Inaugural ILF write-in poll: greatest player of the 00s: VOTING CLOSES 25 FEBRUARY

• pick your top TWENTY footballers from the last decade;
• put them in order;
• email to ismaelklata AT gmail DOT com;
• closing date next Friday 25 February.

There're no nominations, but try to be sensible about it - if your ballot is entirely goalkeepers, or from the League of Ireland, then you probably won't be affecting the results too much.

Let's see if we can make this work. Twenty or so ballots should be enough for a decent top twenty countdown, with any luck.

Oh, and let's not be too fussy about what's 00s and what's not. I'm happy to consider everything after that-night-in-Barcelona and the 99 Copa America, up to the 2010 World Cup Final, as part of the 00s.

nice

So, Kitson ftw?

Ha, never thought of that - block votes for him or Sturridge will not be censured but may attract a raised eyebrow.

I was torn between doing the 2000s, or going for a 'modern era' poll (say 1980-present). In the end I plumped for this because I don't have a clue what the right answer is.

ooh, this could take some time. Nice idea though Ismael.

This will end up as Kevin Phillips vs Thierry Henry, I fear.

No, you're thinking of the forthcoming 2010s poll

bashed out in tens mins and sent, to be regretted in leisure i fear

Great work. I'll try to acknowledge them as they come in, but I won't look at the content 'til I've worked out my own list.

Submissions by ilx webmail are fine too, btw - give me a prod if I don't acknowledge those though, as it's a mostly-dormant account.

fuckit, forgot lucio.

Yeah, without revealing your ballots, you can use this thread to remind us of forgotten gems - we don't need to hear about Zidane, but it'd be worthwhile remembering how good Redondo or Rooney were.

zidane didnt get enough of the decade i think. Might be wrong in that

bashed out in tens mins and sent

^ totally the way to do this imo - spent this evening being quite methodical about compiling a shortlist, with the result that tomorrow I've given myself the task of picking 20 from 115

zidane didnt get enough of the decade i think. Might be wrong in that

― Achillean Heel (darraghmac), Monday, 14 February 2011 12:49 (9 hours ago)

u gotta just vote for the best players who played at least some of their seasons in that time

otherwise u will give disproportionate emphasis to a player like henry whose prime was virtually 2000-2010, vs a player like vieri whose best years were roughly 96-04

plus Zidane's 00s include winning the European Championships, the Champions League with one of the best goals ever, probably a few leagues, and dragging his lads to the world cup final, so it's not exactly a sympathy vote

disagree with u nakh, pick within the time constraints given imo

then it's kinda arbitrary, cuz thierry henry prob was on average like 6th best player of the year during the 00s which would make him better than messi who did fuck all for years, just wandering round la masia like a shortarsed little cunt nobody cared about

pretty sure that imposing a 'who was best during this defined period' is less arbitrary than 'who's your favourite player that kicked a ball professionally at any stage in the 00's'

but it will all out in the poll. nobody checks that you made yr vote for the right reasons irl either i guess

there is no cardinal value to 00s footballers like x best films of 00s etc....yr just artificially favouring players who were born in the late 70s

let the late 60's set write to their fucking unions

n e wayz some random players for yall.........shevchenko, pirlo, rivaldo, seedorf, rui costa, vieri, zanetti, lúcio, cambiasso, eto'o, maicon, nedved, totti, de rossi, juan, valeron, crespo, makalélé, raul, aimar, riquelme, davids, adriano, zahovic, pires, lahm, deco, carvalho, luis enrique, ayala, okocha

ah ffs

there's way too many there that should have made my list but didn't get consideration

they will have wanted to be considered but at the end of the day it's about the big names -- zidane, ronaldinho, messi, gerrard, diouf, terry

forgot pele's potd dioufy

24 hours in and we're already at a mighty 2 (TWO) ballots. If we can keep this pace up then we'll be okay.

http://www.ghanasoccernet.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/PrinceBoatengAP_468x309.jpg

Quietly confident.

