George Best Vs Pele Vs Maradona

Discussion in 'Players & Legends' started by markcarrick, May 5, 2025.

  1. markcarrick

    markcarrick Member

    Jul 4, 2014
    Club:
    Chelsea FC
    I was wondering how people would rank George Best vs Pele vs Maradona regarding specific attributes. Many regard Best as the most gifted player they have ever seen, especially in the British Isles and Ireland where I reside. I was wondering how people wud rank the trio in the specific attributes listed below compared to each other.

    Agility
    Dribbling
    Passing
    Crossing
    shooting/finishing
    reading of the game
    anticipation
    heading
    defending
     
    Gregoire repped this.
  2. carlito86

    carlito86 Member+

    Jan 11, 2016
    Club:
    Real Madrid
    #2 carlito86, May 5, 2025
    Last edited: May 5, 2025
    Agility
    Best >Maradona >Pele


    Dribbling
    Best > Maradona > Pele



    Passing
    Maradona > Pelé > Best



    Crossing
    Maradona > Best > Pele



    shooting/finishing
    Pelé > Best > maradona



    reading of the game
    Pelé > Maradona > Best


    heading
    Pelé > Best > Maradona


    defending
    Best >Pele > Maradona
     
  3. PDG1978

    PDG1978 Member+

    Mar 8, 2009
    Club:
    Nottingham Forest FC
    To be honest my impression might even match Carlito's exactly.

    Maybe putting numbers to it, with 10 being 'as good as any player':
    Agility: Best 9.25, Maradona 9, Pele 8.5
    Dribbling: Best 10, Maradona 9.75 (or 10), Pele 9.5
    Passing: Maradona 9.25, Pele 8.75. Best 7.25
    Crossing: Maradona 9.25, Best 8.5, Pele 8
    Shooting/finishing: Pele 10, Best 8.5, Maradona 8
    Reading of the game: Pele 9.5, Maradona 9.25, Best 7.75
    Heading: Pele 9.5, Best 8.25, Maradona 7
    Defending: Best 7.5, Pele 7.25, Maradona 6.5

    Adding Anticipation as per the OP (meaning more instinctive than reading of the game which would be to do with awareness, vision etc): Pele 9.75, Best 9.25, Maradona 8.75

    That's a rough attempt off the top of my head based on the impressions I formed I guess anyway.
     
    msioux75 repped this.
  4. Wiliam Felipe Gracek

    Santos FC
    France
    Feb 3, 2024
    Agility .... Maradona 99 or 96 ..... Pelé == George Best .........90 or 94


    Dribbling...... Maradona ....99 or 97 ........ Pelé == Georege Bets ....95 or 98 ..


    Passing Pelé ... 96 ............ Maradona .... 95 ......George Best .... 87 or 89


    Crossing George Best .... == Maradona ..... 90 or 95 ....... Pelé .... 90-92 ...


    shooting/finishing Pelé .......... 96 or 98 ..... George Best ...85;........ Maradona 84 ...



    reading of the game Pelé 99 or 95 .......... Maradona ....86 or 93 .....George Best ....79



    anticipation... Pelé 99 .....or 96 ..........Maradona .... 85-87...... George Best 83 ..84


    heading.....Pelé ..... 96 or 93 ............. ..George Best .... 79 or 83... Maradona ..... 74 or 83 ..


    defending.......... Pelé ..... 69 or 73 .....Maradona ..... 59 or 55 ....... George Best .... 45 or 48 ..
     
  5. Wiliam Felipe Gracek

    Santos FC
    France
    Feb 3, 2024
    All Attributes



    Pelé >>>> Diego Maradona >> George Best .. !
     
  6. markcarrick

    markcarrick Member

    Jul 4, 2014
    Club:
    Chelsea FC
    Interesting responses, I thought Pele was at least as good as Best in regards to defending. I would be interested in hearing @PuckVanHeel thoughts on the comparisons between the trio.
     
  7. Gregoire

    Gregoire Member

    Mar 22, 2011
    Agility - Pele, Maradona, Best
    Dribbling - Pele, Maradona, Best
    Passing - Maradona, Pele, Best
    Crossing - Best, Maradona, Pele
    shooting/finishing - Pele, Best, Maradona
    reading of the game - Pele, Maradona, Best
    anticipation - Pele, Maradona, Best
    heading - Pele, Best, Maradona
    defending - Pele, Maradona, Best

    overall impact and goodness - Pele>Maradona>Best
     
    Wiliam Felipe Gracek repped this.
  8. markcarrick

    markcarrick Member

    Jul 4, 2014
    Club:
    Chelsea FC
    Adding Cruyff to the equation along with the trio on the attributes listed Id be interested to see how people wud rank the Dutchman in comparison
     
  9. msioux75

    msioux75 Member+

    Jan 8, 2006
    Lima, Peru
    Agility:
    GOAT - Maradona, Best / Legendary - Pelé

