₦airaland Forum

gaussian:
Messi is probably the best of this Generation, but if he existed in Pele's Generation, he wouldn't even make the 23 man squad of Argentina, His career would have ended before it even started. Rogue defenders for use am do pepper soup. Football was very difficult in the 60's and 70's. Tackle from behind was legit. Omo na who get mind dey attempt dribble. Defenders wey dia laps big like tree trunk and chest heavy like barrel. Dem resemble wrestlers. Every match na War. Ronaldo sef go retire at 30. Injury will not allow them play for this long

The only problem he will have is his strength, but he will get defenders confused

MERCHANDISER:
How did he fail at psg,don't you understand the position he was playing at psg?😀

Stop making excuses ...he failed...reason they refused to renew his contract....even the fans booed him out of psg ... person wey no fit score reach 30 goals at his time at psg ...even took the team backwards ...they cudnt cross R16 in the ucl when he was there ...a team that got to back to back final and semis...the moment he left , they got to semi and then won it .. he dint meet expectations at psg ..he failed there .... u can't say oliseh is the reason bayern won the league , cos they lost it to leverkusen a season b4 ....they had been winning bundesliga forever

richmond500:
I watched videos of Pele, Pele was great but I'll still choose Messi and ronaldo.
Pele didn't have many strong rival like M10 or Cr7 in his days, also football rules weren't this hard and skills weren't this refined during Pele time.

The duo dominated when Benzema, scholes, De bryne, Xavi, Pique, Ramos etc were on the pitch with crazy passes and crazy tackles.
When it comes to dribble, there is no one that existed on this planet that does it better than Ankara messi

Thats good. But trump's favorite is Pele. He watched him in flesh not on videos

HeadNigga:
Pele over Cristiano and Messi? No...I disagree. His opinion though

Messi is playing in an era when defenders dare not touch him

When Pele played 3 world cup there was nothing like Yellow or Red card
For me that means there is really no basis to compare. It is a very different game. The way Messi goes past 6 people is because of Cards. Imagine Messi playing in an era where there is no Yellow card. Just imagine that

The rules nowadays favour strikers
It was not until 1970 the cards were introduced

Also there was no back pass rule so all those changes make it easy for strikers and allow them to look good

Beyond that there is no point arguing across generations the argument will never end but winning 3 World cups and playing in 4 deserves Respect

richmond500:
I watched videos of Pele, Pele was great but I'll still choose Messi and ronaldo.
Pele didn't have many strong rival like M10 or Cr7 in his days, also football rules weren't this hard and skills weren't this refined during Pele time.

The duo dominated when Benzema, scholes, De bryne, Xavi, Pique, Ramos etc were on the pitch with crazy passes and crazy tackles.
When it comes to dribble, there is no one that existed on this planet that does it better than Ankara messi

Someone rule the world in peculiar way when there's no social media and even traditional media is limited. Football is not a money making venture then and little access to training material but he was exceedingly great. I give to Pele also.

richmond500:
I watched videos of Pele, Pele was great but I'll still choose Messi and ronaldo.
Pele didn't have many strong rival like M10 or Cr7 in his days, also football rules weren't this hard and skills weren't this refined during Pele time.

The duo dominated when Benzema, scholes, De bryne, Xavi, Pique, Ramos etc were on the pitch with crazy passes and crazy tackles.
When it comes to dribble, there is no one that existed on this planet that does it better than Ankara messi

What did you meant by strong rival and football rules weren't that hard? In fact Messi and Cronaldo are protected by refs more, during Maradona and Pele era, football was like war, karate, mortal combat and boxing in some intense matches. Due respect to Messi and Cronaldo, Pele is more a complete player than both. Till date I don't, I don't believe Messi or Cronaldo were better or greater than Delima Ronaldo

cr7lomo:
Stop making excuses ...he failed...reason they refused to renew his contract....even the fans booed him out of psg ... person wey no fit score reach 30 goals at his time at psg ...even took the team backwards ...they cudnt cross R16 in the ucl when he was there ...a team that got to back to back final and semis...the moment he left , they got to semi and then won it .. he dint meet expectations at psg ..he failed there .... u can't say oliseh is the reason bayern won the league , cos they lost it to leverkusen a season b4 ....they had been winning bundesliga forever

He played as a midfielder in PSG not forward or striker that's why he has fewer goals.