Nice Ismael. This coming off season, with its lack of a big international champs, i was thinking of running ILF GREATEST PLAYER EVER POLL and I was thinking 22 votes and 5 managers/other people involved (2 teams innit.)

Ok the more i think about this the harder it is. i've pretty much just been able to rule out lol cult players (as opposed to cult players who did something i.e. bullard keeping fulham up)

Yeah, the more I thought the more I found fabulous players who don't even get close. Get it over with fast I say.

Whittled it down to 20, working on a basis that some not included had a better 90s (and in one case, i'm not counting the 99-00 season to make it easier on myself even though it was poss my favourite season ever by a non arsenal player) or will have a better 00s. now just to order them

holy shit miscounted and i'm at 22. playmakers v. brick walls, discuss.

^ an example to you all

um, xp

Sent :) And already regretting names missed off but I dunno, I think I did as good as possible. lol in the past half hour didn't even think of 1 english player, let alone consider one (poor scholes and campbell i guess)

Got it, thanks. Three ballots in now, three guys with three votes.

*****, **** and ****** is my guess?

wash your mouth out young man

48 hours gone and we have FOUR sets of votes. Maintaining the pace nicely, time for another couple of you to step up now.

Also, one of our ever-presents has fallen: there are now only two guys to have scored on each ballot.

disgusting savages

At least ten of mine should make every list

didn't vote thudd, sorry

ginola? Modric? Berbatov?

Ginola played less than a hundred games and scored 11 goals during the period. Not sure his marketing work and fine wines are going to be enough to crack the top ten here I'm afraid.

I'm guessing the two ever-presents are Messi and Zizou.

I'd thought there'd be half-a-dozen or more automatic picks tbh. There are common threads for sure but it's a surprise how quickly it's broadened out. Early days though.

i think i screwed it up because i voted for my centre halves and left backs and keepers as well as yr wingers and strikers

eh, dunno what to say to that.

I'm pretty sure ilf posters have heard of defenders

I thought they'd be neglected because they always are in these lists but no, we're getting a good spread. I shouldn't say too much though, hopefully most of the voting is still to be done.

if there's a good spread i'll expect to see thudd there

haha

After having been away for a while and returned, only *now* I discover we finally have ILF! ;_; (already wondered why Spurs-Milan wasn't discussed on ILE yesterday... jeez)

I'll hand in a ballot to this beauty before the deadline, I will really try.

Probably a sign that I'm taking things too seriously that I am now genuinely grumpy about the following not making my final cut - So farewell Maldini, Casillas, Totti, Villa, Cambiasso, Del Piero, Seedorf, Robben, Ballack, and Scholes..you are/were all awesome, sorry guys. The only thing which could cheer me up would be Barca spanking Arsenal tonight but after last nights events I'm not getting my hopes up.

waiting until after tonight to see if koscielny makes the final 20

Looking at my twenty - 1 has played in Bundesliga, 3 in Premier League, 10 in Serie A, and 15 in La Liga!

my list gets worse the more players get listed here

Got it, thanks xp. Your #5 though - I wasn't expecting someone I hadn't heard of before. But I've looked up the career stats and yeah, they're quite impressive.

would i have heard of them?

name names imo

You probably would - not actually particularly obscure now I look closer, just a blindspot of mine.

omg is he israeli

lol no-one touchin it

super intrigued now

pandemic or ik webmail me plssssss if u don't wanna reveal it itt

guess would be aboutrika

have to start a separate thread for this

is david batty?

no

is it ronaldinho?

no

nuno valente?

no

..........

thread got potential, sure

poll thread, come on. Ballots invited

"Aboutrika is a graduate of Cairo University with a bachelor of arts degree in Philosophy"

didn't know him either but no, not him. Fear I've let this build too much now. I'm naming no names but pandemic can do the honours if he wishes.

