Yet another list of the 100 greatest players of all time has hit the headlines but on this occasion it is not based on mere opinion but fact, at least that is what the creators claim.The Association of Football Statisticians' (AFS) compendium of 'Greatest Ever Footballers', due to hit the shelves in time for Christmas, used a points based 'all time player ranking system' to reveal that Pele is in fact, and you won't believe this, the best football player the world has ever seen.
Soccernet will let the shock of that revelation settle in before informing you that the Brazilian's normal opponent for that title Diego Maradona is actually only the sixth best player in the history of the game.
Manchester United legend George Best, the man Pele once described as 'the best player ever' does not even make it into the controversial list, whilst United defender Gary Neville is ranked 86th. And not the 86th best defender but the 86th best player of all time, in the entire universe...ever! Now we're not saying the Red Devils' skipper is not a decent player, but come on!
Some other baffling rankings has Johan Cruyff - three times European Footballer of the Year and key exponent of Rinus Michels' Total Football - listed 21st, just five places above little-known Iranian striker Ali Daei.
Daei ranks 26th due to his 109 goals in 149 international matches for Iran.... against the mighty teams of Asia. Socceroos' striker Archie Thompson's has already been on the phone to ask why he isn't on the list after his 13 goal haul against American Samoa (Population 57,291) in a World Cup qualifier.
Former France striker Sylvain Wiltord waltzes in at 58 and even overlooking the fact that he should not be in the list in the first place, it is difficult to comprehend why he is allegedly better than AC Milan legend Franco Baresi, Roberto Baggio, Bryan Robson and Edgar Davids.
The AFS' system of awarding points for goals scored by forwards, clean sheets from defenders and honours won - including cups and caps - seems like a reasonable idea at first glance; but there are so many variables in football that their method appears more flawed than FIFA's notoriously dubious co-efficient World Rankings for national teams.
A spokesman for the book's publishers defended the rankings by insisting it was a 'comprehensive list of who really were, statistically, the best players of all time'.
That much used saying regarding lies, damn lies and statistics has never seemed more appropriate.
gonna do it in 25s, winner of each round goes into a final.
Poll Results
| Option | Votes |
| 6.Diego Maradona (Argentina) | 5 |
| 12.Marco van Basten (Holland) | 4 |
| 1.Pele (Brazil) | 3 |
| 5.Zinedine Zidane (France) | 3 |
| 20.Ferenc Puskas (Hungary) | 1 |
| 21.Johan Cruyff (Holland) | 1 |
| 3.Romario (Brazil) | 1 |
| 15.Paolo Maldini (Italy) | 1 |
| 22.Alfredo di Stefano(Argentina) | 0 |
| 23.Bobby Charlton (England) | 0 |
| 19.Eusebio (Portugal) | 0 |
| 18.Ruud Gullit (Holland) | 0 |
| 24.Jurgen Klinsmann (Ger) | 0 |
| 17.Raul (Spain) | 0 |
| 16.Zico (Brazil) | 0 |
| 14.Rivaldo (Brazil) | 0 |
| 2.Ronaldo (Brazil) | 0 |
| 4.Luis Figo (Portugal) | 0 |
| 7.Lothar Matthaus (Germany) | 0 |
| 8.Gerd Muller (Germany) | 0 |
| 9.Franz Beckenbauer (Germany) | 0 |
| 10.Cafu (Brazil) | 0 |
| 11.Roberto Carlos (Brazil) | 0 |
| 13.Michel Platini (France) | 0 |
| 25.Kenny Dalglish (Scotland) | 0 |
― O holy ruler of ILF (a hoy hoy), Wednesday, 20 October 2010 05:28 (fourteen years ago)