Best Footballer Ever

Only ever seen one player who could claim to be the best dribbler, passer and finisher on the planet, and that’s Messi, essentially the complete attacking player; so on ability alone it’s him, or Maradona. I’ll go for a tie between the two.
 
exeterbear said:
Zidane for me. Could do it all. Range of passing, vision, could dribble, shoot, volley, half volley, great header of the ball, excellent finisher, ball control. None of the other players named could run a game from the middle of the park the way Zidane could, but he could have played striker, out wide easily
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The man was WILDLY good.
 
Teddy Casablanca said:
Maradona for me. After getting literally kicked out of Spain he could have decided to go for an easy option but choose to go to Napoli a team that had never won serie A. They win the league twice during his stay at the club and he also wins the UEFA cup as well. He was an absolute game changer of a player. He played in the hardest position,a creative forward in Italy .In the 1980s, Italy was the hardest, toughest league physically and mentally in the world. And yet he excelled. Unfortunately he was introduced to the Naples underworld and that ultimately was his downfall. He is and always will be the benchmark for every future Argentinian footballer.
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Yep. The impact he made on Napoli is staggering. The equivalent would be something like Messi going to West Ham and having that success.
 
I think the differences in the game of football make it an impossible question.

Could Messi play on the crap pitches getting kicked everywhere? Doubt it.
Could Maradona play 60 games a season, ghosting past proper athletes a foot taller than him? Doubt it.

I think Ronaldinho for a 2-3 year period was right up there with the best ever, he had it all. Skill, technique, pace, agility, power, explosiveness, personality. That goal against Chelsea with John Terry bouncing off him like he was a wee boy really made you realise how physically capable he was.
 
Zwingli'sSausages said:
Yep. The impact he made on Napoli is staggering. The equivalent would be something like Messi going to West Ham and having that success.
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If they also signed Brazil's centre forward or the equivalent of Neymar? Ferrara was one of the world's best centre backs as well at the time wasn't he? A few excellent players in his team probably helped more than people remember.
 
Zwingli'sSausages said:
Yep. The impact he made on Napoli is staggering. The equivalent would be something like Messi going to West Ham and having that success.
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Given the money Napoli threw around when they had that side that’s miles from the truth if we’re being honest.
 
Kubala said:
If they also signed Brazil's centre forward or the equivalent of Neymar? Ferrara was one of the world's best centre backs as well at the time wasn't he? A few excellent players in his team probably helped more than people remember.
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They did have some good players, but they were nowhere near winning the league. And I don't see WH winning the league with Neymar tbh.
 
Pirlo said:
Given the money Napoli threw around when they had that side that’s miles from the truth if we’re being honest.
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Is it really? West Ham are hardly small spenders within the EPL. I struggle to think of a player now that could have a similar impact. It's all hypothetical of course.
 
I absolutely over-thinked this admittedly.

It's a hard question to answer because things always improve with time, especially with sport. Just look at any world record in the Olympics. Modern training, tactics, equipment, coaching and nutrition all play a part, as does the foundation of knowledge all of that is built upon increases as time accumulates. Another major factors is players these days receiving academy level training from the day they are old enough to kick a ball.

Football is no different, and you have to consider with football the game today is far more athletic, tactical, and technical than it was in past. Take emotion and nostalgia out of the question, players of today are better than the players of 20 years ago, and the players 20 years from now will be better than the players of today.

But that's a boring discussion. A more interesting way to approach the question of the GOAT is to ask who was the best in terms of how far ahead they were of their respective peers, and who would be the best if you could transport a player from the past and combine their natural talents and mentality with modern training and coaching, how would the compare with the best players of today.

In my opinion, Messi is the best that's ever played the game, and is arguably the best amongst his peers as well (Pele perhaps rivals him in this regard). Even in the modern game, he has only ever had one rival, but the records he holds are hard to argue with.

