Top 10 Dutch Soccer Players of All-Time
Hendrik Johannes "Johan" Cruijff (25 April 1947 – 24 March 2016) was a Dutch professional football player and coach. As a player, he won the Ballon d'Or three times, in 1971, 1973, and 1974. Cruyff was a proponent of the football philosophy known as Total Football explored by Rinus Michels, and is widely regarded as one of the greatest and the most prolific players in the history of the sport. He saw things other players could only dream of: passing, scoring, dribbling, close ball control - unbelievable. He also played at a time when a defender's job was, if you can't stop a man legally, kick the living daylights out of him. Cruijff just evaded them most of the time. You never saw any theatrical rolling about like you see in the modern game today. It seems sometimes that strikers only have to feel the breath of a defender on their back, and they'll go down. Results have become so important, with billions of pounds riding on winning the European Champions League. Who wouldn't take a dive?
He changed football world wide. To think he did not participate in the second world cup final in Argentina. Even without him Holland made the final game but lost to Argentina, the host country. That made two world cup finals Holland lost in the final game to the host nation.
He was voted player of the 74 world cup and in a poll was voted European player of the century. He was something else. Glad I saw him play.
I think that Johan Cruyff should be the 5th greatest football of all time.
Well done for putting him at the top of the list! He was Ajax's star player.
He had determination, courage, passion, self belief, honesty, respect and teamwork.
Johan Cruyff had amazing dribbling skills and has done lots of great shooting crushing the opposition,s dreams and being a Holland Superstar!
He is one of the best football players ever. He was dutch best footballer of the year 5 times and he won ballon d'or 3 times. I'm sure he deserves to be on the top of this list.
Amazing dribbling skills 2nd best dribbler in the world right after Messi. Has the best foot I have ever seen (his left). Insane speed and stamina. Great playmaker. Creating tons of chances 151 chances created in 18.6 bundesliga matches in 2014/2015. His threat level pulls defenders like bees to him. I think he is after Cruyff the best player maybe tied with van Basten. He is suffering from injuries on a severe level just like van Basten, if he was never injured I have no doubt he would be the best in the world which now is Messi.
Robben is the best ball handler in the world. He has fewer goals that Cruijff in his career but he has also been playing in the top leagues for 15 years. Cruijff was in a top league for 6 years total. Cruijff has influenced the game more, but not as the best "player". Sure Cruijff was the Ballon d'Or three times, but think of this, in 1974 he won it with 16 goals in 26 appearances for Barcelona that season. In the 2016-17 season for Bayern Robben had 16 goals in 26 appearances, and where was he in Ballon d'Or voting - not even a candidate to get votes. Just a different time.
Officially fastest player ever. Recorded at about 37 KM/H if I'm right out the top of my head. Scored one of the 5 goals in Spains 5-1 defeat against the Netherlands because of this amazing sprint, made Sergio Ramos seem slow at 34KM/H. And the amazing thing is that he reached this speed, way into the game, so he didn't even have all of his energy, imagine his speed if he did have all of his energy.
This guy has extreme dribbling skills, able to make almost impossible goals effortlessly, and he's the fastest player on the team. The only downside is that he sometimes doesn't pass when there are other players wide open near the goal.
Dennis Nicolaas Maria Bergkamp is a Dutch former professional footballer, who is the assistant manager to Frank de Boer at Ajax. Simon Kuper of the Financial Times wrote in 2006: "One night last year some legends of Dutch football gathered for dinner in an Amsterdam house. Around midnight conversation turned to an old question: who was the best Dutch footballer ever? Dutchmen have been voted European Footballer of the Year seven times, more than any other nationality except Germans. Yet Jan Mulder, a great centre-forward turned writer, chose a player who had never even threatened to win the award nor, at the time, a Champions League: "Bergkamp. " He had the finest technique, said Mulder. Guus Hiddink, the great Dutch manager, nodded, and so the matter was settled. "
The Iceman has got everything a team, like Arsenal needs. Why shouldn't he be like third?. He was like amazing with his skills, his shooting and has way more skill and experience than Van Nistelrooy.
I think that he has had great shooting having a few of the greatest goals in the whole of football history.
