Your top 5 footballers in your lifetime

[stewart12]

I know its all about personal opinions, but you must have very strong personal reasons for having Bergkamp instead of Cruyff.

Cruyff won 3 consecutive European Cups, took Holland to 2 World Cup finals (or would have done if he wasn't threatened with kidnap in Argentina). He then helped win Barcas first league title for 14 years. As a manager he lead Barca to 4 consecutive league titles, European Cup, Cup winners Cup.

Bergkamp won the cup winners with Ajax in 87. His manager? Johann Cruyff.

Cruyff wasn't in my lifetime

 

[blue-shifted]

Hmm, very tough

Ronaldo
Messi
Ronaldo
Zidane
Maldini

Didn’t see any of those live though. Shevchenko (in his youth) and Gascoigne the stands outs I’ve seen in the flesh. Don’t quite remember Maradona

 

[wallyback]

George Best
Paul Gascoigne
Vicente
Peter Ward
Gunter Netzer

 

[Bold Seagull]

Cruyff wasn't in my lifetime

Youngster!!

 

[boik]

Cruyff wasn't in my lifetime

Hmm... I keep forgetting how old I am. Not sure if that's good or bad!

 

[dejavuatbtn]

Yashin
Pele
Messi
Moore
Greaves

 

[boik]

I've never seen anyone else score the sort of goals Bergkamp scored. His first touch was out of this world. His imagination with his first touch was something i've never seen from anyone else too. He was technically unbelievable. IF anyone deserved the title 'Wizard' it was Bergkamp

Show me 2 better goals when it comes to first touch:

Brilliant goals indeed, but Cruyff was so much more than a goalscorer. He was brave in the way the Best and Pele were, but I always thought that Bergkamp could be put off by one hefty challenge and would disappear in a lot of games. His best was brilliant, but occasional.

 

[worthingseagull123]

John Barnes
Chris Waddle
Terry Butcher
Neville Southall
Gary Lineker

Quite a five a-side team.

 

[Jaxie]

1. Messi
2. Scholes
3. Zidane
4. Ronaldinho
5. Hagi

Hagi, good shout. And he was in my lifetime so could have included him! It’s impossible to just pick 5, should be 10 at least!

 

[Megazone]

Brilliant goals indeed, but Cruyff was so much more than a goalscorer. He was brave in the way the Best and Pele were, but I always thought that Bergkamp could be put off by one hefty challenge and would disappear in a lot of games. His best was brilliant, but occasional.

My Dad regards Cruyff as the best so I'm very aware he was a great great player, I just think Bergkamp should be seen up there with greatest too. Before he arrived at arsenal they were considered boring boring arsenal. It was Bruce Rioch who signed him and that was a dreadful arsenal team. He was the the player who gave them this arsenal style their fans now demand. He brought something to the english game which I believe helped up the standard which was high speed ball control giving arsenal this speed they were recognised for. He was just as influential as Wenger in how arsenal become the force they were.

Bergkamp wasn't just a goal scorer, he was actually more known for creating goals. He set up many for Ian Wright to become arsenal's highest ever goal scorer, then setting up tons for Henry to then break Wrights record and become arsenals highest ever goal scorer again. .
Definitely not a player you would say was only brilliant occasionally and definitely not a player who was put off by a strong challenge. He actually had a pretty nasty side to him when it came to the tackles e.g. his elbows.

arguably the greatest player to wear the arsenal shirt and I've got a fair few arsenal relatives who watched Liam Brady.

 

[Behind Enemy Lines]

Cruyff
Maradona
Ronaldinho
Ronaldo
Messi

 

[Garry Nelson's teacher]

Best
Pele
Messi
Maradona
Roy of the Rovers

 

[Weststander]

Anyone who doesn't include Cruyff is either too young, or doesn't understand football. Pele was always surrounded by world-class players. Cruyff helped to turn normal players into a world class team - at Ajax, Holland and then an underachieving Barcelona. Then as a coach he helped establish the current Barca dynasty.

I was only at primary school in 1974 when I saw my first World Cup Finals, in Germany. I’ll never, ever forget the genius of Cruyff. It’s hard to pigeon hole his position, he was everywhere in midfield and up front, a product of Total Football, and a genius at everything.

I only found out years later that he’d been doing that for circa 9 years already for Ajax and Holland, a teenage sensation.

His autobio is good read, quite technical (no personal kiss and tells!). So intelligent and innovative, ahead of time as a manager. He faced internal politics of old farts twice at Barca, also at Ajax and the Dutch FA. With Michels, he created much of the attacking, free flowing football we see across the world today.

 

[Hugo Rune]

1. Fyodor Chalov
2. Sander Berge
3. Kyle Walker-Peters
4. Tomáš Souček
5. Mbwana Samatta

 

[Reinelt12]

Zidane, Van Basten, Scholes, Maldini, Ronaldo

Edit: Did this before looking at others so I wasn’t swayed by opinion, 5 names on instinct... then I see Bergkamp and think he must be in there, but can’t leave any of the 5 out...

 

[jakarta]

Best
Pele
Cruyff
Maradona (reluctantly)
Moore

Best Goalkeeper was Banks, obviously, but presume this is for outfield players only.

 

[Doonhamer7]

Ted McMinn, Rowan Alexander, Davie Cooper, Kenny Dalglish, Jim Baxter (ok before my time but keepy- ups vs England 1967 is Scottish folklore)

 

[albionfan37]

Kevin sheedy
Gazza
C ronaldo
Messi
Henry

 

[Invicta]

Kenny Dalglish
Paul Sturrock
Peter Ward
Garry Nelson
Bobby Zamora

My footballing hero journey, I like a forward !

 

[Seagull]

Zidane
Messi
Pele
Cruyff
Ronaldo C