As a pure footballer, as good as, possibly better, than Messi.
But he gets nowhere near Messi in terms of sustained excellence. The length of time that Messi has been head and shoulders above the rest, week in, week out, is ridiculous.
The same goes for the Portuguese Ronaldo. Not comparable to Messi or Maradona as a pure footballer (although better than most) but has been at it, week in, week out, for a silly amount of time with only Messi able to match it.
For that reason, I'd probably have him just ahead of Maradona in an all time top 3 list too. Even though Maradona was a far better footballer, if that makes sense.
I'm not having Pele's 'consistency' though. Different ball game then. Although he is obviously still one of the greats.
I’d agree with a lot of this, you gave to be amazed at the constant brilliance of Messi and the Portuguese Ronaldo, you cannot objectively argue against their stats, unparalleled in the modern game. Messi is a far more talented player and so most give him the edge here but C Ronaldo has, if anything, adapted his game to become even more clinical in later years.
If we’re to judge players on stats, it’s those two and Pele really, the latter’s world cup record will always stand out, especially in an era when international football had a prestige above and beyond the club game.
However, when we talk about the best, most natural footballer to play the game, it’s Maradona for me. Dragged an unfashionable Italian club to two Serie A titles, a World Cup win and another final and also did win a European trophy at Napoli.
He didn’t play in the modern era, specifically in the era of super clubs, where a lot of Spanish league games are akin to a training exercise. Could you imagine him in sides with Xavi, Iniesta and Henry? Or Modric, Bale and for Ronaldo and let’s not forget he played with peak Rooney, Scholes and Tevez at United.
Maradona played with Careca at Napoli with most of the rest, home grown, solid Italians, a young Zola probably stands out.
Serie A was the best league in the world at the time but you were limited to 3 foreigners and only the top drawer players got signed. The likes of Gullit, Van Basten, Zico, Klinnsman and Matthaus were at the other top clubs at the time but it wasn’t like now where you’d get a side winning a European cup with no Italian players as Inter did under Mourinho.
You could kick lumps out if players back then too, it was far more physical, look at what Bilbao defenders did to him in Spain, the modern player faces nothing of the sort.
His touch, vision, control, dribbling were all unmatched. Maybe not Messi’s speed when moving with the ball but or his goal scoring but just a slightly more gifted version all round.
As an aside, in terms of raw talent, the Brazilian Ronaldo is right up there, an immense player who was never really the same after so many injuries early in his career.