For many fans Pelé and Messi are 2 greatest players ever . But is it possible to decide who is the winner ? How do you compare them ? What about adventages of each other ? For example how important is Pelé being two footed and great in the air or Messi being better dribbler, passer, close control , longevity ? How do you compare them in terms of: peak Consistency Big games Club NT Finishing Shooting accuracy Passing Dribbling what is more important to you:: being two footed great in the air athlete or be one footed amazing dribbler and passer ? Is Pelé really combine scoring passing and dribbling in to one or his passing and vision abilities increase after his scoring stats dropped (after 65) ? Is Messi really the best finisher or is overrated in this departament ? What about Messi’s losing finals and some CL seasons and about Pele’s playing to rarely in CA, Libertadores ? To summ it up Is really possible to choose irrespective of our preference/bias or maybe both are overrated and somebody else is the goat ? @Tropeiro @carlito86 @SexyBeast @Puck and many moore
How do you compare them in terms of: Peak= Pelé Consistency=Messi Big games=Pele Club=Messi NT=Pele Finishing=Pele Shooting accuracy=uncertain Passing=Messi Dribbling=Messi
Is it possible to decide? Yes. Decision is personal. People do that all the time. To conclude with 100%? No To conclude with something approximating 100%? Difficult. Probably not feasible, especially when talking about greatness. How to quantify greatness? Greatness has many faces, as many as there are people. It is extraordinary human effort in the face of uncertainty and difficulties. Each case is 1 of 1. In terms of who is better rather than greater (excluding the humane aspect of it)? Players typically don't play enough games in enough different circumstances to discern marginal differences. Not having high quality footage for most of Pele's games doesn't help either. The short answer is no, I don't think so. Comaprison is still super interesting regardless. I kind of like carlito's answer already.
After a deeper think about it World Cup group stages:Messi World Cup KO stages:Pelé Copa America:Messi International friendlies:Messi Least amount of attempts before NT glory:Pelé CL/Copa libertadores:Messi Prime:Equal Peak level: Pele Longevity:Messi Major finals:Pele Secondary Cup finals:Equal Strong foot finishing:Messi Weak foot finishing:Pelé Heading:Pelé Power shots/Shots from real distance:Pelé Shooting accuracy:Uncertain Freekicks:Messi Penalties:Pelé Clutch/match winning ability:Pelé Finesse:Messi Athleticism:Pelé Close control dribbling:Messi Ball retention:Equal Functional skills:Pele Inventiveness:Pele Ball control:Messi Team play:Equal Long passing:Messi Through balls:Messi Crossing:uncertain Quality of opposition:Messi Decision Making:Messi Defensive qualities:Pele Team trophies:Messi Fair play:Pelé In 35 different categories I have Messi leading in 15 Pelé leading in 14 Equal in 4 And I am undecided about 2
Actions that would come under the inventiveness category are things like this At 1:12 And functional skills are the skills that actually beat a player(in Pelés case jogo bonito with purpose) I don’t know if Pelé was ever a showboater and for sure Messi definitely was/is not.
Pele is superior - if only for the fact that it is inconceivable for the greatest sportsman to sky his penalty in a NT final then go cry to the media with a "woe is me" interview and quit/retire disgracefully. That alone is disqualifying for any sportsman in any sport in history. I couldn't care less about dribbles p90 stats.
Very mature, compassionate response that comes from a place of zero hate and bias. 100% objectivity. I agree. Messi skying the penalty in the Copa America final proves he is a terrible player. Let alone crying on the pitch or being emotional in front of media. Disgraceful leader. Forget about leadership -.what kind of weakass man cries like that in front of everyone. He is no man at all, just a boy who crumbles under pressure and had everything served in his career on a plate. This automatically disqualifies him from the goat conversation.
Yes as a sportsman it is disqualifying for "THE goat". There's a lot more to sports than what you can do with a ball
You are right 100%. What kind of person cries like that over a football match. He is clearly mentally and emotionally unstable.
Stop arguing with me in bad faith you bozo. I don't care about Messi crying post match. Stop your dishonest schtick. My gripe is him quitting on his nayion and team when they needed him and doing so in a spectacularly selfish, attention seeking fashion. A true low point Ali has never done this Pele has never Jordan has never Ruth has never Armstrong has never Diego has never Just Messi