What a fantastic post Lodatz!

@Lodatz

I actually thought that Ronaldinho excelled as a team player more than anything else.

Here's mine.

P.S. Everyone's "Greatest XI" is bound to differ due to personal bias, which may be due to nations/clubs they support, and which players they had seen growing up. For starters, none of us have seen Pele play live, or Garrincha, Yashin, Eusebio, etc. We can only assume how f**king badass they really were from videos and clips. Watching a player live is much more exciting and entertaining than just watching the goals they score (and you also get to see things about that player's decision-making that you don't in videos, such as movement and positioning).

i have a question for you guys since I'm no expert on legends, i only know a few but Messi is on it and i know Messi deserves a spot on the greatest XI, he can score goals, create a lot of chances, assist, best dribbler right now, etc..

What more would it take Ronaldo (CR7) to be on the starting XI?

n also can u guys give me top 20 legends so i can learn more about them

@WayneRooney:

For me? It's almost a case of 'nothing', really, unless he displays in his final years the type of team-play and leadership that everyone else on my line-up possesses.

That's the thing: it's not even about his ability, really. It's the same reason I left out Pele and Maradona, who are everyone's traditional picks for Greatest Player Ever. There is no doubting the ability level of someone who wins a World Cup nearly single-handed, or someone who scores 1,200+ goals in his career. But, the question is: would they complement the side in the same way?

The reason why I select Messi, and not his modern-day rival CR7, is because of the way that Messi plays, not just how talented he is. His entire education in football has been based around team-work, intelligence and placing the needs of the team above his own -- this he can thank Johan Cruyff for, who joins him on the other wing. Having the father of modern-day team-play on the left, and the finest ever pupil of that philosophy on the other wing, both blessed with the type of talent and touch that leaves people in awe, is pretty much footballing heaven, as far as I'm concerned.

And look who is playing behind them, supplying them? Puskas, whose Hungarian side invented the concepts that so inspired Cruyff in the first place, and Zidane: one of the most visionary players of all time. Bother players were legendary for being prepared to play/do anything that the team needed, as was Charlton, who is watching their backs for them.

So, because of that, and because of what I think is the perfect harmony of this team, I just can't see where I would prefer to insert CR7, Pele, Maradona, Eusebio, or any of the other contenders. The only one I'd consider instead of Ronaldo would be Di Stefano, and, Ronaldo wins it for me between the two.

If you do not have the all-time top goalscorer of the greatest tournament in all sports as your lead striker, then I think you've missed the point of football. >:)

@Wayne

Top 20 legends of all time is a personal thing, but I can give you a good idea of who would be on it.

1. Johan Cruyff (Netherlands)
2. Diego Maradona (Argentina)
3. Zinedine Zidane (France)
4. Franz Beckenbauer (Germany)
5. Lionel Messi (Argentina)
6. Alfredo Di Stefano (Argentina)
7. Ferenc Puskas (Hungary)
8. Pele (Brazil)
9. Sir Bobby Charlton (England)
10. Eusebio (Portugal)
11. Michel Platini (France)
12. Garrincha (Brazil)
13. Paolo Maldini (Italy)
14. Ronaldo de Lima (Brazil)
15. Lev Yashin (USSR)
16. Franco Baresi (Italy)
17. Carlos Alberto Torres (Brazil)
18. Zico (Brazil)
19. Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal)
20. George Best (N. Ireland)

Notable Exceptions (I recommend you check them out as well)

Roberto Carlos (Brazil)
Paolo Rossi (Italy)
Micheal Laudrup (Denmark)
Socrates (Brazil)
Roberto Baggio (Italy)
Marco Van Basten (Netherlands)
Gerd Muller (Germany)

I would put Ronaldo 7 and Pelé higher in your post, but yes, Dynast list makes sense.

Van basten was a mix between bergkamp and Zlatan, he was awesome. His injury made and end to his short but magic career. The biggest waste of the 90s.

@Dynastian thanks :) ill look up the recommend once too

@Lodatz oh i see that you based it around Team play, and i understood y u didn't put Maradona or Pele because they are not as good as team players as the ones in ur XI. and your def right about Zidane, i love seeing him play just like i love seeing Messi play, there brain's is just Soccer/Football.

@Wayne: if you want some ideas for who to research, there's a cool series you can find called Football's Greatest, which was made by Sky Sports. You can probably find most of it on YouTube, and certainly as a torrent.

@Dynast: I respect Van Basten a great deal, and rate him very highly. Like you've said, these types of topics and lists are always subjective in nature, but, just in the interest of discussion, I believe I have a good reason to pick Ronaldo over Van Basten, for this side. I'll sum it up as simply:

...because Van Basten didn't do THIS:

WHat I think it so wonderful about watching him in his prime, is that you can see so much that he did which has now been adopted by later players. Without a doubt, you can see Ronaldinho, Cristiano and Messi all in there; O Fenemeno doing all their trademark skills years before they even made a first team.

He has Messi's dribbles and passes, Cristiano's skills and athleticism, and Ronaldinho's sublime creativity, all rolled into one.

What do you think? I'd love to hear a good case for Van Basten, in response. :)

@Lodatz

To be honest, I'm well aware that Ronaldo O Fenomeno was better than Marco van Basten, but for me, van Basten was so much more pleasing to watch.

O Fenomeno was the type to get you off your seat, scratch your head, and wonder how on Earth he just scored that goal. He was an unbelievably exciting player to watch, and much more exciting than both Leo and CR7.

But I chose van Basten due to the fact that he was so..... elegant in his finishing. I really can't find a proper word to describe it, but his finishing was so "smooth" and "classy", that it felt like he was just standing there lazily and making a joke out of the defenders and goalkeepers. Obviously, he made it look a hell of a lot easier than it actually was, and I think that he would've went down as one of the greatest players of all time if he actually got to finish his career (and not retire at 28).

Already considered to be one of the greatest forwards of all-time, I kind of grew up watching the man. He shaped a part of my footballing culture, and I respect him highly. I stopped watching football after he retired, and didn't resume again until Ronaldinho came to Barcelona. That's why I regard Ronaldinho and van Basten so highly, because they caught my attention out of nowhere. They made the game pleasing to watch. It felt like you could just sit there on your couch and nip on a bag of chips and they were playing with the same carefree mindset you are in.

Of course, I consider O Fenomeno to be the greatest striker of all time (if only the man could've finished his career in peace), and that's why I threw in both of them in my formation. I felt that van Basten's sheer class could compliment the ridiculous amount of flair that O Fenomeno would give on the LW, and the intensity and creativity that Messi would give on the RW. :)

Here's what I mean. Just imagine..... Ronaldo takes the ball from the midfield line, dribbles past three players with ease, and switches the play to Lionel Messi.... Messi charges past one defender and loops the ball over to van Basten..... van Basten controls the ball with one touch, rounds the goalkeeper, fakes out an onrushing defenders, and taps the ball into the back of the net. :)

^ Mate, dont justify your choice, its not like you put Heskey in this XI...
Van Basten deserved better than his already incredible career, his injury made my uncle cry...
That was a real Football loss, i think the sadest injury of History, he was a the top of his career.
You choice is fine.

@wayne_rooney You can find long career highlights of all the legends in youtube, Football\'s greatest its called enjoy.

@tiki: no-one said his choice wasn't fine. The whole point is to discuss and showcase why these amazing players deserve to included.

@Dynast: Awesome. :)