To be honest its impossible to decide who is the greatest ever. You cant compare messi and zidane, pele and maradonna, johan and eboue. Also who is to say the best player ever isnt a defender. Couldnt maldini or baresi be one o the best ever?
I see your points but I will counter them with mine - I think International football is far weaker now than it was in the past and I also say that Maradona AND Ronaldo carried their International teams to success - Maradona ALSO carried his club team Napoli to success. this sets him on a pedestal greater than anyone else. Back in the 80s and early 90s lots of countries were still together, the Soviet Union were a formidable force, West Germany were far better than East Germany and the combined Germany we have now. Czechoslovakia were a good team as were Yugoslavia. The top teams in Europe back in Maradona's day were England, Italy, West Germany, Soviet Union, Holland and France, then you had very good teams like Czechoslovakia, Sweden, Poland. The stand out teams were Brazil, West Germany, Argentina and Italy - they were the teams you would have to beat if you wanted to be World Champions. Now look at international football ... it's ****e, people prefer to watch club football. The stand out team is Spain .. but who even comes close to them ?? Nobody. this is why I think international football is far weaker now than it was in Maradona's era which makes his achievements so much better because Argentina wasn't a star studded team, but Maradona carried them - as he did Napoli. Maldini is the greatest left back in history to my knowledge - but he didn't carry Milan to greatness .. or Italy for that matter and neither did Baresi - so they can't be better than Maradona. Football has changed, but anyone can see that, if a player can only play well for his club there is no way on earth he can be classed as the best player in the world ever - or even on a par with the best players ever - if he cannot perform at international level too. Like I said, in my eyes, Messi hasn't surpassed Ronaldo yet - let alone Maradona.
Well you could argue that milan side was the greatest of all time (over an extended peroid) and that baresi and maldini were part of what made it espicially great - i.e. its back line.