Dennis Bergkamp has helped Holland win a lot of international trophies.
God. His technique was excellent. His first touch was something of legend. He was a lethal goalscorer from outside the box. He was great dribbling with great control of the ball. He was skillful. He was just majestic
Marcel "Marco" van Basten is a Dutch football manager and former football player, who played for Ajax and Milan, as well as the Netherlands national team, in the 1980s and early '90s as a forward. Pure Killer. When looking purely at scoring goals and nothing else he might be the greatest in history... not just Netherlands but in the world. Only reason he isn't number one is because football also has other aspects next to scoring. But he mastered the most important one for a striker: scoring, making him top 3 in this list.
The 2nd best player for this team on my list he was a volleyer winning the ballon'd"or 3 times his performance in the 1988 euro was great. A hat trick against England a last minute slide goal against West Germany and the best volley ever against the Soviet Union.
Best player ever. Reason? Because if other players like messi, maradona or pele and many others had had the same problems of van basten they would have done another job.
Should be second, scored so easily and achieved so much since he retired at 28 and was constantly injured. Could have been best player ever.
Robin van Persie is a Dutch coach and former professional footballer who played as a striker. Regarded as one of the best strikers of his generation, he is the all-time top scorer for the Netherlands men's national team. He is currently an assistant manager at boyhood club Feyenoord in his first managerial ...read more. Most all around complete player in Dutch football history in my opinion, with an amazing knack for scoring goals and great footwork. He could honestly play as a striker, winger, center mid/attacking mid, or defensive mid and excel at any of them. Also has the most goals scored in Dutch national team history
No way is Van Persie in the top 20 of Dutch players. His touches sometimes look clumsy. He was also part of that disgraceful Dutch team in 2010 that brought anti football to a new low level.
Robin van persie is a wonderful footballer and he is able to score very classy goals and easily the best player in national team.
Van persie is my favorite player. But was better with arsenal and manchseter united. His volleying is almost as good as Marco van Basten.
Just had the ability to score form numerous positions. Had such a calm head in big games one of the greatest goal scorers of all time. Unfortunately he is underrated massively by everyone but he shouldn't be
Ofc! The best Dutch goal-scorer of all time. His sense is superb. Unfortunately, he is very underrated though its obvious to the wise fans, that Ruud is the best scoring machine of the Dutchmen.
Thanks whoever wrote this page for including Ruud van Nistelrooy as the 1st. On a FIFA game, (gaming) you should check out Holland or Be a Pro. Play with Ruud. HE'S AWESOME!
No one has ever been so deadly inside the box. A real shame he was dropped from the World Cup team he might have put one in against the Spanish.
Ruud Gullit is a Dutch football manager and former footballer who played professionally in the 1980s and 1990s as a midfielder or forward. I always loved Ruud's distinctive look; of course, being a powerful player with versatility and strength in the air as well as classy skills made him certainly a top five player in Dutch football history (most other similar lists rate him from 3rd to 5th best). Cruyff, van Basten and possibly Bergkamp were better players than the 1988 European Championship winning captain; as noted before, he also won European Footballler of the year (and dedicated the 1987 award to Nelson Mandela while Mandela was yet in prison). A class act as a footballer.
Captains holland to its only trophy, revives Milan when van basten was injured against a rampant Napoli and is voted world footballer twice and European footballer twice. He has to be third on the list battling with van basten for 2nd. Bergkamp was great but not in the same league as cryff, VB or gullit
How can such an Iconic figures like Ruud Gullit, Marco Van Bastan and Frank Rijkaard who has played for the Netherlands' most successful era in football are not voted the top five of the list?
Wherever they played they won trophies.
Gullit is a monster. With van Basten and rjkarrd and Koeman and also a little with Cruyff. He was great still think the top 5 are better no offense to Ruud Gullit if he's reading this.
Wesley Sneijder is a Dutch professional footballer who plays for Turkish club Galatasaray and the Netherlands national team. He pretty much single-handedly took Holland to the World Cup Final. Also, he made an amazing pass against Spain to set up Robben who then screwed up an absolute sitter of a chance by kicking it into Casillas' foot.
