo Mazzone, Brescia's manager, had to think of a way to fit Andrea Pirlo (a young prodigious offensive midfielder) and Roberto Baggio into the same side. He decided to play Pirlo in front of his defense, making use of his outstanding vision and long-passing ability, despite the fact that his skillset was very different from your usual defensive midfielder. And that move had worked out — probably better than both Mazzone and Pirlo even dared to imagine; for almost two decades Pirlo would become a golden standard for this position, winning everything there was to win except for the Euros (he still made it into the UEFA's All-Time Euro XI though).

His resurgence from 2011 to 2015 alone would probably be enough to make it into this list — it's such a brilliant comeback story! Written off by AC Milan, he signs for the sleeping giant Juventus and becomes the catalyst for their almost a decade-long domination that at the moment consists of 9 consecutive Serie A titles.

 

[harms]

8. Paul Scholes. 370 points

Paul Scholes, he scores goals. And he is a decent passer.



7. Günter Netzer. 374 points

Günter Netzer was the first true Bundesliga superstar (according to Bundesliga itself) — rebellious playmaker was the creative heart of the great Borussia Mönchengladbach of the 70's. That Gladbach side is sometimes unfairly forgotten, but they were the biggest rivals of Beckenbauer's and Müller's Bayern, regularly outperforming them in domestic competitions (between 1969 and 1977 Borussia had won 5 Bundesliga titles to Bayern's 4). It was depicted as good versus evil, the demonic FC Hollywood against the loveable Foals, a nickname bestowed upon Gladbach due to the youthful profile of their squad. It was Netzer, Vogts and Heynckes versus Beckenbauer, Müller, Hoeness and Breitner. Nicknames of their respectful superstars were quite telling — it was Der Kaiser (the emperor) against Der Rebel (the rebel). At the height of his power Netzer was twice named German Footballer of the Year, in 1972 and in 1973 — this also coincided with the incredible 1972 Euros campaign, which West Germany had won without even breaking a sweat. The spine of Beckenbauer, Netzer and Müller was simply unplayable — 1972 Ballon d'Or vote was quite telling as the trio had occupied three top spots in the list (Beckenbauer had 81 points and both Netzer and Müller had 79).

The moment that perhaps best defines Günter Netzer came in his last game for Gladbach prior to making the switch to the Spanish capital - the 1973 DFB Cup final. Apparently short on fitness and form, he started the showpiece event against 1. FC Köln on the bench. In extra time, with the sides level at 1-1, he substituted himself into the game and minutes later duly hammered home the winner for the Foals. There could hardly have been a more fitting note on which to take his leave of a club he had joined a decade earlier and helped to the heights of the German game.

In Spain Günter Netzer had to face another superstar of that era — Netzer became the face of Real Madrid and Johan Cruyff joined Barcelona (both were followed by their fellow compatriots, Breitner & Neeskens, instigating a new German-Dutch rivalry between the clubs). And while we all know how important Cruyff was to Barca, it's hard to overlook Netzer's record — in his three years at Madrid he had won 2 league titles and 2 Spanish Cups; Cruyff had won only one of each even though he had two more years.

 

[Joga Bonito]

Good stuff @harms

Nice to see Netzer at 7th. Had been rewatching the 72 German side recently and what a side it was

 

[GodShaveTheQueen]

Good stuff @harms

Seconded. Good reads. Was hoping for some lesser known stories on Scholes too

 

[harms]

6. József Bozsik. 427 points

Hungarian national team from the 1950's has a serious claim on being the best international team of all-time (they were probably one unexplainable result from cementing that first spot just for themselves) — between 1950 and 1956, when they were interrupted by the revolution, they've won 42 games, drawing 7 and losing just once. They were absolutely stacked with world-class players, especially in attack. So much so that they've even managed to reach the World Cup final without Puskás, their best player, beating two of their toughest opponents, Brazil and Uruguay, on their way up there. The one whose role no one was able to emulate though was József Bozsik — the finest deep-lying midfielder of his era, who orchestrated their play and brought the ball forward for the attacking quintet to score. He was not quick, but that's about it for his weaknesses — technically flawless, with virtually unlimited passing range and a cracking shot on him, he had it all. When the situation required, he was even capable of making exquisite dribbling runs — weirdly enough, he had to use this ability way more in his older days. After the revolution happened, Honved went on a world tour — but only two of the Mighty Magyars' finest came back to Hungary, Bozsik and Hidegkuti; so when the 1958 World Cup happened, Bozsik had to both dictate the game from the deep and make penetrative runs forward in order to compensate for his absent teammates. Because of that, he'd become the only Aranycsapat ("The Golden Team") member to reach the mark of 100 caps — which is an insane amount even today, let alone in the 50's.

