Maradona

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In terms of pure footballing ability I've never seen better. His touch and balance and mastery of a football are the best ever without doubt, plus he had pace and guts and a very strong desire to succeed. I honestly don't think we'll ever see a player quite like him again.

You don’t think Messi is at least on par Steve?
 
You don’t think Messi is at least on par Steve?
Messi in terms of consistency is better but for pure natural brilliance and ingenuity Maradona is unrivalled I think. Remember the era he played in too, the pitches weren't carpets, the fouling was so much worse and he obviously was a lot more temperamental than Messi.

Messi has been absolutely amazing but Maradona had a swagger and a natural ability that I've never seen before or after.
 
Top 5: Pele, Maradona, Messi, Cruyff and then it's really hard to pick.

From a British perspective I'd go for Best but someone in Portugal may pick either Eusebio or Ronaldo. German Muller or Beckenbauer and so on.
Agree with pretty much all of this.

I'd have Maradonna at the top. Number of reasons.

He won a World Cup pretty much single handed. I'm sure there were some good players in that Argentinian team, but I just remember them being bang average.

Remember also that this was still the era of defenders being able to foul whenever they liked and get away with it. But DM was just so strong, so quick, so powerful, so athletic. In the lead up to THAT goal Fenwick tries to pull him back as he races past. He just barrelled through the arm like it was paper. All of the other great players you mention would have been halted there and then and could often be fouled out of a game. Messi and Ronaldo can't because the red and yellow card systems have changed and you'd end up with no back 4 if you tried it on these days.

Such a low centre of gravity, he'd also use his upper body so well to lean into you so you couldn't reach his legs to pull him down (Ossie was good at that with his arms and elbows).


Glad I was at the Lane for the match but truth be told I can't remember much about it. Lucky that I've seen Messi and Ronaldo live while following Spurs. Annoyingly I didn't manage to get to the Hoddle 4-2 when Cruyff was playing.

Cruyff is my favourite non-Spurs player of all time, and a great guy in every way, but DM was the better player.
 
for pure natural brilliance and ingenuity Maradona is unrivalled I think.
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I have never heard so much shit in my life , has messi led Argentina to a World Cup victory? Messi is only half as good as he is as he is protected by refs , he goes down at the slightest of Touches , Maradonna is playing football against defenders playing rugby, I suggest you go and educate yourself on what football was like in the 80s!
Maradona was a great player in an average side when Argentina won the WC
Pele was a great player in a great side in 1970
Big difference
Brazil probably would have won it anyway without Pele
No chance Argentina would have won it without Maradona as he carried the side in 1986

As good as Messi is for Barca he has never come close to doing that for his country
 
Exactly, I would love to have seen the likes of pele, best and maradona playing in the modern era.

All had the proverbial kicked out of them every time they played, unlike today's players who get a free kick if you touch their shirt.
Especially if it’s red!
 
These greatest of all time things only work when people accept there are no right answers, you see them amongst boxing fans all the time.

I'd go for Messi but there are many great great players, Zidane, Xavi,both Ronaldos, Baresi, Pele, Maldini and on and on and on
 
Slightly unfair. He got bang average Argie sides with shit managers to 3 major finals.

Carrying them in 2014.
Agreed he did but didn’t get them over the line

Would love to see Messi play for another side but unlikely with his buy out price
 
These greatest of all time things only work when people accept there are no right answers, you see them amongst boxing fans all the time.

I'd go for Messi but there are many great great players, Zidane, Xavi,both Ronaldos, Baresi, Pele, Maldini and on and on and on
And to be fair you should differentiate the playing positions

For example Moore and Beckenbaur were great defenders but you can’t really compare them to great attackers like Cruyff or Greaves
 
Absolutely.

Napoli had been purchasing good talent for a few years before Maradona.

Maradona was like their Aguero. Before that Napoli had been like City buying the likes of Elano and Robinho in comparison. Maradona marked when they started spending more wisely.

The idea Napoli were nowhere before him is a myth. It's like saying Liverpool were nowhere before VDV.
Let's not re-write history. In 1984 the season Maradona joined Napoli they finished 11th in Serie A. 1 point above relegation. The year before that they were 10th avoiding relegation by 2 points.

In the 3 seasons after Diego they finished 8th, 3rd and then 1st.

They'd won 2 trophies in their entire hundred year existence and never won a league title before Maradona. They've never won it since he left either.
 
Let's not re-write history. In 1984 the season Maradona joined Napoli they finished 11th in Serie A. 1 point above relegation. The year before that they were 10th avoiding relegation by 2 points.

In the 3 seasons after Diego they finished 8th, 3rd and then 1st.

They'd won 2 trophies in their entire hundred year existence and never won a league title before Maradona. They've never won since he left either.
Yea, I was wrong saying it was before Maradona. It was during. I should have said before their title win.

But they paid a world record transfer fee.

The idea he did it alone is a fallacy though. They had a good squad during his time there.
 
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