Pele or Messi ?

[User removed 4]

Got in a bit of a discussion last night whilst watching the England game, some of the younger members of the party were touting Messi as the greatest player ever, whilst the mid 40-s and upwards (including me were plumping for Pele, is it just nostalgia on our part or was Pele the greatest ever, what does NSC think ?

 

[Biscuit]

Pele.

 

[HawkTheSeagull]

Pele

 

[Hillian1]

Mid forties myself and as much as I hate to say it, Messi.

 

[Kuipers Supporters Club]

Poborksy is better than Messi...

 

[BensGrandad]

To my mind Pele wasn't the best ever probably much the same as Messi but not the best ever. I would put him behind Maradona and Best possibly Beckenbuar Cryuff

 

[BensGrandad]

Poborksy is better than Messi...

Is that the clown Arsenal have bought judging by his performance for Germany the other night.

 

[deletebeepbeepbeep]

I agree with BensGrandad but would add defining the greatest player is quite difficult, they are all great for a number of reasons.

Ronaldo and Messi are both great, Messi for his trickery and Ronaldo for his athleticism but I wouldn't put one forward as better than the other they are both just different.

 

[User removed 4]

To my mind Pele wasn't the best ever probably much the same as Messi but not the best ever. I would put him behind Maradona and Best possibly Beckenbuar Cryuff

You see I've never understood the fuss over George Best, great player but not as good as people seem to think, imho.

 

[El Presidente]

To my mind Pele wasn't the best ever probably much the same as Messi but not the best ever. I would put him behind Maradona and Best possibly Beckenbuar Cryuff

Maradona almost singlehandedly won the Scudetta with Napoli and the World Cup in 1986, which is an incredible achievement.

Pele was a supreme goalscorer, but not as much of a team player as some of the others.

Would not put the Kaiser or Cruyff as high as the others, and as for Best, that's plain bonkers.

 

[Goldstone Rapper]

Garrincha.

Looks much better than Pele from what footage exists.

 

[El Presidente]

You see I've never understood the fuss over George Best, great player but not as good as people seem to think, imho.

Probably the best looking on that list, but never in the same league as the others, I'm with bushy on this!

 

[BensGrandad]

IMHO the best player I have seen is Georgie Best but football has changed and it is virtually impossible to gauge one of an era against another what about the likes of Stanley Mathews John Charles Alfredo Di Stefano, Feranc Puskas etc how would they fare in todays game, probably wouldnt but much the same how would Messi have faired against the likes of Norman Hunter and Ron Harris and the notorious hatchet men of Italy in the 70s.

 

[Gazwag]

You cannot compare the two, they played in different generations of football - 70's football is very much different from football today

 

[Goldstone Rapper]

Stanley Matthews was rubbish. Only had about two tricks.

The Hungarians of 1953 sussed him out very quickly at Wembley.

 

[User removed 4]

Stanley Matthews was rubbish. Only had about two tricks.

The Hungarians of 1953 sussed him out very quickly at Wembley.

Really............

 

[Kuipers Supporters Club]

Is that the clown Arsenal have bought judging by his performance for Germany the other night.

That is Podolski.

Poborksy played for the Czech Republic in the 90's.

 

[Goldstone Rapper]

Really............

Yes. Have you watched the game?

 

[Aadam]

Hard for me to say, being 30, I never really saw anything of the Pele or Maradona. Messi is genius though, and to do what he does now where there's a lot more emphasis on tactics compared to back in the day. Plus, Messi isn't scoring his goals in Brazil where Pele did a lot of his.

I would have to say:

1. Maradona
2. Messi
3. Pele

Is that the clown Arsenal have bought judging by his performance for Germany the other night.

Ha, he is that lop Man Utd bought after scoring that goal at the world cup. That's if he means Karel Poborsky

 

[User removed 4]

Yes. Have you watched the game?

No, but I know that they gave a lesson to the whole team, consequently to label a player revered by a generation of fans as "rubbish" on the basis of watching one game, is plainly ridiculous.