Nevermind Cristiano, the question is will Messi become as good as Maradona?

[NEEJ]

imo, c ronaldo's far and away the best player in the world. miles away from messi simply because ronaldo can score from anywhere whereas with messi you feel he needs to be in the box for a shot.

[sicsfingeredmong]

I rate Ronaldo, but Messi can do everything he does and better and infact is a better dribbler. For me Messi has the possibility (a couple of world cups on) to be as good as Maradona.

 

Purely due to the strength of the current Argentinian squad & the talent they have coming through the U'21 ranks, and this refers to every position on the park, Messi will never have the same opportunity as Maradona did - the opportunity to win a WC virtually off his own boots. One could make a similar case with relation to Maradona's exploits at Napoli, as another poster has already mentioned, and i agree with every word typed in the post i speak of. Therein lies the footballing beauty of Maradona, and what he achieved as a footballer in terms of titles & cups won.

 

As a point of comparison, as far as both of them making a similar impact on ther biggest stages, Messi will never be in the same league imo.

[Zero]

Messi can only be better than Maradona if he can won 2 World Cups.  To be a top class legendary you need to win the World Cup, but not only club trophies like George Best or, Cristiano Ronaldo.  And to be honest Messi, though ultimately has the potential to be the best player ever, is still a mile away from Cristiano because of his inconsistencies.  However, Messi would definitely have a better chance to be better than Cristiano in history simply because he has a bigger chance to win the World Cup---well, Argentina isn't top favorites  but still a lot more likely than Portugal.

[Parky]

Best was cocky as fuck, so was Maradona. They had arrogance, as they knew they were that good, that was part of what made them as well. Same with Gazza.

 

Messi is unique in the sense he grew up in the Barca system and some humility is part and parcel of that environment. I have no doubts Messi will go to the next level, but whether he will sustain a period of greatness comes down to too many factors beyond his control.

 

He made the 'Maradonna signature goal' look easy and delivered it with more comfort imo.

[Parky]

It's as you say Parky, we can only really call it after a few more World Cups - the proof that he is as effective or even more effective will come when he dominates a Word Cup and wins it amost single handedly like Maradona did in 86, or when he impacts on the fortunes of a club in the way Maradona did at Napoli.

 

In my opinion, he will never even be close. Messi is a brilliant dribbler and, over the course of his career I'd suggest his stats might be more impressive than Maradona´s, in terms of trophes won, goals scored and games played. But there was a magic about Maradona that I just don't see with Messi. Just that something extra - I don't see Messi's ability as mercurial in the way Maradona's was. Football is about much more than just winning-if it wasn't we would all be rowing or athletics fanatics- and watching Messi reminds us of that, but not to he extent that watching Maradona did. The word "genius" gets overused, as does the phrase "the word "genius" gets over used but", but if there was ever a genius in football it was Maradona.

 

As I said, Messi will probably win more trophies, but will the circumstances of those trophies match Maradona dragging Argentina to a World Cup and then setting alight an underperforming club like Napoli?                         

 

One thing is for certain, Messi and those around him will take care of his talents better than Maradona and his cronies did. He won't end up as a geet big fat bloater struggling about the pitch for Seville when he should still be in his prime. But that's another thing about Maradona - all of the beautiful things he achieved were absolutely in spite of being mismanaged, misinformed and misadvised, from the age of about 14, by just about every body who had any control or power or influence on his career, with a couple of notable exceptions.

 

Maradona had an element of the mystical about him, as others have alluded he had a kind of force which would change matches and competitions. It was a result of not only his gifts but his presence something that came from his very being.

Maradona could and we were aware of it change the destiny of any game and this was beyond just skills...Kaka and Ronaldo don't have this and nor does Ronaldhino...None of them have the ability to do a 'Napoli'. Messi's followers in Argentina however  see something in him that we maybe don't yet.....

 

 

[Nobody]

Is it just me that thinks it's bollocks that players have to win the WC to be considered the worlds best?

Maradona proved that he was in a league of his own when he won the WC in '86, but in todays football, I'd say that it's far more important what the player does week in, week out in his club. There are just too many circumstances in WC-football, I just don't think it's fair to judge players for what they do during a one month period every fourth year.

 

[madras]

Is it just me that thinks it's bollocks that players have to win the WC to be considered the worlds best?

Maradona proved that he was in a league of his own when he won the WC in '86, but in todays football, I'd say that it's far more important what the player does week in, week out in his club. There are just too many circumstances in WC-football, I just don't think it's fair to judge players for what they do during a one month period every fourth year.

 

totally agreed.

 

it also means thast had maradona played in a very good team in 86 we shouldn't look on him as one of the worlds best players.

[Tooj]

Argentina had some cracking players man in '86. It's a total myth when everyone says they were a poor team. Just Maradona was that good.

[sicsfingeredmong]

Is it just me that thinks it's bollocks that players have to win the WC to be considered the worlds best?

Maradona proved that he was in a league of his own when he won the WC in '86, but in todays football, I'd say that it's far more important what the player does week in, week out in his club. There are just too many circumstances in WC-football, I just don't think it's fair to judge players for what they do during a one month period every fourth year.

 

 

Hence his exploits at Napoli have also been mentioned. It's not as if Maradona was just a 'Two Tournament Wonder'.

[Nobody]

Is it just me that thinks it's bollocks that players have to win the WC to be considered the worlds best?

Maradona proved that he was in a league of his own when he won the WC in '86, but in todays football, I'd say that it's far more important what the player does week in, week out in his club. There are just too many circumstances in WC-football, I just don't think it's fair to judge players for what they do during a one month period every fourth year.

 

 

Hence his exploits at Napoli have also been mentioned. It's not as if Maradona was just a 'Two Tournament Wonder'.

Oh, I'm not saying he was, he was an absolutely amazing player, probably the best ever.