considered the best ever. Before people said Xavi and Iniesta make Barcelona tick, but anyone who have seen Barcelona play without Messi, Knows Messi makes them Tick. Yes Maradonna won the world cup and he won Serie A Italian Championships in 1986/87 and 1989/1990 and for some reason everyone under 35 say he won them on his own, but he was a star in a very good international and club side. Messi is only 24 and played in one world cup. Diego Maradona was 25 when he won and that was his second World Cup tournament. Yes we live in the days of Sky Tv. Plus the Internet we get to watch the best players in the world on a daily basis, where the likes of Maradona and the stars of the 80s 90s we could only watch if we was their or if we watched the games live on Tv. All I am trying say is that Lionel Messi is âThe Phenomenonâ Had Zidane opted for Algeria instead of France then he would not have won the WC. Would that have made him a lesser player?.
The Argentina side in 86 and 90 were quite average, well compared to the one Messi played with in 2010. But you have a good point, Messi would still be a great player if he was from Timbuktu. However it's a simple fact that Messi performs below his standards in the national team whereas Xavi and Iniesta make Spain, the ultimate national team right now, 'tick'. I reckon that a Zidane could have led Algeria to more World Cups, but obviously there was no chance of winning for him/them. The original Ronaldo in the 90's was better than Messi, and back then the Barcelona team didn't have better players to set him and combine with up like Messi has now. Well, but according to Andy Gray you have to perform in a cold night at the Britannia to be the World's best
Messi is a great player and is probably the best player in the world at the moment but lets face facts the Spanish league is not of the same standard of the premiership, ive seen players literally poke one leg out in hops of stopping him, some of the defending in Spain is terrible. Now if you also consider that the standard of players has gone down then u can say that Messi is the best in a bunch of relatively average players. During Maradona’s time and even when Zidane was at his prime the quality of players were far higher I don’t just mean the teams they played with but the opposion as well, Gooner91 is correct in saying the Argentina side of 86 and 91 were average so it is an incredible feat that they did so well given the lack of quality, this goes to show that Maradona truly was incredible given the opposition he faced were far better than today’s standard. Having said that the current Argentina side is better than the side of 86 yet Messi has been terrible on a national level. Therefore to compare him to the likes of Zidane and Diego is ludicrous. Im not denying that Messi is an incrediable player but he cant be compared to the true legends like Zidane and Maradona.
There is only one player Messi should aspire to emulate and that is the greatest footballer of all time PELE
Sadly I was not, i didnt even see that much of Maradona so for me the best player I ever saw was Zidane
I highly doubt that from what I hear Garrincha was even better than Pele and the team pele played in had the best player in almost every position Maradona had to make due with an average Argentina. Even the French team that Zidane played with were fairly lacklustre without Zidane
Clearly your footballing education is sadly lacking. Please do not mention those other mere mortal players next the the immortal greatness that is PELE
So was the Greece side of '04, dont see any Maradonnas in that side. While the side Messi played in the WC was certainly more talented than the '86 team the manager cetainly wasnt as good I dont buy the must have had to win the WC criteria when it comes to choosing the best ever.
They don’t have to have won a world cup but to be considered the greatest ever they should at least performed to some degree at international level. Messi has done nothing at this level for example the last world cup he was anonymous while playing with a very good Argentina. He was given a free role like he plays in Barca and still didn’t show much. The world cup brings together the best players from around the world and at such a level its easier to determine a players overall quality. The examples used here of players winning a world cup and therefore being considered the greatest is because they singlehandedly won their respective tournaments. Some players will never have the opportunity to appear in the world cup given their national side being to weak to qualify however Messi plays for Argentina and therefore cant use this excuse.
Maradona is the best player of all time, carried any team he played in. Napoli would be a different club today if it weren't for him. I met a bloke from Argentina in Spain, about 45 years old I'd say. He said he'd watched both Messi and Maradona play for Argentina a few times and told me comparing Maradona to Messi is like comparing champagne to water!
To me Messi doesn't come close to Pele or Maradona, he isn't as good as the Brazilian Ronaldo either. Maradona dragged an average Argentina to World Cup victory, he took a mediocre Napoli side to successive titles, how anyone can suggest that Messi is as good as Maradona is beyond me - he never will be because of the role he plays. Messi isn't even the most important player at Barcelona in my opinion, that goes to Xavi and Iniesta - they are an entirely different Barcelona when Iniesta doesn't play.
Messi is the greatest player to have ever lived. I'm confident of that. The game is more competitive , the athletes are fitter, faster, stronger than ever before. His last four seasons he has scored: 2008-2009 38 goals (18 assists) 2009-2010 43 goals (12 assists) 2010-2011 53 goals (23 assists) this season he's already on 23 goals (11 assists). Every year he is improving, in another four years he'll be ridiculous. when people think of Maradona, Zidane or Cruyff they remember them in their peak. If he can score 50 plus goals a season now just wait until Messi is 28-29.
This. It's not the highest level of competition by any means, the Champions league has far more quality and Messi is exceptional in it every time he plays. To say that he is only as good as he is because he plays with good players is just laughable. Messi stands out as the best in one of the best teams club football has ever seen.
It is all relative. Players are fitter and stronger now but not better players, thats the point and the reason why you can't really compare players in different eras. The Italian league was stronger back in the 80s so arguably Maradona pulling Napoli to titles was a greater achievement then. when I see Nelinho score a goal from way outside the box with the outside of his right foot for Brazil and bend it into the far post - with the ungainly boots they had in the 70s and tough leather balls - that is far more difficult to do then than it is now with lightweight swervey balls. And scoring lots of goals doesn't make a player great Mario Jardel won European Golden boot twice and was twice top scorer in the champion's League. Anyone can score lots of goals playing in that Barcelona team. If Messi was so great how comes he looks average when he plays for Argentina ??
Ronaldo dragged an average Brazil side to World Cups, to win in 2002 and get to the final in 1998. Maradona did the same in 1986 and 1990. Messi doesn't come close to Maradona and he hasn't dragged Barcelona to any titles - like I said, the team look disjointed when Iniesta doesn't play more so than when Messi doesn't play. Messi has some way to go before I even start thinking about putting him on Maradona's level - he isn't on Ronaldo's level yet.
