Pelé 1960 42 Games (3640 minutes) 38 Goals (1 Penalty, 8 Headers) 20 Assists (Opta) 14 Assists (Non-Opta) Per90: Goals: 0.940 All Assists: 0.841 Team Contribution: 66.76% The 14 Non Opta assists are: 10 Penalties won 1 Deflected pass 1 FK won scored by a teammate 1 GK rebound 1 Post rebound
Pelé 1959 49 Games (4364 minutes) 63 Goals (0 Penalties, 13 Headers) 27 Assists (Opta) 9 Assists (Non-Opta) Per90: Goals: 1.299 All Assists: 0.742 Team Contribution: 59.20% The 9 Non Opta assists are: 7 Penalties won 1 FK won 1 Post Rebound
Pelé 1962 40 Games (3493 minutes) 54 Goals (6 Penalties, 12 Headers) 33 Assists (Opta) 7 Assists (Non-Opta) Per90: Goals: 1.391 Assists: 1.031 Team Contribution: 68.71% The 7 Non Opta assists are: 3 Penalties won 3 GK Rebound 1 Post Rebound
Pelé 1957-1965 Per90: Goals: 1.331 Assists: 0.781 Team Contribution: 64.78% Assists: 232 Direct Passes 27 Penalties Won 19 Free Kicks Won 9 GK Rebounds 6 Post Rebounds 5 Deflected Passes 3 Own Goal Assists
Curious fact: Between 1957 and 1967 in 457 official matches, Pelé scored 19 free kicks... but, in additon, through fouls won, he also earned the impressive number of 24 free kicks and 30 penalties that were scored by his teammates!
Pelé 1957-1969 Per90: Goals: 1.179 Assists: 0.736 Team Contribution: 64.18% Assists: 293 Direct Passes 39 Penalties Won scored by teammates 25 Free Kicks Won scored by teammates 13 Deflected Passes/Shots 11 GK Rebounds 10 Post Rebounds 7 Own Goal Assists
During the period from 1967 to 1969, Pelé seems to be the same player as always. The only difference is a different context. I believe he was undoubtedly a better player here than in his early years from 1957 to 1959 (as one would expect, what player is better at 18 than at 28?).
I suppose there are rare examples such as Michael Owen, possibly Ronaldo Nazario, and some others (I'm not thinking too deep about it as I post) but normally related to fitness/injury issues that have developed I suppose. I guess it could be suggested....the player that does this.... (But we can't see whether actually that goal was better or worse than the impression we can get from that, and also better goals doesn't mean better player overall I understand of course) For one with actual footage there is this though, and clearly it seems he was regarded as a young sensation when he was playing in games with European teams, and he was apparently fouled a huge amount of times in Copa America 1959 (indicative of what he offered as a player)...but yeah it's hard to know of course and I understand that you calculated his involvement over 1957-1959 as a whole to be less than 1967-1969 as a whole (and in 1969 he probably has arguments again as world's best player for a while too I think).
Raw numbers per 90 are probably as important as team contribution. That said I'm not sure Pelé was better 1967-1969 compared to 1957-1959, but perhaps yeah, it seems reasonable, what I know is that at that time he wasn't on 1961-1965 levels (his prime), that's for sure and in 1970 he was already on visible decline as physically is very related to what he can do technically and he was heavier of his feet than lets say 1963 or 1965.
Pelé 1957-1974 Per90: Goals: 0.985 Assists: 0.633 Team Contribution: 62.47% Assists: 347 Direct Passes 40 Penalties Won scored by teammates 28 Free Kicks Won scored by teammates 16 Deflected Passes/Shots 14 GK Rebounds 10 Post Rebounds 7 Own Goal Assists
Pelé 1957-1977 All Official Games Per90: Goals: 0.952 Assists: 0.616 Team Contribution: 60.68% 756 Goals (85 Penalties, 44 Direct FKs, 1 Indirect FK, 98 Headers) 366 Direct Passes (Opta Assists) Non-Opta Assists: 42 Penalties Won scored by teammates 28 Free Kicks Won scored by teammates 17 Deflected Passes/Shots 16 GK Rebounds 10 Post Rebounds 7 Own Goal Assists 3 Second Shot Assist
Could it be because he played for a weaker Santos, while early Pele played for one of the best sides ever? Fx old Baggio, if I'm not mistaken, had seasons similar in contribution with prime Messi?
Free Kicks Scored + FKs won scored by teammates Pelé: 44-28: (72) Maradona: 59-8: (67) Messi: 65-2: (67)
Pelé surely played with a worse side later in his career, but the main factor I believe is the context. Paulista started averaging 1.5x - 2x less goals per game in that same period, around 2 goals per game from 1971. From 1967 to 1969 it was around 2.8 to 3 goals per game, still far behind the 3.5 goals per game in the beginning of Pelé's career
I still wonder if the goal contribution ratio is useful when comparing players who played in super teams vs players who did not. Is it not easier to have a high percentage if you play for a smaller side? I don't know the answer myself, but it's a possibility.
There's a famous quote by Tostão: I think it's like Michael Jordan, whose physical peak was in 1987/88/89, then in the 90s he was still the best, but a bit heavier.
Another analogy inside of football is Cristiano Ronaldo with his prime years being 2010-2014 but he continued to be at the top after this despite being heavier
Correction of Pelé's assists with Cosmos thanks to the use of better sources Now the total number of assists is 364
Most Assists in Football History (Opta+Non-Opta) Pelé: 487 Messi: 458 Cruyff: 458 Puskás: 440 Team's Goals Assisted (Opta+Non-Opta) Pelé: 37.61% Maradona: 35.63% Cruyff: 33.23% Messi: 31.12% Puskás: 29.29% Zico: 28.97%