On December 29 2011 13:24 Tazza wrote: I don't get why people keep saying messi is the best of all time. Messi is one of the best players of all time, but he needs a certain setup. Until he wins a World Cup, there's no way he should be considered the best. look at his goal rate at Argentina, and his goal rate at Barca. Its because Barca has some of the best midfielders in the history of the game. I think xavi may be the best pure passer of all time. On the other hand, pele and maradonna would just take over games pretty much single-handedly.
Clearly Emile Heskey >>> everyone you mentioned
Oh yeah, Heskey is definitely the greatest of all time. He's so good that, its like he dropped from another planet. Maradona? Pele? Who are they again? That's why i didn't even mention his name in my post, because its universally agreed upon that he is the best, and everybody is fighting for second place.
I hope you're trolling like i am
Heskey is in fact the most underrated player in the world. If he would had play in a better team he'll be compared to the best players currently, like Messi or Joe cole.
Being the most underrated player doesn't make him the best. Are u really saying he'd be equal to pele, maradona, or messi? heskie might be a great player, but he doesn't belong inthe conversation of GOAT
there's a rumor about pato at PSG, so i watched some videos of him and i saw a guy loosing 100% of his balls into useless dribbles then score a magnificient goal then ruins the all team-play againg. I am verry scared at the moment, is there anybody who watch calcio who can tell me more about his player ? Because i think at the moment he is WAYYY overrated (he's not even titular if i remember), there is no way he costs 50M, in that case Hazard costs 100M.
On December 29 2011 13:24 Tazza wrote: I don't get why people keep saying messi is the best of all time. Messi is one of the best players of all time, but he needs a certain setup. Until he wins a World Cup, there's no way he should be considered the best. look at his goal rate at Argentina, and his goal rate at Barca. Its because Barca has some of the best midfielders in the history of the game. I think xavi may be the best pure passer of all time. On the other hand, pele and maradonna would just take over games pretty much single-handedly.
back in pele's day, and to some extent maradona, the world cup was the best/only way to actually compare football players. but that's not the case anymore, and wc shouldn't be given so much consideration when trying to gauge player skills.
I'm not just comparing world cup. Look at the south American cup(whatever they call it) this year. Messi isn't scoring because he doesn't have Xavi and iniesta. His goal scoring rate at international level is far below his rate at club level. Maybe I will change my mind when argentina starts winning, or if messi goes to another team and scores 50 goals per season like he does at barca. I know he is very young and has ample time to prove me wrong. But right now, pele and maradona were better imo
It's not just that he doesn't have Xavi/Iniesta behind him (although obviously it helps to have those guys at his back to set him up), it's because he plays a very different role in the Argentine squad. They hardly have any good offensive midfielders so Messi has to fill the roll of Xavi/Iniesta in the Argentine squad. Whenever you watch a game by Argentina, he has to set up EVERY attack from defense to attack. He doesn't get into a scoring position much because he plays an attacking midfielder position in the Argentine squad.
Messi is without a doubt the most important contributer to Barça's success in the last few years.
Mario Balotelli 'buys entire pub a drink before £200 midnight mass donation'
Controversial Manchester City star Mario Balotelli enjoyed another late night before a big game - but this time it was at midnight mass, after enjoying a booze-free trip to a local pub and treating everyone to a round of drinks.
The Italian was joined by his girlfriend Raffaella Fico at St John's church in Chorlton, Manchester, on Christmas Eve and he shocked onlookers by putting £200 on the collection plate as he left.
Balotelli was then asked by the reverend if he would join the church in providing a drop-in Christmas dinner for the homeless on Christmas Day.
'Nobody could believe it when he walked in,' an onlooker said.
'The last thing anyone expected was a big celebrity like him turning up for the service but he was very polite and charming and didn't draw attention to himself.'
Balotelli has become something of a cult figure since moving to England from Italy.
He has been involved in training ground punch-ups, arguments with the manager and even tussles with playing bibs.