József Bozsik and Ferenc Puskás were literally next door neighbours and became best friends from the age of 5 or 6 — quite an insane story, considering that both would grew up to become all-time football greats (perhaps there are more of those, but personally I'm only aware of one other similar story: Gullit & Rijkaard). Both would sign for Kispest FC, forming one of the greatest partnerships in history of this beautiful game. Bozsik, who played as a right half, would find Puskás, the inside left, with one of his perfectly weighted diagonal passes only for the latter to score — again and again and again. Desperate to keep their 2 star players, Kispest, far from the biggest clubs in the country at the time, even gave them a local ironmongers shop to own together (oh, sweet 40's!), although their joint ownership was not very successful — within a few months the government started a program of nationalising small businesses and the shop was no more. Kispest also had a new owner though, and what an owner it was — Honvédség, the Hungarian Army (hence the new name, Budapest Honvéd SE). With army's backing they quickly rose to success, signing most of the country's best players — with Kocsis, Czibor, Groscis, Budai and Lóránt coming in they became almost indistinguishable from the national team.

He retired in 1962, after playing 447 games for Hónved and another 101 games for Hungary. All in all he had won 5 league titles, Mitropa Cup as well as the Olympics, although the biggest night of his career tragically ended up as a loss. What wouldn't I give to see them having another go at the 1958 World Cup (although it's obviously far from the worst implication of the Hungarian Uprising's failure).

P.S. Is this the most sophisticatedly worded football description of all-time? It's genuinely amazing.

Of all the prominent players between 1947 and 1962, the great wing-half József Bozsik was driven by the most sophisticated awareness that contrived the balance which had produced the seeds of majesty in the Puskás and Kocsis touch. József Bozsik's prime and lasting aim was always being the mediating intercessor and magnificent technician in the inner-workings of the Hungarian team who liked both to defend and attack, who upon occasion threw himself into scoring situations with feeling to bring about goals from deep. His eyes attuned to nuance as the innate navigator who crafted matches' thorough answers, József Bozsik's thoughtful and technical ball placement was unimpeachable from his earliest youth days when he played alongside Puskás at Honvéd since 1943. József Bozsik is the center through which unnumbered lines of connection pass because his real effort is one of throwing midfield into shape and order with inexhaustible energies.

 

[harms]

5. Paulo Roberto Falcão. 433 points

If you'll ask me to name the most aesthetically pleasing central midfielder of all-time, I won't hesitate much before choosing Paulo Roberto Falcão — Xavi may be more dominant in possession, Matthäus may impose himself on the game more, but no one had been able to combine such an all-rounded set of skills with the spirit of joga bonito better than Falcão.

He began his career at Internacional and led them to its greatest period of success: they've won three Brasileirão Serie A titles (they haven't won any before* or since) which included an unprecedented unbeaten league campaign in 1979. On the back of that he was named Brazilian Footballer of the Year (Bola de Ouro) twice, in 1978 and 1979 — ahead of peak Zico, Sócrates, Cerezo etc. After the loss to Internacional in the league's semi-final, Palmeiras manager said that they didn't lose to a team, but to the greatest player in the world. Which makes it even more baffling that Falcão haven't received a call-up for the 1978 World Cup, even when you consider the abundance of world-class midfielders available to Brazil at the time.

On 10th August, 1980, Paulo Roberto Falcão had arrived at Roma, becoming the first of the plethora of high-profile Brazilian footballers of the 80's to transfer to Serie A. Dino Viola, AS Roma's new president, needed a statement signing to show that they're finally getting back to the top (they haven't won Scudetto for almost 4 decades at that point). They've been choosing between Zico and Falcão, and went with the latter — a decision that originally was not well-received by the giallarossi fans, but they will quickly change their minds on the matter.

