Pele tells Messi "Come back when you've won 3 World Cups".

Pelé has rarely said a nice thing about anything or anyone.
He's just a big-mouthed buffoon.

high_lander - i give up with you. Next you'll be telling me that Schillaci and Forlan were better players than Zidane because they have more world cup goals.

Perhaps David Platt was a better midfielder than Xavi because he has more world cup goals too?


As an aside the likes of Wenger, Fergie and Mourinho all class the CL as better than the world cup. I think i'll take their opinion over yours.

pele and maradonna are just lucky that messi turned down the offer of spanish citizenship, otherwise he would be getting atleast 4 world cups without even getting off the bench but then he can claim that he won them by himself because the team around him was so poor.

i was 10 years old in1958 pele was 17 he was part of ateam  vava garrincha etc maradona won the 86 world cup single handed messi has not reached that level cant we just enjoy him compared to talksport ravings about prem world class players

wat the hell has a world cup got to do with being the best? did cryuff r best win 1? no n messi had a mug manager in last 1

Your arguments ring hollow Highlander. Santos were seriously outclassed by Barca. So what if not all the matches were thrashings? The CL winning team has won 5 years in a row.

Spain are basically 2/3rds Barca + 1/3rd Other Spanish players - Messi. And they dont play together nearly as often as Barca. Theres no way you could expect them , with that formula, to be better than Barca. Elite European competition clubs bring together most of the worlds best players into a few tightly knitted, hard working, well organised teams. Of course the CL is the best.

Stephane Guivarc'h won more World Cups than Cruyff or Messi. Scary

Betfair forumite, Highlander:

"I judge Pele on his performances at the highest level, same as I do with Cruyff, Maradona et al. Messi has a lot to prove to be considered in that company."


All-time great player and BRILLIANT COACH, Johan Cruyff:

"He, Messi, is a phenomenal player undoubtedly the best ever and, for football, Messi is a gem because he is a role model for every child in the world,"


Who is correct? You decide.

its a tough one 

I certainly don't think it's an Argie thing since when pressed he agreed that Messi was the best current player .

He could have said Iniesta,Ronaldo ,Rooney -but he actually said Messi

the champions lge is of a higher standard than the wc imo, all magic players pele, maradonna, messi and cruyff. throw in zidane, beckenbauer for good measure. messi,s scoring goals at the highest standard in cl, in best league in world. pele never did that, he was in a brazil team full of world class players to help him. messi doesnt have that luxury. maradona meanwhile practically won the world cup himself. argue on

World cup is of a lower standard but the GOAT can't shine in it?????

Messi was knackered at the WC. Pele never played a single match in a European league season might have found it hard coming off the back of a 10 month La Liga, League or Scudetto campaign.

Yes all the Barca players looked knackered playing for Spain in 2010....

All-time great player and BRILLIANT COACH, Johan Cruyff:

"He, Messi, is a phenomenal player undoubtedly the best ever and, for football, Messi is a gem because he is a role model for every child in the world."

Its scary how many people trot out the line that 'Maradona won a World Cup on his own'.

I remember having this argument with someone before and when I asked him to name any of the other Argentina players in 1986 he stumbled and said.... Mario Kempes!

Maradona was clearly Argentina's best player but it was far from a one man team.

And Bilardo fantastic coach, very tactical. Argentina was a solid block with a lot of agressivity, 5 goals conceded in 7 matches in this WC. But some people retain only what is brillant, goals and attack

agressivity thats a new word to me, but i think know where your coming from.

;) haha ok. yes i take words in my native language and give them an english form, sometimes it works

Pele is a mug.

HALA MESSI!!!!!

Jimmy Greaves:

"Comparing individual players from different eras is impossible. So all I can say is that Messi ranks alongside the very best – Pele, Best, Garrincha, Diego Maradona and Johan Cruyff, the man who set this great Barcelona era in motion."

Pele is a maniac

Can't be assed to read the entire thread, but Pele's supposition, if he actually made it, is nonsense.

What if the world's best player is from some no mark nation like Liberia for example. I'd like to have seen Liberia win three World Cups with Pele. They couldn't even come close to qualifying with George Weah, one of the best strikers of the 90s.

Here is what Pelé exactly said :

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/16661825

Everybody lauds G. Best, who never even played in a world cup.