There were even rumours last week on Twitter that he was driving around Manchester dressed as Santa Claus throwing money out of his car.
While this speculation turned out to be untrue, Balotelli did show his generous side by putting £1,000 behind the bar at the Tudor pub in Peel Hall earlier on Christmas Eve.
He chatted to drinkers and had photos taken before then heading off to the church service.
On December 29 2011 13:24 Tazza wrote: I don't get why people keep saying messi is the best of all time. Messi is one of the best players of all time, but he needs a certain setup. Until he wins a World Cup, there's no way he should be considered the best. look at his goal rate at Argentina, and his goal rate at Barca. Its because Barca has some of the best midfielders in the history of the game. I think xavi may be the best pure passer of all time. On the other hand, pele and maradonna would just take over games pretty much single-handedly.
back in pele's day, and to some extent maradona, the world cup was the best/only way to actually compare football players. but that's not the case anymore, and wc shouldn't be given so much consideration when trying to gauge player skills.
I'm not just comparing world cup. Look at the south American cup(whatever they call it) this year. Messi isn't scoring because he doesn't have Xavi and iniesta. His goal scoring rate at international level is far below his rate at club level. Maybe I will change my mind when argentina starts winning, or if messi goes to another team and scores 50 goals per season like he does at barca. I know he is very young and has ample time to prove me wrong. But right now, pele and maradona were better imo
It's not just that he doesn't have Xavi/Iniesta behind him (although obviously it helps to have those guys at his back to set him up), it's because he plays a very different role in the Argentine squad. They hardly have any good offensive midfielders so Messi has to fill the roll of Xavi/Iniesta in the Argentine squad. Whenever you watch a game by Argentina, he has to set up EVERY attack from defense to attack. He doesn't get into a scoring position much because he plays an attacking midfielder position in the Argentine squad.
Messi is without a doubt the most important contributer to Barça's success in the last few years.
i agree that messi is the most important player for barca, but it still doesn't make him the greatest player ever. Argentina is famous for creating "number 10" and "number 5" player roles. This is why there are so many players like javier mascherano, ever banega, cambiasso, and more. These players are defensive midfielders designed to stop the number 10, which is why argentina, as you mentioned, doesn't have many offensive midfielders. However, argentina has tried on many occasions to play like barca, and uses the same formation barca does, and puts messi in the false number 9 role. Argentina usually doesn't put messi in the hole in a true #10 role, or on the wings. Even with all this, messi fails to score many goals internationally. Yes, there are a dearth of offensive midfielders for argentina, but this is exactly my point. Pele and maradona would score with anyone. maradona played in argentina, where there have historically been a lack of offensive midfielders, but he still managed to win a world cup almost single-handedly(pun intended).
Even if messi didn't score many goals for argentina, but managed to win by creating loads of goals like you said, i might be more open to the idea that he might be the best of all time. However, argentina haven't been doing well, and you can't blame it on the lack of talent. The squad is stacked. Until messi does well internationally and argentina start winning some trophies, i will never believe that messi is the best of all time
Pele and Maradonna could score without any back-up because the game was so underdeveloped they could run through anyone. Also; Messi is a teamplayer pur sang. If he plays an attacking midfielder role, he'll consistently try to set up Higuain or Aguero instead of looking for the goal himself because he probably thinks it's more efficient. Pele and Maradonna probably looked for the goal more.
Also:
However, argentina haven't been doing well, and you can't blame it on the lack of talent. The squad is stacked.
Defense is pretty much the problem and a bit of luck as well. If I remember correctly Messi hit the post like 4-5 times in the last WC? With a bit more luck he would've scored like 5 goals.
I don't think you can compare the players from those kind of era's to players now but you can say that in the time Messi does it (right now) is more impressive. At least it is to me. If he passes 5 guys with excellent physique/stamina etc. it's more impressive than Pele who passed 5 players with beerguts from Saudi-Arabia.
It's all subjective anyway, but to me, Messi is the all time best without a doubt.
