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.
The best team in the world according to the Association of Football
Statisticians*
GK - Peter Schmeichel
LB - Roberto Carlos
CB - Lothar Matthaus
CB - Franz Beckenbauer
RB - Cafu
LM - Johan Cruyff
CM - Zinedine Zidane
CM - Michel Platini
RM - Luis Figo
ST - Ronaldo
ST - Pele
*Compiled by taking the highest ranked player relevant to the
available positions in standard 4-4-2.
http://soccernet.espn.go.com/columns/story?id=479862&root=england&cc=4716&lpos=spotlight&lid=tab2pos1
