Maradona was out for a significant period when Goixcochea did for him, you simply can’t compare ‘crunching tackles’ IMO. Some of Pele’s were thigh high, Maradona would have struggled, in the same way that Pele would have done with the Goixcochea assault.I gauge players by what I’ve seen of them on the pitch, either live or on tv
I did see Pele play in a few games and I personally wouldn’t put him in the same league as Maradona. He played in top teams when the quality of the opposition was generally at a much lower level. There is a myth about just how good Pele was imo
He didn’t cope anywhere near as well as Maradona with crunching tackles either, from memory he missed quite a few WC games because of it too.
It’s all about opinions, and I’ve seen nothing on this thread to change my mind about Maradona being the best ever.
Pele played longer I believe.
Definitely opinions and almost an impossible question to answer.