Impossible to compare era greats. Fitness levels, athleticism, pace, conditioning have all improved immeasurably. Some off the games top players even 15 years ago were drinkers and smokers. Not saying that greats from the past couldn’t survive in today’s game but in a straight comparison today’s players are streets ahead.
Impossible to compare era greats. Fitness levels, athleticism, pace, conditioning have all improved immeasurably. Some off the games top players even 15 years ago were drinkers and smokers. Not saying that greats from the past couldn’t survive in today’s game but in a straight comparison today’s players are streets ahead.
Rule changes have made a massive difference as well.
In the old days, defenders could go around kicking and hacking down attackers, whereas now the attacking players get a lot more protection.
To say Messi or Ronaldo are the best ever,means you could not have seen the great George best,he played on mudheaps,without the physical protection that players get today.I shudder to think how good he would have been today,he could have played in any era,could todays superstars play under the conditions that he did.
What.....pissed? He would not have had the discipline to make it in today’s fitness first game.
Best is the greatest player I have ever seen. In today’s game, with better pitches, boots, ball, sports science and protection from referees he would have shone brightly
Pretty much 1 in 3 for both club and country.
Great player no doubt and probably the best these isles have ever produced but holding him up near either Messi or C. Ronaldo is ludicrous.
In your opinion, which I respect. In my opinion he’s the best I have seen.
Having watched sport for the best part of 70 years,I am well aware of the changes that have taken place,comparisons in all sport always provoke great debate between young and old,would Ali have beaten Tyson,would Borg have beaten Federer,My argument on football is,that players of the Best era,played under more exacting conditions.To earn a booking,you almost has to decapitate someone,look at the old mud baths they played on and the heavy balls they used.I cannot accept that there are any better defenders in football today than Adams or Moore.Could todays superstars put up with the assaults by the likes of Harris,Stiles,Hunter or th Italians like Gentile,we will never know.But it is pretty certain that Besty would have been even better than he was.(I am biased I loved watching him play
Having watched sport for the best part of 70 years,I am well aware of the changes that have taken place,comparisons in all sport always provoke great debate between young and old,would Ali have beaten Tyson,would Borg have beaten Federer,My argument on football is,that players of the Best era,played under more exacting conditions.To earn a booking,you almost has to decapitate someone,look at the old mud baths they played on and the heavy balls they used.I cannot accept that there are any better defenders in football today than Adams or Moore.Could todays superstars put up with the assaults by the likes of Harris,Stiles,Hunter or th Italians like Gentile,we will never know.But it is pretty certain that Besty would have been even better than he was.(I am biased I loved watching him play
You will never, ever get an argument from me when it comes to Best being the greatest ever.
Having watched sport for the best part of 70 years,I am well aware of the changes that have taken place,comparisons in all sport always provoke great debate between young and old,would Ali have beaten Tyson,would Borg have beaten Federer,My argument on football is,that players of the Best era,played under more exacting conditions.To earn a booking,you almost has to decapitate someone,look at the old mud baths they played on and the heavy balls they used.I cannot accept that there are any better defenders in football today than Adams or Moore.Could todays superstars put up with the assaults by the likes of Harris,Stiles,Hunter or th Italians like Gentile,we will never know.But it is pretty certain that Besty would have been even better than he was.(I am biased I loved watching him play
Pretty fair point. I'm not old enough to have seen him play but i've obviously seen videos and he scored some amazing goals on what looked like cabbage patch style pitches, so you can only assume that he'd be miles better playing on the carpet-like pitches most top clubs have today.
Unfortunately,tv coverage ln the 60s/70s was nowhere near what it is today,therefore only very limited footage is available of the great players of this era.The beauty of football then,was that you did not need to buy tickets in advance,any game,turn up on the day,so when the great players came down to Chelsea,Arsenal etc. you could always watch them play,I always(assuming cafc were not at home)Made a point of watching these games especially when Best and his mates came to town.I would like all the preening actors who fall over when breathed on today,to watch the clip of Besty being assaulted by Ron Harris and not even going over before rounding the keeper.Yes Messi Ronaldo are great players,but under tackles like this, Ronaldo would be practising triple summersaults.
