Best ever world 11

Ill start it off


Banks

....... Becken ...... ......

...... ......

Ronaldo Maradona Messi

Pele

Best for Ronaldo??

Baresi CB
Maldini LB

Josh Murphy has to play on the left

Very very controversial opinion I’m sure, but I’d replace Pele with...

Ibrahimovic

The bloke is 39 and he’s got 20 goals in 24 matches for Milan in the Serie A this season and last. He’s been playing in the top 6 leagues (Netherlands 6th) for 20 years bar a 2 year stint in America. 818 games, 496 goals.
He’s won the Serie A with 3 different teams
He’s won La Liga
He’s won the Eredivisie
He’s won Ligue 1 4 times
He’s won national cups in 5 countries and, arguably, carried Sweden singlehandedly for over a decade.

The man is a machine and doesn’t look like he’s stopping anytime soon, people said he was too old for United when he signed 4 years ago yet in just 53 games he won the League Cup, Community Shield and Europa League.

Pele played in an age where you’d drink and smoke after playing a match with balls made of concrete on pitches with more stones than grass. Football 60 years ago was a completely different game to now.
Pele also only ever played in Brazil and the USA, Ibrahimovic has proven he can play and score against the worlds best in several leagues.

Well made point that good shout.

Zlatan it is

Best I've actually seen in my lifetime

343 formation

Manager - Alex Ferguson

Buffon

Cannavaro
Maldini
Sergio Ramos

Ronaldo
Iniesta
Zidane
Messi

Crespo
Rivaldo

Very very controversial opinion I’m sure, but I’d replace Pele with...

Ibrahimovic

The bloke is 39 and he’s got 20 goals in 24 matches for Milan in the Serie A this season and last. He’s been playing in the top 6 leagues (Netherlands 6th) for 20 years bar a 2 year stint in America. 818 games, 496 goals.
He’s won the Serie A with 3 different teams
He’s won La Liga
He’s won the Eredivisie
He’s won Ligue 1 4 times
He’s won national cups in 5 countries and, arguably, carried Sweden singlehandedly for over a decade.

The man is a machine and doesn’t look like he’s stopping anytime soon, people said he was too old for United when he signed 4 years ago yet in just 53 games he won the League Cup, Community Shield and Europa League.

Pele played in an age where you’d drink and smoke after playing a match with balls made of concrete on pitches with more stones than grass. Football 60 years ago was a completely different game to now.
Pele also only ever played in Brazil and the USA, Ibrahimovic has proven he can play and score against the worlds best in several leagues.

While you make a compelling argument the fact that you had to list all these accomplishments counts as a minus in my mind, compare that list to why Pele, well because he's Pele that why, no need for a list.

Very very controversial opinion I’m sure, but I’d replace Pele with...

Ibrahimovic

The bloke is 39 and he’s got 20 goals in 24 matches for Milan in the Serie A this season and last. He’s been playing in the top 6 leagues (Netherlands 6th) for 20 years bar a 2 year stint in America. 818 games, 496 goals.
He’s won the Serie A with 3 different teams
He’s won La Liga
He’s won the Eredivisie
He’s won Ligue 1 4 times
He’s won national cups in 5 countries and, arguably, carried Sweden singlehandedly for over a decade.

The man is a machine and doesn’t look like he’s stopping anytime soon, people said he was too old for United when he signed 4 years ago yet in just 53 games he won the League Cup, Community Shield and Europa League.

Pele played in an age where you’d drink and smoke after playing a match with balls made of concrete on pitches with more stones than grass. Football 60 years ago was a completely different game to now.
Pele also only ever played in Brazil and the USA, Ibrahimovic has proven he can play and score against the worlds best in several leagues.

While you make a compelling argument the fact that you had to list all these accomplishments counts as a minus in my mind, compare that list to why Pele, well because he's Pele that why, no need for a list.

See that's the opposite for me. I'm just told Pele is the best and I should accept it. I don't know anyone who watched him play, I don't know the state of the Brazilian football league in the 60's. All I know is he scored a lot and won some World Cups which he won with one of the best footballing nation on the planet.

Zlatan on the other hand has proven himself, to me at least. Despite never having seen him play I know he's won almost everything almost everywhere, he constantly appears in headlines and highlights for the past 20 years and years to come most likely.

Surely Cruyff must feature somewhere?

Surely Cruyff must feature somewhere?

Could he have done it in todays game with the fitness and skill levels ?

