Which Footballer(s) is your all-time favourite and why?

(THEY HAD TO HAVE BEEN PLAYING IN YOUR LIFETIME)

I have had many that I have come to love in my lifetime, beginning obviously with my beloved LFC players:

KING KENNY, for obvious reasons.
JOHN BARNES, for his impact on the game, his dribbling wizardry, passing and finishing, and how he lit up The Kop.
ROBBIE FOWLER, for his cheek, bravado and for his deadly finishing.
STEVEN GERRARD, need I say more!

My non LFC favourite players are :

DIEGO MARADONA, for his artistry, mazy dribbles and his extraordinary peripheral vision.
ROBERTO BAGGIO and ZINEDINE ZIDANE, for their exquisite ball skills, passing and vision.
JOHN-PIERRE PAPIN, for his sharp-shooting abilities, and for having the supreme confidence of shooting early and catching out       the keeper from all angles and distances.

It would have to go to a Semi-Final  between Digger and Zizou, with JOHN BARNES coming out as my pick of the bunch.
Remember that your choice(s) doesn't have to be based solely on footballing abilities, just the one(s) that has had the biggest impact on you: (INSERT: Smigger/ Berger, oh he of the flowing locks!, however he did have a good dribble and cracking shot. Sorry Smig )
Looking forward to reading any posts.

Non-LFC would have to be Thierry Henry. He makes the game very fun to watch, and is a class act.

I used to love watching Viera at Arsenal, the amount of times he dominated the midfield on his own was untrue.

Steven Gerrard -
most complete and versatile player ever. Good leader and role model off the pitch minus the incident. Scorer of important goals at important times.

Ricardo Kaka and Lionel Messi - Simple football and one of the best players in the world , yet humble. Good christians as well.

Cesc Fabregas and Xabi Alonso - pure intelligence. keeps their composure even under pressure. rare to be found!

Got the obvious choices of you Kennys, Fernandos and Gerrards. But I cant choose between Liverpool players so non-lfc has to be Zidane

John Charles ( the gentle giant ) .    The perfect gentleman on and off the field, and one of the few to make it in Italy.

Gerrard, torres, messi, alonso, hyypia, del piero, fabregas & beckham. I think that I don't need to explain anything for my choose.

My favorite non LFC player has to Robinho he's just pure class and is proving a big player in the prem and the best thing is he doesn't cheat like Ronaldo does for manc united

Non LFC is Thierry Henry. He always brought a smile to my face.

The obvious LFC ones.

Non-lfc;

Gianfranco Zola. What a player! Amazing touch, speed and a great finnish.

Del Piero is just amazing. Great finnisher and he is still going strong.

Thierry Henry. Obvious really, pace, skill and a killer instinct infront of goal.

I have always been a huge fan of Dennis Bergkamp, he is just the type of player who just oozes class and style in his game. Paolo Maldini is a true professional and is another player I have much respect for. Leonardo is another player who always had a thing for.

Del Pierro
Kaka
Messi
Henry
Gerrard
Reina
Hyypia
Carragher

Yemi Odubade - Fast, good touch, good shot, and can play on the wing like Dirk Kuyt, though he is predominantly a striker.

Sam Deering - Very promising young winger, unfortunately broke his leg.

Robbie Fowler - Cheeky, Good Finisher, and has some good wit.

Myself - I'm obviously the best footballer ever.

Henry, he made the game brilliant, and is a great player. Sheer pace!
Shearer, Fowler, Gerrard, Torres are my other favourites but apart from the fact he doesn't and hasn't played for Liverpool Henry is my favourite.

lfc - gerrrard................ .............do i hve to say anything
non lfc - henry ..........simply luv him

Schmichael, ex United player but was the greatest keeper I've ever seen.

Cafu, just exceptional
Tony Adams, fantastic centre half. Ran the Arsenal defence for years.
Maldini, possibly the finest defender I've ever seen.
Pyscho Pearce, loved watching him for England.

Figo, enjoyed watching him whenever I could.
Zidane, unstoppable.
Scholes, ex United again but was fantastic. No doubting his ability.
Overmars, loved watching him down the wing for Arsenal.

Henry, just a great player.
Shearer, best forward I've ever seen.

(non Liverpool)

United

George Best- If I had a choice to watch any player play the game it would be Bestie.... a magician!
Keane- He was a man mountain, feared by men twice his size, respect to my fellow countyman Keano.
Scholes- Only 18 months left with him and thats using him wisely, but what a dictator of a game, Best passer of a ball I've ever seen.
Giggs- The man is simply a living legend, 16 years in the first team of United says it all. Wish he was 26 again!
Cantona- King Eric..... that kung fu kick will always be remembered, bought from the scum of Leeds and won us our first Title in years.

