Messi equaled Pele he has not gone far above or taken football to a new level or anything like that.
How long will we have to wait to see another Messi?
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Don’t think there will ever be another Ronaldo or Messi. Both perfected there game to break every record possible. Only the WC trophy eludes them both. Don’t think you’ll ever find 2 players like them for a long long time. They dominated the Ballon Dor for a decade. Football is getting harder and even great strikers aren’t nearly as common as it was 10 years ago. Mbappe and Haaland will have great careers but they will never reach those heights.
A player as complete as Messi that can excel in 4 positions there will be none. Not even C. Ronaldo was that good, despite being a living legend of the sport (sorry @SportingCP96)
Amad Diallo is already playing?
Where you are wrong is:" Messi’s prominence came in staccato manner as he was hailed as Maradona’s successor (like a gazillion prodigious Argentine youth) after the youth World Cup, then had his breakout seasons - that were good but nothing close to any of the other 3 on the respective age timelines."
Messi at 18 did not get alot of playing time but when he did, he was wonderful to watch. A couple of cases to make this point: the match vs Chelsea at the bridge where he was the best attacker on the pitch and elclasico in late 2005 where he was the best player not named Ronaldinho.
Messi by age 19 was already amongst the best players in the world and you could argue for him being the outright best. Some highlights include a hattrick vs Madrid, a goal for the ages vs Getafe amongst others.
By 20 he already was the best in the world when fit. When we played them in the champions league, he had just come back from injury and yet he was the best attacking player on the pitch by a country mile.
The only thing that kept him from becoming the youngest ballon d'or winner ever was recurrent injuries at crucial moments and the champions league ( since Kaka won in 2007, the ucl became the most important factor in winning the award)
Players become fitter, systems become tighter, and the gap between the top and the bottom becomes bigger. It wont be long until another player hits those figures.
From 1960-2022: Garrincha, Best, Maradona, Messi
So in average around every 15 years or so we will have a similar type of players coming through (disregard of consistency/longevity)
So in average around every 15 years or so we will have a similar type of players coming through (disregard of consistency/longevity)
To have another player comparable to Messi you need not only talent but also favorable conditions, plenty of luck with health and proper mentality. Unlikely we’ll see anyone this complete anytime soon. I kind of like Football Manager style way of thinking about players, where they all have certain attributes like passing, vision, off the ball movement, pace etc. on a scale from 1-20 but there’s also hidden stat called potential ability on a scale 1-200, with Messi being the only player with maximum potential ability in the game and in the editions few years ago he was also rated at having reached his peak. Ronaldo’s PA was around 196, Mbappe I think around 192. In my eternal Football Manager save the first youth player to be spawned with 200PA was some German guy born around 2035 but he was a lazy bastard with no ambition so he never reached his potential 
I don’t expect to see a talent like Messi and a player reaching such levels of excelling in some of football's most important aspects in next decades. We might have a slightly less talented players with almost as big impact though, as winning and becoming an icon of the game it’s not only about sheer ability.
I don’t expect to see a talent like Messi and a player reaching such levels of excelling in some of football's most important aspects in next decades. We might have a slightly less talented players with almost as big impact though, as winning and becoming an icon of the game it’s not only about sheer ability.
The one thing that will always result in most fans considering Ronaldo not to be on the level of the trio is the deficiencies in his approach play. He simply lacks the genius of the 3 when outside of volume of goals. But ofcourse that doesn't mean Ronaldo isn't one of the greatest ever.
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We could do it all day though. Someone mentions the time frame between Pele to Maradona and Maradona to Messi. Then someone else mentions Cristiano, then someone else mentions Best, well then what about Cruyff, Muller, Di Stefano etc etc. Getting into that debate is pointless.
I think you need to comprehend what the others had done by that age - in the current format, Pelè would've had a ballon d'or at 17, and Maradona had done ridiculous things in the adult game by then also.
