Arsenal midfielder Declan Rice is certainly a beautiful dead ball kicker and that is why, despite being 6ft 2, he is sacrificed for set pieces because otherwise he would be a beautiful air threat in the box with that physique.
The best buyer of a set piece I ever saw was the Brazilian Zico. I have seen that first hand a few times, unfortunately. In Liverpool, Jimmy Case and Sammy Lee were beautiful strikers of the ball.
After Jimmy it would be Sammy, Terry McDermott and I who were the designated free-branchers. We would often be accompanied by Kenny Dalglish, who offered forever to take the free kicks, but we would also harm him out of the picture forever. The only problem was that if we could go our back for a short time, Kenny would run on and take it.
Time and again we would say, “What was the F *** that?” And Kenny just shrugged and walked away and got away with it. Typical Kenneth!
About what a world -class midfielder has done, made me think this week, who were the best 10 midfielders I was confronted with?
I could only truthfully judge those I played against, so here is my list:
Billy Bremner
Billy was full of aggro, always chiloust. He was not the biggest of shape at a time when there was a good criminal, but he could handle it.
He was always too cute and too smart to be the second best. A very great little football player to watch. He had a large brain, that never-saying attitude and he hated to lose.
Johnny Giles
Just like with Billy, I owe Johnny a debt of gratitude. As a 19-year-old in Middlesbrough I had a pinch with both before Johnny caught me, then Terry Yorath did me well and appropriate.
I was out for eight weeks with a well -learned lesson. Johnny was the most beautiful technician who, like all the big ones, always had room and time to work and, boy, he could deliver.
Alan Ball
There are two players where I never put a finger on, Zico and Alan Ball. When I stood opposite Bally, he played for Arsenal and I was in Middlesbrough. He was very different for the 20-year-old Workaholic-wide man we remember that we won the World Cup with England.
He became a central midfielder, where his touch and control were flawless. Regardless of the surface, Bally's first touch meant that the ball was never more than 18 centimeters away from him. Non -catchable. I took a few lunges to him, but he just played cute football with one and two touch. In the second half he resorted to lure me, growls to me and make barking sounds.
When I was a child at Spurs, I went to a pub in Southgate called The White Hart. All Arsenal players used to go inside. They were big then, but Bally would always take the time to tell us to our young professionals, always friendly, who remember your name. A great competitor.
Liam Brady
I have replaced Liam in Sampdoria, and not just in the team. I also moved to the house he left when he moved to Inter Milan.
He was a silky player who could drop his shoulder and send defenders to buy an ice cream or put them on their back when he came in. He had many qualities, incredible skills and a wand from a left foot. One of you would pay to watch.
Although the will of Denis Law and John Charles had previously disappeared, Liam was a modern pioneer as a British player who succeeded in Italy.
Glenn Hoddle
Glenn was such an elegant and unique talent. How to wish for him to be able to play on today's pitches. He had a great technique that matched everyone and was a scorer of beautiful goals – all on surfaces that were little more than plowed fields after two months of the season.
When I look at the game today, I think of two players who would be absolute superstars in the modern game with the way football has evolved and the surfaces: Glenn and Matt Le Tissier.
Bryan Robson
The nickname captain Marvel summarized him – he could do everything. If you wanted a war, he would give you it. If you wanted to play football, he could do that too. He was able to go box-to-box, arrive at it to score and was another with that never-saying attitude.
The rattling of his cage was a waste of time because you knew he would just keep coming back for more. A warrior. I always thought he was just too brave for his own good and got unnecessary injuries.
Zico
What a great name for a great player. I played against him for Liverpool when he was in Flamengo, for Scotland against Brazil and for Sampdoria against Udinese and never came within a garden of him. I also played next to him when we were selected in a top Undici (Serie A Select XI) to play champion Verona in a charity game at the end of the season. There were at least half a dozen times that he chose a pass that I certainly did not see. He had the most great technique to deliver them perfectly.
He saw several photos of the game for me and, like all the absolute world shelves, was able to deliver the pass he chose.
My other experience with him was when he played against Sampdoria for Udinese. I got the role of contacts with our keeper to adjust the wall for free kicks. In the first half we pushed the wall to the right and he just curled the ball around it to score.
In the second half, the same scenario, except this time I exaggerated and pulled the wall further to think that he would do the same. He ran as if he wanted to hit the ball in the same way, two steps before he joined, he changed the corner of his approach, kicked it with the outside of his boot and scored. At that moment I just threw my hands up in the air and shouted, “F *** off!” There was nothing else that we could have done to prevent him from scored again.
Michel Platini
I came to Michel several times and personally, which he was not the best.
But that did not stop him from wanting to step the ball on every occasion and, boy, he could play – get the ball in tight areas and give a pass 25 meters with incredible accuracy. He is another one that you would pay to watch. An absolute star.
Jean Tigana
I was opposed to Rangers and earlier in Europe. He floated over the grass. His first touch would always take the ball away from defenders and he would deliver fantastic last steps.
He and Platini were a wonderful partnership in the France team of 1984.
Paul Breitner
In my seven years in Liverpool, he was the only opponent for whom we made a special game plan, when Sammy Lee was told to mark him in the second stage of the Semi Final of the European Cup in the Olympic Stadium of Munich.
He had a fantastic engine, incredible industry and a great touch. I didn't like to play against him, he was too good at everything.
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