259 in 491 says he wasn't the best, the quality of football has improved so much since players like Best, Maradonna and Pele were at their best!
Many won't agree I am sure, but the game has changed.
Are you saying that the ‘best’ is decided by goals per game ratio only?
Yes the game has certainly changed, but applying that criteria it could be argued that CR and Messi wouldn’t have been any good if they were born 30 or 40 years earlier. Or are you saying the game is better now and Best, Pele et al would have been poor if they had been born 30-40 years later?
Apologies I took the GPG stat when I was going to run a comparison between Pele and Maradonna.
Personally I don't think Best, Pele or Maradonna would ever be poor players (in their prime) instead that they wouldn't IMO be ahead of Messi and Ronaldo.
Problem is we wouldn't know if they'd actually be better as the game is less physical now... Which could suit either of their games.
I certainly don't think they'd be anywhere near the fitness of pro's these days and that would be to their detriment...
259 in 491 says he wasn't the best, the quality of football has improved so much since players like Best, Maradonna and Pele were at their best!
Many won't agree I am sure, but the game has changed.
Are you saying that the ‘best’ is decided by goals per game ratio only?
Yes the game has certainly changed, but applying that criteria it could be argued that CR and Messi wouldn’t have been any good if they were born 30 or 40 years earlier. Or are you saying the game is better now and Best, Pele et al would have been poor if they had been born 30-40 years later?
Apologies I took the GPG stat when I was going to run a comparison between Pele and Maradonna.
Personally I don't think Best, Pele or Maradonna would ever be poor players (in their prime) instead that they wouldn't IMO be ahead of Messi and Ronaldo.
Problem is we wouldn't know if they'd actually be better as the game is less physical now... Which could suit either of their games.
I certainly don't think they'd be anywhere near the fitness of pro's these days and that would be to their detriment...
Players do adapt to their environments, maybe if Messi and Ronaldo had been in a 60s dressing room, they too would have down the pub after every match (or training session!), while a modern day George Best would perhaps be more disciplined?
259 in 491 says he wasn't the best, the quality of football has improved so much since players like Best, Maradonna and Pele were at their best!
Many won't agree I am sure, but the game has changed.
Are you saying that the ‘best’ is decided by goals per game ratio only?
Yes the game has certainly changed, but applying that criteria it could be argued that CR and Messi wouldn’t have been any good if they were born 30 or 40 years earlier. Or are you saying the game is better now and Best, Pele et al would have been poor if they had been born 30-40 years later?
Apologies I took the GPG stat when I was going to run a comparison between Pele and Maradonna.
Personally I don't think Best, Pele or Maradonna would ever be poor players (in their prime) instead that they wouldn't IMO be ahead of Messi and Ronaldo.
Problem is we wouldn't know if they'd actually be better as the game is less physical now... Which could suit either of their games.
I certainly don't think they'd be anywhere near the fitness of pro's these days and that would be to their detriment...
Players do adapt to their environments, maybe if Messi and Ronaldo had been in a 60s dressing room, they too would have down the pub after every match (or training session!), while a modern day George Best would perhaps be more disciplined?
Which is exactly why true comparisons are impossible. All you have to go on is what’s in front of you right now. On that basis Messi and Ronaldo are light years ahead.
I like to hear what the great players say about eachother to gauge how good they are. Stats can sometimes be misleading. Stats will tell you James Milner is a better player than Paul Scholes for instance. Carl Leaburn was a dreadful player for stats but how many of that 90s team have said that Leaburn was the man you wanted in the team before anyone else? Plenty of them to tell you how underrated he was outside of the dressing room.
