Pele - was he that good? And why ?

The 1970 World cup he was brilliant the whole tournament.
So good as a 10 year old I got his Puma Pele football boots.
That team was the best international side ever in my lifetime.
Pele was the greatest until Diego came on the scene.
 
He was a great player alone but was lucky to have played in some great Brazilian teams. The Mexico 70 squad takes some beating and his record for Santos was unbelievable
 
I vaguely remember the 1970 world cup and Pele was the main man there, but given he played for Santos most of his career where most games weren't televised, i doubt many people outside Brazil actually knew how good Pele was. I suppose asking fans of a Santos forum how good Bobby Moore was is a similar comparison ?
 
Excellent striker….but who needs that anymore??
Useless at tracking back, tackling and his haircuts were…boring.
Never played at Stoke on a wet windy Tuesday night so difficult to say if he was as good as Jon Macken or Lee Bradbury.
 
was Tommy Farr as good as Ali? Was Tyson as good as Fury? Was Finney as good as Francis? Was Barnes as good as Sterling? Its very hard to get it considered across the ages.......yes at the time Pele was the best people had seen but how much did they see? There wasn't wall to wall live coverage like we have today. Messi and Ronaldo are probably the best to compare - EVERYTHING is on view but I wouldn't like to say Pele was the best ever
 
urban genie said:
Thry say garinncha was better and but for injury would have outshone Pele.

Pele was obvioulsy one of the best, how good he was I couldn't say as I wasn't born.
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Oddly, an ex’s Dad always said this, he had the pleasure of watching ‘Little Bird’ at Goodson in 66 in the flesh as well, he knew his football and coached at a decent level (back then anyway) and certainly wasn’t prone to hyperbole, so I’d tend to take his word on it.

Pele, my memories, incredible player, didn’t have that beautiful fluidity and grace of Maradona, but every bit as effective and knew where the net was.

My favourite Brazilian though, Socrates.
 
bennyboy said:
The 1970 World cup he was brilliant the whole tournament.
So good as a 10 year old I got his Puma Pele football boots.
That team was the best international side ever in my lifetime.
Pele was the greatest until Diego came on the scene.
Click to expand...
Pele, Rivelino, Jairzinho amongst others, what a fantastic team that was. The best International team I have ever seen.
Little to choose between Pele and Maradona on the pitch, but light years apart off it.
And then there was the 'hand of god' goal...
 
On a cold February night in 1972 I, along with 3 mates went down to Villa Park to watch them play Santos. Santos came to this country to play “friendlies” for a set price to earn money. The playing surface wasn’t bad for the era, only about 4 inches deep in mud. Pele played a deep role (whoa merging thread on deep lying forwards) he sprayed passes all round the place, exceptional, even had Villa fans applauding. Went on some great runs, going past defenders like they weren’t there In the second half. Glad I saw him, even if it was a non competitive game. A great of the game, every era has them. Pleased I’ve seen a few.
 
He was brilliant - only on Bluemoon!!
In other threads
Was Pavarotti a good Singer?
Could Rembrandt paint?
Was Beethoven any good at music?

Yes he played with good players but he stood out as head and shoulders above them too. The converse of that argument would suggest that Eusebio must be the most underrated player ever then.
 
Bluesince1979 said:
Following on from the Peter Doherty thread, was Pele that good?
Before my time but where as you see countless reels of maradonna, best, messi etc , all lauded as being the best at the time, you only see bits of Pele.

So .. for those that saw him play, was he the best and if so why?
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Used to have The Boys from Brazil, WC 1970 video

Well worth a watch if you can find it online. Perhaps the most entertaining national team ever?
 
A cousin worked at Ringway airport and was on duty in 1966 when Brazil flew to Manchester. My cousin got several autographs and passed then to me. For some reason, Pele signed his full name, I didn't recognise "Do Nascimento" as Pele, I didn't keep his autograph.
 
GaudinoMotors said:
He was brilliant - only on Bluemoon!!
In other threads
Was Pavarotti a good Singer?
Could Rembrandt paint?
Was Beethoven any good at music?

Yes he played with good players but he stood out as head and shoulders above them too. The converse of that argument would suggest that Eusebio must be the most underrated player ever then.
Click to expand...
Gerd Muller for me
 
urban genie said:
Thry say garinncha was better and but for injury would have outshone Pele.

Pele was obvioulsy one of the best, how good he was I couldn't say as I wasn't born.
Click to expand...

Garrincha never had the professionalism so that's quite a hard sell from whoever is claiming it.

I'd put Rivelino as having more to his game than Garrincha from the clips I have seen online.
 
Fode N The Hole said:
Garrincha never had the professionalism so that's quite a hard sell from whoever is claiming it.

I'd put Rivelino as having more to his game than Garrincha from the clips I have seen online.
Click to expand...
Rivelino was poor in the 74 world cup.
Same with Jairzinho as well.
Scotland should have beat them in the 74 World Cup.
 
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