In the four-plus years Falcão spent with Roma, he brought samba flair to Serie A. Often praised for his control of the ball and passing ability, one journalist even described him as having “two hands in place of his feet” when he was at the peak of his powers. Falcão was a visionary who saw the picture of the game unfolding before it even happened. After settling in, Falcão was making an impact even in his first season. Roma came ever so close to winning Serie A, with a goal by Maurizio Turone against Juventus controversially ruled out for offside, even though replays suggested evidence to the contrary. Had the goal stood, Roma would likely have won the league. The club had to settle for just the Coppa Italia at the end of Falcão's first season. But they had set the foundations for a memorable era together.

One of Falcão's most memorable moments came in his second season, when he set up Roberto Pruzzo with an aerial flick with the outside of his boot against Fiorentina. A moment of genius, it was one of the best assists ever made by a Roma player.


Roma ended that season without a trophy, but on a personal level, Falcão was boosted in the summer. After missing the previous edition, he featured at the 1982 World Cup. Part of an iconic Brazil midfield that included Sócrates and future Roma teammate Toninho Cerezo – as well as Zico himself – he even scored against Italy. They've been eliminated in that game, but that Brazilian team had captured the hearts of millions of fans all over the world. Falcão's individual impact was recognised as he received a Silver Ball — becoming tournament's second best player after Paolo Rossi.



But positivity was soon restored. Roma and Falcão finally got their hands on the Serie A title in his third season. The Roma squad assembled in 1982-83 was one of their strongest ever. Falcão was a key component, starting 27 out of 30 league games. He scored seven goals in Serie A – including a crucial one against Pisa in one of his best performances for the club, helping them to a result which put them firmly on course for the title – and added three in cup competitions, to reach double figures for the only time in his career. Serie A recignised him as the Player of the Year ahead of Juve's Michel Platini. During that campaign, he earned his ‘Il Divino’ (the Divine One) nickname from the Roma fans. He would, of course, also come to be known as L’Ottavo Re Di Roma – the Eighth King of Rome, and he is also considered to be the greatest foreign footballer in club's history. During those years the World Soccer magazine twice named him 3rd best player in the 2orld — in 1982 only Paolo Rossi and Karl-Heinz Rummenigge were placed higher, in 1983 it were Zico and Michel Platini. Considering the calibre of his competition and the usual bias towards attacking players in those ratings, it's quite an achievement.

Falcão is the man who conducts the orchestra on the pitch. All I do sometimes is write the music for him, or prepare the score based on certain ideas

Falcão appears wherever the team need his feet, his ideas and his brain. He's not a showy player and he's only spectacular for brief moments. He controls the ball with long legs and doesn't have blistering pace, yet he is everywhere. He shows for the ball, makes it easy for his team-mates to find him and so often slips away from his marker

*In the current format Brasileirão only exists since 1971.

 

[harms]

4. Didi. 474 points

The thing that impresses me most about Didi is his Lukaku-esque ability to make 360° passes with his first touch — usually you can predict a general direction and weight of a pass even before player hits it, but not with Didi. It shouldn't be too surprising, considering that Didi is famously credited with the invention of a folha seca ("dry leaf") technique — by hitting the ball with outside of his boot he had applied an additional curve to its trajectory, forcing it to dip at the last moment (it gave the illusion that he was in control of the ball even after it had left his boot). This technique would lately be perfected by players like Juninho Pernambucano, Beckham and Cristiano — but there's something unique in seeing an old-fashioned heavy leather ball bending like it's a lightweight plastic flyaway being carried by the wind.



His influence on Brazil's current status as the most dominant force in international football can't be overestimated. It was Didi, not Pelé, despite his famous goalscoring exploits in the latter stages of the tournament, that became the best player of the 1958 World Cup — the first World Cup won by Brazil. He continued to dominate midfield 4 years later, in a tournament that Pelé had missed almost entirely — and while Garrincha was the standout player that year, Didi was absolutely crucial to that side's overall balance. It wasn't only his magical ball-control, passing or, a bit underrated, defensive side of the game — Didi was the calming influence that was so needed in a collective of young superstars.

