Source
r/soccer•
Decooo

In 20 years, who will be the 10 most remembered players of today?

I'd say:

  1. Messi

  2. Ronaldo

  3. Suarez

  4. Neuer

  5. Neymar

  6. Ibrahimovic

  7. Gareth Bale

  8. Iniesta

  9. Di Maria

  10. Robben

edit: format

edit 2: Some have made points for some players being put in and others out. I feel Bale will be remembered for the transfer record. Di Maria will be remembered for his transfer from a Champions League winning club to Manchester United imho, although a case could be made for Xavi or Lahm to replace. I won't be changing the original list though. Tl;dr - I like my list.

Posted Nov 13, 2014, 10:06 PM UTC · edited

084
Peakevo•

Xavi>Di Maria and Bale for sure. The dude was the best midfielder in the world for 4 years.

33
mumi1994Real Madrid•

Belongs in the top 3 after the obvious ones

1
i_cnt_spllBrasil•

Suarez? Really? I mean the guy is an amazing striker, but he has only had 1 amazing season so far in his career. If you are going that route you have to say RVP as well then.

19
lakupiippuFinland•

I think he'll be remembered for his controversies as much as his footballing ability.

33
boobiebangerFC Nordsjælland•

Kind of like everybody remembers Cantona's Kung Fu move

8
DecoooOPBrasil•

My thought exactly.

3
renanferrariRemo•

"That player who bit another one in the World Cup". I'm sure he will be remembered for that.

9
[deleted]•

[deleted]

5
[deleted]•

RVP had 2 amazing seasons.

2
-SwiftyDerry City•

One good season? 30 goals the season before last as well as 31 to tie the premier league record with fewer games than Ronaldo. 49 in 48 in a season for Ajax also and not to mention he's the Uruguay all time top scorer. He will be remembered for his madness yes, but he will be remembered as one of the best players the premier league and Uruguayan national team has ever seen!

1
-XeroChelsea•

Lampard and gerrard

14
[deleted]•

Together? That wouldn't work.

22
boobiebangerFC Nordsjælland•

Lampard will be remembered much longer than Gerrard. Because when you look back you look at highlights, stats and trophies and Lampard beats Gerrard in all of them almost. Gerrard will probably be brought up in greatest-players-never-to-win-the-league conversations though.

Edit- this isn't about who's better, just who (in my opinion) will be remembered the longest.

5
abt1nAS Roma•

Highlights are nice, but One-Club men like Gerrard never die, because the fans won't let them be forgotten

13
bdox15Liverpool•

I feel like Gerrard wins the highlights category. It's trophies and stats that lampard has. (Also lets fuckin hope Gerrard is a one club man when it's all said and done)

7
newyorkzolaChelsea•

Chelsea fans won't forget Lampard. Just as we didn't forget Drogba, Osgood, Wise, Zola, and Di Matteo.

2
shakira11France•

Older ones, yeah. Over 90% of Chelsea fans will have never seen Zola, RDM or Wise (let alone Osgood) playing for Chelsea

6
Dob-is-Hella-RadReading•

Nah, Gerrard's a club legend who defined an era for a massive club and has far more signature moments, including carrying his team almost singlehandedly to win one of the most memorable games of all time. Lampard won more, but people will talk about Abramovich's money, and Mou and the impact of other players as well. He'll still be hugely remembered, but Gerrard has obvious moments that will go down in history (honestly, including that slip. It's memorable). Lampard does not have the highlights. Not one Lampard highlight comes close to Gerrard's most famous 3 or 4.

5
Jelly-manChelsea•

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=oNXszJDJpOQ

Sorry for the stupid video, it's all I could find. But this is the best goal I've ever seen

1
bdox15Liverpool•

Eh legacy wise I feel like they're pretty damn even (I don't wanna start an argument about who's better)

1
Aj16ay•

Neither actually. They're both equally overrated

1
-XeroChelsea•

You dont score 200+ goals as a midfielder and be called overrated.

1
Aj16ay•

And how many were penalties?? XD xD

0
Jelly-manChelsea•

If my sources are accurate, 47 were penalties. According to Wikipedia, he has at least 239 career goals not including international ones. Scoring 192 non penalties as a midfielder is pretty fucking impressive if you ask me. XD xD

1
Hassi94Manchester United•

"Remember the name; Wayne Rooney!"

England Captain, Man Utd Captain, probably will break records for England. He might not be in the the top 10 players of our time, but he surely will be one of the most remembered.

10
[deleted]•

[deleted]

2
Hassi94Manchester United•

I don't know but from doing a lot of travelling in Europe, I've had a lot of people say shit like "You're from England, you like Wayne Rooney yeah?" - particularly when meeting people drunk.

2
[deleted]•

[deleted]

1
Hassi94Manchester United•

Well obviously not because that doesn't make any sense. People aren't saying 'Do you like David Beckham?' - not because he isn't memorable. One of the first things non-English people think when they think of England and Football is Wayne Rooney.

1
cowsandsheepsManchester United•

Rooney and Lahm over Di Maria and Bale?

10
-Michael_ScotchManchester United•

I'd agree with that. I really think that after Rooney's retired people will see how truly great he has been. It seems very likely he'll be both England and Manchester Uniteds all time top goalscorer, wouldn't be surprised to see him be the PL all time to scorer too.

As for Lahm he captained Germany to a World Cup, surely a greater feat than Di Maria or Bale will ever achieve.

12
CheeseMakerThingWest Bromwich Albion•

Rooney won't ever be the prems top scorer. I think he'll top 200, but Shearer is too far ahead and Rooney is moving more centrally.

