Stevo985 Posted May 9, 2019 VT Supporter Share Posted May 9, 2019 I’d put Maradona and pele in the list of the greatest ever because of how revered they are and the highlights I’ve seen of them. But not much is actually from watching them play a game of football. I’m always careful to say Messi is the best player I’ve ever seen. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pelle Posted May 9, 2019 Share Posted May 9, 2019 1 hour ago, Cjay said: People say its easy for Messi at Barcelona, but Maradona couldn't inspire Barcelona to the title, the season after he left they won it as well as the European Cup so it cant have been a bad side. Unless I'm very much misstaken barcelona didn't win the European Cup/CL untill 1994. They were in the final 1986 after they cheated IFK Gothenburg out in the semi but they lost on penalties against Steaua Bukarest/Ducadam. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A'Villan Posted May 9, 2019 Share Posted May 9, 2019 (edited) Maradonna could manipulate the ball and had a quality of touch that makes Messi look like a less capable understudy. I've not seen anyone control the ball like Maradonna. You think Messi has good close control? Well, add Ronaldinho's array of technical ability, Zidane's genius and audacity, and Brazilian Ronaldo's zeal and knack for goals.. You can start to appreciate why Maradonna is part of the discussion, if not the discussion. Quality of opposition doesn't take away the sheer excellence of what he could do. May have been mentioned, in Maradonna's time, defenders would take you out in order to stop the attack. Like sliding rugby at the best of times. Only adding to the difficulty.. As far as I've seen, Messi has a superior passing game, which certainly deserves a lot of credit. Maradonna would still run rings around defenders, I'm certain of that. Edited May 9, 2019 by A'Villan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post lapal_fan Posted May 9, 2019 Popular Post Share Posted May 9, 2019 Ronaldinho should be brought into the discussion, matter how briefly he was at his peak (about 5 years?). I always think if one professional football player can make other professional football players look like middle aged, over weight insurance salesmen, then they're probably quite good. Ronaldinho was absolutely one of the best. 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zatman Posted May 9, 2019 Share Posted May 9, 2019 2 minutes ago, lapal_fan said: Ronaldinho should be brought into the discussion, matter how briefly he was at his peak (about 5 years?). I always think if one professional football player can make other professional football players look like middle aged, over weight insurance salesmen, then they're probably quite good. Ronaldinho was absolutely one of the best. He might not be the best ever but he is certainly the most enjoyable player I and many others have ever watched. Cant really think of a player at the moment anywhere close to it 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cjay Posted May 9, 2019 Visiting Supporter Share Posted May 9, 2019 1 hour ago, Xela said: Interesting view but pretty much everyone who had seen him play (fans, pundits, ex-players) chose Maradona as one of the two greatest players of all time along with Pele and a level above other great players like Cruyff, Ronaldo, Ronaldinho etc You would have Messi in that list with Pele and Maradona now for sure. True i mean opinions change as the years go by and the people who remember players pass on. People like John Charles, Di Stefano, Puskas etc they probably had more people supporting them 30 years ago and in 20 years Maradona will probably be the one then in 50 years it'll probably be Messi. Messi is the best player I've ever seen to the point i find it hard to believe anyone was on his level (that's probably better). 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cjay Posted May 9, 2019 Visiting Supporter Share Posted May 9, 2019 46 minutes ago, Pelle said: Unless I'm very much misstaken barcelona didn't win the European Cup/CL untill 1994. They were in the final 1986 after they cheated IFK Gothenburg out in the semi but they lost on penalties against Steaua Bukarest/Ducadam. Beat Sampdoria in 1992 mate to win i think the European Cup/CL for the first time. Heck of a team they had actually, Pep, Laudrup, Stoichkov, Koeman, Zubizarreta, Cruyff was manager. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pelle Posted May 9, 2019 Share Posted May 9, 2019 13 minutes ago, Cjay said: Beat Sampdoria in 1992 mate to win i think the European Cup/CL for the first time. Heck of a team they had actually, Pep, Laudrup, Stoichkov, Koeman, Zubizarreta, Cruyff was manager. Yeah, you're right. But Maradona left in '84, so it was hardly like they won it as soon as he left. That team was quite decent. But compare it to today's teams. That first team could probably put a shift in against most teams today, but their 2nd lineup wasn't like the 2nd lineups are these days. Among the top clubs. The football today isn't as competitive as it was back then, which also adds on and makes it even harder to compare players from different era's. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VILLAMARV Posted May 9, 2019 Share Posted May 9, 2019 Quote Pelé scored more goals. Lionel Messi has won more trophies. Both have lived more stable lives than the overweight former cocaine addict who tops this list, whose relationship with football became increasingly strained the longer his career continued. If you’ve seen Diego Maradona with a football at his feet, you’ll understand. - Andrew Murray on Maradona topping FourFourTwo magazine's 100 greatest players list, July 2017. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diego_Maradona Quote “Even if I played for a million years, I’d never come close to Maradona. Not that I’d want to anyway. He’s the greatest there’s ever been.” - Lionel Messi https://www.fifa.com/news/maradona-others-see-him-1326223 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sharkyvilla Posted May 9, 2019 Share Posted May 9, 2019 3 hours ago, lapal_fan said: Ronaldinho should be brought into the discussion, matter how briefly he was at his peak (about 5 years?). I always think if one professional football player can make other professional football players look like middle aged, over weight insurance salesmen, then they're probably quite good. Ronaldinho was absolutely one of the best. He was definitely a catalyst in stopping the Galacticos at Real dominating, which then led to the Guardiola years of dominance, ironically with Ronaldinho being cast aside in favour of Messi. Him, Ronaldo and Rivaldo was my favourite front 3 in World Cup history. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
