Who is better? Its the ultimate question! This football blog compares Maradona and Messi ahead of next year's World Cup Who do you prefer? And will they work well together in South Africa next summer??? I would be keen to hear your thoughts.
I dont think that its fair to Messi to compare him to Maradona so young. This would be a more valid comparison when Messi is 34 or so.
Only because his quiet right now, let's see how he acts when he gets older and more mature. Remember we don't know what he's thinking. In that sense he's more measured than Diego, where Diego just doesn't give a crap and says what's on his mind.
What has that to do with anything? I really don't care in a players capacity what their private lives are like, on the pitch Diego was the best, period. Messi is a phenom, but still green, he also does not have that little extra something Diego had, we can see this allready.
Indeed. As a player Maradona is the best ever and Messi is a kid who has the potential to become something great. Can he take place with Pele and Maradona as an ultimate football legend... only time will tell. Maybe if Leo brings us our 3rd title next summer... We can discuss endlessly about club football, and how utterly amazing Diego was in Napoli. But for the general public it's the World Cup where real legends are made. What Diego did in Mexico 86 is unique... and he's also a hero and a villain... Elvis of football... the King (in good and bad). And tragic and controversial characters are always much more exciting... and have much more "mystique" surrounding them. Do I think Diego is bit of an idiot? Yes, but I still love him... I don't think there is a player who genuinely loves football and his country more than Diego. He's a true football fan and a legend extraordinaire. But at the same time he's absolutely the WORST possible head coach for this team... with the worst possible characteristics for the job: he's emotional, over-impulsive and paranoid... the list goes on... on the field he was able to make miracles and win the games alone (against Brazil in 1990 for example, with knee injuries and all...) When he was playing I always felt safe... he always had some magic card in his pocket. [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PA0-U3RsOKY"]YouTube - Argentina - Brazil 1990 Italy World Cup[/ame] Is Messi a player like that... someone that can alone take a lousy team to the World Cup final... and be the ultimate leader? I seriously doubt it. Even a crappy team with Diego on the lineup was a potential title contender... Messi is amazing and he can be visually stunning... but as a total player he's not even close to Diego's level yet.
Messi is good but won't ever be as good as Maradona. The only thing you can compare is Messi's dribbling ability with Maradona. He doesn't have the free kicks, bicycle kicks, leadership skills technique and play making skills that Maradona had. He's just a fast dribbler with good finishing skills. He can't learn these things, you're just born with it.
Messi's play-making (killer passes). This stuff is beautiful: [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oTIEpqMwCbk"]YouTube- Messi Assists[/ame]
Yeah he can do some good passes but I think he just isn't as skillful and influential as Maradona. The closest player to Maradona in terms of ability was Ronaldinho but he didn't reach his potential.
Maradona at 22 wasn't Maradona yet. We'll see. Obviously the odds are against Messi to become the best or second best player in history.
Some people say that Maradona was at his best when he was playing in Argentina. Even then he had much more skills and was more complete than Messi. Messi is very good but more one dimensional than Maradona.
Well at 22 Maradona, like Messi, hadn't shown what he could do on the international level in a WC but he had been performing at a very high level for years already. Just check out some of his numbers at Argentinos Juniors and Boca. When he was transfered to Barcelona at that age it was a world record fee.
So all that sounds like Messi right now at the same age. High level for the club for years, a world record transfer which would happen except he and Barcelona are very happy together. He just needs to step it up and continue to improve and accomplish rather than plateau at this point. Unfortunately, Messi's biggest obstacle to national team success right now is guess who as his Argentina manager.
I think it is not about how many titles will Messi accomplish..for sure he will accomplish more than Maradona in this regard..but I think it is about the quality and enjoyment that you get from watching the two players..Diego is way better..and can be compared to Zidane no one else..