So many players, legends,coaches have voiced their opinion as to who is the best overall player between these two so i will be posting up some of those articles so you can take a look at what professionals are saying and then i want to hear from you, who you think is best.
C.Ronaldo teamate Marcelo says Messi is best in the world http://www.goal.com/en-gb/news/3277...marcelo-messi-is-the-best-player-in-the-world New spanish article where Pele says Messi is better than C.Ronaldo http://www.mediotiempo.com/futbol/i...dera-que-messi-es-mejor-que-cristiano-ronaldo
Ibrahimovic says Messi is best http://www.goal.com/en/news/12/spai...essi-is-all-talent-while-ronaldo-is-a-product C.Ronaldo talks about his comparison to Messi http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/fo...-like-comparing-a-Ferrari-with-a-Porsche.html Kaka says Ronaldo is a more complete player http://www.ronaldo7.net/news/archiv...ldo-is-a-more-complete-player-than-messi.html
Carlos Tevez “His speed is astonishing. It’s amazing how he can go 1 to 100 in just one second. I’m constantly around great players like Cristiano and Rooney, But this guy is just a step up above every other great footballer out there at the moment, Not only is he quick, determined, and extremely intelligent on the ball, but his movement off the ball is just as fantastic – unbelievable to sum it up in a word.” Maradona “I have seen the player who will inherit my place in Argentine football and his name is Messi. Messi is a genius and he can become an even better player.” “His potential is limitless and I think he’s got everything it takes to become Argentina’s greatest player.” “Messi I think is like me, he is the best in the world along with Ronaldinho.” Theirry Henry “I have the possibility to watch Messi in training each morning, and because of what he demonstrates he is the best player in the world, he stated during a press conference. It is a pleasure to watch him, and because of the way he plays he is an undisputed leader of the Barcelona team.” Antonio Cassano “Ronaldinho is better than Cristiano Ronaldo, but neither are as good as Leo Messi.” Ronaldinho “Every time he plays, Leo Messi reminds me more of Maradona, both left-footed and short, Messi is the best player in the world, along with Kaká and Cristiano Ronaldo. For us it is not a surprise. Since he began to come and train with us and we knew we would go down this path. Someday I will explain that I was at the birth of one of the footballing greats: Leo Messi.”
Messi is better, but very overated. Let's say he was no Pele or Maradona. Ronaldo is underrated. I don't think he is that far behind Messi.
Havent seen enough of pele to truly say if hes overrated, but maradona wow, that guy was incredibly gifted. I wouldnt call him overrated, if anything (his talent at least) is underrated because he didnt win as many trophies as other legends like pele
“Messi I think is like me, he is the best in the world along with Ronaldinho.” He's quite a confident man
Yes, perhaps, both of them are overrated, but that's another discussion. Messi, I feel, is not even Cruyff, Platini or Garrincha. He might eventually reach their level, but at this point, I cannot understand why people considered him as the best ever. Those people overrated him and that was what I was saying. Ronaldo and Messi actually shared the same teammates. Both have Higuain and Di Maria on their sides. I don't think it mattered much, but that is actually unique in history. The Pele-Maradona debate always ended with Pele having Garrincha, Rivelino, etc while Maradona got no one.
I dont think he was overly better than Platini or Zico for example he was better just not vastly superior, hard to explain I guess and subjective at best
oh yeah no doubt Messi is overated its quite a human to overate things (people, places, food) we like
It has also to do with commerialism. It's the interest of adidas to say that Messi is the best ever and the power of marketing is at a different level since Pele and Maradona. Nike would have done the same with Ronaldo 7 if Real Madrid has the same successes as Barcelona. Actually, they did try to push for Ronaldo(Brazil) as the best ever when he was with Barcelona.
Not really convinced about the subjectivity element. I suppose every player has their own unique style of play some people might enjoy watching more than others, such as the zidane for example, thats subjective i guess. But who is the better player and by how much is also subjective? i dont think it is if you put bias to one side, i think maradona was better at dribbling than zico by a distance and better technique by a distance, i dont think that is subjective, it seems quite plain, whilst their passing and goalscoring abilities seem quite similar, maradona seems to have an "x factor" that zico doesnt. If someone impartial were to watch zicos 50 best games, and then maradonas 50 best games, id guess maradona would be the overwhelming choice. Another thing, zico rarely makes any top 10 list, if he really is close to maradona why are many others ranked better than him?
because people rank and make lists based on their biased perspectives if zico's brazil 82 had won a wc, perspective on him would have changed and can almost gurantee he would make top 10 lists
Interesting, this is just speculation but if germany had beaten argentina in 86 do you think maradonas ranking would be downgraded to a similar extent? i doubt it would as much, some players like puskas, cruyff and di stefano didnt win the world cup but still usually rank in most top 5s Personally i dont find it logical to compare players based on titles as most people do, football is about teams, teams win and lose trophies not individuals. I think its more important to compare players performances, sometimes great performances dont win titles, maradona could have had the same performance in 86 and if his teammates failed to score in the final he would go away without the trophy. Would people think differently of him? if so i find it irrational
It is based on age and trust of past rankings. How many of us got to see all of those typically ranked in the top 10 to 20 for their entire careers? I would dare say nobody. So we have to trust other's perspectives. For example, why is Platini constantly ranked above Zico? How is possible to rank those that played 40 or 50 years ago in comparison to the the players of today, like Messi or CR7? Can you imagine CR7 playing on that Portugal/Benfica team of the 1960s? Would he have rivaled DiStafano or Puskas? How about Messi playing along side Maradona? Would they have been able to coexist in the same team? Truly, I think Messi/CR7 is one of the best comparisons of great players. Both are similar players, of similar age, playing in the same league, for two of the biggest clubs. Neither has a major trophy with the national team, and both have long lists of individual awards. But then what does it mean to compare them with history? A quick Messi v. DiStafano seems unfair. But with a career half the length of DiStafano, Messi has accumulated an comparable number of club trophies. And that must be considering that Real Madrid at the time of DiStafan, Puskas, Kopa, et al, was probably the greatest club team ever. Surely they were far and above anybody of the day. The same could not be said of today's level (Real or Barca), and the over all depth of both talent and tactical knowledge. So how do we say they are better than those in the past? Messi has six more club trophies then Zizou, but does that mean he is better? Cruyff has more trophies than CR7, but many of them are from the Dutch league and that unique Ajax team. Does that mean CR7 is better because he has always played in "more competitive" leagues (minus his first professional season)? Rankings such as these are always biased, based on our perceptions. Personally, I will always have a knock against CR7 simply because he played for ManU (a club I dislike) and Real Madird (a club I loath). But does his massive transfer fee mean he is the best player of the era?