Deviating from my original point though, in my 30 years of watching football the greatest player I've seen was Zidane. Could do it all. Dictate the play, score goals, great passer yet could run the length of the pitch with the ball. Unbelievable balance and engine for a big guy. Also came up time and time again in the biggest of games.
Zidane will tell you though that the best player in the world when he played was Paul Scholes. Lucky he never got to play against James Milner eh?
Crazy stat of the day... Cristiano Ronaldo has more goals in all competitions this year than Salah. 41-40, even after today.
If I remember right, a few months ago everyone was saying he was over the hill. Instead, he will probably will the Ballon d'Or again.
Great stat, but i would suggest that Ronaldo is playing aganst less quality teams than Salah this season. The Spanish league is always a 2 horse race with the same teams at 3 and 4. The rest are typically quite poor.
Crazy stat of the day... Cristiano Ronaldo has more goals in all competitions this year than Salah. 41-40, even after today.
If I remember right, a few months ago everyone was saying he was over the hill. Instead, he will probably will the Ballon d'Or again.
Great stat, but i would suggest that Ronaldo is playing aganst less quality teams than Salah this season. The Spanish league is always a 2 horse race with the same teams at 3 and 4. The rest are typically quite poor.
The fourth place team has been different for the last six or so years, with Sevilla, Valencia, Villareal, Athletic Bilbao, Real Sociedad and Malaga all getting into the Champions League, so it's actually been pretty competitive below the top three for the last few years. Ronaldo has scored loads of goals against all of them to be fair though.
i am sure Messi and his mates at Barca would agree that none of them would have had the success they have had at club level without the wonderful Andre Iniesta,this man is poetry in motion ,runs the game with an elegance that defies belief,sad to see him leave Barca this season but my favourite player of the modern era.
i am sure Messi and his mates at Barca would agree that none of them would have had the success they have had at club level without the wonderful Andre Iniesta,this man is poetry in motion ,runs the game with an elegance that defies belief,sad to see him leave Barca this season but my favourite player of the modern era.
I watched an El Clasico at the Bernabeu a few years ago. Barca won 3-1 and Iniesta was the best player on the pitch by some distance. That included Messi, Ronaldo and Alexis Sanchez. Brilliant, brilliant player
But if I could pick one player to build a team around, taking into consideration their effect on the whole pitch, their current age, their temperament, and how they are now, as opposed to five years ago, etc... it would be Kevin De Bruyne.
Comments
In the old days, defenders could go around kicking and hacking down attackers, whereas now the attacking players get a lot more protection.
Personally I don't think Best, Pele or Maradonna would ever be poor players (in their prime) instead that they wouldn't IMO be ahead of Messi and Ronaldo.
Problem is we wouldn't know if they'd actually be better as the game is less physical now... Which could suit either of their games.
I certainly don't think they'd be anywhere near the fitness of pro's these days and that would be to their detriment...
Deviating from my original point though, in my 30 years of watching football the greatest player I've seen was Zidane. Could do it all. Dictate the play, score goals, great passer yet could run the length of the pitch with the ball. Unbelievable balance and engine for a big guy. Also came up time and time again in the biggest of games.
Zidane will tell you though that the best player in the world when he played was Paul Scholes. Lucky he never got to play against James Milner eh?
There were some great goalkeepers during the 80's but this fella stood out over the rest. Shilton, Clemence and Jennings to name only three.
If I remember right, a few months ago everyone was saying he was over the hill. Instead, he will probably will the Ballon d'Or again.
Lionel Messi has been involved in 34% of the trophies Barcelona have won in their 118-year history.
But if I could pick one player to build a team around, taking into consideration their effect on the whole pitch, their current age, their temperament, and how they are now, as opposed to five years ago, etc... it would be Kevin De Bruyne.
2. Mbappe
7627. Cristiano Ronaldo
Messi winning the World Cup confirms GOAT status, never want to hear anyone say Ronaldo is better again
First player to score in every knockout game of a World Cup as well