    Dribbling:
    GOAT - Maradona, Best / Legendary - Pelé

    Passing:
    GOAT - Maradona / Legendary - Pelé / Very Good - Best

    Crossing:
    GOAT - Maradona / Legendary - Best/ Very Good - Pelé

    shooting/finishing:
    GOAT - Pelé / Legendary - Maradona / Good - Best

    reading of the game:
    GOAT - Maradona, Pelé / Legendary - / Good - Best

    anticipation:
    GOAT - / Legendary - Pelé, Maradona / Good - Best

    heading:
    GOAT - Pelé/ Legendary - / Good - Best, Maradona

    defending:
    GOAT - / Legendary - / Very Good - Pelé / Good - Best, Maradona
     
  10. carlito86

    carlito86 Member+

    Jan 11, 2016
    Club:
    Real Madrid
    Agility
    George Best > Diego Maradona > Johan Cruyff > Pele


    Dribbling
    George Best > Diego Maradona > Pele > Johan Cruyff


    Passing
    Johan Cruyff > Diego Maradona > Pele > George Best


    Crossing
    Johan Cruyff > Diego Maradona > George Best > Pele


    Shooting
    Pelé > George Best > Johan Cruyff > Diego Maradona


    Reading of the game
    Pelé > Johan Cruyff > Diego Maradona > George Best


    Heading
    Pelé > George Best > Johan Cruyff > Diego Maradona


    Defending
    Johan Cruyff > George Best > Pele > Diego maradona

     
  11. markcarrick

    markcarrick Member

    Jul 4, 2014
    Club:
    Chelsea FC

    I wud rank Cruyff higher than the others in terms of crossing with his phenomenal outside the boot and awkward angled crosses. His passing was awesome also and he was excellent defensively with his positioning, interceptions and tackling.
     
  12. PDG1978

    PDG1978 Member+

    Mar 8, 2009
    Club:
    Nottingham Forest FC
    #12 PDG1978, May 25, 2025
    Last edited: May 25, 2025
    I think as it happens I'm going to be quite close at least with Carlito again on this particular topic at first glance.

    Anyway Cruyff I'll add with 8.75 agility (minimum, when fully fit), 9.75 dribbling (maximum), 9.5 passing (minimum), 9.75 crossing (maximum), 8.25 shooting/finishing (maybe the maximum, with edge possibly in consistency over Maradona, or just being a bit more two-sided including with shooting - Maradona maybe with an edge for spectacularly effective shots although Cruyff had his moments in that area too with placed shots from outside the area, and volleys), 9.5 give or take for reading of the game, 7.25 to 7.5 heading, 7.75 defending, and at least 8.5 for anticipation I think. So for these categories overall a clear-ish win over Maradona probably for me, but it can become more in the balance if taking account of the extra elusiveness combined with low centre of gravity, and the elaborate ball control Maradona could show on his best days for example I guess (however those things would be defined - I don't totally put the first one down under dribbling, but anyway I feel like Cruyff would be at least 9.5 for dribbling, or 9.75 like I suggested).
     
  13. carlito86

    carlito86 Member+

    Jan 11, 2016
    Club:
    Real Madrid
    #13 carlito86, May 25, 2025
    Last edited: May 25, 2025
    Here is an interesting fact about George Best


    Between 1967/68 and 1971/72 he scored
    126 goals in 266 club games
    Almost 1 in 2 for a winger

    For 5 consecutive seasons he averaged 25 goals.

    Manchester United’s league position in those seasons was
    2nd place
    11th place
    8th place
    8th place
    8th place

    Manchester United’s league positions during this spell was a lot closer to Napoli with Diego Maradona(actually even worse)then it was to Ajax with Johan Cruyff


    George best ‘played with’ Bobby Charlton and Denis law but we seem to forget that he was also significantly younger than those players(probably because he passed away 20 years ago while those players passed away in the last 5 years)

    His peak did not directly coincide with Charlton’s and Laws yet his peak stats were extremely impressive for a player in his position.

    And he is not a player that could purely be defined by G/A either
    as many have attested to and as the limited footage we have of him suggests aswell
     
  14. markcarrick

    markcarrick Member

    Jul 4, 2014
    Club:
    Chelsea FC
    He was a brilliant dribbler but I believe his close control was not at the level of Best, Maradona or Pele although he made the kind of long slaloming runs that Pele didnt do so much. Id agree with most of your ratings for Cruyff, he was a phenomenal crosser and passer in addition to his reading of the game. His could shoot from some very acute angles and positions even with the outside of his boot and was perhaps equal to Best overall in the category of finishing and he scored some very good headers thoughout his career, and perhaps deserves an 8 for that. He excelled at defending with his positioning and tackling.
     
