Do you realize the context of this discussion? Here we talked of Maradona's era and players in his time ... and Maradona had nearly 2 decades Career of course
If messi doesnt win a world cup he will never be on the same lists as pele and maradona. Besides Neymar is already on his way to join messi and maybe surpass him as the best of this generation. Brasil is never short on talent and will always be on top over argentina. []__[]
Messi has already surpassed Maradona in many lists. Neymar isn't even as good as Messi was at his age.
First he has to surpass Oscar, Hazard, Valencia, etc. Step 2 is passing your typical world class players. Step 3 is surpassing premium world-class players (e.g. CRonaldo, Ronaldinho, etc), step 4 is surpassing Messi. So too early to even compare Neymar with the Messiah!
Why Xavi isn't that great is well argued here by others than me: https://www.bigsoccer.com/community/...onsider-this-current-era-weak.1943488/page-17
Ah yes, the old "system makes him look better than he is" argument. Yeah, I've heard it before. Even if there was some truth to that argument, then it applies to guys like Busquets, Pedro, Pique, Alves, etc. Not the guy(s) who run the system. Not the focal point. If it only took an ordinary player to run a system that is so successful, more teams would do it.
That is not the only thing that is said there, also the relative lack of technical skills and 'completeness'. People pin down Iniesta but relative to the amount of passes Xavi make, the actual danger he creates is minimal. Not saying that Gascoigne is markedly better but he was a tackler, had wingplay, could score etcetera. Did Xavi ever made such a goal? That Xavi has the opportunity to make unchallenged 100+ passes in a game is in itself also a sign of lack of competition. No one has ever done that before to that extent. Not because they were worse technically but because they had not the opportunity.
Actually Gazza didn't score that much either so its not a big advantage over Xavi. What do you mean by worse competition? Xavi doesn't have a tonne of technical skills but he works hard on the field of play and his sense of awareness of players around him is unmatched. That's why his passing stats don't go down even against top opposition that presses higher up the field (e.g. Real Madrid). Xavi is the best defender in the world ATM and has been for years. The way in which he defends is unique. This is proven by fact with Spain's and Barca's defensive records despite ordinary (and ever-changing) central defenders. Again, if anybody could do Xavi's job, why aren't they?
People responding to a thread by ---Z--- who has a troll face as his avatar and taking him seriously? Jeebus.
opinions, opinions, opinions bias opinions... only lists that have messi ahead of maradona are spain and barca fans.. and neymar is already better than messi was at 20 tons better oscar, hazard, valencia? lololol you're just a hater... neymar is already world class and is already on the level of ronaldinho and cronaldo and only a matter of time before he surpasses messi []__[]
lol bias opinions once again but keep it up we can go like these all day and you wont prove anything but only that you dont like neymar and that you are a messi and barca fan that hates the fact that neymar might surpass messi soon []__[]
Not really. Messi finished 3rd in Ballon d'Or and 2nd in FIFA WPOTY when he was even younger than Neymar is now. Unless you think journalists, captains and coaches are biased more towards Messi for some odd reason.
When you grow up enough, move to a country where there is schools, study, and when you have learnt to form proper sentences, come back.
not bias towards messi but bias towards players in european clubs... the ballon d'or is an european award not a world award []__[]
Neymar is nothing compared to messi, the two should not even be mentioned in the same sentence. Brazil has fallen a long way, they went from Romario to Ronaldo to Ronaldinho to Kaka, to.... Neymar. as their golden boy. What is a neymar? is it a foreign object? sounds like a bug? did his parents throw pots and pans down the stairs to come up with such a name? here are players better than Neymar currently, Lionel Messi, Andres Iniesta, Xavi, Dmitar Berbatov, Casillas, Cristiano Ronaldo, the entire Spain national team not yet mentioned individually one by one except for negredo, several retired/past their prime Spanish players such as Raul Gonzalez, Raul Bravo and Guti. Italian players such as Andrea Pirlo, Maggio, El Sharaway, Balotelli, Chilleni, several Germany players such as Ozil, Podolski, Gomez, Portuguese players such as Joao Moutinho, Bruno Alves, Coentrao, Meireles and Pepe, Argentine players such as everyone except Di Maria, Gomis. Neymar wouldnt crack the Colombian National team (ranked 5th in world now) ahead of Jackson Martinez, Falcao, or James Rodriguez... 80% of dutch forwards are better than neymar, other south americans like Antonio Vaencia, Filipe Caiceido, Matias Fernandez, Alexis Sanchez> this thing called Neymar. that egyptian player before named Mido (donno if he still plays) but he was also better than Neymar, so was Alvaro Recoba, Carlos Valderama, Santiago Solari, cristian vieri was better, so was vincenzo montella. Even Spain's youth prospects like Jese Rodriguez, Rodrigo, Cuenca, tello, are superior to Neymar.
Neymar celebration resembles him imagining he is about to eat a hamburger in joy to solve his malnourishment. either that or getting ready to suck the big one with the rest of his countrymen when Lionel Messi leads the ALBICELESTE to victory in Brazil in 2014. Maracanazo part TWO
This is the funniest and yet most ridiculous comment from you (and there are many others). How little is your brain to think that only tall players are in great physical shape? This has nothing to with height! The key to understanding it is the word "physical". What are the physical elements of the game, James? Let's see how much you really know.....
Are you high or delusional? Neymar is no where near Messi at the moment. Keep dreaming, amigo. Neymar can't get anywhere near Messi until he comes and plays somewhere in Europe, soon. And even then, there are no guarantees how well he is going to play, let alone match Messi. The way Messi is playing, there is no telling when he is going to have a decline anytime soon. In general, I agree that Brazil has more talented players through the year than Argentina. But....two of the very best/greatest players in the history may end up being from Argentina. And let's not forget DiStefano as well, so there could be three of the Top5. Arguably Maradona and DiStefano are already 2 players in the Top5, along with Pele, Cruijff and Beckenbauer. You know how the saying goes "it's not the quantity, it's the quality that matters".
cant take Z seriously since he is a portugal guy and the jealousy is too big for him to think clearly... heck even players that are fifth and sixth in their positions for brasil can make the portugal national team first 11... lol []__[]
Likewise, you wont prove anything either. FYI, your opinion is just as biased as anyone else's. It's a fact that when Messi was Neymar's age, he was already voted and declared in the Top3. You may call this biased towards European based players, but then it's not anybody's fault that Neymar is stuck in Brazil under his own wishes until 2014.
is also a fact that ballon d'or is a subjective opinion based award... is also a fact that messi only has one goal at the world cup the biggest stage and best competition in the world... []__[]