Here's how Pelé recalls the quarter-final against Wales — the match that put him on the map as the next big thing after he had scored the winning goal:

Didi was very important for me in 1958. I was only 17 and he was like an older brother. For him, playing football was as easy as peeling an orange. The first half ended scoreless. I didn’t really get many chances with the ball. But Didi later said that he had been saving me during the first 45 minutes of the game. He believed that, because of my age, no one would really pay attention to me — they might even forget about me entirely. I was a boy no one needed to fear; and sure enough, the defenders’ attention seemed to fade as the game went on. Didi’s experience and demeanour were precisely what our excitable group of novices needed.

And this is a story from Mario Zagallo, from the same tournament's final, which Brazil would end up winning 5:2; it took place right after Brazil had conceded the first goal of the game:

I was already in position out on the left wing, ready for kick-off, and I saw Didi walking slowly with the ball in his arms.
I ran over to him, shouting in desperation: ‘Come on Didi, we’re losing!’
He just said: ‘Calm down lad. We’re still a better team than they are. Don’t worry, we’ll turn this game around soon enough.’
Once we heard that, everybody suddenly calmed down. We equalised five minutes later and the rest is history. That’s what Didi was like: he made everything seem easy

Didi's standing as an all-time great is, sadly, often questioned in Europe — mostly because of his unsuccessful spell in Europe. Santiago Bernabeu was so enamoured with the Brazilian after his 1958 performance that he decided to sign him as a replacement for no one other than the great Alfredo Dí Stefano. Sadly, no one had consulted with Dí Stefano about that — and he was absolutely furious about it. Of course, at that point, Dí Stefano was more than just a player for Real Madrid — his influence spread much wider than that; when they've signed Puskás, arguably the greatest player of the 1950's, the Hungarian quickly realised that and settled for a more limited role of a striker — so that he wouldn't be threatening Dí Stefano's role as a leader and a centrepiece of the entire team. Didi was not so lucky — and very soon he was sold back to Brazil. The whole world was expecting a duel between when Spain (Dí Stefano was representing it at the time) was drawn to play Brazil in the 1962 World Cup, but Dí Stefano had missed the game due to injury. All Brazilians believed that he had faked it to escape the inevitable humiliation — but we'll never know the truth.

They say you’ve come to replace me. Well, you’re too old and you’re not good enough

 

[Joga Bonito]

impresses me most about Didi is his Lukaku-esque ability to make 360° passes

 

[harms]

3. Luis Suárez. 486 points

Luis Suárez, El Arquitecto, First of His Name, was one of the very few players who had managed to reach all-time great level in two different roles. For the first half of his career he played mostly as an offensive midfielder, utilising not only his passing skills, but also his elegant dribbling and ruthless goalscoring instinct (with 61 goals in 122 league games for Barcelona he has a rate of scoring exactly every other game; he has also scored all 14 of his goals for Spain during his first 4 years representing his country — incredibly, he hasn't scored an international goal since the turn of 1961, despite playing in 2 World Cups and winning the Euros). For the second one, that started soon after his transfer to Inter Milan (Helenio Herrera, who managed him at Barcelona, was such a fan of Suárez that he had convinced the owners to make him the world's most expensive player — his transfer cost £142,000), he moved deeper and adapted for a more defensive style of catenaccio, masterfully breaking down the opposition's plays and orchestrating Inter's game in possession. His transfer would prove to be a resounding success — he would become Inter's most important player (that's quite a achievement, considering that his competition were Sandro Mazzola and Giacinto Facchetti) and help them to establish themselves as a big European club. Grande Inter, as they would become known a bit later, had won two consecutive European Cups and reach another final — but Suárez was injured right before the final and Inter weren't able to cope with that.