It's not a him.

surely ik has heard of marta?

ooooh kristine lilly?

Nakh right first time. Prob challopsy but influenced by the fact that irl the person I know who is most obsessed by football and is at the same time probably the most skillful player I've actually played with is female and so I've kinda taken at least a passing interest in women's football over the years. Tho' she does agree with me about lol goalie's.

marta is great, probably better than messi is in relation to his peers?

Yeah I put her in for that exact reason although obviously many many more boys aspire to be professional footballers than girls being as the impossibility of achieving it is still more possible than if you're a girl.

wait that made no sense.

PS lest I get hung as a neokeys I'd heard of Marta, but it didn't click at all - thought you meant Mata at first and thought 'hm good player but that's a bit soon', then I looked Marta up and got halfway down the entry of this unknown androgynous Brazilian before I realised what'd happened. Couldn't think of a pithy way to say so in a one-line post is all.

PPS have never seen her play though

never watched a full game of women's football but saw a program about marta a while ago

also

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Puejnny3fjo/TKFnG_aILkI/AAAAAAAAAzc/T-11mu2OS4Y/s1600/Kumi+Yokohama.JPG

Bump. Pace slackening here, stuck on five ballots overnight. It's time for heroes.

xp to pandemic.

The only two people I know personally who've made a living playing/ coaching football are both female: though I know a 100 boys who wanted to.....

One is a woman from up the street here in Dublin who's playing in the states - her dad had ambitions for both of his (older) sons, neither of whom were better than mediocre, but from the age of 5, she was effortlessly taking the ball of the toes of boys much bigger and older. Fantastic to watch.

I'll get a ballot in soon. And not full of LoI players either :)

Looking forward to it. Six ballots in now, still plenty of scope for YOU to make a difference.

ppl seldom vote til the last minute

i forgot eto'o and villa

Is there a good list somewhere to browse through for inspiration and not go 'd'oh! forgot!' afterwards?

Good idea. Here's a list I compiled by going through major events (World Cup, Euros, CL finals) and picking out worthy contenders. Most of my votes are on here:

Roberto Carlos; Cafu; Ballack; Puyol; Tevez; Ibrahimovic; Raul; Casillas; Lucio; Eto'o; Zanetti; Schweinsteiger; Klose; Robben; Evra; Vidic; Rio; Scholes; Berbatov; Hargreaves; Essien; Carvalho; Cech; Terry; Ashley Cole; Makelele; Lampard; Nesta; Maldini; Gattuso; Pirlo; Seedorf; Inzaghi; Alonso; Mascherano; Gerrard; Torres; Rafael Marquez; van Bronckhorst; Deco; Fabregas; Bergkamp; van Persie; Pires; Ronaldinho; Stam; Shevchenko; Crespo; Costacurta; Rui Costa; Giuli; Buffon; Thuram; del Piero; Kaladze; Neuville; Helguera; Guti; Morientes; McManaman; Effenberg; Ribery; Lizarazu; Figo; Scholl; Mendieta; Redondo; Anelka; Scholes; Owen; Donovan; Kahn; Totti; Vieira; Berbatov; Cannavaro; Vieri; Srna; Modric; Podolski; Forlan; Lloris; Grosso; van Nistelrooy; van der Vaart; Zidane; Ronaldo; Cristiano Ronaldo; Messi; Rivaldo; Kaka; Henry; Lahm; Xavi; Iniesta; Larsson; Drogba; Sneijder; Nedved; Shevchenko; Riquelme; Beckham; Rooney; Chivu; Arshavin; David Villa; Keane; Samuel; Borgetti; Ljungberg; Sorin; Cambiasso; Yaya Toure; Ozil; Muller; Dani Alves

NB that it's biased against players from rubbish countries, players who fell out with their national coaches, and ones who just didn't reach the very big club occasions. Also guys I don't like.

The only one who springs immediately to mind as missing out is Jari Litmanen, but he did his best work in the 90s as I recall.

