How good was Maradona?

[goatersnipple]

Nor the Portuguese Ronaldo.
Both are great players but there is a huge question mark at international level for both.

The tranny has won something at international level though

 

[bennyboy]

The tranny has won something at international level though

Aye he had to go off injured before Portugal won.

 

[roy.or.r]

Wow. Never knew he scored this goal in the same world cup. Seems like he scored or assisted most goals in the 86 cup if I am not wrong. A question for the English fans here. Do you still hate him because basically he cheated you guys out of the world cup which you should have won?

 

[Vialli98]

Best player to ever play the game, they used to kick absolute shit out of him in Spain and Italy, and he would give it back and not roll around on the floor, he would have a field day now with protection players get.
Genius at best, anyone who says Pele was better don’t know football.

I sometimes wonder about this.

On one hand, yes, attacking players have far more protection than just 15 years ago never mind when Maradona was still playing. but then I also think defensive tactics have evolved. I sometimes watch clips from 40 years ago in amazement at some of the hilarious attempts at defending.

 

[Lupo]

Great thread this, enjoyed it! I'm pleased to see so many intelligent and rational posts about what a great footballer he was instead of just calling him a cokehead and a cheat which many England fans do to this day.

Maradona for me is the greatest of all time, what he could do with a football were phenomenal. I have family in the Naples area and I can remember how alive it was back in the late 80s with what he was doing for the team. They were relegation fodder with no real success in their history until El Diego and his entourage rolled into town. Then he had them winning Lo Scudetto and European trophies and cocking a snook at the Northern powerhouses in Milan and Turin who had always looked down their noses at their poor Southern cousins.

Napoli was the perfect club for Diego and Naples was his kind of city, probably the most like home he could find in Western Europe. He never settled so well in Barcelona, same would have happened in Milan or Turin but Naples was chaotic, underhand, scruffy, lawless - he was one of them, he was a Neapolitan and they identified with him.

Maradona, for all his success, was always an underdog. The rough kid from the slums with a hugely flawed character but a supreme gift in his feet. He went from poverty stricken obscurity to immense riches and being mobbed everywhere he went in his teens. Sadly once in Naples he got into the club scene and mixed with the Mafia (Camorra) who became his 'friends'. I watched Scarface the umpteenth time the other night and I liken Maradona to a footballing version of Tony Montana.

When I see the old grainy footage of the little slum boy juggling his tatty ball and speaking of his dream to one day win the World Cup for Argentina (a dream he fulfilled) unaware of the circus which will dominate his life, the drugs, the scandals, the health problems, I actually find him sad and tragic for all he has achieved and for all the wealth, he is a bit tragic too. Just like comparing Montana the happy go lucky rogue at the start of Scarface to the sad, lonely, drug addled mess at the end being destroyed by his lifestyle and ultimately coming to an untimely end.

The film of his life made last year is excellent and many friends who hate him for 1986 have held their hands up and acknowledged his genius. I have read books too and he has certainly never been boring.

Football wise, there are always debates about who was the greatest and how they compare to Messi and Ronaldo but as others have said, it is hard to compare different eras but in Maradona's day the pitches were sand pits in dry weather and mudbaths in the wet, he was kicked and hacked mercilessly with little protection (see Claudio Gentile's job on him in the 1982 World Cup) but still managed to transform the sides he played for when surrounded by lesser players. This is one of the things that counts against Messi for me. He has spent his entire footballing life at Barcelona surrounded by greats. Whilst I am taking nothing away from him, I would like to see what he could achieve with a Napoli. I also find it disappointing that he has never lit up a World Cup like El Diego.

I am not taking anything away from Messi or Ronaldo, they are amazing footballers and we are privileged to have them both at the same time. But Maradona was one on his own, the greatest of all time.

If anyone is minded, please watch the docufilm about him from 2019, well worth it.

For those who have made it through to the end of my War & Peace, thankyou!

Ps. He used to come to your games when Aguero first signed as he was his father-in-law at the time and grandad to his kids but I'm sure this is common knowledge to you all anyway.

 

[EL APACHE TEVEZ]

Great thread this, enjoyed it! I'm pleased to see so many intelligent and rational posts about what a great footballer he was instead of just calling him a cokehead and a cheat which many England fans do to this day.

Maradona for me is the greatest of all time, what he could do with a football were phenomenal. I have family in the Naples area and I can remember how alive it was back in the late 80s with what he was doing for the team. They were relegation fodder with no real success in their history until El Diego and his entourage rolled into town. Then he had them winning Lo Scudetto and European trophies and cocking a snook at the Northern powerhouses in Milan and Turin who had always looked down their noses at their poor Southern cousins.

Napoli was the perfect club for Diego and Naples was his kind of city, probably the most like home he could find in Western Europe. He never settled so well in Barcelona, same would have happened in Milan or Turin but Naples was chaotic, underhand, scruffy, lawless - he was one of them, he was a Neapolitan and they identified with him.

Maradona, for all his success, was always an underdog. The rough kid from the slums with a hugely flawed character but a supreme gift in his feet. He went from poverty stricken obscurity to immense riches and being mobbed everywhere he went in his teens. Sadly once in Naples he got into the club scene and mixed with the Mafia (Camorra) who became his 'friends'. I watched Scarface the umpteenth time the other night and I liken Maradona to a footballing version of Tony Montana.

