Flip

VI you probably saw him more, but how did you rate Hugo Sanchez? Is Falcao another Hugo Sanchez in your opinion? A great goalscorer who will never be considered among the greats?

I'd honestly take the man who was the main man of two World Cup winning teams and another endless amount of titles.

I'm not taking you seriously, brah. How can you say all this about CRonaldo is beyond me. You talk absolute nonsense. CRonaldo isn't even close to being part of the most successful bracket of players. On the other hand I hope Messi keeps this up for five years but then again you will have to take so much into consideration to compare him with Maradona and Pele and so on. Its an endless discussion, what isn't though is your statement about CRonaldo.

Surprised VI said anything other, he experienced Ronaldo in his absolute prime too. A FAT Ronaldo was still scoring tons of goals in Spain and Italy. The man was something beyond unbelievable as a player.

Really isn't though is it? CRonaldo has came top 4 in three big tournaments. Messi has in zero.

Two years? Two years? You know as well as me as the real Ronaldo was in his prime from the day he went to PSV and it lasted until at least his second season in Madrid. That roughly 8-9 years, whereas he played for the most part of 4-5 years.

Ronaldo pre knee injuries played at a much higher level than the current Ronaldo. His knees might have messed his career up but there is no doubt who was the better player in my opinion. Ronaldo in his prime would've been 2nd best now by quite a distance.

Come on, please get us a win today. Please. JUST PLEASE.

I think we probably would. b****** of a time to be that good. Look at his record at Real, look at his last season with Manchester United. He's up there. He's up there amongst the very best? Please enlighten me. Scoring tons of goals against lesser teams and disappearing in big games doesn't really help his cause tbh.

We really wouldn't. So many good footballers were better than CRonaldo.

Pele and his Santos were known throughout the world. They played in the middle east, they played in north america, all over Europe, Africa. Sure you didn't have the amount of scouts back then but especially Real Madrid attempted to sign him time after time so I'm pretty sure team knew him and Santos very well. And while I understand your post and I might agree on the fact that he didn't play them week in week out, you need to understand the fact that Pele was the first superstar of football. Teams tried to nullify him in a way far superior to the way they do with Messi today. Pele was, and I bet the older posters on here or other ones who have watched endless amounts of footballs history will agree with me, raped against every single team he played. There was no other way to stop him, there were no fair methods to stop Pele and that's why he was so great. Messi never has and never will, thanks to a large part of what you say TV and money. He is protected in a manner Pele never was. Pele played in an era where substitutions weren't allowed he played in an era that was much tougher to succeed. Once again I think like Mole was on about, in the end its all about era, because for the same amount of reasons you find the reason to put Messi over Pele, someone will find the reasons to put Maradona or Pele over Messi. How would Messi have coped with todays football had he not gotten the hormones to grow? How would Pele have coped in a more tactical era of football? I mean there are so many things to take into considerations. Messi is the player of his era no doubt, I'm just trying to prove that no matter how many arguments are put forth of him being the best ever the same can be made both from Maradona's perspective or Pele's. In the end it's a topic which is defined by subjectivity since everyone has their own opinions.

That last sentence is the nail in the coffin. I mean the only reason why this is discussed is because its fun.

Look, I see where you're coming from, but I hope you understand that these 'friendlies' weren't friendlies like they are today. You know that right? Teams played for money and honour back then, especially since there was a tense rivalry between the European and South American clubs. Those were extremely important and teams really wanted to win. It's not like the friendlies today where you put half a team on and there is no touching of the opposition to prevent injuries. Also you do realize that Real Madrid of last season is the 7th most effective goalscoring team of all times in Spanish football? Behind 4 Athletic Bilbao teams who scored a boatload in the 30's? Not that it says anything, but Barcelona and Real Madrid of last season are the two teams who have scored the most ever in Spanish football, so how does that translate into your argument that you scored more back then? In general maybe but both Cristiano Ronaldo and Messi have been part in the most scoring Spanish sides ever. Once again, I'm a big fan of Messi and the person who isn't doesn't really appreciate football or is a Madrid fan. Cruyff makes an excellent point when he says: “What everyone should be especially happy about is that every era has its own heroes. Why would one be less than the other? Pele was a hero in his time, I was in my period and Messi’s time is now. He is a joy to behold.” Also didn't know that Pele scored a hattrick against Newcastle back in '72.

Aye extremely hard to compare in anycase. Football has developed so much, which is why there will always be a discussion about it. What is refreshing with Messi is that no matter how good, players we have had no one has ever come into consideration in the same bracket with Pele and Maradona which shows just how good Messi really is. Ronaldinho, Ronaldo, Zidane, Henry all these guys were great footballers, Messi however is the level above. A level not seen for 3-4 decades.

You taking the p*ss? How so? The consistency in his goalscoring is far beyond them. Obviously not Pelé, but he never played in Europe. Well you did mention Pele there. I just need to clarify once again that South American football back then had better standards than European football. Pele's Santos went in 59' to Europe and played I think 15 friendlies, (these were of course not REAL friendlies they were competitive games and that's why his friendlies record always comes to consideration when talking about his goalscoring records). Pele and Santos played Inter de Milan twice in the space of three weeks. Inter which the year after would go on to become one of the best teams in Italian history and he scored SIX goals against them in two games. Losing the first 3-2 and then winning the second 7-1 and he took the complete piss of Inter. And just to show how good South American football was back then, Santos lost 5-3 to Real Madrid which was the best team in Europe at the moment in 59' but lost 6-2 to Colo Colo. In one month of friendlies Pele went on to score 25 goals playing teams like Inter, Real Madrid, Barcelona and Valencia all teams who were successful back then, as well as Real Betis who would have its best finish ever in spanish football in 1963 as well as Hamburg who would reach the semi-finals in 1961' in the Champions League. People need to get a perspective of what Pele really was, he was a King amongst men. And I do respect people rating Messi over, however saying that his goalscoring was beyond any of them is for me a ridiculous statement. At the end of his career we can judge him. I mean Di Stefano himself didn't have a much worse goalscoring record than Messi and he won 5 straight Champions Leagues too. What Messi, Maradona, Pele and Garrincha all have in their favour though is that they won things and were dominant in the way they did it. Garrincha and Maradona each won one world cup completely on their own. Pele and Messi basically won everything (Messi probably will, will probably dominate the World Cup in Brazil and shut my mouth )

You taking the piss?

Yet when I suggested like 12 months ago that Neymar was better I got loads of shit for that...

Terrible man

I'm not going to go into that discussion. On the other hand, Pele should be the least of your worries, you should probably talk with all the Argentinians who still reckons Di Stefano and Maradona are above Messi...

CR has to think about Falcao tbh.... has more goals than him now Goals doesn't mean all though tbh. It's the overall play and how you contribute to winning. A defender can still be the best player in the world and a defender won't score many goals. Messi contributes overall much more than any other player in the world, and along that he is the big reason to why his team is the best in the world, mentioning CRonaldo in the same bracket as him shouldn't be allowed.

van Bommel and Suarez being two.