Suárez's career at Barcelona deserves a closer look. A lot has been said about Real Madrid side of the 50's that won 5 European Cups in a row — many think that that team, with Alfredo Dí Stefano, Ferenc Puskás, Paco Gento and the rest is the best club side of all-time, and it's hard to argue with that. But the side that gets unfairly forgotten because of the amount of attention Madrid gets is their contemporary Barcelona. A team with Luis Suárez, László Kubala, Sandor Kocsis and Zoltán Czibor had been their toughest competitors and after Suárez started to mature, they began winning titles — between 1957 and 1961 they would win 2 consecutive league titles, two Fairs Cups and two Generalissimo Cups, in addition to playing the famous European Cup final in Bern in 1961. Barcelona had lost to Benfica 3:2 in what became known as the “square-posts” final (as Barca were denied by the post multiple times), but perhaps their greatest achievement came before that — in the semi-finals they became the first team in history to eliminate five-time defending champions Real Madrid from the European Cup. Suárez had scored a decisive brace at Santiago Bernabéu and later that year he would receive Ballon d'Or — until this day he remains the only Spanish player to ever win it. It wasn't a one-off thing by the way — he would twice finish as a Ballon d'Or runner up (1961, 1964) and once he'll get 3rd (1965).

Sadly, it's Barcelona — and of course there would be some issues. Their fans had started two opposing groups — Kubalista and Luisista, instigating a conflict that wasn't really there — the first group was apparently "backing" ageing László Kubala, the other one was "backing" young Luisito, although both players liked each other and there weren't any positional overlaps.

I don’t know why but the Barça fans began to whistle me. A situation involving rivalry between myself and Ladislao Kubala had come about when in reality there was nothing of the sort. We had always got on well but people insisted on whistling me when he wasn’t playing. The thing was that I was not playing in his position. I was the ball playing midfielder. We had different roles and when he did not play it was because Kocsis, Evaristo or Eulogio Martínez, other great players we had in the squad, were playing in his place. In fact, they whistled as well when Kubala was playing. I admired him and I did not understand why the fans whistled me and wanted to pit us against each other. But the fans, instead of being happy that I was coming through when Kubala was perhaps starting to dip, decided to go a different way and took against me.

Would I have left Barça without the problem with the fans? I don’t know, I think I would have stayed. It’s true that the financial aspect could have been a factor: Italy and its league were then a more powerful one than the Spanish one. They paid 25 million pesetas for me at the time (now that would be 204,000 euros), a whole lot of money! Honestly, nevertheless, I think I would have stayed and I would have ended up retiring at Barça. I want to remind you that in that era Barça were better and more popular than Inter who at that time had not won as much as they would go on to win in the future.

At Inter though he went from strength to strength. At 5′ 9″ he was no tough-tackling midfield general and he had to adapt his game to suit the Italian physicality and emphasis upon tactical nous. His reading of the game and movement on the pitch meant he was often in the right place, at the right time to break up play. His vision and range of passing was intricate as well as exquisite. Clever movement aided his ability to build counter-attacks from the back before getting into the box to finish moves. Above all, Suárez seemed to possess that rarest of qualities on a football pitch; time. His new role — a much deeper one, on one hand was more demanding defensively, but, on the other hand, it allowed him a lot of creative freedom, since he wasn't as heavily marked as an attacking midfielder would be at the time — and if the opposition put a marker on him, he had way more space to operate in once he had inevitably escaped him. Herrera's vertical football had heavily relied on Suárez's ability to instantly play the ball forward, often finding the likes of Mazzola or Jair in goalscoring positions a few moments after winning the ball back. He ended up playing 328 matches for Inter between 1961 and 1970, scoring 55 goals. In those years Inter won three Seria A titles, Won two consecutive European Cups and two Intercontinental Cups.

After his move to Italy he only played for Spain in key fixtures — most notably in big tournaments; overall he'd only play 11 games in 11 years between 1961 and 1972, but those games would include the 1964 Euros. That tournament would become Spain's first international success (they'd have to wait for another one until 2008) — and who else but Luis Suárez was that side's captain and best player... in fact, he stood head and shoulders above any other player in that tournament, producing an incredibly influential and dominant midfield performance.

 

[Edgar Allan Pillow]

Nice write up, harms. I didn't know about the Kubalista and Luisista scrap before.

 

[Synco]

Outdoing yourself @harms. Great stuff.

