thomWhat do you think about this team? Is this the best team ever?
http://bestfootballplayersever.com might also be an interesting website about the greatest players ever. The site is still very new and enables you to vote on your favorite player ever.

27.08.2011

brunosxtAnd Zico ?? He can't fall in this team !!

27.08.2011

thomYes I agree he is great, but who do you want to replace him with?

27.08.2011

JimmyGuitaristI'd pick Zico over Zidane.

27.08.2011

IceFalconJimmyGuitarist, your barca-bias and your anti-madrid replies are annoying. Zidane is the best CAM the world has ever seen.

27.08.2011

ThiagoFSR83who defends in midfield?

I would pick Didi for this team!

28.08.2011

Joe423I'd shove Messi in there somewhere. Maybe over Garrincha, though having never seen him play and only reading about him in a few books I can't comment.

28.08.2011

brunosxtJoe423 you can't take off Garrincha ! if he doesn't stop playing early , he would be better than pele !

28.08.2011

brunosxtand Tom , I don't know but Zico must be in this team !

28.08.2011

david1993no1 is goin to agree with the best startin 11 of world football cause so many players are great and should not be compared with eachother each player was unique and will be rememebred for different reason so this why they shudnt be compared

ur goin to have so many different 11 with different players dnt try and compare just rember them for wat thet did

29.08.2011

ThiagoFSR83Take off Garrincha? OMG!!!

He was the only "unstopable" man. Pelé and Gérson said that.

Pelé said that Garrincha had a three meters sprint that it was impossible to tackle. Gérson said that new Pelés shall apear sometime in future, but no other Garrincha.

BEcause people play football, Garrincha just danced.

29.08.2011

JimmyGuitarist@IceFalcon -
Zico never played for Barcelona. I like Zidane, but I liked Brazil of 1982. It's not an anti-Madrid post at all, and I don't even dislike Madrid. I just dislike there current squad and manager.

29.08.2011

DazzmondoNo George Best? Am I surprised? No, simply because noone ever puts him in.

My team:



Before people start the reason I put in Eusebio ahead of Pele is mainly down to pace so I can catch teams on a quick counter attack.

The Santos bros are really centre backs but they will also come out to defend in wide positions, Paul McGrath will stay in the centre and Matthaus will stay back to help the defense while playing possesion keeping passes between the midfield.

Di Steffano will be asked to defend in the centre but he will also be given a license to go forward on occasion.

Maradona will be asked to play as a playmaker and he will be allowed to go forward on occasion to help Eusebio in attack, while Zidane will be playing in a sitting playmaking role just ahead of Steffano.

Garrincha will be used on the wing to swing in great crosses to the feet and head of Eusebio, whereas Best will have the option to come into a more central role on occasion and take players on, he will be asked to switch between the wing and att midfield though.

I will also have the choices of Pele, Beckenbauer, Messi, Cruyff and Didi to bring on from the bench.

29.08.2011

IceFalcon@JimmyGuitarist: I never said that Zico played for Barça, but Zidane did play for Real Madrid, and I've seen tons of posts of you here hinting that you dislike Madrid and that you consider the current Barca squad the best squad ever in football history. You don't really believe that, do you? Barcelona is a great team but it's is definitely not perfect. And if you dislike their current squad and manager then you are basically disliking the club as it is now and being a Barça-fanboy as so many people these days...

29.08.2011

G.K.Lack of John Charles is disturbing.

30.08.2011

JimmyGuitarist@IceFalcon:
Do you honestly think that I'm going to agree with "You don't really believe that, do you?" - Yes, I do believe that the current Barcelona squad is the best theam there's ever been -in my opinion-. Acknowledge the -in my opinion- part of what I just typed. I don't have a clue why you find that so unbelievable at all. It's not just Barca-fanboys who think it. And if you have watched the most recent El Clasico's, you should realise why some people hate the current Real Madrid squad.
But getting back to where this debate started; I like Zidane a lot, and the fact that I'd pick Zico over him has absolutey nothing to do with the fact that Zidane once played for Madrid. You have to wonder where he achieved the skill of head-butting like that though.

