George Best - the best I've seen, the best there ever was.
I would add Henry, C. Ronaldo and Vieira.
Edit: One I forgot to mention - Paul Scholes. I went to a Wolves/Man U game - a mate of mine has a box there, and he absolutely controlled the game when hardly ever leaving the centre circle. United won 5-0 I seem to remember
Glenn Hoddle - a game at White Hart Lane - Dad and I were guests of one of his contractors - I can’t remember who they were playing, but he just ran the show - pinging passes all over the pitch - class
Why England didn’t build a team around Hoddle I’ll never understand
In my mind the greatest players of all time are Pele, Maradona , Messi and Ronaldo.
I've only seen one of those play live, therefore the greatest player I've ever seen is Ronaldo.
If the question is actually, who played the best in any game I've ever seen then that would probably be Ronaldo as well, or maybe Henry. Or maybe Mark Aizlewood.
I've seen Messi live for Barcelona so has to be him.
Best i saw v Charlton were Ronaldo and Henry.
Honourable mentions go to Gazza in the game mentioned earlier in the thread, and Kanchelskis in that FA Cup quarter final where we took over 10k. To this day i'd say he's probably still the fastest player i've ever seen.
Glenn Hoddle - a game at White Hart Lane - Dad and I were guests of one of his contractors - I can’t remember who they were playing, but he just ran the show - pinging passes all over the pitch - class
Why England didn’t build a team around Hoddle I’ll never understand
My favourite player when I was growing up - loved watching him play, and at a time when pitches certainly weren't as good as they are now.
Cristiano Ronaldo, in his first season in England.
It was the game where people refer to Kishishev going in hard on him. However, over the course of the match Ronaldo’s skill and pace absolutely tore us a new one.
He was going past players with skills that I couldn’t even wrap my head around. Like some sort of optical illusion!
I thought he was a lot better when he returned 3-4 years later.
Giggs always played well at the Valley but for raw technique, it has to be Zola.
Went to Barcelona v Sevilla back in 2009, unfortunately they rested Messi as it was between the home and away semis v Chelsea in the Champions' Lge (the one where Chelsea were absolutely robbed by the ref), but Xavi and Iniesta's one touch passing, finding ridiculous angles and spaces that didn't seem to be there two seconds ago was ridiculous and a joy to watch.
Sevilla were 3rd or 4th in the league if I remember rightly and Barcelona battered them out of sight.
Another vote for Kenny Dalglish. I’ve not seen another forward be so pivotal in a team. I thought Messi was half decent when I saw Barcelona tonk Osasuna 5 or 6-1.
Messi, but when I saw he was quite young (2008, so early 20s?) And not the best player in the game... That was riquelme who scored two thunderbolt freekicks. Even found footage here https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=hrbq8MMgbx0
The Ginola performance was in '99. We went in 1-0 up but there must've been something in David's half time orange
He came out 2nd half with every intention of destroying us single handedly, without a doubt the best I have ever seen an individual play, we were lucky to lose 1-4
Jealous of that. Would have loved to have watched that Madrid side live that had him and Ronaldo in it. Always wonder just how good Ronaldo would have been without the injuries. He was ridiculously good with 1 decent knee
There's a lot of conflation going on of outstanding single performances, (and hard to disagree with most of them too), and genuine "best evers".
I've been lucky enough to see Pele, Best, Moore (and Der Kaiser) from back in the 70's so past their best by that stage. But they were unquestionably among the best ever. I've seen all the others mentioned too, except Messi and the fat Ronaldo, but the one I'm gutted about never seeing live more than the rest is ZZ.
An easier question is the best ever seen playing for us, which is only ever going to be Simmo.
Christiano for me, have seen him and Messi live and both are fantastic, but Ronaldo had an ability to take a game by the scruff, something I have never seen Messi do regularly.
Best player I saw live was George Best - absolutely took Tottenham apart at White Hart Lane (can't remember the year). Also used to watch a lot of youth football years ago and three players stand out in the memory bank as different class - Paul Walsh, Neil Webb and Alan Dickens.
Too many to mention but all the 1966 World Cup winning squad Stanley Matthews, George Best, former European Footballers of the year Allan Simonsen and Kevin Keegan, Thiery Henry, Christiano Ronaldo just off the top of my head 😉.
Jan Molby in his more corpulent years when playing for Barnsley at the Valley. Ran the game from the centre circle. Bows had a couple of bites and bounced off..John barnes for Watford in the cup at the Valley. Kancheslkis in the 94 cup game at Old Trafford. his name was probably eclipsed by greater ones at Man U at the time, but he was an outstanding winger that won that game almost on his own
Best player I have seen live was Gazza, saw him at the old den (don't ask) when Spurs beat them 5 0, he was fantastic and believe it or not the home fans applauded him off the pitch.
Jealous of that. Would have loved to have watched that Madrid side live that had him and Ronaldo in it. Always wonder just how good Ronaldo would have been without the injuries. He was ridiculously good with 1 decent knee
The game I saw him in was the 2000 European Championship final. The French team had so many good players, but Zidane ran the show. Rolls Royce player. Never looked flustered or under any pressure and could pick a pass without even looking.
Comments
Made you think why can’t more players have an appetite for scoring goals, particularly Charlton ones!
Why England didn’t build a team around Hoddle I’ll never understand
Plus some other teams' players too, I guess.
I've only seen one of those play live, therefore the greatest player I've ever seen is Ronaldo.
If the question is actually, who played the best in any game I've ever seen then that would probably be Ronaldo as well, or maybe Henry. Or maybe Mark Aizlewood.
Best i saw v Charlton were Ronaldo and Henry.
Honourable mentions go to Gazza in the game mentioned earlier in the thread, and Kanchelskis in that FA Cup quarter final where we took over 10k. To this day i'd say he's probably still the fastest player i've ever seen.
Went to Barcelona v Sevilla back in 2009, unfortunately they rested Messi as it was between the home and away semis v Chelsea in the Champions' Lge (the one where Chelsea were absolutely robbed by the ref), but Xavi and Iniesta's one touch passing, finding ridiculous angles and spaces that didn't seem to be there two seconds ago was ridiculous and a joy to watch.
Sevilla were 3rd or 4th in the league if I remember rightly and Barcelona battered them out of sight.
Honorary mentions to Giggs, Roy Keane, Vieira, Bergkamp, Gazza.
He came out 2nd half with every intention of destroying us single handedly, without a doubt the best I have ever seen an individual play, we were lucky to lose 1-4
I've been lucky enough to see Pele, Best, Moore (and Der Kaiser) from back in the 70's so past their best by that stage. But they were unquestionably among the best ever. I've seen all the others mentioned too, except Messi and the fat Ronaldo, but the one I'm gutted about never seeing live more than the rest is ZZ.
An easier question is the best ever seen playing for us, which is only ever going to be Simmo.
Also used to watch a lot of youth football years ago and three players stand out in the memory bank as different class - Paul Walsh, Neil Webb and Alan Dickens.
Scholes was amazing, his movement and passing was unrivalled.
Ronaldinho when at Barcelona was a freak, so strong on the ball.
Plus many more, Cristiano is the best player I have seen in the flesh though.