Indeed! Only Bergkamp, Zidane, and Ronaldinho were at his level in terms of their first touch! Not even Messi, Laudrup, Xavi, Cristiano Ronaldo, Totti, Cassano, Iniesta, Ronaldo, Maradona, or Berbatov, who all had fantastic technique and ball control themselves, were quite at their level!
@@kcapo89 I agree that I think that Cassano had incredible technical ability, which is why I mentioned him, and I do personally think that he was very close to them indeed in terms of his ball control, and the touch he made with with his heel over his head against Inter during the 1999-2000 demonstrates that, but I'd still put him just below the others I had mentioned (maybe because overall he wasn't as consistent a player, so he didn't always use his ability to the fullest unlike the others), and the same with Maradona and Ronaldo, whom I forgot to mention as you pointed out (I now included them); both had an outstanding touch, but I think with them, the ball would do the tiniest bounce on their boot before it stopped dead on the ground, especially Ronaldo whose touch maybe wasn't quite as elegant even though his technique, close control at speed, flair, creativity, and dribbling skills were all still absolutely incredible. With Baggio, Bergkamp, Zidane, and Ronaldinho, the ball would just fall into their stride seamlessly. In the end, if we are comparing these two groups, then it didn't really impact their gameplay significantly, or slow the others down down or take away valuable time that they could use to execute their next move and anticipate an opponent, and we are really talking about quasi fractional degrees of quality here, but aesthetically I think that the latter group looked more elegant in that regard as their touch was practically flawless. To put it into perspective, if it were a FIFA or PES rating, I would probably give Baggio, Ronaldinho, Bergkamp, and Zidane 98-99 ball control, and Maradona, Ronaldo, Berbatov, or Cassano 96-97, and then Messi, Xavi, Totti, Luadrup, Isco, Francescoli, Mancini, Zola, and Iniesta 95 if that makes sense. Then afterwards I would put players like Pirlo or Del Piero. I still think that Cristiano Ronaldo in his peak years at Man U and early years had a truly world class first touch, although I would agree that even at his best it wasn't at the level of the others, but comparable to someone like Ibrahimovic I think (maybe 91-94). Now it's far too inconsistent, and has declined significantly in that regard, as has his dribbling, which was once again world class at his best years with Man U, but never at the level of the all-time greats like Baggio, Maradona, Zidane, Messi, Iniesta, or Ronaldo, who could tear through an entire team.
@@jackpuccini3143 Cristiano was definitely a better dribbler than zidane he completed a lot more dribbles a season and I with you about baggio and how he didn't break his stride with his touch the goal where he rounds the keeper from pirlos pass is the first example that comes to mind
@@kcapo89 Yeah, I agree, that goal that Baggio scored with Brescia against Juve in 2001, to take the long ball into his stride and round Van der Sar with one touch was incredible! And it wasn't a rare occurrence for him to do something like that either. I can think of so many other times, like his goal against Portugal, or the touch from Zenga's goal kick which led to Schillaci's goal against Uruguay at the 1990 World Cup, and his back heel control in his goal against Foggia with Juve... Yes, it's very true that Cristiano completed more dribbles per season, but the thing is that Cristiano relied a lot more on his speed and agility to get past players as well on top of his excellent dribbling ability, sort of like Kakà, which is why I feel like he has declined so much as he has gotten older; I feel like Zidane's close control and technique when dribbling was better, which is usually what I use to assess a player. And sometimes the statistics, although they are very useful and can demonstrate how a player is performing, they also don't always paint the whole picture, as dribbles completed can also indicate whether a player was more of an individualist or a team player; I also think that a few seasons ago Neymar and Hazard completed more dribbles than Messi throughout the season, even though Messi is a better dribbler than them, but then again they were at their physical peak. I suppose one would also need to look at sucess rate as well, although even with things like that, the chance of success is something which can't really be measured either, and even passing success rate isn't always reliable, and i feel like statistical analysis has only really become popular in recent years; I think one year Terry was the third most accurate passer in the world, for example, when, although his passing was always decent, it wasn't ever at the level of the best ball-playing centre-backs, and he would often play things safely. But I guess that seasonal statisics are generally quite reliable overall, and moreso than looking at a single tournament, but even so, thinking back to international tournaments, for example, Donadoni completed more dribbles than Baggio at the 1994 World Cup, even though Baggio was a superior dribbler, and the same with Gazza at the 1990 World Cup, even though both Baggio and Maradona were both better than him in that regard. With Zidane, I feel like the fact the he was nowhere near as fast or as offensive-mined limited him a bit in terms of how many dribbles he completed, which is why he didn't complete as many dribbles in a season, and I also feel like Zidane would pass more because he played in deeper areas, so he wasn't always as frivolous on the ball, even though he would still be flashy himself at times, whereas Cristiano would often use dribbles on the wing in one on one situation. But I do feel like Zidane could dribble past everyone when he wanted to as well, and he retained his skills up until he retired, like players like Baggio or Iniesta as well.
His first touch was so good!
