Maradona

  • The Fighting Cock is a forum for fans of Tottenham Hotspur Football Club. Here you can discuss Spurs latest matches, our squad, tactics and any transfer news surrounding the club. Registration gives you access to all our forums (including 'Off Topic' discussion) and removes most of the adverts (you can remove them all via an account upgrade). You're here now, you might as well...

    Get involved!

Latest Spurs videos from Sky Sports

It's just better in general.

Better tactics. Better coached. Better level of quality overall. Everything. It might not have the same characters, charisma etc. - but we are now served a better product then we've ever got when it comes to actual football.

But that's the same with pretty much every sport. And nostalgia plays a huge part. So and so from my day were better than so and so from this day etc.

It's why it's impossible to compare eras. Maradona was the best of his era. Messi is the best of his.

I'd love a time where players are appreciated for what they did as footballers and more than just a comparison in conversation.
It's been changed to become a more family friendly commercialized product. Yield more goals, less injuries from direct tough tackle, so increase the probability of the poster boys to appear more. Change format of competition: CL qualification, seedings; EURO finals format and now even friendly with the League of Nations crap... Transfer policy to create more dream teams, which sell better.... The byproduct is stats boosting. All just so they have popular names clash more often to boost revenue.

Thing will always change in life for worse or for better. Agree that you don't need always to choose side on the matter. However, when making a statement about which is better/ more quality, of course, it would invite argument. As you also agreed on the character, charisma... difference, not everything is measured in the same way. It's not just nostalgia element in place, just different taste. Some people prefer athleticism, cleanliness of the modern game, some other still prefer a tough war like game. Of course, the game has been geared toward being family friendly as I pointed out above, and nothing can be done about it until a new landscaped political change.

Just like most thing in life, follow the money. I am not modern football hater or anything, but I do appreciate what I came to know about the old games.
 
Last edited:
Messi is a million times better than Maradona, the statistics speak by themselves. There is no possible doubt. Many speak out of the heart. I have seen the career of both fully since Diego came to Barcelona, he was extraordinary but in terms of goals and assists, he is even under Cristiano, Gerd Müller, Ronaldo, Pelé or Di Stefano.

He was in the league of the extraordinary skilled players, not in the league of the most decisive ones. The league of Platini, Zidane, Baggio, Del Piero, Figo, Gazza, Zico, Rivelino, Garrincha, Laudrup, etc.

Messi is the best ever in both leagues, skilled, marvelous to see, and decisive, scoring 50 goals per season only in the Spanish league, plus many more in the Cup of Europe or the King's Cup, that is extra terrestrial figures. And I'm not exactl his fan, he has beaten us and humiliated us for 15 years.

Maradona fanatics are not realistic.
Sorry, but you're so wrong. The only player, IMO, that is in Maradona's league is Pele. These two are in the stratosphere of footballers. They played in an era where footballs, tackles and pitches were heavy, and he made average teams world beaters.
 
Like you, I consider myself lucky enough to have seen both players, although obviously it was harder to watch Napoli in the mid eighties so didn't see anywhere near as much of Maradona's career as I have Messi's.

I think you have to balance out things like the pitches and the way a skilful player could be hacked about, with the sheer level of physical, tactical, mental superiority of modern football that Messi has had to play in, and lets not pretend Messi hasn't been subjected to a barrage of physical punishment too.

I'm not outraged that people would choose Maradona, I can understand why, it's hard to compare players from different eras, and these two are very comparable, and have very similar skill sets to compare, unlike the comparisons with people like Pele and Cruyff etc, who were totally different players.

And they both did it in what was the best/toughest league in Europe at their time (or at least for phases of their careers in Italy and Spain anyway). People will argue Messi got to play in a side with Iniesta, managed by Guardiola, but lets not ignore he continued to perform and produce amazing levels after both of those had gone.

Maybe one of the advantages Messi has given himself is that his private life has been stable and that has allowed a level of focused professionalism that enabled him to produce much more and much more consistently, I don't know, we'll never know the true impact of Maradona's private life had on his performances and output (although we've got a fair idea), but having seen both, and loved both, it's Messi for me, all day long.
Yes I get it and if you said I could have either player for their 5 best years at Spurs, no doubt Messi's numbers would dwarf Maradona's. Messi is an extraordinary footballer, possibly the best ever.

But Maradona had a swagger and a charisma that Messi doesn't quite possess, Messi is a machine, Maradona was more than that. I'm not putting Messi down, he's amazing but for pure genius Maradona is unrivalled.
 
giphy.gif

giphy.gif

giphy.gif

giphy.gif

giphy.gif

giphy.gif

giphy.gif

giphy.gif

200w.webp

giphy.gif
Another exceptional talent but IMO Maradona had something he quite didn't.
 
Messi wouldn’t stand a chance in Maradona‘s era the treatment he got was unreal okay he could look after himself but still it was brutal Messi nah he’d bottle it.
Maradona much harder to knock off the ball due to his low centre of gravity
Similar to Gerd Muller in the 70s
Similar skill set though
 
Sorry, but you're so wrong. The only player, IMO, that is in Maradona's league is Pele. These two are in the stratosphere of footballers. They played in an era where footballs, tackles and pitches were heavy, and he made average teams world beaters.

100%.

My Lord even Fat Ronaldo in terms of brilliance and presence at the highest level would be ahead of Messi. In fact possibly 3rd or 4th.

Messi in greatest player terms is not in the top 5.

Put this way if it were a choice of Messi or Maradona in a World Cup team then Maradona would be gracing the pitch and Messi warming the bench.

I am not seeking to belittle Messi but Maradona was a street fighter on top of being an insanely good footballer. The distinction and difference are utterly clear to this poster.
 
But that was part of the competition then, part of the challenge. I'm sure that if Maradona was playing in this era he would be going down following a tackle or even being touched in the box.

Whilst the quality of the game, ball at feet, is so, so much better today than it was back then, maybe as a result of getting rid of the leg breakers etc I do miss this element of the contest, both watching and playing.

No-one rolled around on the ground when fouled, it was all about not showing the pain, getting up quickly even though you were in absolute agony and barely able to walk for the next 5mins. Then patiently waiting for your moment to land your crunching tackle on a teammate or if you were lucky the same guy who inflicted your pain, for the perfect revenge.

Then there were playing against the "notorious", big strong dirty fuckers, who's reputation went before them, you knew what was coming, your challenge awaits. What is there to be scared of nowadays?

I miss it big time but do I want it back in the game? Nah.
What Francios Omanbyik in particular did in that tournament does not qualify as "competition" more like some ill defined attritional medieval death sport. And i loved em
 
Sorry, but you're so wrong. The only player, IMO, that is in Maradona's league is Pele. These two are in the stratosphere of footballers. They played in an era where footballs, tackles and pitches were heavy, and he made average teams world beaters.
But don’t forget Mark Falco!
 
Back
Top Bottom