Who was the best player?

[lilywhitecurtis]

With all due respect to Hoddle and Gazza both players with an abundance of talent, I actually went for Paul Scholes. The linchpin in one of the best midfield's that English club football has ever seen, an unbelievably consistent performer who has achieved almost everything you can possibly achieve in English football and remarkably avoided the majority of the spotlight.

1) Scholes
2) Hoddle
3) Gazza
4) Beckham

 

[StartingPrice]

I'm too young to comment on Hoddle, I moved back from India in 1990, so for me I'm going to rank the three I know.

1) Gazza - Most amazing English talent I've ever seen play. One of the finest players the world has produced.

2) Scholes - I never really got him to begin with, I remember making myself watch him irrespective of what was going on with the match to see what the fuss was about. After that I couldn't believe I hadn't appreciated him before. Amazing player, positional play and technique is top top notch. It's a major compliment to the skills of Gazza that Scholes comes in 2nd on my list. As soon as SGE pushed him out to the left of midfield when he was hands down the best central midfielder in the country made me want him out the England role, unfortunately by then the damage was done and he'd retired from international football.

3) Beckham - Great player, fantastic delivery, fantastic attitude - like Van der Vaart in that he's a quality player without being a luxury player. Some people say his talents are exaggerated due to his celebrity, not one bit, he's a celebrity, but in his pomp he was a quality quality footballer first and foremost.

I just wish I'd been able to experience the delights of Hoddle... but where I missed out on players like him and Maradonna in their prime, I've been lucky enough to see Zidane, the greatest footballer I've ever watched.. but that's a separate issue that's already been discussed a plenty on this site.

I said it, and, with all due respect Ithink you have misunderstood. I did not say he had little or no quality because the cult of celebrity has magnified him - that is a non-sequitor (the conclsion doesn't follow the argument). I am saying that the cult of celebrity has probably magnified his talent to the extent that many fans making this choice would put him at the top of the list. As you, yourself, have shown, by analysis, it is possible to consider him a quality player, but still 3rd of 3 on the list. That is no different to my analysis except that I made the comment about the cult of celebrity magnifying his ability in some folk's minds, without in any way implying that he had no ability.

 

[Caboose]

To be honest SP, I wrote my post without reading any of the comments so it wasn't a point against you, just my feelings on that statement in general. I put it in my argument because I think it's an important point as I think if you put Anderton's chin and Ribbery's scars on his face he'd still have been England's captain and notched up as many caps as he did because he's a fantastic footballer, who was/is 100% committed to the game of football. His attitude to the game coupled with his ability makes him a quality quality player. He comes third because I think Scholes was the best English player of his generation. I'd put Beckham above Lampard, Rooney and Gerrard, because he was as important to his club, but he made a greater impact in the CL and international stage.

 

[BPR_U16]

Players of the real class of Hoddle are very rare - van't understand why England didn't utilise his undoubted talents more.

As someone else has said, if Sky had been around in those days they would have been waxing lyrical about him week after week, and his commercial value would have been far greater than someone like Beckham.

To me he was the most skilful player I have ever seen, and it was a privilege to be in the Paxton cheering the side on. Free-kicks were sublime, passing exquisite, touch second to none - basically he was the type of player any team would want and who would have thrived even more in todays almost no contact game with the extra space that he would have.

 

[Ron Burgundy]

People forget how good Beckham was. For about 2 to 3 years, he was f*cking amazing

Really tough, probably Gazza, is the sense that he could win ANY game

Like others have said though, it depends on your criteria really. Scholes has certainly had a great impact for a long time

 

[TheBigMatch]

Beckham deserves great respect for being one of the best dead ball strikers in the game, for dragging England through many a game with a goal or an assist, for being a great father, and he does appear to be a role model, professional and a gentleman; but he is not in the league of Hoddle and Gazza in terms of footballing ability.

Scholes is the kind of player you need to support one of the other two, and it is not for nothing that he was one of the key players Ferguson based his team around; but you would be telling your grandchildren about the great Paul Scholes.

So biased or not it has to be Hoddle or Gazza ....and although gazza was just brilliant, .... you could spend £50M on a young Hoddle and know that it would be worth it but you wouldn't know what Gazza was going to do for you.

 

[midoNdefoe]

I said it, and, with all due respect Ithink you have misunderstood. I did not say he had little or no quality because the cult of celebrity has magnified him - that is a non-sequitor (the conclsion doesn't follow the argument). I am saying that the cult of celebrity has probably magnified his talent to the extent that many fans making this choice would put him at the top of the list. As you, yourself, have shown, by analysis, it is possible to consider him a quality player, but still 3rd of 3 on the list. That is no different to my analysis except that I made the comment about the cult of celebrity magnifying his ability in some folk's minds, without in any way implying that he had no ability.

I think the best thing about Beckham was his ability to hit the spot when it mattered. It is very easy to believe your own hype and get carried away with how good you actually are... He was, without doubt, one of the best free-kick takers ever!
Seemd like him and jonny wilkinson are made of similar stuff (arguably wilkinson being made of a slightly tougher compound) in thier ability to shut out everything else in thier moment of responsability...

