George was simply the ‘Best’

Judging players in retrospect is fraught with dangers but there are few hazards in suggesting that George is among a small but elite cabal of players whose sublime talent would equip them for any generation.

The sad fact that his outrageous talent lasted a mere six seasons at the highest level should not diminish any judgment of his impact.
Sadly, his Northern Irish roots prevented him gracing the ultimate stage of a Word Cup but that should not blur assessments.

What can be said with some degree of confidence is that he was, by the common consent of those who watched him at his peak, unquestionably the best natural player these islands have produced.

As a footballer he had everything, balance and poise, was two-footed, had wonderful acceleration, he could tackle, he was fearless, a fine header of the ball and a natural goalscorer.

He could hit passes long or short with a recurring accuracy or he could dribble — and at a quicker pace than Sir Stanley Matthews, allegedly the Daddy of Dribble
Of course the game has moved forward since those halcyon days of Law, Charlton and Best. They played when sports science was the amount of beer in your glass — or in George’s case champagne.

Training is more sophisticated and levels of fitness higher but these become incidental when measured against the natural gifts with which Best was blessed.
Yes, he may well have had to train longer and harder, but training was not a problem for him.

Indeed, his only problems were off the pitch where birds and booze dictated his life.
Just as he wanted to be the best on the field, so the same applied in his private life, the last to leave and not until the last drop had been drained and the bottle emptied.

One of my favourite tales about George was when years after his debut he met Graham Williams the full-back who has marked him that days.
“Will you stand still for a minute so I can look at your face,’ he asked George.
“Why?” Best asked.

“Because all I have ever seen of you is your a*** disappearing down the touchline.”
Would the same apply, where defenders are quicker and bigger?

George would have loved it, especially on the bowling green pitches that have now the Barclays Premier League hallmark.
If he could waltz over the muddy middens of his generation then he would have positively floated over the pitches of today.

Even today’s toughest tacklers — the likes of John Terry and Nemanja Vidic — would have found him as difficult to handle as Cristiano Ronaldo and central defenders would need to pirouette like ballet dancers to get anywhere near him.

Sadly by the age of 25 the downward spiral had started and as Tommy Docherty was to note later: “George was a fantastic player and he would have been even better if he’d been able to pass nightclubs the way he passed the ball.”

Had he been party to the protection afforded today’s millionaire players then perhaps things would have been different but as George said of himself: “I was born with a gift and sometimes with that comes a destructive streak.”

Pele’s favourite player endures in our memories and as a fellow sports writer once said of him: “He was fantasy brought to life.”
He was a gem in any generation. — Mailonline.