The whole 'not a true great until you've won the world cup' thing is incredibly outdated, it may have been true in an era when players rarely left their home country, but nowadays when the top clubs are assembling squads of the best players in the world it may be the pinnacle in prestige, but not in skill. Can anyone who watched the last world cup really say that it was of a higher quality than the Champion's League?
And on a sidenote, Heskey is an awful, gutless player, and when he had the chance at a top club he spent most of his time limping around and making puppy eyes at the bench after the first time anyone tackled him in almost every game.
what if there was a player who was the greatest technically gifted player of all time clearly... but he comes from India, a country that will never win a world cup in the near future. but every year in and year out he crushes for say, Man U, and wins them leagues, champions league, etc etc but people say "OH WELP, HEL NEVER BE DUH BEST CUHZ HE HAS TO WIN DUH WORLD CUPZ HURR DURR" ...Does that sound fair? It's not fair because even though he crushes ~60 games a year for 4 years, then on the fourth year the world cup comes around and his country never is able to make it and people diminish him based on that? not cool...
edit: teams practice with their clubs all year. the only have a small time frame to practice with their nations which usually are at least different than what theyre used to. you can't expect players to lead entire teams on their shoulders anymore nowadays. the defense is too strong. more tactical awareness, less space allowed, no pointless slide tackling/commiting oneself, like they used to do in the past when pele was around (not so much maradona, but still to a degree the defense was lacking big time back then) Not to mention that the world cup isn't even the top level anymore. Like the above poster said, that way of thinking is incredibly outdated.
On December 29 2011 13:24 Tazza wrote: I don't get why people keep saying messi is the best of all time. Messi is one of the best players of all time, but he needs a certain setup. Until he wins a World Cup, there's no way he should be considered the best. look at his goal rate at Argentina, and his goal rate at Barca. Its because Barca has some of the best midfielders in the history of the game. I think xavi may be the best pure passer of all time. On the other hand, pele and maradonna would just take over games pretty much single-handedly.
back in pele's day, and to some extent maradona, the world cup was the best/only way to actually compare football players. but that's not the case anymore, and wc shouldn't be given so much consideration when trying to gauge player skills.
I'm not just comparing world cup. Look at the south American cup(whatever they call it) this year. Messi isn't scoring because he doesn't have Xavi and iniesta. His goal scoring rate at international level is far below his rate at club level. Maybe I will change my mind when argentina starts winning, or if messi goes to another team and scores 50 goals per season like he does at barca. I know he is very young and has ample time to prove me wrong. But right now, pele and maradona were better imo
Thats because Messi takes the role of Xavi/Iniesta for Argentina. I watched a lot of their games and he pretty much drops back while the game is going on to help in the midfield constantly. Even helping in defense when its needed.
Its extremely unfair to judge him solely on his goal-scoring statistic when that's not his main function for arg.
Messi is one of the best to ever play football. But since he comes from a huge football nation with lots of other talents, there will always be questions why argentina underperforms in competitive with him if they will continue doing so (tell me if you disagree and yes, I know about his youth world cup and olympic gold medals). Fact is, being eliminated at quarter-finals in World Cup is regarded as failure in every big football nation. Not winning Copa America (at home 2011) is regarded as failure. But nobody can seriously expect him to pull another '86 Maradona today. And also he has at least 2 WCs and 2 Copas left. If he continues to play like he does now and wins at least one of those tournaments, he deserves to be called the best ever. We should not compare Messi the accomplishments of player who has the bigger half of his career yet to play with accomplishments earned in full careers. But I also have to say IF Messi's argentina doesnt win a title or even keeps loosing to first big name they meet in a big tournament, this should rightfully put shadow on his career and keep him away from being called "the best ever". But dicussing this now and not in ten years is somewhat of a futile discussion.
It's a shame for Messi to play in such a disfuncitonal Argentina, with mediocre coaching to be honest. Its impossible for a single player to "guide" a whole team to glory. It didn't happened with Maradona with Argentina and not even in his time at Napoli which were not a bunch of scrubs like some people make it out to be, they had some amazing players.