Thanks for that!

Yeah, Litmanen is the quintessential 90s player for me (winning CL with Ajax etc.), but he did play all the way through the '00s.

Thanks, that a pretty decent kick-off point. The only one I can think of offhand that's not there and will probably get in my list is Didi Hamann.

McManaman surely too late? And some others - Redondo?

Also Muller only played like a handful of games in the 00s - if any?

Sorry, need radiohead distraction.

Yeah, I've taken a fairly liberal view of timescales there.

(In order of disbelief) McManaman was man-of-the-match in the 2000 CL final, also got a medal in 2002, and I also saw him play well when I was in Madrid for el Clasico in 2001, so he's worth his place imo.

Redondo not so much - he played sixteen games in the decade before injury killed him off. I just really like him.

Also, it occurs that I must have missed off plenty of Africans too, but I don't have time to trawl Cup of Nations stats.

Sorry, need radiohead distraction.

Dwight Yorke? Andy O'Brien? Ross Greenwood? Jonny Evans?

man the fuck up and list from memory you saps

lol shitty workday ilf spillover

But srsly, i dont see why everyone cant think of 20 themselves, will give it some flavour

^ lot to be said for that imo, the top 20 players *should* be memorable ones. The risk would be no overlap between ballots at all, but the elite fish swim in a small enough pool that that probably won't happen.

^ diplomatic voice of reason

my og list was about 60 long. and once i cut out all but the most essential arsenal players, it was still like 45.

cut out all the other arsenal players, how's it look then?

honestly think i only voted for like 3 or 4 of them (henry, pires, gilberto, maybe another one or two - keown maybe?)

nope, just 3.

in retrospect, should have put cesc in but oh well.

ahead of gilberto? Certainly

I suspect my list is going to show up how little football outside of SPL (not going to be greatly represented, tbf, I suspect one player will get in) that I pay close and considered attention to.

i voted for lubo fwiw

He's under consideration as well, but he's a bit tail-end-90s (or at least the things I think of as being proper Lubo are). Gio van Bronckhorst might sneak in an' all, but none of his good work was at Rangers afaic (and was mostly late 90s there anyway).

only kidding. But only for those reasons mind.

Larsson firmly in my 20.

Gilberto was one of the best players in a World Cup winning team as well as being one of the most important players in an unbeaten team and a team that went to the Champions League final. So, you know, fuck ya.

Proof being that Arsenal have been a bunch of flaky girls' blouses since they let Gilberto go.

I suspect my list is going to show up how little football outside of MLS (not going to be greatly represented, tbf, I suspect one player will get in) that I pay close and considered attention to.

shit footballer though.

Relative to the best 20 of the decade.

If you want to pick from only dmc position, he makes top 20.

But merely being the basic missing piece in a team of great footballers shouldn't qualify you imo.

dan i got bad news, adu isnt gonna make it ;_;

Yeah you must be a shit footballer to play for Arsenal. They never know how to pick midfielders with superior technique.

dunno what yr point was, unless it's to put gilberto fwd as a typical arsenal central midfielder?

typical arsenal central midfielders of the past 13 years have 4 World Cup winner medals.

there's a thought..where's vieira on yr list?

if only we had an italian cm then it'd be a proper streak

I didn't pick Vieira, mainly because of how shit he was for the last 6 years of the decade. Top 20 is quite an elite. Maybe would have made top 30.

that's fair except for gilberto

I didn't pick Vieira, mainly because of how shit he was for the last 6 years of the decade. Top 20 is quite an elite

Dunno, think you should judge them at their peak, if their peak was in this decade. Otherwise it's unfair on the players whose careers spanned the late 90s and early 00s.

disagree. Players of the decade is a fairly self-explanatory poll title

I've gone for peaks fwiw, though there was one long-service type who I was desperate to squeeze in and just couldn't - a couple of others have picked up the slack for me I'm glad to say.

dan i got bad news, adu isnt gonna make it ;_;

lol I was gonna put danny szetela

I suspect my list is going to show up how little football outside of SPL (not going to be greatly represented, tbf, I suspect one player will get in) that I pay close and considered attention to.