Most involved playmaker in Dutch football of all time in my opinion. Mayb not quite as quick or skilled as Cruyff, but is a better passer and is a free kick ace
His performance in 2010 world cup made me me his fan. I have nothing to say about him. Just awesome.
Finest playmaker, doubling up as a striker. Deadly free-kicks. Undersung. Most energetic, lasting 90"+30".
He has made some of the best saves that I have ever seen!
Now, this is something: he even scored goals as a goalie!
The best Dutch goalie... Attacking minded.
Scored goals with ajax as a goalie, what a man!
The working class, best kind of player. Never stopped giving everything at Liverpool. Wish he'd stuck around.
No one gives as much as he does.
Are you serious? Patrick is not even top 5? This is craziness. He reached the 40 goal mark while playing fewer game than Van Persie. He was also all time goal scorer of the national team at a younger age. He was naturally gifted, better scorer, he could pass, his one touch. He was way more technical than Van Nistelrooy. I like Van Nistelrooy, but Kluivert was wayyy better. Without injury Kluivert would have been one of the all time top scorer in football history.
Are you serious? How could you omit Patrick Kluivert? Your list got to be redone. I am American, and I know well dutch soccer. Patrick Kluivert was one of the finest Dutch striker. In my opinion he was better than Van Nistelrooy, who is just a goal poacher. Kluivert was an all around striker. And he is the top dutch striker with 40 goals beofre he even reach 30.
Totally agree! It's a shame that somebody didn't have a clue when did this rating.
Definitely Top 10 stuff
The unique player to have won the UEFA champions League with 3 different clubs: Ajax, Real Madrid, AC Milan (twice)!
Outstanding midfielder. So much class and one of the most complete of his time.
He is the one I think
Don't know why The Hunter is not utilised as much as Sneijder, Robben and Van Persie.. He is just 10 goals short to break Van Persie's record and 5 goals short to be the second highest Dutch goal scorer.. Gets very rare chance to compete but if given a chance there is always 80% chance of Hunter scoring whether it's a league game or nation game.
Best Holland striker available but rarely gets the chance.
He has a better match to goals ratio for his country. Even better than Van Persie
He is simply amazing...
People are voting without seeing the games and without knowing the soccer history. He is the best creative player Dutch have ever produced.
Probably the second best player in the Dutch team of 74. Should be higher up the list.
Should be second (after Cruijff). And I'd have Ruud Krol at number 3 and Rensenbrink at 4. These players personified that orange team of 'total football'.
Most sportive and agile player I've ever seen.
Freekick Ability as David Beckham style & teammate holland at world cup 2014 Wesley Sneijder responsible for set piece & Freekick. I hope Memphis Depay can hardworking for holland in Euro 2020 qualification for positive result.
Good dribbling 86%, sprint speed 88%, Long shots distance 85%, Team-mate in strike, amazing freekick ability 94%. Supersub Attack Winger in Euro 2020, Fifa World Cup 2022.
One of the most elegant players ever, especially for a player who made his name in defense, and midfield. One of the best of the game ever. Also a class act, as he returned to Ajax at the end of his career, to finish it there.
Most complete player
This attacker has been going around, scoring goals, making caps and helping his team.
I think that you should redo this list and put Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink 8th on the list!
Jimmy goal scoring was magic. He seemed never to rush when he scored was in a league of his own.
I know he is a very good goalkeeper he is like Mexican goalkeeper in Brazil 2014 world cup if the ball gets shot at him he will save it.
One of the finest in the business and a cheerful and talented striker
He was an amazing footballer with lots of talented and beloved work.
One percent is a bloody shame!
Best midfield player Holland ever had!
Underrated! Know your Dutch football!
He made a brilliant pass to Dennis Bergkamp that went right over the field.
Then Bergkamp flicked it over the goalkeeper and into the back of the net!
Nicer in the house
Young and outstanding
Glory glory man united
Most scoring defender in all of history. Should be higher on this list. Only reason he doesn't get my vote is because I can only vote once, and that vote goes to the Dutch master; Cruyff
Best heavy foot ever.
Best striker ever