The greatest footballer that you ever saw play live

[BadFish]

Gasgoine, Batistuta, Rui Costa and Del Piero

 

[Diablo]

Best performance i`ve witnessed was Roberto Carlos playing for Real Madrid 2000ish. He was awesome.

 

[Taybha]

Kevin Keegan , even though he did score against us in his last game for Newky , Stan Bowles , and Frank Worthington , probably been others but those are the ones i remember .

 

[BUTTERBALL]

Gazza, Lineker - both at the top of their game at the time. I saw Gazza at White Hart Lane playing for Spurs but also turning out for England B vs Italy at the Goldstone in 1989. Toto Schillachi also played in that game who went on to star in the world cup the following year.

As for the Albion, it would have to be Gotsmanov and Vicente.

 

[El Presidente]

Ruud Gullit for Chelsea at Maine Road, he was light years ahead of anyone else on the pitch.

Zola for Italy in the 1996 European Championships

Suarez in the World Cup and against us at Anfield.

 

[Cadiz Seagull]

Interesting, my 1st Albion match was vs West Ham (around 1988 I think?). I too went into it a West Ham fan, and ended an Albion fan.

That's you, me and Tim Carder then. Mind you, I was a bad West Ham fan, I stood behind the south goal and the Albion absolutely hammered them (no pun intended - well, not really) so I thought sod this, I'm going to change sides. My scarf went in my pocket. It's probably still there.

 

[Robinjakarta]

No mention for Jimmy Greaves? Saw him and Best lots of times and Greaves was usually the better when I saw them.

 

[Cadiz Seagull]

Slightly different to the question that the OP asked, but the best performance I ever saw live, the player that most dominated a game, certainly an Albion game, was a certain Robert Codner.

At the Goldstone, I can't remember when, but he absolutely ran the game. never put a foot wrong.

Until he got sent off 5 minutes from time

 

[beefypigeon]

Gary Neville - he was one step ahead of everyone on the park. Incredible reader of the game.

Wow! Didn't expect to see this name crop up on a 'Greatest footballer' thread!

 

[One Teddy Maybank]

Slightly different to the question that the OP asked, but the best performance I ever saw live, the player that most dominated a game, certainly an Albion game, was a certain Robert Codner.

At the Goldstone, I can't remember when, but he absolutely ran the game. never put a foot wrong.

Until he got sent off 5 minutes from time

Blimey.........
Other than Millwall in the play-off's, I can't remember him having many good ones! [emoji1]

 

[withdeanwombat]

Very hard question.

Head scratched. Greaves? Ball? Dave Mackay? Kit Napier?

But I'll go Barry Rees.

 

[Moshe Gariani]

Slightly different to the question that the OP asked, but the best performance I ever saw live, the player that most dominated a game, certainly an Albion game, was a certain Robert Codner.

At the Goldstone, I can't remember when, but he absolutely ran the game. never put a foot wrong.

Until he got sent off 5 minutes from time

Abdul Razak v Ipswich in 2012 was the most totally outstanding individual performance I can remember seeing from an Albion midfielder. I was convinced that day we had witnessed a future Premier League star.

He has achieved almost literally nothing since...!

 

[Knotty]

Johann Cruyff

 

[luppers]

Ah, Roy Jennings. My first Albion hero. I was pleased to tell hi,ly at the Centenary Dinner.

I think he was called The Tank. How much would he be worth on todays figures? Also Lawrenson, Peter Ward,Vincente and Frank Worthington. He was way past his prime when he signed, but his moves were 2 or 3 ahead of the rest of the team and scored some spectacular goals in the short time he was here.
.
er.

 

[Paul Reids Sock]

I saw Beckhams last competitive England game - that was pretty special. More for the fact I got to see him play than for how good he was (he was a second half sub and not amazing)

Also loved watching Shevchenko - I managed to catch one of his only good games for Chelsea in a 4-4 against Villa. He showed glimpses of what an incredible player he had been

 

[Mancgull]

No doubt in my mind....Richard Tiltman.

 

[perseus]

Mark Lawrenson.

He just never made mistakes. Just one at the Goldstone and that when he was playing for Liverpool. Just the failure to control the ball in the middle of the park, not a costly error.

Honourbale mentiosn to Trevor Brooking, Ian Rush, Ray Kennedy, Trevor Beattie, plus.

PS: I've seen in Mark Lawrenson in the same side as Bobby Chalrton as well. Gary Williams was the best player that day.

 

[Boys 9d]

Hard choice, if only one outfield player allowed then George Best by a narrow margin. As goalkeeping is a specialist role then no doubts - Bert Trautmann.

 

[NooBHA]

It was his SECOND spell at Stoke, not the one that started in 1932.

When I saw the word SECOND highlighted - I thought you were goind to say that '' you were on you second life ''

 

[Cadiz Seagull]

Very hard question.

Head scratched. Greaves? Ball? Dave Mackay? Kit Napier?

But I'll go Barry Rees.

Now THERE was a player. Such a shame, he had star quality written all over him