 

[harms]

2. Sir Bobby Charlton. 630 points

The man, the myth, the legend. Sir Bobby Charlton is the greatest English player of all-time as well as (in my humble opinion) the greatest Manchester United player of all-time — it doesn't really get better than that. For many decades he held goalscoring records for both England and Manchester United, until Wayne Rooney broke both — despite never playing as a full-time striker (he began his career as a left winger and later moved to central midfield). He had survived the Munich air disaster and, alongside Sir Matt Busby, played a key role in rebuilding the whole team from a scratch and finally getting the elusive European Cup that should've been ours a decade earlier. He always rose to the occasion and played his best football in biggest games — be it his 2 goals in the 1968 European Cup final against Benfica or a brace in the World Cup semi-final against Eusébio's Portugal. And, above all, he always remained a perfect gentleman on an off the pitch — his whole life is so ideal that it's almost unbelievable.

For the sake of those who haven't watched him play (go and do so!), I'd probably compare him to Pavel Nedvěd — Charlton was literally the most complete offensive midfielder of all-time. Outstanding passer with a thunderous shot from either foot (he was one of the most ambidextrous players of all-time), incredibly smooth and incisive with the ball — and a perfect team player as well; it's no surprise that he had shared the limelight with Denis Law and George Best during his peak years, allowing all three to win their own Ballon d'Or, Charlton had the mentality that always put team's interests first, even if it meant playing deeper or doing more defensive work to accommodate other stars. In the biggest game of his career, the 1966 World Cup final, Charlton, an attacking midfielder and England's biggest star, was asked by Alf Ramsey to keep tabs on young Franz Beckenbauer — and he did a great job of neutralising the German, who had already scored 4 goals at that tournament (to be fair, they've kind of cancelled each other, but if you can trade yourself off for Beckenbauer, you've done a great job). An interesting point to further illustrate his influence would be another game against West Germany, during the 1970 World Cup. England were leading 2:0, but somehow they've managed to completely crumble after Charlton was subbed off and eventually lost 2:3.

His consistency is also something to be admired. Charlton had scored 249 goals in 758 first team games for Manchester United. A natural born sharpshooter, he recorded an equally impressive 49 goals in 106 full international appearances for The Three Lions between 1958 and 1970. He was nominated for Ballon d'Or 9 times between 1960 and 1971, winning it once (1966) and twice ending up as a runner up (1967, 1968). Charlton missed just a single game in 1964/65 as United reclaimed the First Division title and returned to the European Cup for the first time in seven years. In three seasons between 1963 and 1966 alone, he played an astonishing 167 times as the club three times reached the FA Cup semi-finals and got as far as the European semi-finals in the latter campaign. Perhaps the most mind-blowing record is this one — throughout his career, United with Charlton never failed to reach the semi-finals of the European Cup on five separate occasions spread over 12 years.

Early in my management, I knew I had to find a role suitable to Bobby’s unique talents. He wasn’t just a great goalscorer, with a blistering shot using either foot. Bobby was a player who could also do his share of hard work.

There has never been a more popular footballer. He was as near perfection as man and player as it is possible to be

What a pleasure to play alongside. I don’t think I’ve ever seen anybody who could beat players as easily as him, myself included. I often used my pace, but Bobby made it look effortless. And once he got within 30 yards of the goal, he was lethal with either foot.

Bobby had a bit of everything. He was a marvellous crosser of a ball and scored a tremendous amount of goals. He had a fantastic shot, it was so powerful. I knew if he was going to shoot there was a fair chance the goalkeeper wouldn’t be able to hold it, so I would follow up and invariably the guy would drop it.

My time at United has been laced with all these great moments, but none more so than my friendship with Bobby, and what he’s done for me. The great attribute of Bobby – and it’s a great example to anybody who has been successful – is how he’s kept his feet on the ground and retained his humility all his life.

Bobby Charlton was known for his creativity. But he was on the move for 90 minutes, and had the lungs of a horse

Charlton, as we all know, covered the whole pitch. Played on the left, on the right, in the middle. He never stopped running and he had a very powerful shot and scored a lot of great goals. I have many more good than bad memories from my career, but some of the bad memories come from when
I crossed paths with Bobby Charlton. It was Bobby Charlton who spoiled my day in the World Cup semi-final of 1966 and later the European Cup final of ’68, but I’ve forgiven him and we are still good friends now. He’s a real English gentleman.