2
-Michael_ScotchManchester United•

Yeah fair point actually, I can't see Rooney having any more 20+ seasons if he's being played further back. I just looked at the all time pl top scorer list, the gap between Shearer and Andy Cole (2nd) is 73 goals. That's a crazy amount of goals and would take someone really special to beat.

2
swiftyfcRangers•

I think it will be a long time before any player, let alone another English player beats Alan Shearer's record if ever. He is the best English striker I have ever seen play.

Edit added English striker.

2
Dob-is-Hella-RadReading•

Rooney will definitely be one of the most remembered. He was one of the most hyped young players ever, he's had a long and established career at Man United, he's been the star player of the England team for ages and was constantly used as the excuse they never quite performed (either this narrative will be dismissed and he'll be remembered as a true great, or it'll stay and he'll have to be talked about for "not performing"), he already has lots of memorable moments, he's won a whole lot of trophies, he'll be one of United and the Premier League's highest ever scorers and he'll almost certainly be England's highest. He's the most famous footballer in England, everyone and their mother knows who Wayne Rooney is. Di Maria by comparison has no reason to be remembered anywhere near as much. He'll be talked about only when people are bringing up good players from this era who aren't talked about as much as the more well-known ones. Not necessarily for lack of ability, just because there's no real reason for him to be remembered. Bale will be remembered more than Di Maria but less than Rooney.

3
[deleted]•

Great defenders tend to be recognised more to an extent post-retirement; where as many attacking players in this generation are overshadowed by two of the best ever.

3
DecoooOPBrasil•

A case could be made for one of them over Di Maria, but I feel that Bale will be remembered for the transfer record.

0
[deleted]•

[deleted]

1
rayray604Manchester United•

Mate you forgot Xavi, Rooney and Pirlo.

10
arayofhope•

Xavi over Di Maria. Di Maria is just another offensive player for Argentina, on the level of higuian and Tevez, but Xavi was the center piece for the best Barcelonan and Spanish team of all time.

10
[deleted]•

[deleted]

1
Cheese_WaffleDjurgårdens IF•

Everyone will remember Zlatan and his amazing goals. No doubt.

8
Clark-KentEngland•

No particular order and missing some. It's late and I'm drunk

Messi, Ronaldo, Rooney, Casillas, Xavi, Lampard, Schweinsteiger, Klose

6
mr_dongLeeds United•

Philipp Lahm surely?

5
[deleted]•

[deleted]

6
derschollBayern München•

This is a goal scorers popularity contest, so nope

1
[deleted]•

who?

-9
DiscoPopShopAC Milan•

Aside from the obvious two, Ibra will be remembered 100%

5
Daily_reader94•

Come on guys really? No RONALDINHO on this list??

5
MonstersunderyourbedAS Nancy•

Isn't he playing in the mexican league ? As much as I like him right now he's so close to retirement you can hardly put him on a list of "players of today".

Because if we're putting Ronaldinho I think I'd also like to add Alessandro Del Piero, Robert Pires and David Trezeguet.

2
Daily_reader94•

Yup he is in Mexico and u do have a point but looking back at the things he's accomplished and his style of play. It would be hard not remembering him in the years to come

3
[deleted]•

[deleted]

1
pedropereirFC Porto•

Ronaldinho isn't a player of today

2
[deleted]•

Well he technically is.

3
QuestigyBayern München•

No Franck Ribery or Pirlo, both were incredible and memorable in their day, and still are, just suggestions.

4
newyorkcitycop•
  • chicharito
  • chicharito
  • chicharito
  • chicharito
  • chicharito
  • chicharito
  • chicharito
  • chicharito
  • chicharito
  • Gio

edit: lets give Gio some love

4
dmaltonHartlepool United•

Case could be made for hazard. still young and rated one of the best players in the prem at the moment could be one of the best players in the world at his peak and do wonderful things for chelsea

3
Jelly-manChelsea•

Plus he'll probably still be playing. People should remember someone who's still playing

Edit: Fuck I'm an idiot, I thought the title said ten years.

1
fleamarketguyBarcelona•

Depends on where you're from and who you support. I, for instance would remember Lahm and Xavi over Di Maria and Bale. But I think it will mostly players who have a great PR team.

2
Patdogg78Bari•

Messi

Ronaldo

Pirlo

Ibra

neymar

Buffon

xavi

Iniesta

Robben

Balotelli

2
[deleted]•

Balotelli? That must be a joke. If he carries on the way he is the most he'll be remembered by is "that crazy guy who played for Liverpool. Or was it Chelsea?"

1
Patdogg78Bari•

All the title says is "players that will be remembered" not why. Everywhere he goes, hes the talk of the town & hes only 24

2
[deleted]•

That's the thing, he's being spoken about now for doing silly, insignificant things - nothing that will be remembered in the long term. Players who get remembered for so long usually do one or two impactful things in their career. So far, Mario's done nothing. I think you greatly overestimate the stuff he's done.

1
Patdogg78Bari•

hmm, lets see had a brace against Germany in the Euro 2012 Semi-final. i would say that was pretty impactful. had the Premier League Winning assist for Man City also (his only assist at that)

1
[deleted]•

Rppney, Lamps, Nerman, Iniesta, Xavi, Suarez, Ronaldo and Messi FOR SURE.

Those who I believe have the potential to are Gotze and Reus.

2
rossco9Manchester United•

Worldwide? Messi, Ronaldo, Ibra, Xavi, Neymar, Suarez, Rooney, Neuer, Lahm, Pirlo

2
Kaede93•

Neymar will be just below Messi and Ronaldo. He'll most likely be Brazil's top goalscorer sooner rather than later if he keeps up his ratio. He'll be remembered along the likes of Ronaldo (the real one), Ronaldinho, etc.

2