Yep. Not in terms of numbers obviously but in terms of being the best footballer ever. Pair the dedication of cristiano with Ronaldinho and I don’t see how he doesn’t make a fool out of everyone. It’s all a hypothetical I know but I haven’t seen anyone as talented as him including messi. The way he dominated that great Milan team at San Siro and then at Camp Nou with the likes of Nesta, Maldini, Pirlo, Gattuso etc and handled them like kids. Never seen anything like it and that was Ronaldinho on booze.
Again, more entertaining does not equal more talented. At the most important things in football i.e dribbling, scoring and creating, Messi was better. But, having said that, Ronaldinho was an amazingly talented footballer in his own right.
Messi dominated a great United side at the age of 20 years at Nou camp and even more impressively, at Old Trafford. Barcelona lost, but it was obvious that we were watching a very, very special talent.
He was the best offensive player on the pitch vs Chelsea at Stamford bridge in 2005 at just 18 and prime Ronaldinho was there too.
He scored at hat trick vs Real Madrid at the Bernebau at just 19 years and it wasn't just the goals either; the whole performance was amazing.
He was the best player on the pitch not named Ronaldinho vs Real Madrid in 2005 at just 18 years.
My point is that, at such a young age, Messi could produce such amazing performances vs big teams and that is the hallmark of a gifted footballer.
In terms of raw natural talent nobody gets close to Ronaldinho. Maradona, R9 and Best up there too. There are question marks over Messi's natural talent due to the hormone therapy he received IMO.
It is the greatest compliment to his talent; he is so good that people think growth hormone somehow helped him become better than he already was.
Neymar sticks out for me. He’s an absolute clown and while he had a great career could have been so much more if he wasn’t such a petulant child and had people more interested in his football career than his and their bank balance.
The talent he displayed at Santos was ridiculous, even at the 2012 Olympics for Brazil. I vividly recall him nutmegging a player with a header.
You look at players like Cristiano and Messi and there were things they clearly couldn’t do as youngsters. Messi couldn’t use his right or take free kicks back then and Ronaldo was a poor crosser and not a great distance shooter. Eventually they became top class at these.
Neymar could do everything a mature version of himself could do as a youngster just less efficiently.
I agree that Neymar is amazingly talented but the Brazilian league has been really poor for a long time and thus not a place where you can judge a players ability. A washed up Suarez absolutely excelled there. Plus Neymar played in the 2016 Olympics not 2012.
