Best is very subjective not totally so ie Aguero v Creaney but for others there will always be debate
Messi v Maradona
Silva v Bell
Pogba v Palmer
For me Silva is outstanding in his era as Bell was in his but they are two different eras and now football is of a higher standard whether Bell with modern training techniques equipment etc would have reached the same level I'm not sure but I suspect he would still have been an outstanding player.
Silva is unquestionably one of our Greats.
One of the ways football is considered a higher standard is that it is now far easier for good players. Tackling virtually outlawed, offside rules changed, pass back to the keeper banned, even the modern balls are goal friendly. Not to mention now great players are surrounded by the other superb international players the riches of the modern game have bought into the modern English game.
In The Bad Old Days on crap pitches with heavier balls and defenders who can just run through you to take the ball the kind of modern football we are so great at would be much harder to play in the old and brutally physical First Division.
It’s a different game now and one whose differences would magnify the impact of great players from the past. Bell’s scoring record from midfield is tremendous (and he wasn’t even the penalty taker). He would out Lampard Frank Lampard in the modern game. Like Lampard or Yaya in their prime a goalscoring midfielder of such proliferation would be priceless.
Silva is one of The Greats. Absolutely no doubt. Take him back to 1970 and he would still be a great player but his game would suffer from the differences whereas Bell would thrive in the modern game. I have no doubt he would have the character to adapt and still thrive despite the skilled player hostile environment. KDB also. (Nasri on the other hand ...)
This is such a great thread for an old fan and got me thinking.
The Time Lord Cup. Today’s City playing an Early Seventies City XI. Two legs, each played and referreed by the rules and standards of the time including the substitution rules which each team knows in advance.
Who would win?
My take.
Seventies City win at Maine Road in the first leg. We cannot play our normal game and the pitch is more quagmire than grass. Modern fans set the forum ablaze and rail at the referee (who was clearly A Red in league with The FA, Fifa, Sky and probably The Space Vampires to keep modern City down) for fouls and penalties not given and half a dozen players not being sent off. 3-1 to Old City.
The second leg. 21st century city win because the visitors have Doyle sent off in the third minute and play most the second half with nine men or less. Afraid to tackle and unable to adapt on the fly to the bewildering speed and precision of the modern game they lose to Modern City by five or more goals.
Pep then slips The Doctor a tasty wedge to leave King Col behind in exchange for Mangala, who thanks to his awesome ball distribution skills goes on to form a legendary defensive partnership with Dave Watson.
Modern City fans hail Bell as ‘The New Yaya’ while Southgate is heard to say ‘Jordan who?’ and makes him Captain and lynchpin of The England team.
Bell scores twenty goals in his first season, including a hat trick in the notorious 8-1 ‘Old Trafford Massacre’.
Swamp forums continue to maintain Fellaini is the better player and New Coke was vastly underrated. Given two Time Traveller slots Mourinho adds Nobby Styles and Joe Jordan to his squad and sends Martial down to B&Q to pick out a new Trophy Cabinet.
Chelsea’s attempt to bolster their right back position with club legend Ron ‘Chopper’ Harris comes to a premature end when he is arrested on the pitch for criminal assault within the first 15 minutes of his debut.
Billy Bremner and Tommy Smith are hastily added to the No Time Travel List maintained by The Home Office. Norman ‘Bites Yer Legs’ Hunter withdraws his application.
