To be fair, many are probably actually old enough to have seen them play (at least Maradona) or they've simple come across many of their videos anyway.
Lionel Messi is OFFICIALLY the Greatest Player of all Time (CONFIRMED OFFICIAL)
- Thread starter Pexbo
- Start date
Yeah, especially when I see arguments about Messi disappearing in big games etc... that means they've basically seen all Pele/Maradona games and were able to assess that it never happened to them. I admire their persistence and dedication. I don't think I've seen more than 5 games that were not live, I have very little joy in watching sports when I know the outcome.
You mean when Barca couldn't register him even through he agreed to a big salary cut, but Barca couldn't do it because it would be violating spanish law so he had to leave the club he wanted to retire at?
I think he was the best even before the WC win.
The fact that he has won the most Ballon D'ors playing in the same time period with Ronaldo says it all. Without Ronaldo he probably would have got 9 or 10.
The fact that he has won the most Ballon D'ors playing in the same time period with Ronaldo says it all. Without Ronaldo he probably would have got 9 or 10.
I think the majority go off stats, many that are middle aged have seen Maradona, especially Italians and Argentines, but fewer have seen Pele.
Messi has eclipsed both, perhaps not on Peles WC wins, but Mbappe might match that yet
What's unreal for me is, Messi was head and shoulders above Ronaldo on most seasons Ronaldo won the Balon d'Or. But the CL swayed it.
I watched every game for Ronaldo and Messi in their careers for La Liga and CL when the games didn't conflict
Modric, Benzema both won it too, so it wasn't Ronaldos individual brilliance, he had the best team around him that even scored in most finals before he did.
I think Messi should have 9 or 10 even with Ronaldo.
Maradona´s picture is better because the stands are filled with fans.
The stadium was at capacity, issue is the trophy took so long to present yesterday they had dignitaries, fireworks.
In 1986 they handed over the trophy much much quicker
#9 and #10 rolled into one player are a very rare breed and tend to pop up only once every 25-30 years. We're already seeing prodigies like Mbappé and Haaland, but we'll have to wait a bit to see a new Maradona, Pelé or Messi. Those three, in no particular order, are for me the current football's Holy Trinity.Don't get me.wrong, I hope someone.like this comes along rather sooner than later as wellThe fact that there were fluid transitions between Maradona, R9 and Messi gives me hope we'll soon see a prodigy of comparable talent. I just don't believe it is Mbappe, as good as he is.
The way the games coached now with sports scientists etc and specialist coaches you might not be wrong.
Not really. Where do you read I am arguing he is higher than Pele?
Pele/Messi would be among top 1 or 2, Maradona/Ronaldo would be among top 3 or 4 for me.
Whether Maradona or Ronaldo is no.3 in GOAT is up to debate in my opinion. No right or wrong answer, depends on which criteria you are looking more into. For example, most would say Maradona is a better player whereas Ronaldo has better career.
Maradona and Pele are still 1 and 2 in any order
Messi doesn't come close
Messi doesn't come close
Do you think they have to lock the trophy up at night or let the players keep it?
Messis insta status is it on a hotel looking table and you see a pillow in the background, I wonder if Messi is allowed to just take the trophy for the night
Messis insta status is it on a hotel looking table and you see a pillow in the background, I wonder if Messi is allowed to just take the trophy for the night
I never really felt that Argentina had to win the WC to be greatest ever. Before the final we had a sample size of 1000 games of Messi, if you didnt already know how good he is then you never understood football in the first place. It literally came down to a penalty shootout. Once Messi had scored his penalty he had no influence. Just like he had no influence on Higuain messing up his sitter in the 2014 final.
My new top 5:
1. Messi.
2. Maradona.
3. Pele.
4. Cristiano Ronaldo.
5. Zinedine Zidane.
1. Messi.
2. Maradona.
3. Pele.
4. Cristiano Ronaldo.
5. Zinedine Zidane.
People have this need to highlight key moments of their life. Like saying I've been watching one the best ever isn't enough, he has got to be the all time greatest, period. A lot of it is down to the impression this or that sportsman left on you. Like you said, it's impossible to say with a definitive answer there is one athlete who is the GOAT for sports with long histories, however saying that Messi is easily the best of his era makes total sense.
Fair enough
but it is only opinion, if someone wants too tell me Maradona or Pele was better in their opinion….you won’t get any arguments from me.
But my opinion rests firmly on Messi for me.
Me too he was electric, that said doesn´t Ronaldo hold all the records?
Only if WC is the only criteria to access greatness. Otherwise George Best or Di Stefano would be worse player than Depay or Giroud under your criteria.
However there are also football outside of 1 months every 4 years.
Even though Maradona was the best player of the 80s, he has only managed to win 2 league titles in top flight, and 1 second rated European trophy during his career. His late career during his 30s was quite a mess too.
Spoiler alert, 3/4 of them don't
I get Maradona, he's from the previous generation, but the others, yeah no way has most of the reviewers watched anything other than extended footage from youtube.
Messi is the greatest ever in my lifetime watching football so far.
Never watched Maradona live nor Pele , only highlight here and there but based on that i liked Maradona more than Pele.
Never watched Maradona live nor Pele , only highlight here and there but based on that i liked Maradona more than Pele.
They are a team of fighters but I acutally really struggle to think of any real quality class players apart from the 2 old guys in Messi and Di Maria. Despite all this about them having the best defense in the league they could barely keep a clean sheet at all after going ahead and bottled it 3 times in the tournament. Luckily their keeper was class at penalties.
