If Diego Maradona said those words about Franco Baresi than that is just another example of Maradona not being a reliable eyewitness(even to events that he was directly responsible for) Here was Diego Maradona 1984/85 treating Franco Baresi like any random player
True generally speaking. But this generally true trend is itself time-variant! Of course, you see, Bolt is objectively way faster than Jesse Owens, it is a measurable fact, not an opinion. But in football this very straightforward kind of comparison does not apply. And, you know, you always (in any field of human activities) incur the "law of diminishing returns". That is, at first you can improve at a very strong pace. Then further improvement is more and more difficult, and the rate diminishes. And this in turn is true when same conditions hold, indeed technology can be a "game changer" itself (I remember a TED speaker maintaing that, and supporting his opinion with a big chunk of data, spectacular amount of records breaking in track-and-field in the 21st century is more down to that than to truly stronger athletes) . And, maybe even more important, footbal has pretty much changed as a whole game. Required skillset has changed, training goals too. So all in all personally I think that comparison of players does make sense only within a certain time frame. I wolud say within this periodization 1)heroic football (pre war) 2)post war football (50 and 60) 3)classic football (WC 70 to WC 86) 4)modern football (from Sacchi's Milan to say WC 2006) 5)contemporary football (era of the tiki-taka (are we already living the post-taka?))
Milan's defense in those years with Maldini at left back, Tassotti on the right, Baresi as libero and Costacurta or Galli as stoppers was incredible. Franco Baresi and Paolo Maldini , together played 400 games and conceded 298 goals, averaging 22.9 goals per season. That is an incredible statistic. I saw them live at the World Cup Final in Pasadena and Brazil couldn't even make a dent on Italy's defense. Gigi Appoloni , Roberto Mussi and Antonio Benarrivo were all along for the ride but that final was all Maldini and Baresi.
Diego Maradona 1984/85 vs Milan away Napoli lost this match 2-1 with an assist by Diego not included in this video Apparently Guerin Sportivo awarded Diego Maradona an 8/10 for this performance vs Milan (which is meant to be a remarkable rating if i understand correctly) That is (at least based on the available footage) a very generous rating IMO
Maradona was past it physically when Napoli won their 2 scudettos. He was fatter, less agile and struggled to leave defenders behind due to diminishing acceleration. There's no way he was the one man army as he is claimed to be by lazy fans and journalists.
Careca was the most lethal striker at the end of the eighties. His contribution to Napoli Uefa cup 89 (but also scudetto 90, though he had been hampered by physical issues for most of that season) is always underestimated or nearly completely overlooked. Superior to overrated Van Basten, faster, better dribbler, better shooter. Careca in Sacchi's AC Milan backed by the likes of Gullit Donadoni Evani Ancellotti would have surely scored more than MVB.