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Lionel Messi

It's natural to compare the current best player in the world to the historical greats of the game, it's happened to all the best players since I've been watching football and no doubt pre dating me! I'm not sure why everyone's getting so touchy about it? Apart from the opening post here (which was obviously just to get people's attention) I've not noticed many people ****ging messi off, just everyone saying what an amazing player he is, but the World Cup performance probably wasn't on the level of a maradona/pele.

Personally I think it's a complement to messi that people thought he was capable of making it to that top level of player. I thought this was going to be his World Cup and he was good, but not amazing.
 
thfcsteff said:
It's always been the way.
I'd counter with whyis it that modern football fans always have to compare players/make them 'the best ever'. Why isn't it enough to just be a brilliant footballer?
Messi is that.
But Maradona was something else, he was a freak of nature in every single sense you can imagine. If Scarface and Napoleon were the same being inside Castro's body with sublime footballing skills, that's your man! Unique mate. Beyond comparison IMO, and I just think comparing Messi and Maradona is lazy and easy.
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I missed this, you've put it better than I could/did.
 
Jurgen the German said:
Completely agree. Pele only did it at club level for Santos but no one bats an eyelid.

I do think Messi needs to win the World Cup to be up there with Maradona though.
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What you have to remember is that Pele played in an era where playing overseas was pretty much unheard of so Santos would have been the usual route for a top Brazilian.
 
Maradonna would not be as good if he was up against the modern day defender. simple as that.
 
But that's obvious isn't it? Sport evolves, people run faster, for longer, jump higher, etc.

It's about how much better than your peers you were.

To explain further, had maradona been born in 1990 he would have grown up on better pitches, been a far superior athlete, had better nutrition, etc. etc. so he himself would have also been better.
 
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ah but certain powders would have been easier to come by and much much cheaper, we may never have heard of him at all
 
Yiddo said:
Maradonna would not be as good if he was up against the modern day defender. simple as that.
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Are you kidding? Defenders hit harder and players were less protected back then.

People tend to look down on some stuff Maradona did. He took Napoli - NAPOLI! - to the Serie A title at a time when Serie A was the best league in the world.

I reckon you could drop Messi into Tottenham and we still wouldn't win diddly squat.
 
Enter the Pitbull said:
Are you kidding? Defenders hit harder and players were less protected back then.

People tend to look down on some stuff Maradona did. He took Napoli - NAPOLI! - to the Serie A title at a time when Serie A was the best league in the world.

I reckon you could drop Messi into Tottenham and we still wouldn't win diddly squat.
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Exactly. I think defenders were more ruthless in the old days compared to now. Remember Pele was tackled so badly in the 1962 WC that he was out injured for the whole tournament. Maradona was harshly tackled in the 1982 WC until he retaliated and got send off. He was much wiser in in the 1986 WC as he won it single handedly for Argentina. He also took a ordinary Napoli team to the Italian league title in 1987 and 1990, the only time Napoli have won the league title. It was a real privilege to watch Maradona in the 1986 WC as he was simply outstanding.

Don't think any player will ever reach the quality of both Pele and Maradona.
 
Enter the Pitbull said:
Are you kidding? Defenders hit harder and players were less protected back then.

People tend to look down on some stuff Maradona did. He took Napoli - NAPOLI! - to the Serie A title at a time when Serie A was the best league in the world.

I reckon you could drop Messi into Tottenham and we still wouldn't win diddly squat.
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Defenders might have been harder and got away with more but they were also slower, less fit and less well drilled.
 
milo said:
Defenders might have been harder and got away with more but they were also slower, less fit and less well drilled.
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So was maradona. Although the well drilled bit is an interesting point, I wonder if the managers nowadays are more tactically adept?
 
Gazza Dazzla said:
So was maradona. Although the well drilled bit is an interesting point, I wonder if the managers nowadays are more tactically adept?
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There was no where near the levels of preparation or analysis of the oppositions strengths and weaknesses in the 80s.
 
Gazza Dazzla said:
But that's obvious isn't it? Sport evolves, people run faster, for longer, jump higher, etc.

It's about how much better than your peers you were.

To explain further, had maradona been born in 1990 he would have grown up on better pitches, been a far superior athlete, had better nutrition, etc. etc. so he himself would have also been better.
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And would have had more protection from the refs.
 
Jurgen the German said:
And would have had more protection from the refs.
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I suspect that if Maradona came through now he would have a lot of his natural brilliance coached out of him. He would still be a brilliant player but the rawness and unpredictability would not be there.
 
The Adidas golden glove and golden ball awards to go Adidas sponsored players *shock*
Not saying they didn't deserve it - but I would imagine the decision was reached a lot quicker.
 
Spurs7891 said:
Exactly. I think defenders were more ruthless in the old days compared to now. Remember Pele was tackled so badly in the 1962 WC that he was out injured for the whole tournament. Maradona was harshly tackled in the 1982 WC until he retaliated and got send off. He was much wiser in in the 1986 WC as he won it single handedly for Argentina. He also took a ordinary Napoli team to the Italian league title in 1987 and 1990, the only time Napoli have won the league title. It was a real privilege to watch Maradona in the 1986 WC as he was simply outstanding.

Don't think any player will ever reach the quality of both Pele and Maradona.
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I see what you did there.
 
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