Exactly. Absolute load of clap about Messi having to win the world cup. He has to do feck all because he lights up screens every weekend. Genius

if messi played 20/30/ years ago , i would put a player on him, man for man , tell him to give him few hard tackles, that would be enough, i honestly believe i could have marked  messi out of any game years ago, that why best , diego, pele were superior.

Also I'd add that having to beat the teams in La Liga every weekend even the likes of Granada is still probably harder than playing against North Korea in the group stages of a world cup.

hotch, george best was a magnificent player, see the 5 messi had the other day, check besties 6 v northampton, you might say different in quality, but that leverkusen defence was worst ive ever seen in any football

I'm not inferring best wasn't a decent player, just that Pele is a muppet (unless he said it tongue in cheek).

Nevertheless I enjoy watching Messi play. Best I've ever seen anyway.

hotch bilbao tuk manure the english champs apart so this theory spanish teams cant defend a joke. plus barca absoloutly destroyd manure twice n a hope they get chelski semis to just to prove it

bilbao lost at home to valencia 0-3 3 days later. suddenly they could,nt defend either

Pele, Messi, Maradone, C.Ronaldo

Who did the best against Stoke and Blackburn?

Pele wasnt even voted as Brazils number one player of all time, by brazillian soccer fans. Garrincha was

Pele was talented, but he's a classless ****
Least with Maradona you know what you are getting, Pele plays up to an image but he's a ****.

Messi is wonderful, if he continues he'll likely go down as the greatest.
But Maradona is still the best I've ever seen

Pele scored becket loads of goals, lots of them in friendlies and paid tour matches against amateur sides, he often forgets to mention that.

I agree that world cups are a team effort. Put Messi in Spain or Germany and he would win every world cup until he retires.

Winning World Cups is a red herring. However justifying the label best footballer ever must require more than just scoring masses of skilful goals for a dominant team like Barcelona. Mustn't it?

Whether it was for their national team or more than one club side the great players through football history always showed they were more than a one trick pony.

For Argentina Messi has 22 goals in 67 appearances. Aguero/Higuain have 26 goals in 56 matches. Same ages, same era, same Argentina team-mates. That's the problem.

Messi plays with 1 or 2 forwards upper than him in Argentina team, while Barca plays without real centre forward and he's there more likely to be in position to score. So you can't compare. It's impossible to speak about a player without to take in account the team he's playing in, fact.

Blackheath - Pele is considered one of the best ever and at the time he played at Santos they were far and away the best club side in the world, while the Brazil sides he played in were up there as the best ever as well. So not sure why Messi should have to prove himself in a poor side if Maradona didnt.

As for Messi having 22 in 67 - he doesnt play the same role as he does for Barcelona and is very much the playmaker for Argentina. So he wont get the same goals as he does for Barca. However he has been far and away their best player for the last 4/5 years.

Sorry, meant Pele not Maradona.

Ronaldo often overlooked in these debates. Has a player ever inspired more than he?

Were it not for three years on the sidelines as he was reaching his peak, then who knows.

Of the greats which I've seen namely Ronaldo, Zidane, Ronaldinho, Messi, CR7, I would rate Ronaldo the highest.

Fat Ronaldo?  Yeh he was alright.

One important point imo is that Messi isn't bigging himself up as the best, a great number who have an interest in football are.  Can't say I blame Pele too much for wanting to remind everyone how good he was though.

The 71-year-old said: "I like Messi a lot, he's a great player. Technically, we're practically at the same level.

Surely if you took a young Pele in a time machine to the current time, he'd be nothing special? The game has evolved.

just abit of a c|_|nt if you ask me

i find watching highlight videos of pele boring.
Obviously football was at a low level back then, i guess being the center striker of the best teams in the world makes scoring easier. how many games did he need for his 1240 goals then?

I guess you don't know much about football.

Pele wasn't a striker.

HTH

really?

Why are we (generally speaking) always so obsessed in crowning different sportsmen the Greatest of all time? It's always the same - impossible to judge, regardless of the sport as they never played in the same eras.

The best 5 players i"ve ever seen are Messi,Pele,Maradona,Best and Xavi.

Messi is a bit one dimensional, it seems like nearly all his goals are scored in the same way, he either gets on the end of a passing move and scores with his feet at close range, or he beats the last defender and scores with his feet at close range. I don't see why that's meant to make him this amazing player. He is a very good player in a fantastic attacking side that is virtually unbeatable in this era. Great player, yes, but nowhere near the best of all time. Not even close, sorry.

