Quote Originally Posted by holmleighchris View Post
I considered Edwards. Put him on the honourable mentions list. The fact he played so few games was the reason I left him out. Keegan, Gascoine & Lineker all great players but not iconic, well not to make the 10. It's al about opinions though isn't it?
True, but if yours is the only opinion which counts it kind of defeats the object of the thread in the first instance. I'd counter that Keegan was very much an icon of his time, as were the candidates which you provided. Did they all transcend the post war period? Clearly not as Cyrille was only born in '58 and Beckham didn't make it out of his mom until the mid 70's.

Although very fine players in their own right, and achieving legendary status for a variety of reasons (I absolutely worshiped Cyrille as a lad, a genuine iconic figure), I don't think many challenged themselves by playing abroad for instance, thus enhancing their iconic status with a wider audience while also winning two Ballon d'Ors as did Keegan.

Then again playing abroad may not have been an option which was open to many of those listed. The obviously exempt Welsh man John Charles managed it, as did Greaves, although despite having a good goal return he just couldn't settle in Milan and came home after less than fifteen games.

There are many ways of defining iconic status and I'm not saying I'd exclude any from your original list. But perhaps limiting it to ten was a bit restrictive.

Still as you say Chris, it's all about opinions isn't it ?