Non United

Messi-- Not afraid to say ths kid will take Ronaldos awards next year, beautiful player to watch.
Zidane-- So in control of his body and ball, almost walked through games and makes everything look easy.
Gerrard-- Most Complete CM in the world, the best English Midfielder ever IMO (Remember I never seen Bobby Charton play).
Zola--- I just loved seen him buzz about the place. Magic!!!

LFC player: STEVIE G - Need any1 say more!


Non-Lfc Player:  Kaka - He is just awsum!

Michael Owen
Steven Gerrard
Fernando Torres
Xabi Alonso
Ryan Babel
Harry Kewell

United

George Best- If I had a choice to watch any player play the game it would be Bestie.... a magician!
Keane- He was a man mountain, feared by men twice his size, respect to my fellow countyman Keano.
Scholes- Only 18 months left with him and thats using him wisely, but what a dictator of a game, Best passer of a ball I've ever seen.
Giggs- The man is simply a living legend, 16 years in the first team of United says it all. Wish he was 26 again!
Cantona- King Eric..... that kung fu kick will always be remembered, bought from the scum of Leeds and won us our first Title in years.

Non United

Messi-- Not afraid to say ths kid will take Ronaldos awards next year, beautiful player to watch.
Zidane-- So in control of his body and ball, almost walked through games and makes everything look easy.
Gerrard-- Most Complete CM in the world, the best English Midfielder ever IMO (Remember I never seen Bobby Charton play).
Zola--- I just loved seen him buzz about the place. Magic!!!

You are not a Liverpool fan ?
what the f*cking hell are u doing here?

STEVEN GERRARD ... THE BEST THERE EVER WILL BE

John Barnes - Still one of the greatest players I've ever seen grace our hallowed Anfield turf and could properly take on and take the piss out of players

Ian Rush - The goal machine, need I say anymore

Its May 1977 and we have just lifted the European Cup for the first time but the utter joy this particular 13yr old lad felt was tinged with heartache because Kevin Keegan was leaving us for Hamburg. I had started going the games regularly in the early 70s and took to Keegan instantly, he was enthusiastic, brave and for his height quite good in the air but it was only after Shankly pulled off a masterstroke by signing a giant from Cardiff that Keegan really fulfilled his budding potential.
The Toshack, Keegan partnership soon became unrivalled in the first division and their understanding was said to be telepathic! So much so that Grandstand once set up a telepathy test to try them out, they failed miserably off the pitch but on it they where unbelievable and to this day I can still hear David Coleman commentating on a match with utmost simplicity “Toshack to Keegan, 1-0!”

The reason for the big intro is to get to my all time favourite player one Kenneth Mathieson Dalglish, my mourning for the loss of Keegan was soon put aside as Dalglish quickly became my all time hero, I will admit as to not being to familiar about his time at Celtic but I like all other reds got excited about the lad from Glasgow even if after the first time he spoke at a press conference we couldn’t understand a word of what he said.
My hero worship went into overdrive as Kenny scored in the Charity shield and then went on to score a week later in his league debut at Middlesbrough and by the time we had reached the end of the season and he had scored 31 goals in 62 games and got the winner at Wembley  as we defended our European crown it really was a case of Kevin who?

As a player I loved the way he played he was never the quickest sprinter but his footballing brain worked quicker than a PC’s processor, he could hold the ball up better than any forward I have ever seen as he stuck out his backside like Beyonce to stop defenders getting a glimpse of the ball, he saw a pass hours before any other player and could complete a killer pass in double the time, his goals ranged from tap ins to the downright mystifying as he spotted and converted chances nobody else could see, his partnership with Ian Rush will never be forgotten and I honestly believe Ian wouldn’t have been half the player he was if he hadn’t learnt his trade playing with Dalglish.
I also loved the passion he showed and for that matter still shows to this day for our club and I will never forget how he gave his all to grab a goal and give us a win and once he had scored he would wheel away with the biggest smile you have ever seen in your life.

But to claim Kenny as my all time favourite I must add that Mr Dalglish the man is just as exceptional as the player ever was, at the lowest point in our clubs history the man and his family where there for us and he personally gave so much that in the end he had no more to give, and so it is for what he did on the pitch and to a degree a little more importantly what he did off it that I will always hold him in the highest of regards.

Sir Kenneth Mathieson Dalglish (well if Taggart can get a knighthood)