These are out of the trap Gods/goats or whatever superlative you want to insert.
This is true though, Maradona, Messi, Cruyff and even Best have that special something that Cristiano lacks, regardless of Cristiano being better overall than Best or Cruyff.
Cristiano unfortunately lacks that extra bit of natural talent and genius. It's kind of similar to reason why Michael Jordan is the GOAT in Basketball, regardless of the numbers others put up, he has that extra bit of magic and genius that gives him the edge.
I think the next player to be placed beside the likes of Messi, Maradona, Pele would have to have Messi's types of stats, while also having good dribbling skills, playmaking ability and consistency. That's the bar right now. And if that player wants to make a claim at being the greatest ever he'd have to have one more unique ability the likes of those legends don't. Maybe he's extremely two footed or he can play in multiple positions or he wins every major trophy etc
The next Messi won’t start because he needs to press.
Just so much recency bias. Did you even watch the first stage of his career? He made a conscious decision to change into economical player he became. He was a magical showboater with electric in his boots as a young player.
The idea he lacked “a bit extra natural taken and genius” is hilariously ignorant.
Would rather see another Ronaldo.
I'm not getting into this debate, but I still have Cristiano in my top 3 of all time so calm down pal.
Probably 20-30 years before we could see someone in that pantheon, but there will never be another Messi like there has never been another Pelé.
Maybe never. Messi's case was special as in he had this competition with Ronaldo. Would Messi hit those heights if there isn't a Ronald to compete with? You can ask the same of Ronaldo. They both drive each other. What are the odds of having 2 generational talents competing against each other in the same league again?
I agree with this analysis. It's certainly theoretically possible for a future player to have the same skill set as Messi plus an extra feature, such as two-footedness, aerial ability, or even tackling.
Maybe one day we will see a Kante-Messi hybrid, a player who wins the ball in midfield, with the dribbling, passing and shooting ability of Messi. Or a Messi regen with the leap of Tim Cahill.
The crazy thing is that if they didn't play in the same era, but kept the same level they would each have around 10 ballon D'ors at least.
That's the thing. I'm not sure if they would have kept at the same level if they didnt exist in the same era. We are just lucky to have witness it.
Kante/Messi hybrid who's 6'4. Freak of nature
That’s not how it works, if the average player becomes fitter and systems become tighter then defences won’t let someone score 90 goals in a year.
Pele played at a very different time and a very different game. His emergence was to do with the 1958 world cup. Maybe you could say he was the "out of the trap goat"
Maradona wasn't a "out of the trap goat". Similar to Messi he was uber talented and everyone knew but before age 22 he was playing in Argentina and when he came to Europe, his time at Barcelona was marred by injuries and hepatitis. He probably was the bpitw when fit but his emergence wasn't sudden.
When it comes to Messi, he was already touted as a multigenerational talent but early on he was protected by Rijkaard and his team to be brought slowly into the spotlight. The talent was so obvious that it was a foregone conclusion that he was a future ballon d'or winner. Infact I'd argue he was already the bpitw at 19 WHEN FIT. His buyout clause in 2005 was the same as that of Ronaldinho, the bpitw at the time, such was his promise.
It seems to be once every 30 years or so we get a glimpse of players like Messi. So maybe in 2050 we’ll see another talent on par with him, Ronaldo, Maradona, Pele etc.
You really need to do your research on Maradona, and the quality of the league he came up in, where playing in Europe, or not, was an irrelevance.
i never see one before with his technique, consistency and longevity.
If the next phenomenal player emerges, they will be someone who will be tailor-made to break down that regimentation.
I see the next really big player as someone who can shift between being an 8, 10, false 9 and 9 as the circumstances demand. Man-mark him, and he drags his opponents out of position whilst his teammates exploit the space. Maintain a press or a zonal defence, and he switches role until he finds an appropriate weak spot. Park the bus, and he will pepper from long range. But, apart from the problems of individual development, that player would need a top-class team and a manager whose first priority would be servicing his talents.