    PDG1978 repped this.
  15. carlito86

    carlito86 Member+

    Jan 11, 2016
    Club:
    Real Madrid
    #15 carlito86, May 25, 2025
    Last edited: May 25, 2025
    If you weigh in athleticism then i think Diego Maradona might actually take top spot for dribbling.
    With extra emphasis on skills/repertoire then I think Maradona is ahead by a healthy margin

    I only had close control and balance in mind when evaluating them as dribblers because that is what I thought the OP had in mind
    In my opinion there were potentially quite a few players with superior close control to Maradona

    From the last era I would say definitely Messi and I would also say Andres iniesta
    strangely enough if you know about my less than praiseworthy views about this player lol but his close control(Iniestas)was actually GOAT tier

    Nobody had superior balance to Best which is quite evident from his ability to literally glide on the pitch and evade tackles even on the worst of pitches


    But I don’t think he was a devastating athlete that took on several defenders(4+ ) in one single run (at least not routinely)


    I haven’t seen Johan Cruyff in Europe doing anything like this nor George Best

    Especially the change of direction at full speed towards the end of the run



    From what I can ‘remember’ (watching footage of course)Johan Cruyff attempted runs like this against inter Milan 1972 but either lost control or was dispossessed
    His dribbling scenes/goals vs multiple players in the NASL definitely don’t count for me(nor for george best or even Pele)
     
    Betrayed@Krondor repped this.
  16. carlito86

    carlito86 Member+

    Jan 11, 2016
    Club:
    Real Madrid
    #16 carlito86, May 25, 2025
    Last edited: May 25, 2025
    Messi’s style of dribbling was actually a lot more reminiscent of George Best (except that he was a far superior athlete pre 2012) then it was to Diego Maradona



    I would probably say the player who most closely resembled Diego Maradona(his skills and ball retention in particular) was Ronaldinho gaucho except that Ronaldinho did not quite have the close control of Diego Maradona nor was he as direct as him


    From all the players I have mentioned(also adding Ronaldo nazario,Neymar and hazard since they are fan favourites of this generation)i would rank them as follows in terms of dribbling

    Revised list

    Close control
    Lionel Messi
    George best
    Diego Maradona/Andres iniesta
    Eden hazard
    Ronaldinho
    Neymar Jr
    Johan Cruyff
    Ronaldo nazario
    Pelé



    Agility
    Lionel Messi
    George Best/Neymar
    Diego Maradona
    Eden hazard
    Ronaldinho
    Andres iniesta
    Johan Cruyff
    Ronaldo nazario
    Pelé



    Balance
    George Best
    Lionel Messi/Diego Maradona
    Eden hazard
    Pelé
    Ronaldo nazario
    Ronaldinho
    Andres iniesta
    Johan Cruyff
    Neymar



    Dribbling with the ball at speed
    Lionel Messi
    Ronaldo nazario
    Diego maradona
    Johan Cruyff
    Neymar Jr
    Eden hazard
    Pelé
    Ronaldinho
    George best
    Andres iniesta


    Functional Skills
    Diego Maradona
    Neymar Jr
    Ronaldinho
    Ronaldo nazario
    Pelé
    Lionel Messi
    George best
    Johan Cruyff
    Eden hazard
    Andres iniesta


    Overall

    Lionel Messi
    Diego Maradona
    George Best
    Neymar Jr
    Eden hazard
    Johan Cruyff
    Ronaldinho
    Ronaldo nazario
    Pelé
    Andres iniesta


    These are not necessarily my top 10 dribblers ever just how I would rank these ten players
     
  17. PDG1978

    PDG1978 Member+

    Mar 8, 2009
    Club:
    Nottingham Forest FC
    Johan Cruyff vs Hercules 1976-77 - YouTube
    (1:12)

    (8:53 - I guess the fact I didn't put that Maradona assist in the 1981 friendly with Uruguay on there can indicate I don't think quite so highly of it although it's marginal choices on stuff like that and I can even wonder if I change my mind on some things afterwards of course)
    There are some indications vs Sweden that he could have produced a run as incisive and extensive as Maradona vs Uruguay I'd think, like at 2:51 before he's fouled or at 3:15 (but in general that game was when he was in the best shape of his World Cup maybe I'd say, so closest to 'fully fit' I mentioned before, which also helps the agility - I guess btw agility is another category that can be extended to factor in things like acrobatic attempts at goal etc and then Cruyff even would benefit a little more if emphasising that but I was thinking the category was meant to be mostly about fluidity of direction changes, body movements with the ball etc):


    Those are the ones that have come to mind right now anyway.
     
    markcarrick repped this.
  18. Tropeiro

    Tropeiro Member+

    Jun 1, 2018
    Best at his peak level probably wins it in agility and dribbling just like Garrincha would win it, but lost the rest in a big margin to Pelé and Maradona.
     
  19. carlito86

    carlito86 Member+

    Jan 11, 2016
    Club:
    Real Madrid
    #19 carlito86, Jun 2, 2025
    Last edited: Jun 2, 2025

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