Who's the most complete footballer ever???

[dellzeqq]

If we're talking about Eastern Europeans then surely Georgi Hagi was a more influential player than Hristo?

it's a tough one, but, on balance

- Stoichkov is named after Christ. Or maybe it's the other way around
- Stoichkov's intensity was unbelievable. He scores a wonder goal and he was still angry
- the Romanians went the wrong way with the hair - that yellow business made them a joke - but the Bulgarians had the hair thing down. Even Letchkov's hair was highly motivated. The goalkeeper was quifftastic. And Balakov's shirt was almost rent asunder by his chest hair. So, on balance, all other things being equal, you have to go with the best hair.

time for a World Cup haircuts thread. Send for Helmut Haller!

 

[HLaB]

My initial thoughts you can get away with a bad Haircut if you win, but having seen that pic of Ronaldo, maybe not B)

 

[mangaman]

... Even Letchkov's hair was highly motivated...

Classic - if I had a signature I'd use this one

 

[mangaman]

Not a lot of people know this, but there's a giant model of John Charles suspended in a former copper-rolling plant in Landore in Swansea. He's in a sort of permanent dive for a header, and floats above cases of stuffed animals and vintage vehicles (including bicycles). Just ask if you need any more indispensable football facts...

One question - why is he floating above stuffed animals and vintage vehicles?

Great player, but I missed his stuffed animal/vintage vehicle period

 

[theclaud]

One question - why is he floating above stuffed animals and vintage vehicles?

Great player, but I missed his stuffed animal/vintage vehicle period

There is no "why", as that chap who walked a wire between the Twin Towers might say (but, as this is a football thread, we could pretend it was Cantona). Perhaps he floats above them as he floats above everything else... because of his greatness*


*either that or it's a museum store, and no one knows what the f**k to do with a giant flying John Charles. For further obscure cycling connections, we've produced a show in his shadow, featuring Mr & Mrs Clark of recent FNRttC initiation...

 

[mangaman]

Perhaps he floats above them as he floats above everything else... because of his greatness

Very good - you could get yourself a non-job in the Welsh art world (as Andy would say)

 

[pubrunner]

My father always held that the best player he'd seen was Il Gigante Buono, John Charles.

World class as a centre half and striker (he sometimes played both positions in the same match) and voted by Juventus as their best overseas player of all time - not bad considering that Platini and Zidane both played for Juve in their prime.

A sensational scoring record in Italy - the most defensive minded league at its most defensive minded period - helping Juve to three scudettos. Until recently one of his goals was used in the opening sequence to Italy's version of Match of the Day.

A genuinely nice bloke by all accounts too. There's a great story of Torino fans (Juve's derby rivals) making a racket outside Charles' apartment having beaten Juve that day. Charles invited them in, whereby they promptly drank the entire contents of his valuable wine cellar and tried to convince him to defect to torino.

What might have been had he not been injured when Wales faced Brazil in the '58 world cup quarter final.

+1

In his five years at Juventus he scored 93 goals in 155 matches, winning the Italian league championship three times, and the Italian Cup twice. Whilst considering his incredible rate of scoring in a very defensive minded league, it should be noted that he spent a lot of time helping out his own defense. It was not unusual for him to begin a match at centre-forward then, when Juventus had established a lead, drop back and play at the heart of the defence. In those 155 appearances for Juventus, he was never once cautioned or sent off.

The likes of Maradona, Ruud Gullit, Frank Rijkaard, Marco van Basten, Michel Platini, Ronaldo, Zinedine Zidane and Paolo Maldini have played in Italy's top division, and they are just a handful of the great players. None of them would look out of place in a list of the top ten players ever.

As mentioned above by Delftse Post, in a vote to determine the greatest player ever to play in Serie A, none of these players won. Nor did Paolo Rossi, Kaka, Ronaldinho, Roberto Baggio, Dennis Bergkamp or Lothar Matthaus. All the men on this all-star list were outdone by John Charles - somebody who played (in Italy) over 50 years ago !

Denis Law and Tom Finney, great players in their own right, rated Charles as the best centre-back in Europe. He was, however, primarily a striker. Law went on to say he was also in the top three centre-forwards he had ever seen. Nat Lofthouse was asked who was the best centre-half he had played against and without hesitation named John Charles. The same week Billy Wright was asked who was the greatest centre-forward he had faced, and he too answered “John Charles".

Had John Charles played for a 'glamour' team such as Manchester United, he would be far better known and more highly regarded.

Delftse Post - your Dad got it right !

 

[Yellow Fang]

+1

Denis Law and Tom Finney, great players in their own right, rated Charles as the best centre-back in Europe. He was, however, primarily a striker. Law went on to say he was also in the top three centre-forwards he had ever seen. Nat Lofthouse was asked who was the best centre-half he had played against and without hesitation named John Charles. The same week Billy Wright was asked who was the greatest centre-forward he had faced, and he too answered “John Charles".

That's some praise by Billy Wright considering the monkey Ferenc Puskas made of him in that Hungary game.

John Charles died not so long ago, didn't he? I remember the journalist saying he probably would have been a great rugby player too, given his size.

Come to think of it, Tom Finney was a pretty good all round attacking player. He could play both wings and up front. He played outside right or centre forward for Preston North End, and outside left for England.

 

[lukesdad]

The most complete player I saw live would be Cruyff. Saw him at wembley when Holland beat England 2-0, couldn t take your eyes off him. You could tell he was the best on the park,cos on a wet night he was the only one who didn t have a mark on his shirt they couldn tget near him.

Best was the most exiciting to watch live you just never knew what he was going to do.

My old man, ( who knows s lot more about the beautiful game than I ever will) reckons no one in the modern era can compare to Di Stefano .

 

[Noodley]

Nothing like a bitter jock

Nothing bitter in it. I just feel it was ridiculously arrogant statement - typically English

 

[GrumpyGregry]

Nothing bitter in it. I just feel it was ridiculously arrogant statement - typically English

PMSL - it's a quote, from a Brazilian!