30.08.2011

ThiagoFSR83@Dazzmondo

1. Nilton Santos and Djalma Santos are not brothers, for God Sake!!!

2. the Santos "Bros" were not center backs, they were full backs. in the back-4 line invented in Brazil they played at the lateral (wide-back). In 2-3-5 they played in the wide positions of the second line. By the way, Nilton Santos was the first lateral-apoiador (attacking-full back).

3. Pelé could run 100m in 12 seconds, almost an Olimpics mark for that time! Eusébio was stronger, not faster than Pelé! And nothing is an excuse to take off Pelé from any team, just like it is impossible to take off Garrincha!

4. Di Stéfano played in the central-right in 2-3-5 and in false nine role in Real Madrid's WM - the same role from Hidegkuti in Hungary -, he was never a center midfielder.

5. OMG! in your team Beckembauer in bench for Mathäus?! there's no senso on it!

@JimmyGuitarist
"I do believe that the current Barcelona squad is the best theam there's ever been"

you must research about Pelé's Santos, Garrincha's Botafogo, Zico's Flamengo, Beckembauer's Bayern, Cruijff's Ajax, and Puskás' REal Madrid.

After that you could have a point. Messi's Barça is among them, problably is better than Sachi's Milan, but is not in the same level as Pelé's Santos or Puskás' Madrid!

31.08.2011

ThiagoFSR83


this kind of 4-5-1, Garrincha is free to play, Pelé in false 9 role and Púskas in false 10 role (as he did for Hungary and Real Madrid).

My first choice, when I made my first all time XI in my blog, Cruijff was in Zidane's place and my 2º choice would be Zico.

But now, 1 year later, I think Zidane got a world title for his country in a team far weaker than Holand-74 and Brazil-82

01.09.2011

JimmyGuitarist@ThiagoFSR83 -
I have researched a lot about Pele's Santos. I've researched almost everything about Johan Cruyff.
Of the teams you said, you believe the current Barcelona squad come after them? Honestly, I just couldn't agree. I'm not even a Barcelona supporter, I support Watford FC and I've been a season ticket holder there since I was 4 - I just watch football in-general; any football; and regardless of how "fan-boy'ish" I sound, I do just think that the current Barcelona are the best there's ever been.

01.09.2011

ThiagoFSR83this Barça could NEVER be a real deal to Pelé's Santos.

IF both teams have the same athletic preparation, and Pelé and Messi in their best, it would be a destruction.

I am Botafogo, and there was only one team in the world who could stop Garrincha's Botafogo: Pelé's Santos.

Pelé was just amazing. Imagine Pelé as a Messi footballer type, but who had Cristiano Ronaldo's shoot, AND was a great header - something Messi will never be!-

02.09.2011

ThiagoFSR83@JimmyGuitarist

by the way, this was, IN MY OPINION, the best teams ever:

1. Pelé's Santos
2. Puskás Real Madrid
3. Beckembauer's Bayern
4. Garrincha's Botafogo
5. Messi's Barcelona (this team is an upgrade in Cruijff's Ajax and Sachi's Milan, the same philosophy, but the players are better!)

02.09.2011

G.K.[IMG]http://gametechmods.com/../uploads/images/39094greatestXI.png[/IMG]

Bench of Zoff, Baresi, Messi, Zico, Zidane, G.Muller, Friedenreich

My opinion. Maradona good but overrated.

02.09.2011

G.K.http://gametechmods.com/../uploads/images/39094greatestXI.png

Was the picture.

02.09.2011

theshamwowduck21where's messi?

04.09.2011

JimmyGuitarist@ThiagoFSR83 -
Don't agree with you at all and I'm afraid you could never convince me. Of coarse, the teams you mentioned are definitely worthy of being classified the best there's ever been too, so lets just leave it at that.