Personally I dont think anyone from before before the 90s would even get near top level professional teams today . Its a totally different game

Surely Cruyff must feature somewhere?

Could he have done it in todays game with the fitness and skill levels ?

Personally I dont think anyone from before before the 90s would even get near top level professional teams today . Its a totally different game

Surely when considering whether Cruyff, Puskas or Beckenbauer merit inclusion for example you need to consider the playing conditions pitches tackling and diet/fitness regimes prevalent at the time. The thread is who is in the best ever not best since 1990.

Cruyff has to feature - he changed the way football was played. All the managers such as Guardiola who play that philosophy now got it from the Dutch team of 1974. What most people don't know is that it was Cruyff that came up with it and not the coach Rinus Michels. Not only that, but he could play a bit too...

Stanley Matthews, Paolo Rossi, Kenny Dalglish, Ruud Gullit, Gerd Muller, Paolo Maldini, Romario, Lev Yashin, Zico, Van Basten, John Charles.

Surely Cruyff must feature somewhere?

Could he have done it in todays game with the fitness and skill levels ?

Personally I dont think anyone from before before the 90s would even get near top level professional teams today . Its a totally different game

Surely when considering whether Cruyff, Puskas or Beckenbauer merit inclusion for example you need to consider the playing conditions pitches tackling and diet/fitness regimes prevalent at the time. The thread is who is in the best ever not best since 1990.

Exactly

But is a player from the 60s of the same quality as we see now ?

Totally different game and the skill levels now are way way above then

Surely Cruyff must feature somewhere?

Could he have done it in todays game with the fitness and skill levels ?

Personally I dont think anyone from before before the 90s would even get near top level professional teams today . Its a totally different game

Surely when considering whether Cruyff, Puskas or Beckenbauer merit inclusion for example you need to consider the playing conditions pitches tackling and diet/fitness regimes prevalent at the time. The thread is who is in the best ever not best since 1990.

Exactly

But is a player from the 60s of the same quality as we see now ?

Totally different game and the skill levels now are way way above then

Surely this applies the other way. Could today's bunch of overpaid snowflakes have survived and flourished by having the crap kicked out of them in the way Pele did ? Or are they so skillful now that nobody would have got near them ? As you say it is a totally different game now but you're only looking at it one way.

Surely Cruyff must feature somewhere?

Could he have done it in todays game with the fitness and skill levels ?

Personally I dont think anyone from before before the 90s would even get near top level professional teams today . Its a totally different game

Surely when considering whether Cruyff, Puskas or Beckenbauer merit inclusion for example you need to consider the playing conditions pitches tackling and diet/fitness regimes prevalent at the time. The thread is who is in the best ever not best since 1990.

Exactly

But is a player from the 60s of the same quality as we see now ?

Totally different game and the skill levels now are way way above then

Surely this applies the other way. Could today's bunch of overpaid snowflakes have survived and flourished by having the crap kicked out of them in the way Pele did ? Or are they so skillful now that nobody would have got near them ? As you say it is a totally different game now but you're only looking at it one way.

Fair point

But whichever way you look at it the technical and fitness levels of players today are above and beyond anything in the past.

How would Bobby Moore handle the modern game

Never saw Pele play so have to take what people say about him But when i see clips of Pele they usually include
- A shot from half way he misses
- A dummy on the goal keeper and he misses the shot
- A header that he misses but great save from Banks
- A three yard pass in one of the greatest goals of all time in 1970 final
I know he did a lot more and that all the greats of the past would have had the talent and mindset to be great now Think if Pele got the protection players get now and played on the carpets that are modern day pitches Also being educated about diet and fitness regimes
Someone like Maradona would have been untouchable in the modern game

How would Bobby Moore handle the modern game

Good question, he lacked pace but he could read a game better than most, his positional play was top class and one of the best tacklers ever.

Surely Cruyff must feature somewhere?

Could he have done it in todays game with the fitness and skill levels ?

Personally I dont think anyone from before before the 90s would even get near top level professional teams today . Its a totally different game

Surely when considering whether Cruyff, Puskas or Beckenbauer merit inclusion for example you need to consider the playing conditions pitches tackling and diet/fitness regimes prevalent at the time. The thread is who is in the best ever not best since 1990.

Exactly

But is a player from the 60s of the same quality as we see now ?

