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Lionel Messi

To be fair, Argentina have got to 3 major finals in a row, so it's not like Messi has done terribly. Fine margins, especially losing on penalties or in extra time. He hasn't inspired them in the way that Maradona did of course, but Maradona didn't dominate club football in the way that Messi has done for a decade or so. You can pick holes in any player's record, but Messi is up there with anyone who has ever played the game. At his best, he's the best player I've ever seen. Combine Iniesta, Xavi and add Ronaldo's goalscoring and you have Messi.
 
Winning world cups or not, Messi is the greatest player of all time imo 10 times better than the likes of Pele, Maradonna, Best etc.
 
Winning world cups or not, Messi is the greatest player of all time imo 10 times better than the likes of Pele, Maradonna, Best etc.

Not sure i agree with that Messi is the best in the world now for me but Maradona was just as good if not better, and Best was playing at the top on ploughed fields when defenders got away with kicking you in the air, he would be up there with the very best ( Ronald and Messi) in todays game as well.
 
Not sure i agree with that Messi is the best in the world now for me but Maradona was just as good if not better, and Best was playing at the top on ploughed fields when defenders got away with kicking you in the air, he would be up there with the very best ( Ronald and Messi) in todays game as well.

They played against defenders who smoke 40 a day and drink regularly after games (some even drunk at half time). If they were against athletes of today, they would not be as good imo.
 
maradona didnt play anything like as many domestic games as Messi does, think about all the extra CL games compared to the old european cup, then there are the pre season tours all over the world, messi has never been fresh for a summer tournament. In sunday;s game a mixture of the ref and questionable argentina tactics has his hands tied behind his back. But watching him play for his national team, he doesn't have the same spirit you see when he's at the Noucamp.
 
Didn't Messi miss the first couple of games? yet he was still second top scorer and got the most assists.
 
They played against defenders who smoke 40 a day and drink regularly after games (some even drunk at half time). If they were against athletes of today, they would not be as good imo.

I agree its a different game nowadays, however the structure that todays players follow would have made the likes of Best and Maradona even better then they were then. Its a pointless debate because no one knows for sure.
 
They played against defenders who smoke 40 a day and drink regularly after games (some even drunk at half time). If they were against athletes of today, they would not be as good imo.


But they would be as good . because they would be playing today. Provide Best, Greaves, Charlton et al modern training methods, pitches etc and they would dominate just as much as they did in their own eras. Ronaldo et al not so much because they are pussies.
 
To be fair, Argentina have got to 3 major finals in a row, so it's not like Messi has done terribly. Fine margins, especially losing on penalties or in extra time. He hasn't inspired them in the way that Maradona did of course, but Maradona didn't dominate club football in the way that Messi has done for a decade or so. You can pick holes in any player's record, but Messi is up there with anyone who has ever played the game. At his best, he's the best player I've ever seen. Combine Iniesta, Xavi and add Ronaldo's goalscoring and you have Messi.
... but Maradona dragged a small, relatively unsuccessful club known as Napoli to win the league title a couple of times. He was an orchestrator bar none, in a way you wouldn't see players being nowadays. His influence was immense at club and national side level.
 
... but Maradona dragged a small, relatively unsuccessful club known as Napoli to win the league title a couple of times. He was an orchestrator bar none, in a way you wouldn't see players being nowadays. His influence was immense at club and national side level.

I think it's a little bit of a myth that he did that on his own. He went there in 1984 for a world record fee, and they took until the 86-87 season to win the league. They had to bring in other players to get the job done, though of course Maradona was the main inspiration. They had other big players like Careca, who got 5 goals for Brazil at the 1986 world cup. And Ciro Ferrara at the back, who went on to win loads more league titles with Juventus. When Maradona left, the club started to go skint and ended up selling their other star players and so faded away.

I'm not saying Maradona wasn't the difference maker, he clearly was. But he didn't go there and do it on his own, Napoli were a good team at that time who spent big for a brief period and bought in some star players.
 
I think it's a little bit of a myth that he did that on his own. He went there in 1984 for a world record fee, and they took until the 86-87 season to win the league. They had to bring in other players to get the job done, though of course Maradona was the main inspiration. They had other big players like Careca, who got 5 goals for Brazil at the 1986 world cup. And Ciro Ferrara at the back, who went on to win loads more league titles with Juventus. When Maradona left, the club started to go skint and ended up selling their other star players and so faded away.

I'm not saying Maradona wasn't the difference maker, he clearly was. But he didn't go there and do it on his own, Napoli were a good team at that time who spent big for a brief period and bought in some star players.
Agreed, no player can do it on their own, but for sure Napoli did achieve success because they did get him - for inspiration, and to attract other players. No other player at that time could have done what he did.
 
Agreed, no player can do it on their own, but for sure Napoli did achieve success because they did get him - for inspiration, and to attract other players. No other player at that time could have done what he did.

I agree with that. And I don't think Messi can inspire a team in the way that Maradona did Napoli and Argentina. Maradona had that mad genius thing, a gift and a curse. He was a force of nature. In a way, that allowed him to do the things he did with Napoli and Argentina, but maybe Messi being a more stable character means he can produce an absurd level of consistent excellence even if his nature doesn't allow him to be such an inspiration as Maradona was.
 
I agree with that. And I don't think Messi can inspire a team in the way that Maradona did Napoli and Argentina. Maradona had that mad genius thing, a gift and a curse. He was a force of nature. In a way, that allowed him to do the things he did with Napoli and Argentina, but maybe Messi being a more stable character means he can produce an absurd level of consistent excellence even if his nature doesn't allow him to be such an inspiration as Maradona was.

Maradona also had multiple clubs, played different systems, with different players.

The Messi fanboys will refuse to accept their idol has flaws, but the reality is, he has played for one club since a kid, that club has one specific style of play and ever since it was obvious of his quality, the team has been built around him, to give him the best chance of success (which he has taken). However when put into a situation where he has to adapt (Argentina), despite being surrounded by other talented players, he has looked merely good (not an all time great like we see at Barca).

Latest rumour is he's taking to Cheat$ki because he feels unloved by Barca as he thinks they didn't back him enough in the tax fraud case.
 
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