This is pretty much the reason I haven't considered making a list. (Obviously not the fact that Ailsa is SPL-centric, but that I don't pay much attention to football outside England, or actually that much outside of Man Utd). I could make a top 20, but it would be extremely Prem-dominated, not out of a jingoistic belief that it's TheBestLeagueInTheWorldEverTM, but out of not-knowing enough about the rest of world football. There aren't enough hours in the day to follow everything everywhere. Also, the last decade seems to have flown past in about five minutes - I keep thinking of people and realising they were more 90s than 00s.

oh just make a list of what you know. i still voted in the music polls without hearing every record ever.

Yeah, just go for it:

1. none of us have seen everyone - poor old Marta never stood a chance on my ballot
2. being prem-centric will, if anything, add a bit of balance to the rest of our cheese 'n chorizo chomping lists
3. we're not a big enough group that we can let you off that easy
4. you've seen world cups, right?

looking back i only voted for man utd player and a west ham player who didn't play for my own, so yes- balance!

OK - sent. I've included one player not mentioned in Ismael's list. Also, fwiw, Neuville isn't how you spell 'Neville'.

Hahaha. Got it, thanks. Let that be an example to the rest of you.

i think the tendency to overrate the high profile players from abroad may well balance having more knowledge of the familiar domestic players, iygwim

AndyGraytalk might be infuriating, but six CL finalists in five years y'know, rating the premiership isn't a totally discredited notion

there aren't a lot of really first rate players in those teams, whereas italian and spanish teams tend to be dependent on a few really great players

i think the tendency to overrate the high profile players from abroad may well balance having more knowledge of the familiar domestic players

This may be because I see them in highlights packages and high profile games, whereas I have to watch chumps on a far more regular basi so see them being chumpish. If I based it solely on selected Champions League highlights, Cristiano Ronaldo would be rubbish and Lee Naylor would be the best left back in the world.

I also look at a lot of football without really taking in who is doing what. I guess if I'm noticing them, they're worth including, aye?

no such thing as an invalid vote, even gil fucking berto

bump

Yes, come on guys. We entered the weekend on seven ballots, we leave it on seven ballots - that's Chelsealike.

Time to step up the pace.

on it

ever since i voted, and much more so than music polls, i have been getting squeamish about the players i missed. like i know i only ever really watched him in big games and not game-to-game but really i need to be sb for not including ****** and instead going for his indie choice replacement (still a fucking dude and better than most other players in history) ******

Can I add single-sentence vote explanations to my 20 or is that a waste of time?

I always think of doing blurbs but fuck it, i'm sure i will say enough in the countdown for a couple sbs.

I take that as a *yes* to my question.... which is a shame because I've already added some blurbs to every player on my ballot. Deal with it.

do it :D

Submitted!

Not the worst spent hour in my life, making that list. I think.

Got it, thanks.

No need for blurbs btw. My intention, assuming we get enough votes, is to count down the whole top 20 in a single day, so you can save your praise, arguments, abuse etc. for that thread.

i'm not saving my abuse til then, fuck a gilberto

there's a monkey on my back wants feeding

What's its name and what does it eat?

His name is Andy Carroll and he wants ballots, with his name at #1

I'm on it.

could submit another one without duplication tbh

SENT

bump

Double figures now, meaning we're still ten ballots from safety, and time running out. The papers are full of Klata out, with Sam Allardyce lined up to administer the rest of this poll.

would get behind that tbf

anyone obvious to name and shame? like ytf hasen't lj* done this yet?

*lj may or may not have done so, he just seems like an obvious example to use

he may be in nz and not rly on ilx much

Mine's in the post.

iwelumo's is off the post when it looked impossible to miss

I was going to prod the likes of Matt, Pete, Ailsa and NV but I'm sure they're just caught up drafting & redrafting, that'll be what it is.

