I disagree. The best short dribblers will always be better than the best tall dribblers. Take space away from Ronaldo (Brasil) and his deficiencies are exposed, to a much larger extent than for a short player like Messi, Maradona etc. Ronaldinho and Zidane can't even be compared to Messi and Maradona dribbling wise.
The 5 best dribblers in history are short.. Messi, Maradona, Pele, Garrincha, George Best.
Laudrup was really good dribbler and was around 6 ft tall.....but it's undeniable that certain aspects like touch and close control are dependent of the height....You rarely see players taller than 6ft 3 inches dribble past 2-3 players whereas most short players are good at dribbling...
There is more to it than height. Way more to it than height. There is inherent bais towards taller players too in coaching and training too. For example Zlatan refused to be the tall = header/target man type because he insisted on using his technical skills and forced his way onto the teams he played for and his coaching staff. Other players aren't as strong willed so they do not hoan that skill.
Now, the advantage short players have vs taller players is there, but there is also many other factors such as the flexibility, the understanding of a player of his own body, there is acceleration and top speed, there is balance too (see Drenthe, he is a fuckin idiot with his balance), then there is perception of opponents like someone else mentioned, and then there is power and physic. Ronaldo had insane ball control, in some ways better than Messi, Cristiano used trickery because his body is not flexible, Ronaldo's was, so one used ball control, the other used tricks. Other factors include favorite positions vs ideal positions. Some players's dribbling skills are better than others in different ways.
For example: Take Iniesta, Ronaldo, Cristiano, Messi, Kaka, Ronaldinho, Robinho, Di Maria, Robben, Joaquin, Xavi, Marcelo, Cafu, and others.
Iniesta, Zidane rarely lose the ball in midfield, whereas Messi would lose it there often, and in fact, many big losses of Barca were because of MEssi losing the ball from deep. Messi is exceptional when he initially has time on the ball, he maps out his route and from there he is unstoppable because he can keep the ball super close at high speed and he has the ability to touch the ball so many times in short periods of time. Robben is the same but less effective because he is incapable of using his right foot. Di Maria is better than Robben but his decision making at the end is often his biggest let down. Joaquin for example, on the touch line is unstoppable and his delivery is fucking brilliant, and while some say that he uses the throw in line as protection, he could also be limited by it, but he was phenomenal there. Ronaldo on the other hand, didn't focus on the pitch, he focused on the player at hand, like Robinho, therefore made wrong decisions at time, and the further they were away from goal, the less effective they were. Joaquin, kinda like Figo did focused on the pitch, so he'd dribble the ball into space, Cristiano and Robinho would want to dribble past a player, which is not effective far from goal.
Kaka, Ronaldinho could dribble anywhere, short or long stretches, had explosive pace, but the former was more pragmatic and the latter added flair. Messi has no flair, but extremely effective, Ronaldo had flair and power, Robinho and Cristiano had flair but not effective.
Xavi is an exceptional case, his ball control is phenomenal, his first touch, his turns, his vision, all helped him maintain the ball, dribble short distances but without losing it. This is also exceptional dribbling ability but although he was short he wasn't going on mesmerising runs, but he knew his body very well, he understood it and understood the space around him, so he dribbled the ball into pockets of space to make good short passes.
Mainly for me however, a good dribbler is someone who combines it with a good delivery or shot. Queresma is good dribbler, but what the hell was he doing half the time I will never know. Over time, players who do not deliver after a dribble or a trick get often found out by defenders and then neutralized. Ronaldo changed his style, from long runs, exquisite dribbles, close ball controls, trickery to brilliant runs in the form of short power bursts combined with excellent first touch, and FEW touches + a solid shot. He could beat the man at hand, or two, with single or two touches but closer to the goal. He used to play further deep into the pitch, but after injuries, he could no longer do that.
Dribbling changes over time with change in body and height is not a defining factor. Football intelligence is important and training.