villa4europe Posted May 10, 2019 Share Posted May 10, 2019 12 hours ago, Zatman said: He might not be the best ever but he is certainly the most enjoyable player I and many others have ever watched. Cant really think of a player at the moment anywhere close to it came to say the same, if I had a chance to watch messi, Ronaldo or Ronaldinho then for just pure enjoyment and crowd excitement it would be him Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
villa4europe Posted May 10, 2019 Share Posted May 10, 2019 8 hours ago, sharkyvilla said: He was definitely a catalyst in stopping the Galacticos at Real dominating, which then led to the Guardiola years of dominance, ironically with Ronaldinho being cast aside in favour of Messi. Him, Ronaldo and Rivaldo was my favourite front 3 in World Cup history. this bit of a myth about how amazing the team pep inherited at barca, he sold Ronaldinho, deco, zambrotta, edmilson, ezquerro and thuram retired, 2nd year he sold hleb, gudjohnson, eto'o, sylvinho he cleared all the old influential players out of the dressing room the thing about Ronaldinho at barca wasn't just the football side though, laporta knew how to market him, along with the galacticos I think he ushered in a new wave of global player profile, his face was everywhere 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kurtsimonw Posted May 10, 2019 Share Posted May 10, 2019 Ronaldinho at his best was ridiculous. Ronaldo x2, Messi, Ronaldinho and Zidane are probably the top 5 I've seen. I'd put Nesta in the conversation, but it's impossible to really compare defensive and forward contributions. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stevo985 Posted May 10, 2019 VT Supporter Share Posted May 10, 2019 13 hours ago, lapal_fan said: Ronaldinho should be brought into the discussion, matter how briefly he was at his peak (about 5 years?). I always think if one professional football player can make other professional football players look like middle aged, over weight insurance salesmen, then they're probably quite good. Ronaldinho was absolutely one of the best. Yeah I agree. I think the longevity of players like Messi and Ronaldo put them on another level. But if you're talking about how good a player was at his absolute peak, even if it was brief, then Ronaldinho should absolutely be in the conversation. He was incredible. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kurtsimonw Posted May 10, 2019 Share Posted May 10, 2019 (edited) Kaka' is another who, at his peak, was unstoppable. He only had 3/4 really great years though, but pretty much single handedly won the European Cup in 2007. Edited May 10, 2019 by kurtsimonw 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulC Posted May 10, 2019 Share Posted May 10, 2019 If you are going to include Ronaldinho you may as well include Zico in equation. He had everything. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xela Posted May 10, 2019 Share Posted May 10, 2019 I've always wondered about how good Pele actually was. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keyblade Posted May 10, 2019 Share Posted May 10, 2019 Fat Ronaldo at his peak (sadly very young, like 18-21) was basically Ronaldinho with Adama Traore like pace. Absolutely unreal player. Even after the knee injuries slowed him down, he was still world class and became the World Cup's all time leading scorer for a while. If he wasn't kicked to death in Italy, I think we wouldn't even be talking about Messi or Ronaldo right now, the conversation would already be over. I'll never forget a probably 200 lb Ronaldo making Ghana's keeper Kingson look like an absolute fool in a World Cup knockout game in 2006. The man has multiple 10 min compilations of him just faking out keepers before he scores . Easily my favorite player of all time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zatman Posted May 10, 2019 Share Posted May 10, 2019 19 minutes ago, Keyblade said: Fat Ronaldo at his peak (sadly very young, like 18-21) was basically Ronaldinho with Adama Traore like pace. Absolutely unreal player. Even after the knee injuries slowed him down, he was still world class and became the World Cup's all time leading scorer for a while. If he wasn't kicked to death in Italy, I think we wouldn't even be talking about Messi or Ronaldo right now, the conversation would already be over. I'll never forget a probably 200 lb Ronaldo making Ghana's keeper Kingson look like an absolute fool in a World Cup knockout game in 2006. The man has multiple 10 min compilations of him just faking out keepers before he scores . Easily my favorite player of all time. McManaman was on Irish radio last week and said Ronaldo when joining Real was past it, he did not mean in a bad way but his knees were gone absolute to bits. He was still in best 10 players in the world at that time indicates what was lost if he was at 50 percent 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Albrighton Posted May 10, 2019 VT Supporter Share Posted May 10, 2019 1 hour ago, Xela said: I've always wondered about how good Pele actually was. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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