LJ would not have been affecting things one way or the other is my feeling - Jimmy Glass at #1, Ricky Shakes #2, then eighteen people who aren't even footballers probably

really feel that you need to out some of the shameful nominations to keep this alive. Start with gilberto.

Well you're the one voted for Bentley

I would like an LJ list comprising entirely of journeyman right backs who one time somehow scored a 40 yard volley.

I will reveal said list when the Merdeyeux one is received

o shi, position of responsibility.

(I don't think I know enough about football or have paid enough attention to really contribute anything, but if I get a chance I may try reordering that shortlist you posted earlier, throw in a couple of wild cards, and see what happens.)

this ridiculous false modesty doesn't in any way render a submission less desirable imo

nobody 'knows' anything about football except for s'ralex and johann cruyff

if I submitted something then anyone can

^ valuable US-centric footy poster. so stfu

^ my Gary Neville, I'm loving this development

it's totally right though - none of the ballots will be perfect, yet together somehow they will make something that mildly pisses everyone off

Even Cruyff knows nowt about football anymore Merdeyeux, and I included a Dutch player noone has ever heard of, so: go for it!

ooh ooh, which dushmen is forsure in ur lisht?

Cannae disclose innit!

bollox to that

in the interests of disclosure, btw, did i fuck vote for bentley

and Robinson

i should start a paul robinson thread, i could point out the guy's technical failings for days on end.

or am i kidding myself that that isn't what i did?

Can't recall you mentioning him before. Perhaps a passing piece of praise buried amongst the endless tributes to King Jol.

SB&N

jeez that's rubbish from copenhagen

yet together somehow they will make something that mildly pisses everyone off

makes ya proud to be ilxish. :')

i'll be home around ilxish darling

Sent! Vague "I Love Barcelona" tint to my noms, tbh.

larsson #1 then.

Maybe :-)

I think 6 of my top 10 have played for Barca at one point...

5/20, 3 of which were deemed to be somewhere between "failure", "flop" and "just not as good as they hoped" at Barca

Ibra, then.

1 of :)

Got it ailsa, thanks a bunch. You weren't kidding about that tint either - was certainly a surprise to see Hleb dominating.

The rest of you, get voting. I mean it!

seriously

Would you accept lists from people not registered on ILX?

Hm. How many lists and why would such people want to contribute? The reason I'm sceptical is that we still only have a dozen ballots, so it would only take a few to overwhelm it and make the list 'not ours' iykwim. I guess I could accept one from a kindly wellwisher, seeing as it's you vouching for him.

Have now voted. Managed to get to 20 without typing "Nacho Novo", which was a bit of a struggle.

xp. Just incase you were desperate and needed more asap. I can see how it may make it 'not ours' though so no worries.

Thanks anyway, I'll just cut back the countdown if I have to.

(I don't have yours yet btw)

You don't? Strange - I emailed it last night at... (checks) 6:40pm. I'll try emailing it again...

Got it now thanks. If anyone else has sent and I haven't acknowledged here or by email, let me know asap because I won't have received it.

Bump. Voting closes tomorrow, y'all.

Nothing today as yet. Your chance to make a difference to the world.

heard the gaffer asking for the polls. Again. Pleading. Pathetic. No responses. Again. This board has lost its edge, I thought. No hunger. I remembered how different it had seemed to me when I joined. There were big characters, big men in the 'liverpool won't win....' threads. Now? Silence. They'd done it all, log out, go home to the supermodel wife and the mock tudor mansion.Nine fucking ballots, after all the years, the zings, the predictions of rafa out. Martin fucking Jol. Cheers Roy. Good luck.

You're just a piece of meat in this polling business.

