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Who was the best footballer ever at his peak?


shadow_operative

Best ever footballer at his peak   

23 members have voted

  1. 1. Best ever footballer at his peak

    • Pelé
    • Diego Maradona
    • Johan Cruyff
    • Ronaldo Nazario
      0
    • Ronaldinho
    • Lionel Messi
    • Cristiano Ronaldo
    • Zinedine Zidane
      0
    • Other (probably Jack Wilshere)
      0


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for me it's Messi, and only being able to speak about the players i've actually seen, i'd probably put Ronaldo Fenómeno next. Ronaldo at his very best is probably the single most dominant player ever in the attacking third. like a soccer hybrid of LeBron James and Steph Curry- to strong and powerful to be stopped, and as skillful as anyone who has ever played. just amazing to watch. 

but Messi...ssshhheeeeiiiittttt, partner; he's simply the best, ever. the biggest difference in Messi and his rival CR7, to me, is how Messi makes everyone around him better. he not only makes their jobs easier by attracting so much attention and opening up the entire field for his teammates, but he's a footballing genius who can't help but raise the level of anyone who has the privilege of training and playing alongside him.

also, i loved how, maybe 10 years ago, CR7 was considered an elite FK taker, while Messi was just ok. there were times during his career at Barca where he had 4 or 5 guys out on the pitch with him who were better FK takers. then, over the years we've been able to watch as CR7 has become a shell of his former FK taking self, while Messi has worked on his craft and become one of the all time elite FK takers ever. there's just nobody else like him, and i have a hard time imagining anyone else ever being quite like him. 

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This is very hard since so many dominated in their era's. What are the parameters? Do we overlook Eusebio? Never won shit, but was magical. 

Talk all we want about CR and Messi. Go look at video of Maradona at his prime with Napoli. The Flying Dutchman was amazing. And we discount Der Kaiser? 

I look forward to this discussion. Love the dutch so will leave this here.

 

 

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3 minutes ago, InkaUtexas said:

I look forward to this discussion.

It isn't a discussion for me unfortunately. Partially because I wasn't around or not watching for a lot of the greats - partially because Messi is just too ridiculous - even for people that were around to see the others. 

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11 minutes ago, ztejas said:

It isn't a discussion for me unfortunately. Partially because I wasn't around or not watching for a lot of the greats - partially because Messi is just too ridiculous - even for people that were around to see the others. 

You calling me old? Dammit..... Well ya know we have YouTube! :)

 

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5 minutes ago, InkaUtexas said:

You calling me old? Dammit..... Well ya know we have YouTube! :)

 

Not really. I didn't start paying much attention to European soccer until 2014 or so. Doing my best to study up on the history but there's a lot to cover. 

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cruyff was messi before messi was born.  without cruyff promoting the total football system tiki taka barca of the 2010s might not exist. 

 

it's cool to see how similar they were.  they both excelled in a team based system.  they both made their teams better.  messi is more proficient at single-handedly taking over games.  neither won it all with their country but have come close. 

 

that said, cruyff was obviously before my time so i can't make a judgement about who was better. 

 

also, were you serious about jack wilshere...?

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  • 3 weeks later...
5 hours ago, WBT said:

Messi is the best I've seen.  From what I've read from people from that era, Di Stefano should be a choice in the poll.

…or Diego?

Which one of those three was the best Argentine at his peak?

Then who was the better Brazilian at his peak? Ronaldo Fenomino or Ronaldinho?

I don’t think that CR7’s peak can match Ronaldinho’s, so I wouldn’t include him in the conversation.

Pele scored a lot of goals from middle school until retirement, and he’ll tell you about it, but I don’t know where he stacks up against the 5 above. 🤷‍♂️

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31 minutes ago, midtown said:

I voted Pele because this goal even got the German officers to applaud

 

I looked up…

How many times did Max Von Sydow play a Nazi?

I wasn’t offered a quick answer without having to do research, but from two different links, I got these quotes:

1) Actor Max von Sydow was not Jewish or German, and yet, through much of his English-language film career he played Holocaust survivors or Nazis.”

2) Playing a Nazi officer was something von Sydow could do falling out of bed.

👨‍✈️

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  • 5 months later...
  • 4 months later...

I pout a vote down for Pelé.  Simply as his play was truly game altering at the time.  PLUS, the level of fouling and physical punishment allowed to try and mute his talent was considerably more than the physical abuse that Messi faced on game days.  

Messi is clearly the modern and overall skill winner.  It would be silly for me to say that Messi does not have a superior skill set to Pelé.  All you need do is look at the Academy System that Messi was a part of, versus the poverty of Pelés youth.  Head to head, in the exact same system, I would put my money on the original.  There is absolutely no doubt that if Messi was in Pelé's time Messi would be the loser, as hormone therapy of that era would have rendered Messi at a severe disadvantage in a more physical era.

Both are beautiful and creative players. And as i said Messi has the overall superior skill set.  But Pelé, ruled his era in a way that I honestly doubt that Messi could have without the greater protections for the players afforded today in officiating.  Flame away...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lionel_Messi#2004–05:_Success_at_youth_level

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pelé#Early_years

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