05.09.2011

Ravenbarber

This team would A, be functional (you can't just fit the best attackers into a team and expect it to operate as a footballing unit) and B, not waste a movement or pass. In my opinion, as close to unstoppable as is possible.

05.09.2011

IceFalconGood team but Giggs and Dani Alves shouldn't be in a World XI tbh... There are better LM's, LW's than Giggs. Even the presence of Messi is kind of disturbing as Maradona is still the better player... What about Best, Pele, Zidane, Ronaldo?

06.09.2011

brunosxt@Ravenbarber , Giggs ??? you are kidding me ?? You didn`t put Pele , Garrincha , Zico , Maradona , Zidane , Puskas , Beckembauer , Baresi ... and you put Giggs , Thurram , Xavi and Iniesta .

06.09.2011

JimmyGuitaristThis would be a good'n.
http://this11.com/topics/add/abBbglvali

07.09.2011

JimmyGuitaristThis one would be good.

07.09.2011

RavenbarberLet me explain my selections, folks and also reiterate that I selected a team of all time players that I believe would be able to function as a unit, especially if they played today; in other words, a proper team, and not just a bunch of fantasy players crammed together. In my opinion, it is easy to say the likes of Pele, Maradona, Zidane, Beckenbauer, Baresi etc. are the best ever, because they are, but were you to put them all together in the same team, even a hypothetical team, there’s no way a team consisting of 7 attackers and 3 “super defenders”, like so many people seem to proffer, would be able to compete in today’s tactical environment. Also, it lacks imagination to just put Pele and Maradona and Garrincha up front, as if those three would be able to function together. I don’t know too much about the latter, but we know the former two were, and still are egotistical beasts and would loath playing together.
If the first Galacticos era taught us something, it’s that you can’t just put a bunch of geniuses together and not expect a vast degree of rot. To paraphrase Mourinho, there is no such thing as attacking and defensive teams, only functional and dysfunctional ones.
The players in my team would, all of them, fight to the last breath for one another. There’d be little egos here, only the cause. You could say Cruyff might be a problem, having one of the largest egos in the game, but then again he would be my captain and that would actually work in the team’s favour.
Which brings me to Giggs. He is perhaps, along with Alves, the most controversial member of my team, but in my set-up, with Iniesta looking to dart into the box from deep positions, I would need a natural, left-footed winger who hugs the left touchline quite a bit and can actually deliver a consistently good final ball. Are there very many players in history better at that than Giggs? Not in my opinion. He might not be/have been technically as gifted as higher profile players, but he is no slouch in that department either and has been consistent for most of his astonishing career. At his best, well we know how unplayable he was with his pace and poise. He is an absolute legend in my opinion and had he played for England, or any decent national team that would have allowed him to compete at a World Cup, he would be regarded in the same breath as the Zidanes of the world.
Thuram is here because he is every bit the World Cup legend that the likes of Baresi and Beckenbauer are (he got France to the final with two quality goals in the 1998 semi-final, and had almost as good a tournament as Cannavaro in 2006, despite being quite a bit older) and with Alves in my team, I would need a stopper who could play almost two defensive positions at once to cover for the marauding Brazilian. Thuram was good in the air, a fantastic last ditch tackler and could also recover his position quickly, something that would be necessary in this pressing group of players I have assembled here. He also had a cool head under pressure, if I remember correctly. In short, the complete modern defender. Also, he would complement the natural ball player (and big goal threat) Koeman perfectly.
Krol is there in an almost Abidal capacity, i.e. the natural, opposite side foil to Alves to give the defence some balance. Of course, he was a gifted attacker himself and very quick. Perfect for this team.
Cruyff is the quintessential false nine of all time, period, and would be able to help maintain possession with the ultimate Barcelona fantasy trident, Xavi/Iniesta/Guardiola, while at the same time being a goal threat himself at all times and would be perfectly capable of delivering final balls for Messi, or interchanging positions constantly with the Argentinian. Messi is here before Maradona because he is a better team player, more consistent at club level and as good technically. With Cruyff on the pitch, he wouldn’t have to be a natural leader.
Alves is here because, in my opinion, he is the most dynamic attacking fullback in history for his ability to almost play more than one position at once. Perhaps I’m short sighted in this regard, but you have to remember that I chose every player here because they would be able to play in the super athletic modern game. There’s no guarantee that the likes of Nilton Santos would be able to compete at the same level today. There’s no question that someone like Cruyff would have slot in today, because of his super strong personality, pace and technique. He would almost have willed himself into becoming a modern footballer.
I do believe this team to be nigh on unstoppable. Throw at them what you got.