I drove over a mod on the way out. Fuck him. Fuck them all.

just sent my mostly predictable, mildly trolling list

best kind of list imho

I'll try to get one done tonight. Can't work out how serious I am about Russell Latapy's contribution to world football - Dwight Yorke's wing-man on many a night out iirc.

sounds a bit 90s to me.

Aye, 90s footballer for me.

At his Hibs best in 99/00-00/01 when they came up from 1st div and finished 3rd in SPL (iirc), last T&T cap in 2009, played in 2006 World Cup. Stand-out in an otherwise ordinary Falkirk team in the mid 00s - felt like we'd never get the ball off them till he was subbed around 65 minutes every game then we'd score 3 or 4.

Fair point.

The Irishman's hit the spot alright. Makes me snort stuff out my nose for real. Was in a coughing fit at the time but still. He leans over and looks at what he's done. He likes it. Or not. That's it with them, you can never tell. How they like it. Just as well I only read the thread now. Just as well says I. If you'd caught me like this four hours ago. If you'd caught me like this when I was cornered.

Uhm ... by which I mean, have a lovely sleep everyone and submit your ballots by end tomorrow please.

PS sonderangerbot, there's an ambiguity in your ballot, check your email

shit, darraghmacs post reminds me i forgot Roy Keane. otoh.....fuck him!

eh......

That was hodgson actually

did keane play much in the 00s?

his best performances for Ireland were in the 00s as I recall

http://img577.imageshack.us/img577/9923/encouragement.jpg

http://img703.imageshack.us/img703/9923/encouragement.jpg

Just sent a very late entry, mainly so that Frank Lampard gets the recognition he deserves (ie I put him 20th as the token Englishman).

Haha, my token 20th place was a corker of an obscurity borne out of green-and-white tinted spec-wearing. I think Scholesy's my only Englisher.

Got it Pete, thanks - I'm sure he'll be relieved.

We're on sixteen ballots now, a little bit of a push in the last few hours and we might get near that magic 20 after all *brings out tray of oranges*

Okay I've voted. Two players I'm quite worried about being diddled here are Nedved and Riquelme so hopefully I'm not the only person to have gone for them.

Really agonised over where to put Messi considering he's undoubtedly up there but his peak is NOW really.

Also I couldn't decide who to put at the top so just voted Ledley King at #1 instead.

Yeah, I think I overrated current players and underrated past players because I'm a product of modern media consumption and have the memory of a goldfish.

nedved placed high on my list iirc.

I wrote mine in ten minutes and forgot everyone, inc Nedved and Riquelme.

couldn't decide if rui costa was 00 or 90 and left him out. might have been a mistake

you're gonna have regrets regardless, it's 20 players- only 2 a year.

Yeah, I think I overrated current players and underrated past players because I'm a product of modern media consumption and have the memory of a goldfish
Fairly sure I did the reverse of this because 2003 is the last year I was capable of forming new memories, for much the same reason.

Both received thanks. I haven't done even a preliminary count yet, so no idea who's diddled and who's fizzled.

Now, do we have two MEN amongst us to take it up to twenty?

lol

Ur fucked now

I think Lampard probably should have been in my twenty. Was a case of familiarity breeding contempt tbh. A player who probably didn't but I'm sick about leaving out anyway is Ludovic Giuly perhaps never as great as I thought he should be tho' pretty great regardless.

I included Nedved fwiw

one to go

sent. bish bash bosh, as some cunt many times said, ten minute job and already i can't remember who's on it.

I'm really chuffed to get to twenty, thanks to everyone who's voted.

There's still time for any stragglers (NV, I'm looking in your direction). All gratefully received. I'll be counting in the morning and guess I'll leave the deadline open 'til then.

am guessing that we'll get 150 or so different players out of twenty polls.

Voting's now closed. I got a 21st ballot late on which was a nice bonus. I'll get to counting now and maybe knock out a jpg or two if I have time - looking to countdown probably a top 20 on Monday or Tuesday (or both), work permitting.

Thanks to all for taking part.