 

[Himannv]

Gold standard posts in here. Great job, @harms

 

[Jim Beam]

Yeah, absolutely brilliant write ups. Much better insight into players careers then most of what you find on the internet.

 

[harms]

1. Xavi. 708 points

Over the course of football history there have been many world-class players, but only a handful of them had influenced the game in such a way that it changed football forever — Di Stéfano, Cruyff, Beckenbauer... it seems unlikely that in an era that was defined by a rivalry between two GOAT candidates, we'd find such a player outside of that confrontation, but that's exactly what happened. While football fans keep arguing, whenever it's Messi or Ronaldo who deserves the top spot in all-time rankings, it is Xavi who personalises most of the significant tactical changes that happened in this era. Almost obsessive focus on keeping the ball, pressing and counter-pressing, Cruff's triangles and general interpretation of space — it is Xavi, not Messi or Cristiano, who became the literal embodiment of those principles.

And of course, to reach such a status, a player has to win something... a lot of something. Xavi has 8 La Liga titles, 4 Champions Leagues and countless of other club trophies — but perhaps most important are his international trophies: Xavi had led Spain to an unprecedented run of 3 consecutive international titles, 2 Euros and a World Cup. Xavi was the brain and the heart of all of his teams, controlling the game like no other midfielder before (or after) him. His style could vary quite significantly depending on his environment — when he had played for an attacking Barcelona, he could reach an insane amount of assists (in 2008/09 he finished the season with 7 goals and 29 assists). When he was playing for Spain, that chose a more conservative approach, he would retain possession for ages, creating the infamous "boring" version of tiki-taka... but while it was boring, it was also suffocatingly effective.

“He is the best player in the history of Spanish football.

I have run out of compliments for him. There is no-one who can compare to what he represents as a person and a player. His statistics, the years, the feelings he conjures up, his way of doing things are beyond words. He is a unique player, unrepeatable and he has been fundamental to the club and Spain. It is a true pleasure and privilege to have played alongside him for my entire career.

If we’re talking about Xavi, we’re talking about a legend in world football, a genuine legend. From the very first game to the very last game he has been the most decisive player at Barcelona, the player who has done more for Barcelona than anyone else, the player who has lifted more trophies than anyone else, ever. That’s Xavi Hernández. There will be a Before Xavi and an After Xavi.

I hope future players learn from him in the way that I learned from his love for the game. There wasn’t a single day went by when I didn’t see him enjoy it. There would be a friendly and he would play. When he was injured, he would play, or he would do everything to be back soon. He is the most amateur player I know, and at the same time the most professional player too, such is his love for football.

Xavi changed football. He helped us to build, or to see, a new player profile that ended up running through all levels of the national team. He killed off the myth of physicality being above all else and opened people’s eyes to the qualities of small, technical players, proving that you can attack and also defend with the ball. There are lots of players who win things, but few who lay down concepts, ideas, who change the way we think, and Xavi did that.

 

[harms]

So, the full list is, as follows:

1	Xavi	708
2	Charlton	630
3	Luis Suárez	486
4	Didi	474
5	Falcão	433
6	Bozsik	427
7	Netzer	374
8	Scholes	370
9	Pirlo	364
10	Van Hanegem	355
11	Modrić	309
12	Schuster	291
13	Masopust	287
14	Overath	285
15	Gerson	240
16	Liedholm	194
17	Silva	180
	De Bruyne	180
19	Xabi Alonso	172
20	Deco	140
21	Verón	136
22	Ocwirk	95
23	Prosinečki	79
24	Kroos	77
25	Brady	72
	Fàbregas	72
27	Guardiola	57
28	Albertini	55
29	Blanchflower	54
	Giles	54
31	Boban	47
32	Hoddle	39
33	Sneijder	26
34	Hanappi	20
35	Baxter	19
	Bulgarelli	19
37	Pogba	18
38	Szepan	12
39	Antognoni	8
40	Ancelotti	7
41	Murdoch	2
	Van Moer	2
	Juninho Paulista	2
44	Juninho Pernambucano	1

Special thanks to @Synco for helping out with the numbers and for constantly reminding me about the project

 

[Enigma_87]

Great job @harms ! That’s a proper presentation.