Favourite Midfielders of the past 50 years.

After seeing some of the dross that parade themselves on footy pitches around the world and refer whimsically to themselves as midfielders, I decided to start this thread where we could dicuss the true practictioners of this almost lost art. I'll start the ball rolling with my All-Time favourite midfielder:

Carlos Alberto Valderrama Palacio - "El Pibe"

A former Colombian footballer who played as a midfielder, his distinctive blond hair, coupled with his flamboyant technique on the ball and ability as a playmaker, made him one of Colombia's most recognizable footballers, and arguably, one of the most recognizable footballers around the globe historically.

Valderrama was a member of the Colombia national football team in the 1990s. Between 1985 and 1998 he represented Colombia in 111 full internationals and scored 11 times, making him the most capped player in the country's history. Valderrama was known for the accuracy of his passing and assisting, his vision and tactical brain, which allowed him to have a strong presence without the necessity of running as much as it would be expected, his precise technique on the ball, and his clean assists. Valderrama played a huge role during the golden era of Colombian football during the 1990s. In 2004, Valderrama was included in the FIFA 100, a list of "greatest living footballers" chosen by Pelé to celebrate the 100th anniversary of FIFA.

To watch one of my favourite bolton midfielders was tony Kelly great passer of the ball and always had space, remember him coming on at a cup game at Everton when we were 2-0 down and changing the game

This comment is definitive so heed my words because they are right.

Steve "Tommo" Thompson is the best midfielder the club has ever had.

Engine-wise: McAteer was imbued with a faulty 2 stroke lawnmower engine in comparison. 

Free kicks?

He regularly drilled 'em in from half way up the Manny Road, never mind just outside the box.

And he had cool 80's hair.

Case closed.

Not just Bolton midfielders, Bread - Internationally as well. Does Jay-Jay count as a midfielder? Or do we simply call him magic and consider ourselves blessed that he ever wore a Bolton shirt?

Sorry, Keegs, misinterpreted the title and ploughed in with a load of Bolton-centric bias.

If we're going for all-time greats, it's gotta be:

Guardiola, Hoddle, Batty and Beckenbauer.

A lot of the "gratft and endeavour" which is so beloved of English football fans combined with a fair degree of "that flair stuff" which actually wins tournaments.

And if we we're putting a fifth bloke in the middle as a panic measure to combat the sneaky Ecuadorean / Horwich Fire Brigade threat in some forthcoming tournament after what happened with them Icelandic dickheads in the Euros, I'd go for .....Steve Thompson.

Obviously.

Vastly underrated, that man. 

In our house, if nowhere else....

A boat load of flair but sadly accompanied with a shit load of cuntyness:

Bread2.0 wrote:A boat load of flair but sadly accompanied with a shit load of cuntyness:

That just describes every French person ever.

Per Frandsen.

Kept it simple, but also scored some cracking goals.

Lothar Matthaeus was always a favourite of mine, captained Germany when they where a very good side, could score goals and also did the graft, could pretty much do everything.



For Bolton always liked Claus Jensen.

doffcocker wrote:Per Frandsen.

Kept it simple, but also scored some cracking goals.

This was going to be my second choice. 

Loved Frandsen.  Quality player.

Bread2.0 wrote:A boat load of flair but sadly accompanied with a shit load of cuntyness:

Zidane is right up there on my list. Used to love watching him and when he was on it he was absolute class. One of those players who had the ability to just glide past people like they weren't even there. The ball seemed like it was glued to his feet. Great player.

Bread2.0 wrote:Steve "Tommo" Thompson is the best midfielder the club has ever had.

Did you fall over and hit your head while on holiday?

Zidane:- peerless internationally. Could do everything. Even his heading ability was awesome.

Nearest English equivalent was Tony Currie, again able to fulfil every requirement of a midfielder. Under-used by England in the Hoddle era.

Natasha Whittam wrote:

Bread2.0 wrote:Steve "Tommo" Thompson is the best midfielder the club has ever had.

Did you fall over and hit your head while on holiday?

You know I'm right.

The grace of Nureyev backed up with a cannon of a right foot.

for Bolton i always liked Frandsen, Thompson (both of them) and Claus Jensen. Always liked Mark Patterson and Jamie Pollock, not as good as the others but they were  grafters

As for the rest of the world i always liked Hoddle, Souness and Platini when i was younger and also people like Hierro (still can't believe he played for us), Gullitt and dare i say it Paul Scholes

Burnley related - Martin Dobson (a Rolls Royce), Doug Collins, Trevor Steven and John Deary.

If Steven Defour stays at Burnley for more than one season then he'll rocket up the list. Real class that we haven't seen at t'Turf for many a year.

Non Burnley related - Bryan Robson (saw him score against both Burnley and France after 20/30 odd seconds)

Modern day non Burnley related - Steven Gerrard (everything you wanted in a midfielder)

Bolton and Burnley related - Paul Comstive (the Glenn Hoddle of the lower leagues)

Hey, Copper - long time no see. Hard to come all this way down the leagues for a chat, eh?

Natasha Whittam wrote:

Bread2.0 wrote:Steve "Tommo" Thompson is the best midfielder the club has ever had.

Did you fall over and hit your head while on holiday?

Roy Greaves was our best midfielder by a country mile. Nearly 500 appearances for BWFC before moving to Seattle Sounders and 66 goals. Class act.