The latter question is more interesting, who could you portal into today's game that can be as good as, or better, than Messi. Who had the combination of the natural talent and the winners mentality and work ethic that makes a GOAT?

Diego Maradona without a doubt.

I would also say Johan Cruyff.

Maybe debatable how much better he would be than he already was, but when you consider his career started in the 80s, I would suggest Zidane as well.
 
DavieGF2 said:
Cristiano Ronaldo as an all rounder, had everything at his peak.

Was born 1984 only saw highlights of Maradona, Pele, Cruyff etc… not doubting their ability but would never chose anybody I never watched full games of regular(ish) or only saw highlights of.
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In the past 30 years nobody comes close to Messi and C.Ronaldo.9 Champions League titles between them and godknows how many goals.
 
Zwingli'sSausages said:
Is it really? West Ham are hardly small spenders within the EPL. I struggle to think of a player now that could have a similar impact. It's all hypothetical of course.
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Yeah mate. They were outspending most. In the context of the EPL West Ham ain’t big spenders. Napoli bought some of the best players in the world. This is where I think Diego’s aura verges off into fantasy a little bit. Really he doesn’t need it his ability speaks for itself.
 
Pirlo said:
Yeah mate. They were outspending most. In the context of the EPL West Ham ain’t big spenders. Napoli bought some of the best players in the world. This is where I think Diego’s aura verges off into fantasy a little bit. Really he doesn’t need it his ability speaks for itself.
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Would need to see a comparison of spending with the top Italian teams at the time to change my fanboy fantasies.
 
Zwingli'sSausages said:
They did have some good players, but they were nowhere near winning the league. And I don't see WH winning the league with Neymar tbh.
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Someone else posted in the most recent thread on the subject that smaller Italian teams winning the league was hardly new in that period. Hellas Verona finished first when Maradona pitched up and Napoli finished 8th with Torino in 2nd. I'm not an expert on Italian football in the 80s beyond looking at Wikipedia tables, but it seems like that period was a bit unusual as Roma won their 2nd ever title around then and Sampdoria their first shortly afterwards. It was also at time when smaller European clubs from smaller European leagues won the European Cup, so potentially that hints at it being an unusually strong or unusually weak time for world football.
 
Kubala said:
Someone else posted in the most recent thread on the subject that smaller Italian teams winning the league was hardly new in that period. Hellas Verona finished first when Maradona pitched up and Napoli finished 8th with Torino in 2nd. I'm not an expert on Italian football in the 80s beyond looking at Wikipedia tables, but it seems like that period was a bit unusual as Roma won their 2nd ever title around then and Sampdoria their first shortly afterwards. It was also at time when smaller European clubs from smaller European leagues won the European Cup, so potentially that hints at it being an unusually strong or unusually weak time for world football.
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Your rational, thought out replies are on ignore.
 
sami_rfc said:
Not many mentions for Zico, he was the best player in the world in the early 80s.
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Messi and Ronaldo have set new standards for longevity at the very top of the game. Ronaldo, Ronaldinho, Zidane and I think he's often overlooked but Kaka were all the best player in the world or widely considered to be the best player in the world at various times until Messi and Ronaldo basically broke away from the pack. Iniesta, Modric, Xavi, Bale, Pirlo, Sneijder, Henry and even possibly Alves were at times unbelievable but nobody ever would've realistically put them above those two. There's maybe a dozen others in there I'm forgetting but the point is that Ronaldo and Messi are just seen as being far and away the best despite some amazing careers and players there.
 
It’s Maradona for me too and by quite some distance. Pele was before my time and probably the only one who comes close.
 
Maradona
Ronaldinho
Zidane
Ronaldo (Brazil)
Messi

Other players will have more in the trophy cabinet and records etc but for me Maradona the best, no contest. Ronaldinho could do with a ball things that no other player ever could or probably will ever do. Maybe only had 4 of 5 years at the very top but when he was there he was untouchable.
 
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