When I see the old grainy footage of the little slum boy juggling his tatty ball and speaking of his dream to one day win the World Cup for Argentina (a dream he fulfilled) unaware of the cicus which will dominate his life, the drugs, the scandals, the health problems, I actually find him sad and tragic for all he has achieved and for all the wealth, he is a bit tragic too. Just like comparing Montana the happy go lucky rogue at the start of Scarface to the sad, lonely, drug addled mess at the end being destroyed by his lifestyle and ultimately coming to an untimely end.

The film of his life last year is excellent and many friends who hate him for 1986 have held their hands up and acknowledged his genius. I have read books too and he has certainly never been boring.

Football wise, there are always debates about who was the greatest and how they compare to Messi and Ronaldo but as others have said, it is hard to compare different eras but in Maradona's day the pitches were sand pits in dry weather and mudbaths in the wet, he was kicked and hacked mercilessly with little protection (see Claudio Gentile's job on him in the 1982 World Cup) but still managed to transform the sides he played for when surrounded by lesser players. This is one of the things that counts against Messi for me. He has spent his entire footballing life at Barcelona surrounded by greats. Whilst I am taking nothing away from him, I would like to see what he could achieve with a Napoli. I also find it disappointing that he has never lit up a World Cup like El Diego.

I am not taking anything away from Messi or Ronaldo, they are amazing footballers and we are privileged to have them both at the same time. But Maradona was one on his own, the greatest of a time.

If anyone is minded, please watch the docufilm about him from 2019, well worth it.

For those who have made it through to the end of my War & Peace, thankyou!

Ps. He used to come to your games when Aguero first signed as he was his father-in-law at the time and grandad to his kids but I'm sure this is common knowledge to you all anyway.

What a brilliant post,well said Lupo.

 

[Mike N]

IMO the greatest player ever.

 

[Greggery Peccary]

Great thread this, enjoyed it! I'm pleased to see so many intelligent and rational posts about what a great footballer he was instead of just calling him a cokehead and a cheat which many England fans do to this day.

Maradona for me is the greatest of all time, what he could do with a football were phenomenal. I have family in the Naples area and I can remember how alive it was back in the late 80s with what he was doing for the team. They were relegation fodder with no real success in their history until El Diego and his entourage rolled into town. Then he had them winning Lo Scudetto and European trophies and cocking a snook at the Northern powerhouses in Milan and Turin who had always looked down their noses at their poor Southern cousins.

Napoli was the perfect club for Diego and Naples was his kind of city, probably the most like home he could find in Western Europe. He never settled so well in Barcelona, same would have happened in Milan or Turin but Naples was chaotic, underhand, scruffy, lawless - he was one of them, he was a Neapolitan and they identified with him.

Maradona, for all his success, was always an underdog. The rough kid from the slums with a hugely flawed character but a supreme gift in his feet. He went from poverty stricken obscurity to immense riches and being mobbed everywhere he went in his teens. Sadly once in Naples he got into the club scene and mixed with the Mafia (Camorra) who became his 'friends'. I watched Scarface the umpteenth time the other night and I liken Maradona to a footballing version of Tony Montana.

When I see the old grainy footage of the little slum boy juggling his tatty ball and speaking of his dream to one day win the World Cup for Argentina (a dream he fulfilled) unaware of the circus which will dominate his life, the drugs, the scandals, the health problems, I actually find him sad and tragic for all he has achieved and for all the wealth, he is a bit tragic too. Just like comparing Montana the happy go lucky rogue at the start of Scarface to the sad, lonely, drug addled mess at the end being destroyed by his lifestyle and ultimately coming to an untimely end.

The film of his life made last year is excellent and many friends who hate him for 1986 have held their hands up and acknowledged his genius. I have read books too and he has certainly never been boring.

Football wise, there are always debates about who was the greatest and how they compare to Messi and Ronaldo but as others have said, it is hard to compare different eras but in Maradona's day the pitches were sand pits in dry weather and mudbaths in the wet, he was kicked and hacked mercilessly with little protection (see Claudio Gentile's job on him in the 1982 World Cup) but still managed to transform the sides he played for when surrounded by lesser players. This is one of the things that counts against Messi for me. He has spent his entire footballing life at Barcelona surrounded by greats. Whilst I am taking nothing away from him, I would like to see what he could achieve with a Napoli. I also find it disappointing that he has never lit up a World Cup like El Diego.

I am not taking anything away from Messi or Ronaldo, they are amazing footballers and we are privileged to have them both at the same time. But Maradona was one on his own, the greatest of all time.

If anyone is minded, please watch the docufilm about him from 2019, well worth it.

For those who have made it through to the end of my War & Peace, thankyou!

Ps. He used to come to your games when Aguero first signed as he was his father-in-law at the time and grandad to his kids but I'm sure this is common knowledge to you all anyway.

That’s a great summary and post there, mate, well in.

 

[Greggery Peccary]

As has been said above, he’d have took the piss big time in the modern game with its protection. So much outrageous ability & one of the great football talismans. I liken him to Jack Nicklaus; they ruled all before them in their pomp but if they’d have had modern advantages, nobody would ever, ever get anywhere near their achievements.

 

[1961_vintage]

IMO the greatest player ever.

Sorry mate but that's nonsense. He never played for the rags or even for Livarpool so he just can't be. Impossible.