Messi

Cant help feeling a bit deprived re Pele as with the great Bestie.I would have loved to see George at his mercurial greatest on the international scene. Pele only played club football in Brazil and in the States in the 70s when lets face it the standard was shoite.Would he have been as prolific in the more demanding European leagues? I would have reservations.Pele also had many wonderful players around him likewise Messi.Anyway why is it that the greatest player ever is a forward?.Can you really say that a certain player is or has been the best? How do you deduce that lets say Maradona had more impact on his club and country than Paulo Maldini did on he,s.? Just a thought.

Cant help feeling a bit deprived re Pele as with the great Bestie.I would have loved to see George at his mercurial greatest on the international scene. Pele only played club football in Brazil and in the States in the 70s when lets face it the standard was shoite.Would he have been as prolific in the more demanding European leagues? I would have reservations.Pele also had many wonderful players around him likewise Messi.Anyway why is it that the greatest player ever is a forward?.Can you really say that a certain player is or has been the best? How do you deduce that lets say Maradona had more impact on his club and country than Paulo Maldini did on he,s.? Just a thought.[/quote]

Maldini is a player that I respect greatly, and being Italian on my fathers side, I know the impact he had on his club and country, the guy was immense! But pele had that impact on the World!! Modern players get massive exposure now, every goal they score is replayed countless times, slow motion picks up bits of skill you wouldn’t sometimes see. They are coached and given technical training, advice, watch videos of their opponents etc etc etc. Whereas the likes of best and pele are still thought of as the best ever, by a wide spectrum of supporters, even without this exposure, without the technical advancements, and without every bit of brilliance being readily available on u tube. They were naturally brilliant, and god only knows how good those two would have been given today’s opportunities. Like you say, pele only ever played in the Brazilian league, most people have only seen a handfull of his goals, but he is still touted as the best ever, and I think he always will be!

The players you’ve listed above, have all got one thing in common, they were all the best in the world, for a period of time, some a shorter period than others (ronaldinho), but the best for a while none the less. What sets pele apart is that he was the best in the world in his prime, and that lasted a long time, and he’s still thought of as the best ever by a broad age range of fans, the majority of which never saw him play. I grew up idolising Maradona, he was the bees knees in my eyes, but looking back through older eyes, I can see that he was no pele. So sure, lots of kids now will be thinking messi is the mutts nuts, but in time they’ll realise he was good, but not ‘the best’, unless of course, he wins the next 3 world cups and scores another thousand goals, and scores a scissor kick against the nazis after being kicked from pillar to post!

Haha, that’s probably how he’d have been if we’d signed him fil!!