How many midfielders in the modern football can score more 15goals in a season?

gaussian:
This is not even a debate, Pele is the greatest of all time. Everyone shouting Ronaldo and messi probably think football started 15years ago. When I watched clips of Pele, I was amazed at his brilliance in a time when there were butchers in form of defenders. Don't just watch Pele in world cup even his club games, he was head and shoulders above every other person including Diego Maradona. Many great talents existed like Socrates, Tostao, Garrincha, Romario, Bebeto, Baggio Cryuff et al but Pele is indeed the greatest to have stepped into a football pitch

One vital reason why I will name Ronaldo the greatest is bcis he's the only one in the conversation of greatest ever that isn't from one of the world cup winning countries...imagine if he were German or Spanish or French or Italian ... now Players like Pele, Maradona, Messi, Zidane, de Lima, Ronaldinho already had their countries in football world map great teams....portugal just be like Croatia or Belgium b4 Ronaldo... if Ronaldo were British, e for done Carry England win world cup since ...unfortunately for Ronaldo, when he was in his prime , he had crap players around him ....when his started played like Figo and rui Costa were at the end of their career .... he only played one tournament with both and they got to their first ever final ... even Messi that took 15 to 16 yrs to win his first trophy for Argentina had the likes of tevez , saviola , aguero , palermo , higiain , milito, Gabriel heinze, Samuel, Di Maria, mascherano , estabiam cambiasso, Gago , icardi , demichelis , Pablo Aimar , lauturo , otamendi , correa , dybala, pastore, Juan Sebastian veron, Gary, Zabaletta , lavezzi ...Messi played with these players in his prime ...non of those players played for a weak or average clubside back then .... I can imagine Ronaldo in his prime with this present portugal team ...them for win 2 world cups ....apart from pepe , carvahlo, quaresma and maybe Nani ... the rest were just average at best

siralos135:
So very true.

Pele was a colossus in his days and those who watched him would say this generation of players have nothing on him.
Some may mention Messi sha but Pele never had the luxury of sport science, medical care and the kind of monetary incentives that Messi currently enjoys.

Thanks for pointing this out, U need to see the types of injuries that both Pele and Maradona survived. Delima suffer injury that kept him from WC, and injury that kept him off field for a season. Was there a period Messi and Cronaldo were out for a 8months or a season?

Nyanabo:
Ok. Hj
Pele was great Maradona was also great and Trump is a great man

Bolded is debatable though.

___
17 more characters needed.

Yet they call him racist...
Meanwhile he has picked his best which can be agreed by many...

MERCHANDISER:
He played as a midfielder in PSG not forward or striker that's why he has fewer goals.

How many midfielders in the modern football can score more 15goals in a season?

That's the lie u guys tell to save face ...Messi was a forward and not midfielder at psg ...it was a front 3 of Neymar , mbappe and messi ... Messi never played midfield at psg .... u guys should stop saying what's not true

amechispeaks:
Pele won 3 FIFA World Cups and was top scorer in all three. He also scored more than a thousand goals throughout his career. Although FIFA disputes this since many of his goals were off camera/off the record during his playing time in Brazil. Either way, he's the greatest player that ever lived. In my humble opinion.

He wasnt the top scorer in any actually but he was the best player in 2 WCs just like Messi
He bsrely played in the 2nd WC he won and got injured afyer 2 matches.
Forget the hype my guy

Lumarstone:
To me, the greatest football player I've seen is that Brazilian called Ronaldinho.

He is a talented footballer with skills to dribble his opponent and locates his teammate(s) with one kind banana pass.

He is a footballer extraordinary.

I left.

with what you said now, I can say too that Okocha was the greatest, the cups and silverware was not just coming

Ronaldo de Lima is my own all time best.He was super fantastic during his days.

cr7lomo:
That's the lie u guys tell to save face ...Messi was a forward and not midfielder at psg ...it was a front 3 of Neymar , mbappe and messi ... Messi never played midfield at psg .... u guys should stop saying what's not true

He was in a new team and had goal scorers around in in mbappe and Neymar
He adapted to what the team needed not trying to be the Star by fire by force

Bukola94:
with what you said now, I can say too that Okocha was the greatest, the cups and silverware was not just coming

Messi is above Okacha in everything.
Goals, passes, free kicks, dribbles, magicals, science etc

CorperKola:
He was in a new team and had goal scorers around in in mbappe and Neymar
He adapted to what the team needed not trying to be the Star by fire by force

Now that's why I don't regard him as te greatest.....Ronaldo will find a way to outshine mbappe and neymar ...Will end up as top scorer and push them further to titles... Ronaldo can adapt anywhere...that's what Messi finds difficult...maybe it's cos he played at barca all his career since 13

cr7lomo:
Now that's why I don't regard him as te greatest.....Ronaldo will find a way to outshine mbappe and neymar ...Will end up as top scorer and push them further to titles... Ronaldo can adapt anywhere...that's what Messi finds difficult...maybe it's cos he played at barca all his career since 13

As far as i am concerned no sane person argues about ronaldo and messi
That contest is not even close
The number of ballon d'or wins can give you a clue
So dont bring ronaldo in to this abeg

richmond500:
I watched videos of Pele, Pele was great but I'll still choose Messi and ronaldo.
Pele didn't have many strong rival like M10 or Cr7 in his days, also football rules weren't this hard and skills weren't this refined during Pele time.

The duo dominated when Benzema, scholes, De bryne, Xavi, Pique, Ramos etc were on the pitch with crazy passes and crazy tackles.
When it comes to dribble, there is no one that existed on this planet that does it better than Ankara messi

Messi and Ronaldo didi not have rival like when we had Ronaldo Delima, Zidane, Ronaldinho, etc playing.

cr7lomo:
Maradona and Ronaldinho were better dribblers than Messi

even Austin Jay Jay okocha dribbled pass him well.

