Is Messi Now Officially the Greatest Footballer in History?

[cleavers]

Pele or Messi is like apples and pears.
A previous poster pointed out Pelé basically played almost his entire career at Santos.He won three World Cups.
The game is now saturated with TV coverage compared to the 60s so Messi has been more widely seen and appreciated plus his phenomenal stats.
I really do think it’s an impossible choice so it’s a tie for me.

You also can't compare the 1960's with the 2010's, both in style of play, the state of pitches, not to mention the kit they wear to play, and the balls they play with.

 

[MichaelFrontzeck'sBathroom]

Same here.

Shame Maradona f*ck his career up via the Mafia and drugs whilst playing for Napoli.

If you haven’t seen the Maradona documentary, watch it. It really is an eye opener.

imagine how good he would’ve been if he wasn’t on the shovel 24/7

 

[FogBlueInSanFran]

Pele or Messi is like apples and pears.
A previous poster pointed out Pelé basically played almost his entire career at Santos.He won three World Cups.
The game is now saturated with TV coverage compared to the 60s so Messi has been more widely seen and appreciated plus his phenomenal stats.
I really do think it’s an impossible choice so it’s a tie for me.

Agree with all this. So much has changed. Do we say Pele is the greatest World Cup player and Messi the greatest club player (which may not even be true)? It’s like Woods and Nicklaus. Nicklaus is the greatest ever based on track record in the majors but Woods played the greatest golf ever in terms of quality/dominance. I guess I don’t really care that much about the distinction.

Personally I think Messi is better than DM which some can argue and he’s quite obviously (LOL) better than Ronaldo, so that’s enough for me. There’s room for two atop the mountain. All I know is we better count ourselves lucky for having gotten to see today. That was very special.

 

[mosssideblue]

Defo, until the next one.

 

[FogBlueInSanFran]

Think the key thing for me in these debates is the longevity of Messi.

Maradona was done by the time he was 30.

Messi has been in and around the best player in the world for not that far off 2 decades.

It's what sets him apart in my opinion.


Surely the consistency counts for something?

I’d agree wholeheartedly. It absolutely matters, not just the longevity but the sheer quality even as he got older, and how he was able to adopt his game as his role gradually changed and still maintain his standards and attitude. Takes a special person.

 

[Thaksins Love Child]

He already was but its all down to opinion. Not only the goals and dribbling, pele Maradona etc didnt create like messi does.

 

[depps]

Watched the official documentary of the 86 world cup this morning (brilliant viewing, pure 80s aesthetic, Michael Kane narrating) and for me Maradona is still the pinnacle


(See the post above saying Maradon doesn’t create like Messi…
Watch the 86 World Cup. He pretty much made every Argentinian goal he didn’t score himself)

 

[jmdetom]

He’s been the Goat since 2012 imagine now

 

[blueyorkie]

Same here.

Shame Maradona f*ck his career up via the Mafia and drugs whilst playing for Napoli.

If you haven’t seen the Maradona documentary, watch it. It really is an eye opener.

Maradona was way behind Pele, so he’s not really in the conversation, I never thought anyone would match Pele but I think Messi has now eclipsed Pele!

 

[BlueTG]

Maradona played an incredible 343 games scoring 159 goals and providing another 82 with assists.

Messi has played 607 games 558 goals 231 assists including 73 goals and 29 assists in just 1 season.

Not a chance Maradona is ahead of Messi.

As for Pele, lol spent his entire career playing against school kids in Brazil.

Those stats are way off.

Messi has played about 1000 matches. He has 700 club goals and 98 international goals and around 340 assists.