PSG owned by Qatar Sports Investment. They pay his wages. Totally coincidentally, they also own Mbappe, so they would have won either way.
What a piece of luck that they had the star players on both teams in the final.
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If it comes down to juggling, is there any argument over the winner? Maradona is like a circus acrobat with a football.
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Nothng special…
We’ve all done similar when wizzing our tits off on a Saturday night out.
Well, there’s no way of knowing that. Seems like something people say to downplay what the likes of Messi has done.
Recency bias must be the reason so many are underrating Messi here. Go back 10 years and there’s never been a player who was as good as he was. Unbelievable.
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I wasn’t really talking about you, or opinions on here.
But the narrative of most pundits is that the WC has established Messi as the unquestionable GOAT.
I think differently, thats all.
I believe the modern game needs to believe that its sanitised sportswashed version of football is the best version, ergo the best ever player.
Thats recency bias at corporate levels.
I disagree with Messi being hailed as the best ever. Maradona was, is in my view.
How is that unbelievable?
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This. Times a million.
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Nope not what I said. You were making out that Messi has faced dirty players and comparing to yesteryear.
I disagreed, while he has faced the dirty players of this era, they are not allowed to be as dirty as in the past.
Anyway I think Messi is an absolutely fantastic player, probably the best player ever but it’s all subjective.
I do think if Messi is taken out of this Argentina side, they go out in the quarters to a poor Dutch side.
I will add a couple of names I have not seen mentioned.
John Charles
Billy Liddell
The modern conversation on best ever talks a lot about Messi, maybe Ronaldo, and then people who remember Maradona insist he was better (I watched all three named so far, and would say Maradona was the best).
But then before my memory, those who remember Pele say he was the best of all time.
But there were amazing players before that time, and there is scant footage to go on, mostly memories, world of mouth and so on. But from the little I know, the Welsh giant John Charles should be in the reckoning, and our own Billy Liddell was peerless in his day too.
Football reached it’s peak somewhere around 1900, steady decline since those fancy modern film cameras came in
I am possibly the oldest on here and I have seen them all play apart from Puskas and Di Stefano and for what’s it’s worth I do think that Messi for consistency and longevity will be regarded in 20 or 30 years time as the best ever…I would have liked to see Pele perform at european club level though.
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Yeah although undeniably a great, he banged in a lot of his goals against Mickey Mouse clubs.
This should be some watch every morning before starting the day type of thing.
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It still took a long time after Pele’s retirement for Europe to ascend to the point that the best South Americans needed to move there to play top football. Of the famous Brazil side of 82 only Falcao and the little used Dirceu played in Europe. By 86 there was still a significant part of the Argentina side playing in Argentina. Europe’s current dominance in the Intercontinental Cup didnt really start until the early 90s.
I definitely agree that the structure of Brazilian football, with a significant part of the calendar focused on lower quality regional leagues, has to downgrade his scoring stats. However, while I understand a selfish desire to have seen him move to Europe so he was more accessible to watch, for those who think his claim is downgraded because he didnt prove himself in European football (maybe not your claim, but a common claim), I dont think the relative strengths of the regions at the time can justify that.
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Where do you place Maradona?
I know this is really subjective, but do you think he rates in the best of all time?
The Brazilian league was as strong as the European ones if not stronger. The same goes for the Argentinian league and South American club competitions in general. Pele’s Santos routinely beat European powerhouses as well.
The competition he faced back then in his native country was as fierce as he would have faced if he had left for an European team.
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All time XI - Casillas Cafu Ramos Maldini Carlos Xavi Zidane Cruyff Messi Maradonna R9
Wouldn’t have that cheating cunt Ramos anywhere near the best.
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I think it is clear that Maradona and Pele are at the top of the tree and I think Messi is in the same bracket. Below these three (diminutive) giants are your cruyffs, Zidanes, Di Stefanos, Bests, Maldinis etc. Personally would place C.Ronaldo a step below this but alongside the likes of G.Muller, van Basten, Romario. Then you’ve got amazing players like Henry or Gerrard who are perhaps club legends rather than part of this list.
My point is that it may be impossible to say who is ‘the best’ but it is possible to say that Messi - more than others before him - deserves to be bracketed alongside Pele and Maradona who were previously generally recognised as the standout players of all time.
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And some probably wouldn’t because of his discipline and antics but he’s undoubtedly a serial winner…would do anything to ensure his team came out on top. Some can put that aside, others can’t. He’ll go down as 1 of the greats regardless.
Pretty much had everything else in his game during his prime years.
Lol, Casillas. Alisson is better than he ever was.
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