 

[midoNdefoe]

Beckham deserves great respect for being one of the best dead ball strikers in the game, for dragging England through many a game with a goal or an assist, for being a great father, and he does appear to be a role model, professional and a gentleman; but he is not in the league of Hoddle and Gazza in terms of footballing ability.

Scholes is the kind of player you need to support one of the other two, and it is not for nothing that he was one of the key players Ferguson based his team around; but you would be telling your grandchildren about the great Paul Scholes.

So biased or not it has to be Hoddle or Gazza ....and although gazza was just brilliant, .... you could spend £50M on a young Hoddle and know that it would be worth it but you wouldn't know what Gazza was going to do for you.

According to Ferguson scholes is the greatest passer he has had at utd, second only to Veron....

 

[Jimmypearce7]

Hoddle was the best player i have seen in watching Spurs for 40 years. He was sublime. Gazza was also great- a match winner but Hoddle embodies the Spurs style for me.

Scholes is a dirty ginger twat, so there wasn't much chance of his getting my vote.

 

[Jonboy]

Hoddle easily, even Pele stated that if he was Brazilian he would have a hundred caps.
What the f*ck Greenwood, Howe and all the other poor managers for England were thinking about was beyond me.

 

[yusrisafri]

This poll is a joke. To ask people to compare between Hoddle and Beckham is simply outrageously ridiculous and a mockery to the wizardry of Hoddle.

For those who are too young to appreciate Hoddle, I say go and do some research, google him up, youtube him, buy old Spurs videos, read the history books, THEN come back and vote here.

And I swear to God, this has nothing to do with the fac tthat he was a Spurs player. Even older Man Utd fans would agree with me.

Beckham in the same poll as Hoddle......seriously...

 

[ginol@14]

no contest - hoddle was a genius
gazza could of been just as good if it was not for his demons but hoddle was amazing for his entire careeer , gazza was only world class when he was at spurs

 

[onthetwo]

An unbiased assesment of a best team or player in football must surely be judged on trophies and medals, in which case it would have to be Scholes, Beckham, Hoddle, Gazza in that order.

 

[Luka Lennon]

An unbiased assesment of a best team or player in football must surely be judged on trophies and medals, in which case it would have to be Scholes, Beckham, Hoddle, Gazza in that order.

I reckon it should be judged on an individuals ability or then Park or Fletcher would be better than Hoddle or Gazza :wink:

 

[onthetwo]

I reckon it should be judged on an individuals ability or then Park or Fletcher would be better than Hoddle or Gazza :wink:

ability is very subjective, medals are what counts. Look at the Scum....all the ability in the world and no trophies.....

 

[Luka Lennon]

ability is very subjective, medals are what counts. Look at the Scum....all the ability in the world and no trophies.....

so basically you think Park and Fletcher are better than Hoddle and Gazza lol

give it a rest there's 10 other people surrounding any individual on a team, so to judge an indivdual on a teams success is stupid

when judging individuals you have to look at their ability not the teams collective ability that they played in

 

[spursphil]

This poll is a joke. To ask people to compare between Hoddle and Beckham is simply outrageously ridiculous and a mockery to the wizardry of Hoddle.

For those who are too young to appreciate Hoddle, I say go and do some research, google him up, youtube him, buy old Spurs videos, read the history books, THEN come back and vote here.

And I swear to God, this has nothing to do with the fac tthat he was a Spurs player. Even older Man Utd fans would agree with me.

Beckham in the same poll as Hoddle......seriously...

Cracking post, and my thoughts exactly. Beckham must be the most overated player i have seen play.

 

[danielneeds]

Hoddle and Scholes are actually very similar for me. Both should have had England teams built around them, but it never happened. I think they were both the most talented and creative Englishmen of their generations.

Gazza should have been the best of the lot, but his career was on the decline from 23 years old.

Beckham was a very good player, but if he looked like Scholes he wouldn't have had half the attention and press.

 

[onthetwo]

so basically you think Park and Fletcher are better than Hoddle and Gazza lol

give it a rest there's 10 other people surrounding any individual on a team, so to judge an indivdual on a teams success is stupid

when judging individuals you have to look at their ability not the teams collective ability that they played in

of course you're taking an extreme example in Park who rarely gets a game in a very good team, but with those kind of exceptions put to one side for a moment, i believe medals and trophies are generally what counts and to be honest, I think if you asked a pro the same question and suggested that Hoddle was a better player than Scholes, they would laugh. The guy has probably had an extension built on his house just to fit the medals in so youre argument is largely based on voyeurism and nostalgia in my opnion.

 

[Luka Lennon]

of course you're taking an extreme example in Park who rarely gets a game in a very good team, but with those kind of exceptions put to one side for a moment, i believe medals and trophies are generally what counts and to be honest, I think if you asked a pro the same question and suggested that Hoddle was a better player than Scholes, they would laugh. The guy has probably had an extension built on his house just to fit the medals in so youre argument is largely based on voyeurism and nostalgia in my opnion.

well I guess that's better than having an argument soley based on bullshit

you compare great teams by their trophy haul, you compare great players by their skill and ability with a football not who they played with

there's plenty of examples from pros like Pele, Wenger, Maradona etc... stating Hoddle was an out of this world talent or the like but anyway you obviously have a hard time admitting when you are wrong so I'll refrain from wasting anymore of my time with you on this subject