Pele - was he that good? And why ?

[Dirty Harry]

To be fair, that kind of accolade never means much. These things just can't be measured. What was astonishing about that save is that Banks briefly appears to start going the wrong way. Pelé hit the ball perfectly. Against anyone else except perhaps prime Yashin (so I've heard) that's a goal.

Sure, I was just saying it was voted ‘save of the century’ mate ;-).

 

[Dirty Harry]

Absolutely. As a youngster, I got tickets for my birthday to see him in the group matches at Goodson Park. He was systematically hacked to fcuk from the word go until unable to make any meaningful contribution. What a crying shame.

Oddly mate, a weird vile woman I used to live with, her Dad went too (he was a great bloke btw) very knowledgeable and did quite a bit of coaching, so knew his stuff, he always said it was Garrincha who was the best player he saw, maybe he was just a bit quicker and more experienced than Pele back then though and knew what was coming.

 

[bluemoon32]

To be fair, that kind of accolade never means much. These things just can't be measured. What was astonishing about that save is that Banks briefly appears to start going the wrong way. Pelé hit the ball perfectly. Against anyone else except perhaps prime Yashin (so I've heard) that's a goal.

Pfft, Andy Dibble would have caught it

 

[AlgarveBlu]

My old man knew his football, he really did.

He always said that had all the supposedly greatest players had played at the same point in history then Pele would still have been the greatest ever, closely followed by Cruyff.

I knew he must of been the.best as Pele is the only non Italian footy player I remember my dad really praising despite him being traumatized by the result of the 70 cup final.

 

[Kinkladze's crazy skills]

I used to think Pele was overrated in my younger more ignorant days, with loads of people slagging him for completely different reasons, I've come to realise he's actually nowadays especially from younger people very underrated.
One thing people don't get is Pele was always an attacking midfield playmaker type first and foremost, not a striker and even at the start of his career he played as an attacking midfielder.
Pele was a great tackler of the ball and once made over 10 tackles in one World Cup game in 1962 helping out defensively so just think about that, when do you see that? It's even rare for a defensive player but from an attacking player to put that kind of shift in it beggars belief beyond phenomenal... As a player in an advanced role further up the pitch you don't make 10 tackles in any match, let alone a World Cup match as an attacking player if you aren't at least considered the greatest, although Garrincha was the star in 1962 which people point out in Pele's absence, it was still always Pele who stood out above everyone else when he took to the football field.

(This whole vid is aspects of just his first World Cup game against Mexico in 1962 compared to other players, he's compared with Patrick Vieira from an amazing display I vaguely remember in the Euros I think.
A lot believe 1962 due to his amazingly bright start would've been Pele's best World Cup without question if not for injury, vid will start from 6:30 minutes just to show the tackles section and will show you just how deep he generally played)


Creatively he's probably the most creative player in history many teammates have testified he created as many chances as ones he had to score, because as I said earlier Pele's real position wasn't actually an outright striker.
Pele played between the lines of midfield and attack in a position quite similar to David Silva from the very start of his career, he played left of centre in attacking midfield area like Dave or Iniesta for Barca.
That's despite the popular opinion he only played deep late in his career, he just lost a lot of his famous energy later on in his career, so with that loss of energy it became more apparent him pulling the strings from deep, but he used to run up and down the pitch with fierce energy similar to what fellow blues say about Colin "The King" Bell, he'd rarely come off the pitch knackered due to his crazy energy levels, which is what gave the illusion of him being a striker with his late runs into the box and goal numbers.
If you watch goal or skill compilations involving Pele he is usually running from deep a lot and from a David Silva/Iniesta type positions, historically before Pele the number 10 in Brazil was given to the attacking midfield playmaker not wing forwards or strikers.

He was a very physical player despite his diminutive stature, very strong and sturdy for his size which lead to him being violently fouled.
Pele was also great in the air too when people go on about Tim Cahill's kangaroo jump, people don't realise Pele had an extraordinary leap of his own that lead to many headed goals in his career.



He is probably the most savagely fouled player in history and likely played most of his career with minor injuries yet still displayed greatness, stick Messi and Cristiano into the brutal era's where Pele Maradona Cruyff and many other skillful geniuses faced brutes getting away with assault, then both these greats from the current era would probably still do very well but would've had far more injuries and far fewer goals.
(Pele being fouled compilation)

 

[Grassland Blue]

Pity he was targeted by the 0in 1966, particularly the Portuguese and Bulgarian defenders.