CorperKola:
As far as i am concerned no sane person argues about ronaldo and messi
That contest is not even close
The number of ballon d'or wins can give you a clue
So dont bring ronaldo in to this abeg

and the number of all time goal scores will judge

Wainey:
Messi is above Okacha in everything.
Goals, passes, free kicks, dribbles, magicals, science etc

not even near Jay Jay in terms of dribbles and skills.

richmond500:
I watched videos of Pele, Pele was great but I'll still choose Messi and ronaldo.
Pele didn't have many strong rival like M10 or Cr7 in his days, also football rules weren't this hard and skills weren't this refined during Pele time.

The duo dominated when Benzema, scholes, De bryne, Xavi, Pique, Ramos etc were on the pitch with crazy passes and crazy tackles.
When it comes to dribble, there is no one that existed on this planet that does it better than Ankara messi

Not true Pele did not have strong Rivals?

Have you ever heard of Eusebio or George Best
Look for their videos. Though the quality and quantity of videos from that time is low

Many people consider Eusebio to be the greatest Portuguese player ever
His impact in the 1966 World Cup was phenomenal

Alex Ferguson coached Ronaldo for many years

He declared Pele the greatest ever

Alex Ferguson knows football and his opinion matters. He is old enought to have seen Pele's generation

I have always said on this forum, that the GOAT in my perspective is

RONALDINHO ( Ronaldo de Assis Moreira )

Every other is secondary

To include:

Pele
Maradona
Ronaldo Nazario
Messi
Christiano Ronaldo

Personally I did not see Pele

The greatest player I ever saw was Maradona

I do not think Messi or Ronaldo come close

I think the rule changes since Maradona's time makes the life of strikers easier
Defenders are afraid to touch them and that makes them look better than strikers from previously

In terms of impact . Maradona is Number one . No rival as far as I have seen with my own eyes

The 1986 Argentina World Cup team was Average. Maradona took them across the line

Playing in Italy in the 80s was very hard .Their defenders were brutal.
It was a very hard league to shine in

CorperKola:
As far as i am concerned no sane person argues about ronaldo and messi
That contest is not even close
The number of ballon d'or wins can give you a clue
So dont bring ronaldo in to this abeg

All those arranged awards ...so according to ur logic , modeic is better than xavi and iniesta cos he has balon dor that iniesta and xavi don't...pr canavaro is better than Maldini cos he has balon dor ... or Beyonce is better than MJ cos she has more Grammy... or tems is better than Tiwa ....

That champions league is perfect place for comparison for both....cos they both played for top clubs and the tournament is diverse with all best players and teams playing in that tournament...hoke an away games , to test the best abilities of teams and players...and ronaldo outshines Messi... WC is not accurate enough...cos klose that's a world cup winner and top scorer isn't even. Among top best 100 players of all time.... the team u represent goes a long way I determining trophies to win .... Ronaldo de Lima won 2 World cups but cudnt win champions league cos he played for an inter milan that dint have a chance , while he joined a Madrid that wads fading off ... Rivaldo won the UCl cos he joined Milan , just like Zidane and Figo joined Madrid to win UCL ... if both ronaldo and messi played for teams like valencia and spurs...they wudnt have won one UCL , despite their talents and attributes... if Messi were Colombian he wudnt hv won any world cup .. and if ronaldo were German or Italian or French, he wud hv won one

siralos135:
So very true.

Pele was a colossus in his days and those who watched him would say this generation of players have nothing on him.
Some may mention Messi sha but Pele never had the luxury of sport science, medical care and the kind of monetary incentives that Messi currently enjoys.

If Pele was ahead of his time, isn't that the real definition of greatness? At a time football was evolving, he was already a few decades ahead. That's the real greatness if you ask me

aribisala0:
Pele was very rugged but did not get the protection modern strikers have

I think you're making a lot of sense here.
The era of Pele was a difficult and dark age of football compared to today.
Ronaldo is great but isn't really in the greatest discussion because he is more of a great goalscorer than a allround footballer. He's out.
Maradona is qualified but he used drugs and cheated, so he's out too.
Messi is qualified in all aspects but by considering his era he's also out. Maybe Pele is most qualified than all others.

I think goat of football is really Pele a black man, they shouldn't rig him out for another race. When it comes to sports, it's usually a black man. That also supports why Pele might just be the greatest.

richmond500:
I watched videos of Pele, Pele was great but I'll still choose Messi and ronaldo.
Pele didn't have many strong rival like M10 or Cr7 in his days, also football rules weren't this hard and skills weren't this refined during Pele time.

The duo dominated when Benzema, scholes, De bryne, Xavi, Pique, Ramos etc were on the pitch with crazy passes and crazy tackles.
When it comes to dribble, there is no one that existed on this planet that does it better than Ankara messi

You have no idea what Pele and those who played in the 60’s and 70’s wenr through- these men were kicked without mercy and the referees looked the other way and yet Pele shone like a million stars- imaging he got all that protection from the referee like Messi. and Ronaldo are protected today, Pele would have done more magic too…