5 most creative footballers of all time
Football is called O Jogo Bonito or the beautiful game. What makes it such a joy to watch are the players, especially the creative ones, who can make the game look effortless.
When talking about creative footballers, the midfielders and the attacking players are the ones that often come to mind. There have been defenders like Dani Alves and Roberto Carlos, who have been involved in setting up goals for their teams. But we have mostly considered the players who operate/operated in the middle and attacking third of the pitch.
Considering the plethora of skilled players to have graced the game over the years, it's a difficult task to shortlist only a few. Nevertheless, here's a look at the five most creative players of all time:
#5 Michael Laudrup
We kick off our list with one of the most underappreciated players of his generation, Michael Laudrup. The attacking midfielder is often considered the greatest Scandinavian footballer of all time, and his skills and stats do justice to that statement.
The Danish footballer had it all, pace, balance, ball control, passing range, vision and a great mind to read the game. He won five consecutive La Liga titles between 1991 and 1995, four with Barcelona and one with Real Madrid. In that period, he also won Euro' 92 with Denmark.
Laudrup, who peaked under the legendary Johan Cruyff, had an uncanny ability to deliver the final ball with his wide range of inch-perfect passes.
Though he scored more goals than he created, Laudrup remains an underappreciated genius of the game.
#4 Andres Iniesta
When talking about creative footballers, Barcelona have had a long list of players providing flair in the middle and final third of the field. But hardly anyone has achieved the same level as Andres Iniesta or his midfield partner Xavi.
Xavi was more of a deep-lying midfielder, while Iniesta was the one who was largely involved with the final ball, so the latter finds a mention here. The Spaniard currently plays for Vissel Kobe in Japan, but when he was at Barcelona, he operated on a different level.
He is one of the few players to have won it all, tallying over 180 assists across competitions for club and country. Though he was not a prolific assist-provider like Kevin De Bruyne or an accomplished finisher, Iniesta's penchant for collecting the ball in the middle of the park and executing attacking moves was a treat to watch.
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