I remeber seeing on tv a b&w clip of Pele showing the injuries to his legs caused by fouls from other players.
It was almost impossible to get the ball off him so a defenders first thought would be to bring him down. In the 1970 world cup the Brazil manager was careful as to when he would play Pele to try and protect him. (Annoying to us fans who just wanted to see him play!)
It was a hard game in those days and there was no yellow/red card system to reduce the number of bad tackles. In fact, defenders used to boast of being 'tough in the tackle'. (e.g Norman 'bite yer legs' Hunter).
There have been many great players over the years and to pick one as being 'the best' is extremely difficult, but if anyone said to me that it was Pele, I would not argue.

 

[Keeper!]

He was the best player of his generation, comparing players from different era's is simply impossible.

As a player he was magnificent but some of his views and comments about football and players after he retired were plain wrong and weird.

 

[Big mals fedora]

I used to think Pele was overrated in my younger more ignorant days, with loads of people slagging him for completely different reasons, I've come to realise he's actually nowadays especially from younger people very underrated.
One thing people don't get is Pele was always an attacking midfield playmaker type first and foremost, not a striker and even at the start of his career he played as an attacking midfielder.
Pele was a great tackler of the ball and once made over 10 tackles in one World Cup game in 1962 helping out defensively so just think about that, when do you see that? It's even rare for a defensive player but from an attacking player to put that kind of shift in it beggars belief beyond phenomenal... As a player in an advanced role further up the pitch you don't make 10 tackles in any match, let alone a World Cup match as an attacking player if you aren't at least considered the greatest, although Garrincha was the star in 1962 which people point out in Pele's absence, it was still always Pele who stood out above everyone else when he took to the football field.

(This whole vid is aspects of just his first World Cup game against Mexico in 1962 compared to other players, he's compared with Patrick Vieira from an amazing display I vaguely remember in the Euros I think.
A lot believe 1962 due to his amazingly bright start would've been Pele's best World Cup without question if not for injury, vid will start from 6:30 minutes just to show the tackles section and will show you just how deep he generally played)


Creatively he's probably the most creative player in history many teammates have testified he created as many chances as ones he had to score, because as I said earlier Pele's real position wasn't actually an outright striker.
Pele played between the lines of midfield and attack in a position quite similar to David Silva from the very start of his career, he played left of centre in attacking midfield area like Dave or Iniesta for Barca.
That's despite the popular opinion he only played deep late in his career, he just lost a lot of his famous energy later on in his career, so with that loss of energy it became more apparent him pulling the strings from deep, but he used to run up and down the pitch with fierce energy similar to what fellow blues say about Colin "The King" Bell, he'd rarely come off the pitch knackered due to his crazy energy levels, which is what gave the illusion of him being a striker with his late runs into the box and goal numbers.
If you watch goal or skill compilations involving Pele he is usually running from deep a lot and from a David Silva/Iniesta type positions, historically before Pele the number 10 in Brazil was given to the attacking midfield playmaker not wing forwards or strikers.

He was a very physical player despite his diminutive stature, very strong and sturdy for his size which lead to him being violently fouled.
Pele was also great in the air too when people go on about Tim Cahill's kangaroo jump, people don't realise Pele had an extraordinary leap of his own that lead to many headed goals in his career.
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He is probably the most savagely fouled player in history and likely played most of his career with minor injuries yet still displayed greatness, stick Messi and Cristiano into the brutal era's where Pele Maradona Cruyff and many other skillful geniuses faced brutes getting away with assault, then both these greats from the current era would probably still do very well but would've had far more injuries and far fewer goals.
(Pele being fouled compilation)

Most of them were dives

 

[StillBluessinceHydeRoad]

We actually saw very little of Pele. I was 10 in 1958 and didn't understand fully the finer points of the game and I think only one game was televised when several kicked off at the same time. I don't think Pele played in the draw with England and so it was really the semi-final and final before I could really see him, but I remember my uncle shouting out "who the bloody hell is that?" at some piece of magic from Pele, who was then 17! I certainly remember the two goals he got in the final.

In 196 he missed most of the finals through injury and in 1966 he was kicked out of the tournament in the group stages, so it was 1970 before we could see him, but it was worth the wait to see the best player in the world in the best team, but it was worth it.

My opinion is that Pele was a magical, genius of a player. I didn't see enough of him to compare with other players. I would love to have seen Peter Doherty and more of Stanley Matthews and Tom Finney. I wish I could have seen Billy Meredith. I am fortunate to have seen Cruyff, Maradonna and Messi but I see no point in arguing that one is better than another - it was a privilege to see them all, and they represent a level of greatness beyond comparison. But I was a child when I first saw Pele and as a 17 year old he could make us all dream that one day we could play like that. And yet my most vivid memory is of 1958 and a young Pele crying his eyes out at the realisation that he had just won the world cup.

Get well, Pele. PLEASE.

 

[SebastianBlue]

He was the best player of his generation, comparing players from different era's is simply impossible.

As a player he was magnificent but some of his views and comments about football and players after he retired were plain wrong and weird.

Agreed on all counts.