He really was. Zico was incredible with the ball at his feet. Capable of pieces of skill you wouldn't see too much of from Pele. Pele was better cause of how effective he was, a genius of the final third. A player that makes the right decision all the time and a devastating passer and shooter.
Pele was also incredible with his ball at his feet and was a truly two-footed sublime dribbler, with a stunning repertoire of tricks at his disposal. He brought much more to the table, than just his sheer productivity alone in the final third. Also whilst I do agree that Zico had the creative edge on the ball, there really isn't much of a difference when we are talking about their dribbling or their skill-level, technique etc.
Think all the credit should go to Zagallo rather than Pele. Pele was just tasked with playing in his best position with the some of the best players around in their own positions and it turned into one of the finest expressions of the game. Its like crediting Messi instead of Pep for how Barca work with their stars being spread around the pitch in great positions.
I wouldn't quite put it was like that and there is a reason why that side is referred to as the "
team of the five #10s". There were quite distinct positional and role overlaps with some of the players (Pelé, Gérson, Tostão and Rivelino in particular) and it was their tactical malleability, fairly selfless nature, willingness to adopt sacrificial/foil roles - esp the latter two in this regard - and crucially Pelé all-round game which allowed that attack to function fluidly without any major complications or hiccups.
Inverting The Pyramid said:
In fact, Zagallo was faced with only two significant selection decisions. By the time he arrived (a year prior to the tournament after Saldanha was sacked), Pelé said, 'the team was more or less chosen but there were a few changes to be made'. Zagallo brought in Roberto Rivelino from Corinthians and confirmed the importance of Cruzerio's Tostão. When critics suggested they were too similar to Gérson and Pelé, Zagallo replied, 'What this team needs is great players, players who are intelligent. Let's go with that and see where it takes us.'
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But what then? Could Pelé and Tostão play together? Tostão was not a typical centre-forward,' said historian Ivan Soter. 'He was a ponta da lanca like Pelé. So he would drop off and Pelé would become the centre-forward. It was very fluid'.
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That still left two major issues: who to play on the left, and where to fit Rivellino. He was another who favoured the ponta da lanca role, and there were question marks over his fitness. Two problems became one solution, as Rivellino was stationed vaguely on the left, although he often drifted infield, asked to provide some sort of balancing counterweight to Jairzinho's surges and encouraged to unleash his left foot whenever possible. Was it 4-4-2, was it 4-3-3, was it 4-2-4, was it even 4-5-1? It was all of them and none of them: it was just players on a pitch who complemented each other perfectly
So whilst Zagallo deserves a lot of credit for having the audacity to field all those stars in a single side, he shouldn't really get the lion's share of the plaudits for making it work tactically - it was more due to the players' tactical malleability and understanding, as opposed to managerial genius ala Guardiola/Michels etc.
And Pelé definitely played a prime role in all that as a 'facilitating glue' of sorts in that top-heavy Brazilian side. He wasn't exactly the prime playmaking influence (Gérson, Rivellino and C.Alberto were more influential in this regard) but his all-round game was right at the fore, with ability to drop deep and aid his side with his link-up play, lay-offs, one-twos etc, and of course his renowned game inside the box as a focal point - not just goalscoring wise but creatively too, with his incisive passing and also his fellow forwards constantly feeding off him. You don't have to look much farther than his display in the WC final - his phenomenal headed goal over the tough catenaccio defense of Italy, his finely-weighted header for an onrushing Jairzinho for the third goal and of course his legendary and intuitive lay-off for the famed Carlos Alberto's goal, illustrate the multi-faceted tactical role that Pelé executed in that Brazil side. It shouldn't come as a surprise that he managed to finish with 4 goals but also with 5 assists in that tournament, with many of em arising from instinctive lay-offs and shrewd positional inter-changing play etc.