[Archived] George Best or Kenny Dalglish

[Blue n White Rover]

A friend and I were having this discussion last night as to who the better player was based soley on natural talent, and not taking into consideration off the field antics.

Niether of us have seen them play, and all we have seen is clips on Youtube, LFC TV and MUTV.

Any of the older members like to add their opinion?

[AggyBlue]

Kenny doesn't come anywhere close to Georgie, not by a country mile.

[Mattyblue]

lfc, mutv?!

What on earth?!?!?

[Blue n White Rover]

lfc, mutv?!

What on earth?!?!?

[Kelbo]

You really cant compare them, Best had tremendous ball skills and would go round 5 or six players with ease but would he be allowed to do that in todays game where the pace is so much quicker? Best also created lots of goals,scored goals and could change a game so quickly.

Dalglish was excellent both facing the goal and with his back to goal, had great awareness and knew what was going on around him, was exceptionally good in getting his body between man and the ball and sticking his backside out to shield the ball, scored lots of predators goals.

They were both completely different players who really couldnt be compared except to each of their clubs they were virtually irreplacable.

[den]

Natural talent? Best by a million miles. Surprised they're being compared.

[Blue n White Rover]

Natural talent? Best by a million miles. Surprised they're being compared.

Just a general football conversation that came up, and to be fair both of us didn't have much knowledge about either player to make a judgement.

What about overall gameplay Den?

If you could have either Dalglish or Best in your team, who would you choose and why?

[den]

Just a general football conversation that came up, and to be fair both of us didn't have much knowledge about either player to make a judgement.

What about overall gameplay Den?

If you could have either Dalglish or Best in your team, who would you choose and why?

That's a harder question Blue n white because Dalglish was a very influential team player. I would still go for Best though. Sheer individual brilliance. I saw Best playing for Utd against Rovers in his first season - as a 17 year old in 1963 I think. He was up against Keith Newton [possibly the best right back ever to play for Rovers] on that day and he gave Newton one hell of a hard game. I can't describe how good Best was even at that age. Best also had the ability to play anywhere across the front line - Right wing, to centre forward, to left wing. The bottom line is, Best could get the ball anywhere on the pitch, run at players and cause the opposition all kinds of problems. Dalglish couldn't do that. If you could liken him to any other player, I believe it would be Tom Finney.

Dalglish was just a completely different player. Still a brilliant exponent of what he did, but just not in Best's class as far as I'm concerned.

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

Best every time, when he was in the mood he could beat teams on his own. A guy told me years ago that early in his career he was playing for United Reserves at Ewood. In the dressing room at half time a team mate was criticising him for being greedy. His team mate said " You think you can beat the whole opposition don't you, well you can't, pass the bloody thing from time to time ! ". Best said "OK when we kick off just give me the ball". Apparently they gave him the ball and he proceded to dribble his way up the field, rounded the goalkeeper and banged it into the net. There's Pele then there's Best, Cruyff, Maradona, Ronaldo maybe, DiStefano maybe and then there's the rest. Messi is probably the nearest we've got to Best playing at the moment.

[Majiball]

Kenny Dalglish over Best any day of the week.

Why?

Cause he is Scottish, simples.

[yoda]

Kenny Dalglish over Best any day of the week.

Why?

Cause he is Scottish, simples.

ha ha

George Best not by a country mile but by the whole universe

He was on a par with Pele if not better on his day

and Tyrone shoelaces, the story is correct, I was at the game

[thenodrog]

I'm sure that Kenny would feel embarrassed if he stumbled across this thread. He'd know that there is no comparison to be made.

Having said that I think KMD would be more use to us at this moment in time. We desperately need someone with real ability in the hole between RCS and the midfield.

[philipl]

George Best without any hesitation doubt or debate.

If he had kept his head on his shoulders, Best could have been regarded as better than Puskas, Pele, Cruyf, Maradona and Messi- he was that good.

[Mercer]

Best is the greatest footballer that I have ever seen.

He had the lot - flair, pace, trickery, creative and finishing skills, two footed, good in the air and had a 'nasty streak' which helped him to look after himself on the field.

A flawed genius which the football world witnessed for too short a time.

[thenodrog]

George Best without any hesitation doubt or debate.

If he had kept his head on his shoulders, Best could have been regarded as better than Puskas, Pele, Cruyf, Maradona and Messi- he was that good.

Steady on Philip. He was a great player without a doubt and still would be now but the Prem is much much higher quality than our old 1st Div. Best's Man Utd of the late 60's couldn't live with any MU team from the past decade imo.

[yoda]

Steady on Philip. He was a great player without a doubt and still would be now but the Prem is much much higher quality than our old 1st Div. Best's Man Utd of the late 60's couldn't live with any MU team from the past decade imo.

You can only play whats in front of you theno

99% of todays players could still not live with Best on a good day

[CAPT KAYOS]

Was too young to see Best in 'real' time but my Dad always said he was the 'Best' (pardon the pun) and probably one of the best there had been.

I grew up with Dalglish - and along with Garner are my footballing heros' - my older brother used to take me on Anfield in my younger days before my own commitment to Rovers - and to this day I still consider him the best footballer I have seen.

Looking at past video/tv clips - Best did seem to have everything about him - and along with others agree that he probably should have done more in the game than he did.

[Majiball]

Was too young to see Best in 'real' time but my Dad always said he was the 'Best' (pardon the pun) and probably one of the best there had been.

I grew up with Dalglish - and along with Garner are my footballing heros' - my older brother used to take me on Anfield in my younger days before my own commitment to Rovers - and to this day I still consider him the best footballer I have seen.

Looking at past video/tv clips - Best did seem to have everything about him - and along with others agree that he probably should have done more in the game than he did.

You and your bro close then?

[thenodrog]

You can only play whats in front of you theno

99% of todays players could still not live with Best on a good day

The players Philip said could have been better than are right up in the other 1% Yoda, and are proven as top internationals too. Puskas, Pele, Cruyf, Maradona and Messi.

Also it's true that you can only play whats in front of you but without imports the Prem teams today would consist of half the players in the Prem with the other half being elevated from the Championship. The standard of opponent would def be lower.

[Alan75]

Most gifted natural player that I've ever seen play was George Best.

He played at a time when football was a contact sport, sliding crunching tackles that took man and ball, and Best was targetted each game.

Just imagine the freedom he'd get these days where tacking is now outlawed.

[den]

Blue n white rover:

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

Blue n white rover:

No doubts Den, there'll never be another.

[rebelmswar]

Best was utter class.

See how many hacks he gets. Modern footballers should look at these old games and feel ashamed of themselves.

[thenodrog]

Blue n white rover:

My Dad and Bill Shankly reckon the best of the lot was Tom Finney.

[den]

See how many hacks he gets. Modern footballers should look at these old games and feel ashamed of themselves.

Just what I thought when watching those videos. None of them even considered falling over - they just wanted to finish the move and score the goal.

Wenger, hang your head in shame.