It's an aligning of the stars isn't it? Messi needing those injections, the club gaffer paying for them and it went from there. I believe it takes numerous elements to come together, and when they do...
Apparently it’s Saint Maximain
Any new wonderkids from the middle east are often dubbed the next Messi even before reaching the age of 12.
If we just look at the post 1960 television age (there were obviously many geniuses before then):
Pele was born in 1940
Maradona was born in 1960
Messi was born in 1987
This suggests that a player of that level appears once every 20-25 years approximately. 25 years is basically a generation, or at least it used to be.
The next Messi was probably born in the period from 2007-2013. A kid somewhere in the world.
Great sportspeople raise the bar for the next generation. Take it out of football and look at Tennis, Laver set the mark, Bjorg would have if he had not retired, then Sampras, then Federer for Nadal and Djokovic to chase.
The numbers that Messi and Ronaldo may be an impossible target, those are very much a product of both their excellence and playing in hugely stacked teams, but the standards of their play, especially the all round game of Messi should be the template for all talented attackers.
Messi is a footballing genius, pure mastery of the ball, and I really hope to see a better player than him some day as the game evolves.
The numbers that Messi and Ronaldo may be an impossible target, those are very much a product of both their excellence and playing in hugely stacked teams, but the standards of their play, especially the all round game of Messi should be the template for all talented attackers.
Messi is a footballing genius, pure mastery of the ball, and I really hope to see a better player than him some day as the game evolves.
Argentinian league in the 60s-70s-80s was top 3 in the world.
Nothing wrong with Maradona playing in Argentina until 22, the best argentinian players were playing in Argentina back then, not in Europe.
Maradona was already considered best young player in the world, when he was in Argentinos Juniors.
Just like the dutch and portuguese league, argentinian league got screwed by Bosman ruling since mid 90s.
This.
Argentinian league was much better than La Liga in the 70s and 80s, much better quality of national players.
The turn around came with Bosman Ruling, La Liga was the european league that benefited the most from it.
Messi's numbers will probably be surpassed by Mbappe and Haaland, but those two will never be as good as Messi when it comes to raw talent, dribbling and playmaking.
Messi combined scoring with phenomenal talent, if he was just scoring a lot but not much else, nobody would compare him to Maradona or Pele.
Messi numbers, and even CR7 numbers might be surpassed, especially because we will have a CL with 40-50 teams in the future, goalscorers will stad-pad way more than now, but to see a raw talent like Messi we will have to wait more than 50 years probably.
Messi combined scoring with phenomenal talent, if he was just scoring a lot but not much else, nobody would compare him to Maradona or Pele.
Messi numbers, and even CR7 numbers might be surpassed, especially because we will have a CL with 40-50 teams in the future, goalscorers will stad-pad way more than now, but to see a raw talent like Messi we will have to wait more than 50 years probably.
Very long I'd imagine, maybe by the time Barcelona ends up paying all the lever money.
Ronaldo Nazario, injury free, was almost as good as Messi. Just a little worse in passing. But as good at scoring and dribbling. Cristiano has always been way worse than Messi at dribbling and passing. They are only comparable in the scoring department. So a Messi. I mean a player that can score, pass and dribble at insane levels in very unlikely to be seen soon but someone with at least two of those qualities is very likely to appear in Brazil or Argentina.
As for the great players of old, Pele and Maradona, I don't think either was as complete as Messi. But of course I didn't really watch them play at their peak. Well, I didn't watch Pelé at all. And I only watched Maradona in the early 90s when he was already struggling with addictions.
As for the great players of old, Pele and Maradona, I don't think either was as complete as Messi. But of course I didn't really watch them play at their peak. Well, I didn't watch Pelé at all. And I only watched Maradona in the early 90s when he was already struggling with addictions.
3 weeks.