6 penalties this WC and he's everyone's goat 
. Let's see what he has in the tank in a few years time when he's same age as Ronaldo.
. Let's see what he has in the tank in a few years time when he's same age as Ronaldo.He could retire now and be better.6 penalties this WC and he's everyone's goat
I mean, I get saying that Maradona still is the greatest. He's not the best ever though, he simply cannot be. The overall standard of the sport is so much higher these days, and as far as quality goes, Messi stands out just as much, if not more, compared to his peers.
You were off the piste IMO for leaning Ronaldo against a player who has the most Golden boots of all time and ALSO the most IFFHS playmaker awards of all time, but welcome to clarity
This age difference thing is the most stupid argument ever, they said Ronaldo would last more because of his physicality, we saw how that went6 penalties this WC and he's everyone's goat
I always said the opposite, the guy is extremely limited in terms of his technique, creativity and he will disappear quickly, time proved me right..
Ronaldo won only 1 league top goal scorer award in the last 8 years between 30-37 years of age, supposed to be one of the greatest goal scorers of all time, embarrassing. He won his last Ballon D'or in 2017, last Golden Shoe in 2015, 0 international tournament MVP award... Its not like he disappeared this year. There's a reason why this fraud is called PR7 as social media hype has a huge influence on his image..
0 knock-out goals or assists in 5 WCs, he was not able to do it when he was 37, 33, 29, 25, 21.. Age simply does not have anything to do with it, the guy is a useless fraud
Messi didn't need to win the World Cup but in terms of legacy it's just fitting that a player of his stature finally had the big World Cup performance that fans want to see. The decisive goals, incredible assists and old school dribbles, this was the performance they were kidding themselves that he had in 2014 when he got the best player award.
Zlatan > Everyone6 penalties this WC and he's everyone's goat
Also I think Cryuff was 37 when he retired ended his last season winning the league with Feyernoord while winning the league with Ajax the season before that.
He probably won't be making such a fool of himself as Ronaldo is.6 penalties this WC and he's everyone's goat
Yep, it's a human nature thing - what we experience must be the most impactful. It's impossible to recreate the intensity of the experience of watching these players or growing up with these players when you are at your most impressionable. That works both ways, for the oldies refusing to contemplate anyone being greater than Pele or Maradona, or the young ones unable to imagine anyone being as great as Messi or Ronaldo.
Why does it matter what he has in the tank aged 376 penalties this WC and he's everyone's goat
Such a stupid POV. Same as people discrediting Ronaldo's full career because of his ability and antics in 2022. Stupid.
Saying that Ronaldo had the better team us not true considering that Messi played more than half of his career with peak Xavi, Iniesta and Busquets, the best midfield ever. He also had it attack as his partners Eto’o (arguably the best striker back then) and Henry, followed by Neymar and Suarez (the two best players not called Messi or Ronaldo). Then at Paris had Mbappe and Neymar.
Even for Argentina, for most of his career he had better teammates than Ronaldo. Portugal’s second best player was Nani, while Argentina has Aguero, Higuain, Milito, Tevez, Di Maria etc.
Ironically, this might have been the only tournament where Portugal had a genuinely better team than Argentina (In players quality).
And that's why if this or that person has a personal preference for a player, mocking them isn't fair (unless the player in question has no business being put up there with those comparisons)
Ronaldo made a career of scoring high-impact penalties, even called by Messi rabid fans Penaldo. It is both ironic and hilarious if Ronaldo fans criticize Messi for this.6 penalties this WC and he's everyone's goat
He is the GOAT simply cause he is the best player to have ever played the game while at the same time being the most decorated one.
Maybe. There ain't much between the two of them that's for sure. But in my view, Maradona edges it talent or natural ability wise but it's very subjective.
And yet Ronaldo is the one who played with 3 Balon D'or winners and since Ronaldo has left Madrid they've won a UCL and reached the semi finals. Since Messi left Barca they've ended up in the Europa league twice.
Again as usual the whole Argentina being stacked argument relies on mentioning 7 names that can only play in 3 positions, you forgot Lavezzi and Pastore btw.... Portugals second best player was actually Pepe who was a better Centre Back than anyone Messi had during his Argentina career.
Hardly. They competed in the final: Mbappe at his physical prime with the best french generation sorrounding him against Messi, not at his physical prime sourrounded by good players but no comparison to the french. And that would be a stain that will never go away IF (big if) someday there is a debate. Mbappe will have to work hard even yo be he best of his generation with halaand
Include Figo in the NT and we have 4 ballon dor nobodies that CR7 had to carry! What mentality, indeed the god of clutch. Probably carried SAF, Ancelotti, Zidane and Mou managerial careers too, while Messi had Valverde carrying him
Were very average for Argentina though. And they were terribly managed for a period. They were thinking lets create a amazing story of Maradona managing his heir, so Messi can do a 1986 Maradona while teams like Spain and Germany were actually serious. About Messi and his team mates. He´s been the best player of his era. Great players want to play with other great players. Maradona didnt go to Napoli for a challenge. He said in his own words, he´d go to whatever team that would pay his salary. Ronnie didnt go to Juventus for the challenge either. He didnt feel appreciated because Perez didnt want to increase his salary, Juventus coughed up the transfer fee and the salary he wanted, so thats where he went and Juventus had gone far in the CL before that.
But anyway I agree that Ronaldo overall hasnt played in the better teams, id say Real Madrid were a better team from 2016-2018. 2006-2009 Man Utd was a stellar team as well, SAF considered it his strongest ever. Barca´s transfer strategy in replacing the old guard didnt work out.