07.09.2011

mbillington10Great team Ravenbarber. Can't really fault any of the teams on here, as the question of who is the greatest of all time is subjective, no way possible to tell conclusively what would happen, so I like how people have been brave enough to put their favourite players in.

@ravenbarber, I just have a couple of things to clarify. I can see how you've picked a team that would compete in today's high-tempo game, picking athletic players. Your selection of Cruyff on the basis of his ability to slot into today's game because of his pace and technique is unquestionable, but why does this criteria not apply to Nilton Santos, who also had great pace and technique, and as a full back had to have greater stamina than someone in Cruyff's position? I'm not saying that you should include Nilton Santos, Dani Alves is a perfectly justifiable choice.

Second, I think you put too much emphasis on the concept of ego's. Every team has ego's, Manchester United had Rooney, C. Ronaldo and Tevez, but were still very successful. Madrid's galactico's didn't fail because they had too many ego's, but because they didn't find a manager with the tactical acumen to find a system which allowed them all to play together successfully. In the same way that England's team of great players has failed in the last world cup, because ultimately the manager didn't get the balance of the tactics right. I think it's too easy to blame the concept of 'ego', which masks technical faults.

Anyway, here's my 11, and for this I haven't included anyone who is still playing for the reason that you can never know what will happen in the future of their careers, surely you can only assess something once it is complete? I am confident that C. Ronaldo and Messi will walk into the team once they have finished playing.

I'll admit my bias straight away too. I am a little Euro-centric because I think that a higher standard of football is played in the European leagues, rather than the south american leagues. So I went for Cruyff over Zico, and Faccetti over Nilton Santos. My final bias is that Zidane is my favourite player of all time, so I have to squeeze him in even if it meant playing him slightly deeper than the role he played at his last world cup, I have him as the Xavi of my team.

07.09.2011

Ravenbarber

Thought about my all-time XI, and thought I'd make one or two changes. I brought in Johan Neeskens to add a little steel to the abundant finesse already in midfield. Also, I believe he made better late runs than Iniesta into the box. I don't think he was a slouch technically, but obviously not quite on the level of Iniesta. With Iniesta and Xavi, because they’re both essentially creators and the former only gives you a goal occasionally, although pretty often in big matches, it has to be said, there is a tendency for them to become neutered when teams park the bus. They will simply persist in passing the ball, whereas Neeskens might give you a different dimension in deadlocked situations. I think he probably had a better all-round game, almost like Iniesta and Gattuso rolled into one.
I also added Piet Keizer from the legendary 1970s Ajax team as a replacement for Giggs. I think possibly the Dutchman had a little bit more edge than Giggs. The latter sometimes lacks in inspiration when the chips are down, I feel, although I still feel he is a fantastic player.
Once again, I really believe all of these players would be able to cope with the rigours of today’s game.

09.09.2011

Joe423Lack of George Best in some of these teams annoys me personally, the guy was an absolute magician and if it wasn't for his personal life would have been the best.

10.09.2011

nvrDiscussing a best team ever is fundamentally pointless. We will never know if great players of the past had the physical qualities modern game demanded and if they could still be great. I mean, would Best still be that impressive when the average defender was twice as fast and muscular?

12.09.2011

manutdtillidie

This team has eveything 2 very attacking fullbacks. 2 defensive minded midfilds the best attacking midfilder in charlton and the best front 3 ever

24.09.2011

manutdtillidieI mean charlton not cantona woops

24.09.2011