I actually do think that if maradona had not won 86 he would not be talked up alongside Pele, its how these players are judged he would be remembred as having failed 3 times to win the wc, add his antics on and off the field and no way is he thought of as greatest or second greatest ever he would be in that group that currently follows Pele, alongside Puskas and Cruyft and Garrincha etc ask yourself this, why isnt DiStefano ranked higher than Diego? is the difference in how we perceive them a world cup title? if Alfredo had a wc and diego didnt, who would be seen as the better player? im guessing it would be Alfredo
Well .. first of all "overate" is a relative term ... (as if compared to what reference) No one is underated nor overated by himself For that sense, as being ranked mostly and world widely as #1 and #2 respectively, I particularly do not think Pele and Maradona were overated at all = for they were and are #1 and #2 without a doubt! In other hand if one would say Pele and Maradona were like >>>>> (hugely better) Cruijff, Platini, Zico, or some extent Zidane, Ronaldo and messi then they might be "overated" by those ones. However, it's not the case here and they were "BETTER" than the names above surely - from skillsets to their "AFFECTS" on the teams (to win) I have not watched much of Di Stefao, Puskas and some others pre-war (Leonedas, Zizinho, Moreno, Varela, Meazza ...) to judge them. So here in this case, "titles" and "performances of big games" became DOMINANT and rightly so= the two would still emerge on top of them all. Pele was a special case as he was so "complete" in term of titles + performance + longevity! Therefore his #1 place is SECURED! Maradona lacked of some "titles" but his WC86 and Napoli87-89 were there to back him up to #2. Without WC86, I believe Maradona would be ranked in the same breadth of Di Stefano and Cruijff ( still in TOP5) Zico was a particular case of "underated" - again it's relative. As he was at least in same level of Platini, Garrincha, Best ... in skillset and peformance. However, what separated them apart was Garrincha WC62, and Platini Euro84. To some extent, many (younger generation) even consider Zidane HIGHER - again for his WC and Euro. ===================================================== Now back to reality and present time! Messi and CR7 are somewhat "overated" for their GOALS in liga last couple of years - thanks to Barca greatness and Real 2nd galacticos! They both are skillful and joyful to watch no doubt. But after 4imes failure to imprint their talent on international games i.e. WC/Copa (Messi) and WC/Euro (CR7) during their PEAK form, I have to conclude their talent is somewhat LIMITED within a scenarios or teams to excel - not like Pele/Maradona/Gariincha/Cruijff/Zico/Ronaldo/Zidane/Playini .... as top all timers ... Well at least they have 2 more chances: Euro12 and WC14 for CR7 and WC14 + 18? for Messi to IMPRINT their names in history
I do agree with Zico. I always put him behind Platini, Garrincha or Zidane because he basically choked at the most important games of his career. I do believe that separated him from the names I mentioned above. This is a special list. There were only a few names can be mentioned on the list so one big game can make a big difference. Having said that, I do not care much about the ranking. I only ranked 1) Pele, 2) Maradona and 3rd Di Stefano. After that, I ranked Cruyff and Beckenbauer as 4th and 5th, but I could not really make up my mind about the order. From 6th to 20th, I changed my mind everyday. Puskas, Garrincha, Platini, Ronald(Brazil), Zico, Maldini, Matthews, Barsei, Best, Eusebio, Zidane, Yashin, Banks, Van Basten, Mueller, Charlton, Best, etc. are all in that catagory. I do not think it really matters if Garrincha is ranked 6th or 20th. The list is very subjective and the gap is very narrow. That was what I am saying. Messi is overrated by some, namely people who considered him as good as Pele and Maradona. He is not even close. In the end, he will be around 11 or 12. . Ronaldo is underrated because he was not far behind from Messi. He will probably go down in the top 50 along with players such as Sivori, Mazzola, Figo, Rivaldo, etc.
If Di Stefano has a WC title, he might be higher than Pele. This is all about perspective. Di Stefano is a special case. No one really saw him at his peak while playing in Colombia or even his time with River Plate. He got a good supporting cast at Real Madrid. So he won a lot of titles. So he made up a lot of ground for the lack of a World Cup perofrmance. Besides, he did not have a bad World Cup because he really did not have one. So we cannot say that he never won the WC. His supporting cast was so good that also offered a good measuring stick for him. We all knew that he supposed to be best among Kopa, Gento, Puskas, Didi, etc. On top of that, both Pele and Maradona were saying good things about him. Let's say Maradona did not want to say that Pele is the best ever or he was better than Pele so he said "Di Stefano was the best". I believed that was what he said in his autobiography. Pele said something similiar on his too.