Col, in the Today's Games thread, named Cristiano Ronaldo as possibly the greatest forward of all time. What do you think? You can make two selections if you want, I'll settle for one - Messi.
Want to vote 2 others, Stan and Adel. Could only vote for 1 Other and didn't manage to name him in the vote. Some technical malfunctions somewhere.
Henry (not Karl) - brilliant, made me chuckle! Ronaldo for me - he may be an arrogant twat, but his work ethic in training is plain to see in both his physical shape (as he likes to show regularly) and his performances on the pitch. Does anyone else in world football jump as high for headers for instance? His goal scoring has not dropped for ten years, he's played in both England and Spain at the highest level. Sometimes surrounded by players not at his level, he manages to drag his team to success, both domestically amd internationally. Much more difficult to choose a second - Messi is the obvious choice, but I feel he's not as complete a player as Ronaldo, and is surrounded by such great talents as Iniesta, Xavi, Suarez or Neymar that although his skills are unquestionable, you wonder how he would cope in a lesser talented team (see Argentina....). Dislike him as much as you will, but my second vote is for Maradona - another player who had the ability to drag his team to another level, both domestically and internationally. Chopped to bits in both Italy and Spain, he managed to ride all these challenges and score many glorious goals. Can't stand the man for his cheating, but his second goal v England in 86 was superb. I'm not old enough really to vote for Puskas, Pele or Cruyff, although I did see Pele play in a charity match once when I was a kid. Saw Maradona at Wembley a couple of times.
Alfred Di Stefano. i think he is still regarded as the best Real Madrid player of all time. And to be the star of that magical Madrid team boy, you had to be good! Puskas & Ghento paled into insignificance compared to the master. Pele deserves a mention as well as my other choice.
By all accounts Di Stefano was the complete player. Of the ones on the list my favourite is Cruyff, but sadly I never saw him live, but will vote for him anyway. Likewise didn’t see Pele, Puskas and Fat Ronaldo and haven’t had the privilege of seeing Messi. Of the ones I have seen Maradona by a mile, though they are all, obviously, great.
I saw Henry live, and thought he was absolutely amazing, but cannot forgive him for Ireland...likewise I cannot forgive Maradona, who I never saw as quite so good. Cruyff was such a great forward in such a great team, that all thought and played like he did (well that was my childish impression). So I am going for Cruyff too But there is a sneaking admiration for 6-pack-Ronaldo, who I thinkis an arrogant ****, but he has a bit of a reason to be. He can conjure stuff out of nothing, and at the absolutely highest level. (Which is why I would take Stan over Adel anyday of the week....Adel played at a level well below the level Stan was weaving his magic!)
From the list above, Pele would be brilliant at any period in Football. So he got my vote over the others - most definitely over Ronaldo, whose self-important posturing and preening makes me switch off any match he's playing in - even against England. Can't stand the arrogant twat, and no amount of skill will make me change my view. Going off list, there are a few that haven't been mentioned above, most notably Gerd Muller, who was clinical in the extreme in front of goal. He thrived in a team of workers and grafters, so it's hard to compare him with Cruyff, who was surrounded by a phenomenally gifted team. It's always close between Pele, Muller and Cruyff, but that'd probably be the order of my top three.
I don't think Muller was the best footballing forward, but I would definitely regard him as the best goalscorer. Bayern & West Germany owed a lot to his ability to poach a goal from nowhere!
We went to Barca (for my 50th) a couple of summers ago, I I would say that watching Messi was the only time I have ever really been gobsmacked. Overwise; Tommy Langley was always fantastic.
Ronaldo and Messi have been on another planet in the past decade but you have to remember that 21st century football is a non-contact sport and the protection they are afforded by the referees allows them to gobsmack us. Bearing that in mind those of you who remember the 66 World Cup will remember how much we looked forward to seeing the great Pele in action only for him literally to be kicked out of the tournament. He was undoubtedly a great player but never played serious football outside Brazil so I tend to rate Maradona higher as he played in the toughest league in the World at his peak in the late 80's winning Napoli two titles, one Coppa Italia and the UEFA Cup for a team that had never previously won anything. He also virtually single-handedly took an average Argentinian side to World Cup glory in 1986, something that is unlikely ever to happen again...
As others have said, as good as he is, I can't say it is Ronaldo because of his non-football antics on the pitch and generally seeming like a bit of an idiot. When I watch Messi I see a player who is able to bring skill, speed and finishing on a whole new level. Football may be more of a non-contact sport these days, but it is also a lot quicker, and so to look as quick as Messi does when playing, in the modern game, is quite something. I spent a long while looking for George Goddard but he seems to have been missed off by mistake.
Cruyff was the best all round player I have seen, and far more than just a striker - more like a complete football philosophy. Restricting it only to goal scorers it would have to be Ronaldo, Eusebio or Van Basten - give Salah a couple of years and he may be up there as well.
Dominic Iorfa should be on that list, I thought this was a vote for the best forward. Just beats that African we got on loan from West Ham who scored on his debut then dropped. World beaters.
In order to make the list it's probably necessary to have played for a great team and to have won big trophies. Would Messi have scored so many impressive goals without Iniesta laying so many of them on ? And Iniesta truly is a genius. So maybe you firstly need to be surrounded by great players. Also players like Johann Cruyff were more than just strikers - he was not just on the pitch for his goalscoring ability. It's also impossible to compare generations on this - apparently the highest goals per matches ratio was achieved by Fernando Peyroteo, who scored an astonishing 544 goals in 334 appearances for Sporting Lisbon. According to this criteria Pele, Gerd Müller and Eusebio all had roughly a goal per match ratio throughout their careers, roughly comparable to Ronaldo now.
Pele for me as i was a child during sixties and a youngster during seventies. Pele charmed with his skills in 70´ WC and Maradona through the eighties. They both had their faults as Pele was stupid as a log and Maradona wasnt much clever and was cheat too. Still, they are two absolutely best ones in my book followed by Bobby Charlton, C Ronaldo, Messi, G Müller, Fat Ronaldo and Cryuff.