Totally different game and the skill levels now are way way above then

Surely this applies the other way. Could today's bunch of overpaid snowflakes have survived and flourished by having the crap kicked out of them in the way Pele did ? Or are they so skillful now that nobody would have got near them ? As you say it is a totally different game now but you're only looking at it one way.

Exactly, George Best had to put up with being hacked from behind on mud bath pitches, blokes like chopper Harris trying to dismember him, and getting practically no protection from the refs. On todays perfect playing surfaces and with the stricter refereeing he would be in his element.

Surely Cruyff must feature somewhere?

Could he have done it in todays game with the fitness and skill levels ?

Personally I dont think anyone from before before the 90s would even get near top level professional teams today . Its a totally different game

Surely when considering whether Cruyff, Puskas or Beckenbauer merit inclusion for example you need to consider the playing conditions pitches tackling and diet/fitness regimes prevalent at the time. The thread is who is in the best ever not best since 1990.

Exactly

But is a player from the 60s of the same quality as we see now ?

Totally different game and the skill levels now are way way above then

Surely this applies the other way. Could today's bunch of overpaid snowflakes have survived and flourished by having the crap kicked out of them in the way Pele did ? Or are they so skillful now that nobody would have got near them ? As you say it is a totally different game now but you're only looking at it one way.

Exactly, George Best had to put up with being hacked from behind on mud bath pitches, blokes like chopper Harris trying to dismember him, and getting practically no protection from the refs. On todays perfect playing surfaces and with the stricter refereeing he would be in his element.

Would people like chopper Harris get anywhere near the players of today ?
I doubt it the pace of the game and speed of the players would just pass him by

The ball would be gone before they even blinked so maybe the fact Best kept getting chopped down was probably because he was not technically good enough to keep the ball away from them. Would Harris have been able to catch Ronaldo or Messi? . Totally different game now to back then. It was basically glorified parks football as it is now.

Very very controversial opinion I’m sure, but I’d replace Pele with...

Ibrahimovic

The bloke is 39 and he’s got 20 goals in 24 matches for Milan in the Serie A this season and last. He’s been playing in the top 6 leagues (Netherlands 6th) for 20 years bar a 2 year stint in America. 818 games, 496 goals.
He’s won the Serie A with 3 different teams
He’s won La Liga
He’s won the Eredivisie
He’s won Ligue 1 4 times
He’s won national cups in 5 countries and, arguably, carried Sweden singlehandedly for over a decade.

The man is a machine and doesn’t look like he’s stopping anytime soon, people said he was too old for United when he signed 4 years ago yet in just 53 games he won the League Cup, Community Shield and Europa League.

Pele played in an age where you’d drink and smoke after playing a match with balls made of concrete on pitches with more stones than grass. Football 60 years ago was a completely different game to now.
Pele also only ever played in Brazil and the USA, Ibrahimovic has proven he can play and score against the worlds best in several leagues.

I would have wrongfully put Pele in my best ever 11, despite the fact that football players have progressed both physically as athletes and tactically. You make an excellent point regarding Zlatan and as such, “the great Pele” would be on my bench alongside Greg Halford for his versatility.

Best I've actually seen in my lifetime

343 formation

Manager - Alex Ferguson

Buffon

Cannavaro
Maldini
Sergio Ramos

Ronaldo
Iniesta
Zidane
Messi

Crespo
Rivaldo

As an experiment I would love to see that side Manged by Russel Slade in a game against a League 2 side.

Would RS adopt a cautious approach?

Ill start it off


Banks

....... Becken ...... ......

...... ......

Ronaldo Maradona Messi

Pele

Look at that front 4.

Semi on!!!

Best for Ronaldo??

E for B and Georgie best.... not even ion the Bs for me...
quite like the original lost...Maldini and Zidane ?

Marco Van Basten surely must feature

BANKS
CAFU
BARRSI
BECKENBAUER
MALDINI
KEANE
ZIDANE
MARADONA
RONALDO
MESSI
RONALDO

Southall
Moore
VDD
Cruff
Best
Ronaldinho
Gullit
Zlatan
Van Basten
Pele

Buffon

Cafu
Sergio Ramos
Maldini
Dani Alves

Xavi
Iniesta
Zidane

Messi
CR7

Zohore in his purple patch

When it comes to best I’ve seen in the flesh (mixture of performances for/against Cardiff/Wales and general reputation) off the top of my head

Ederson

Wan-Bissaka
Van Dijk
Laporte
Robertson

Pogba
Bernardo Silva
Nainggolan

Hazard
Mahrez
Suarez