Is Messi the greatest player ever?

[Walken]

Maradonna played when players used to be able to tackle properly(and naughtilly).

When hardmen could smash you without the fear of a red card.
Messi is amazing, his finishing is glorious.

But i bet he never met anyone like 'the butcher of bilbao'.
Maradonna 'the best' by a long way, and i hate those greasy,cheating sweaty argie knobs. Stracq being the obvious exception as hes a blue.

fair point, but I dont think I've ever seen Messi shackled by a man maker the way Gentilli and I think matheus did to Maradona, plus he's never failed a test for performance enhancing drugs, or won the world cup on the back of his country grain exporting policy

 

[Goat]

And who ever said cocaine isnt a performance booster needs to have a few lines and then get back to us.

 

[BigBlueBalls]

I mean when Dixie was playing, teams played with 5 Strikers, imagine Moyes in that era, he would have had a breakdown.

Made to measure excuse for 5 defenders and a defender in the DM position.

 

[Walken]

And who ever said cocaine isnt a performance booster needs to have a few lines and then get back to us.

its not like thats all he or his teamates from previous world cups have taken

 

[Rook]

Doesn't Messi just wake up and think to himself 'what's the point?'. He needs a new career, something more of a challenge. Like football in space.

He is also still young. There is still a chance he could end up bored of footie, spend all night at the clubs and get fat. I.E. the Ronaldinho.

 

[Goat]

He is also still young. There is still a chance he could end up bored of footie, spend all night at the clubs and get fat. I.E. the Ronaldinho.

 

[manxtoffee]

I don't get the Napoli were average line. The two seasons before he joined they finished 9th and 11th. His 1st season they were 10th. The 1st title they won it was their defence that won it for them. Juventus scored more goals than Napoli, but Napoli had a much better defence. Can't imagine Maradonna did much to help the defence. Maybe signing Italian internationals like Ciro Ferrera and Salvatore Bagni did though. Add in that they had the likes of Alameao, Careca and di Napoli in their attack and it was hardly the rubbish side they made out to be.


When they next won the league, both Baggio and van Basten scored more goals than Maradonna. His record in Europe is also poor, with Napoli never really impressing, despite the absence of English teams post Heysel and it was Milan that dominated Europe around that time. In 25 European games for Napoli he scored just 5 goals. Messi in contrast has 49 in 65 European games, with a stunning 12 in 7 this season!

Messi also has a comparable goals per game ratio at international level, despite never hitting his Barca form for Argentina. A lot of all this seems to reflect the reminiscence bump, which suggests that whoever is at their peak during our adolescence is thereafter regarded as the best ever. That and of course that during that time Maradonna hit his peak against England so he's at the forefront of our national consciousness.

Batman speaks the truth. Repped.

 

[BigDunc'sFod]

fair point, but I dont think I've ever seen Messi shackled by a man maker the way Gentilli and I think matheus did to Maradona, plus he's never failed a test for performance enhancing drugs, or won the world cup on the back of his country grain exporting policy

TBH defening is a dying (or lost!?) art. Defenders are meant these days to be much more attacking, and if the defensive guide siffers a bit more, so be it. Maradona also played in "Defend first" Italy, remember.

 

[Deleted member 28206]

And who ever said cocaine isnt a performance booster needs to have a few lines and then get back to us.

Succulent

 

[ScouseBlueBoy]

So basically no player in the modern era can be considered the 'best ever' because he plays in the modern era. Right. OK.

 

[Jamo Martinez]

So basically no player in the modern era can be considered the 'best ever' because he plays in the modern era. Right. OK.

That's the thing, isn't it? Others will go to the other extreme and use the argument that in the past, defences weren't as well organised and there wasn't any such thing as wingers tracking back in Pele's day so it was all easier.

At the end of the day, I can't say if Messi's the greatest ever. I never saw Pele, Best, Eusebio, Cruyff, Di Stefano, Garrincha on a live basis I saw a fair bit of Maradona but he was at his best well before the global football coverage we know today.
I do know that, much as Bruce said about Napoli, The argentina side which won the 86 world cup were not average. Maradona took them to another level but I think Messi does that with Barça. People harp on about the fact that he's surrounded by fabolous player and they're right. Xavi, Iniesta, Alves, and company are great players. And Leo manages to stand out in that company. He scores goals at the rate that Ronaldo (the fat one) did and gives more assists than Zidane ever did (the two stand out players from the decade prior to Messi's emergence. I'm just glad I get to see him regularly. Totally amazing player

 

[rbm]

There is no "best ever"

Messi is the best of his generation. We can say that as a fact. CR7 is his only rival and Messi's stats on everyting from chance conversion to dribble completion are far better. Only from portuguease and madridistas will you get any argument denying Messi is number one and they are not arguments as much as wishful thinking..

However best ever is impossible to measure. I suspect that with modern tackling and modern pitches George Best and Johann Cruyff would be as good at pure dribbling. Maradona and pele would look better as well.

 

[Jamo Martinez]

If we want to get technical the expression 'the best ever' includes the future. So there's no way we can know.

 

[Roztitute]

If we want to get technical the expression 'the best ever' includes the future. So there's no way we can know.

Best that ever lived Jamo.

 

[arch stanton]

hibbo must be running him a close second...