Indeed! Only Bergkamp, Zidane, and Ronaldinho were at his level in terms of their first touch! Not even Messi, Laudrup, Xavi, Cristiano Ronaldo, Totti, Cassano, Iniesta, Ronaldo, Maradona, or Berbatov, who all had fantastic technique and ball control themselves, were quite at their level!
@@jackpuccini3143 Cristiano is nowhere near them but cassano was definitely in the the tier of baggio and ronaldinho when it came to first touch
@@kcapo89 I agree that I think that Cassano had incredible technical ability, which is why I mentioned him, and I do personally think that he was very close to them indeed in terms of his ball control, and the touch he made with with his heel over his head against Inter during the 1999-2000 demonstrates that, but I'd still put him just below the others I had mentioned (maybe because overall he wasn't as consistent a player, so he didn't always use his ability to the fullest unlike the others), and the same with Maradona and Ronaldo, whom I forgot to mention as you pointed out (I now included them); both had an outstanding touch, but I think with them, the ball would do the tiniest bounce on their boot before it stopped dead on the ground, especially Ronaldo whose touch maybe wasn't quite as elegant even though his technique, close control at speed, flair, creativity, and dribbling skills were all still absolutely incredible. With Baggio, Bergkamp, Zidane, and Ronaldinho, the ball would just fall into their stride seamlessly. In the end, if we are comparing these two groups, then it didn't really impact their gameplay significantly, or slow the others down down or take away valuable time that they could use to execute their next move and anticipate an opponent, and we are really talking about quasi fractional degrees of quality here, but aesthetically I think that the latter group looked more elegant in that regard as their touch was practically flawless. To put it into perspective, if it were a FIFA or PES rating, I would probably give Baggio, Ronaldinho, Bergkamp, and Zidane 98-99 ball control, and Maradona, Ronaldo, Berbatov, or Cassano 96-97, and then Messi, Xavi, Totti, Luadrup, Isco, Francescoli, Mancini, Zola, and Iniesta 95 if that makes sense. Then afterwards I would put players like Pirlo or Del Piero.
I still think that Cristiano Ronaldo in his peak years at Man U and early years had a truly world class first touch, although I would agree that even at his best it wasn't at the level of the others, but comparable to someone like Ibrahimovic I think (maybe 91-94). Now it's far too inconsistent, and has declined significantly in that regard, as has his dribbling, which was once again world class at his best years with Man U, but never at the level of the all-time greats like Baggio, Maradona, Zidane, Messi, Iniesta, or Ronaldo, who could tear through an entire team.
@@jackpuccini3143 Cristiano was definitely a better dribbler than zidane he completed a lot more dribbles a season and I with you about baggio and how he didn't break his stride with his touch the goal where he rounds the keeper from pirlos pass is the first example that comes to mind
@@kcapo89 Yeah, I agree, that goal that Baggio scored with Brescia against Juve in 2001, to take the long ball into his stride and round Van der Sar with one touch was incredible! And it wasn't a rare occurrence for him to do something like that either. I can think of so many other times, like his goal against Portugal, or the touch from Zenga's goal kick which led to Schillaci's goal against Uruguay at the 1990 World Cup, and his back heel control in his goal against Foggia with Juve...
Yes, it's very true that Cristiano completed more dribbles per season, but the thing is that Cristiano relied a lot more on his speed and agility to get past players as well on top of his excellent dribbling ability, sort of like Kakà, which is why I feel like he has declined so much as he has gotten older; I feel like Zidane's close control and technique when dribbling was better, which is usually what I use to assess a player. And sometimes the statistics, although they are very useful and can demonstrate how a player is performing, they also don't always paint the whole picture, as dribbles completed can also indicate whether a player was more of an individualist or a team player; I also think that a few seasons ago Neymar and Hazard completed more dribbles than Messi throughout the season, even though Messi is a better dribbler than them, but then again they were at their physical peak. I suppose one would also need to look at sucess rate as well, although even with things like that, the chance of success is something which can't really be measured either, and even passing success rate isn't always reliable, and i feel like statistical analysis has only really become popular in recent years; I think one year Terry was the third most accurate passer in the world, for example, when, although his passing was always decent, it wasn't ever at the level of the best ball-playing centre-backs, and he would often play things safely.
But I guess that seasonal statisics are generally quite reliable overall, and moreso than looking at a single tournament, but even so, thinking back to international tournaments, for example, Donadoni completed more dribbles than Baggio at the 1994 World Cup, even though Baggio was a superior dribbler, and the same with Gazza at the 1990 World Cup, even though both Baggio and Maradona were both better than him in that regard. With Zidane, I feel like the fact the he was nowhere near as fast or as offensive-mined limited him a bit in terms of how many dribbles he completed, which is why he didn't complete as many dribbles in a season, and I also feel like Zidane would pass more because he played in deeper areas, so he wasn't always as frivolous on the ball, even though he would still be flashy himself at times, whereas Cristiano would often use dribbles on the wing in one on one situation. But I do feel like Zidane could dribble past everyone when he wanted to as well, and he retained his skills up until he retired, like players like Baggio or Iniesta as well.