Maradona could do everything Messi does and more, he could drop back, take the ball and take on entire teams and beat them, his passing was sublime, he could boss midfield and attack and he set up more goals than he scored.

Cruyff used to dominate the whole pitch.
Zidane used to work his magic all over the midfield and attack.

Pele could score from 25 yards, from volleys, could bend the ball around a wall - scored many free kicks, he was known for his exceptional prowess at heading. Pele could beat 4 or 5 players then score. Never mind his goals, he had many more assists - he created thousands of goals. Pele could do it all. Messi seems rather limited by comparison.

Funny thing with football is that the 'greatest' tag is generally associated with goalscorers - couldn't it equally be a defender/keeper?

I bet you never played soccer highlander with those stupid comments about Messi. He dont score many headers because he"s 3 foot tall but to say he"s one dimensional is a laugh

Messi's goals all look the same, go on watch some and tell me that I am wrong. Then look at Pele's, they are all different. Some are headers, some are free-kicks, some are chest/volley, some are dribbling.

If you've seen one Messi goal, you've seen them all.

You're right I have never played soccer, however I have played a helluva lot of football

Your entitled to your opinion M8 but ask anyone who played at a higher level than you and they"ll put you right. Enjoy your day

Messi's goals all look the same, go on watch some and tell me that I am wrong. Then look at Pele's, they are all different. Some are headers, some are free-kicks, some are chest/volley, some are dribbling.


Maradona was so good he could even score with his hands

It was the hand of God

The hand of the Devil, more likely

Highlander go and watch the games at the latter stages of the World Cup 1986 and you will see that Maradona was not winning anything on his own.

He was easily their best player but Argentina man for man were in no way inferior to any of the teams they met.

I think they way Messi destroyed Arsenal has serious lasting effects with you.

JamDav Arsenal were a sitter away from knocking out your mighty Barca, imagine if that chance had fallen to RVP instead of Bendtner? There was no destruction, there was only cheating. (RVP wrongly sent off)

Messi should tell Pele to come back when he's not advertising impotence cures on the telly.

Barcelona base their game on the new rule that you can't tackle from behind.  They are wrapped in cotton wool by the rules and over protective refs. Yes its beautiful to watch but you need to remember that the maradonas, bests and peles delivered while having the sh1t kicked out of them. Google best riding the chopper harris "tackle". Not the one that is always shown this one is near miraculous the way best rides it.

way line, takes on and beats half the English team then slots it past the keeper. It's ridiculous to have that much talent. Messi will never do that. He just doesn't have the ability

What an absolute cretin you are High-lander , a total mug

High-lander , you are making an absolute fool of yourself , btw how many full matches did you watch pele or cruyff in ??? how many argentina matches have u watched with messi playing ??? im thinkin not a lot !!! you are one those guys who get listen to talksport and believe the "experts"

Unreal that some people put up the likes of 'Chopper Harris' as some kind of defensive legend due to his tough tackling.

There may not be as many lunatic defenders these days but there are far more strongers, quicker, intelligent and tacically aware defenders than in Pele and Maradona's day.

What's talksport? I only ever go by my own opinions and I find that I am usually correct
AIDSMcGUG You sound like a half-wit. Did they just let you our for the day?

boy i just love messi

*out

highlander...what a grade A mug

The comparison should be between Messi and Ronaldo, that's a more of a contest. I call it about even myself. But neither of them can lace the boots of Pele, sorry.

Mar 24, 2012 -- 2:57AM, TheInvestor2 wrote:

The 71-year-old said: "I like Messi a lot, he's a great player. Technically, we're practically at the same level.Surely if you took a young Pele in a time machine to the current time, he'd be nothing special? The game has evolved.

Pele would be worth about  £200M today .

but messi is unbuyable tober

My fav line from High-lander , " Messi is a bit one dimensional !!!! lololol , 3 world player of the years awards and 3 champions leagues , and he's only 24 !!!

Highlander what do you consider Maradona's best game for Napoli?

How many times have u seen Pele play please Highlander ??

one dimensional in the sense every time he comes up against arsenal he tears them a new one

messi 1 deminsional right foot left food, headers, tracks back, gets kicked gets back up

exactly the bhoys !!! this Highlander geezer is the biggest mug ive came across on here ( and that is saying something lol )

exactly the bhoys !!! this Highlander geezer is the biggest mug ive came across on here ( and that is saying something lol )

exactly the bhoys !!! this Highlander geezer is the biggest mug ive came across on here ( and that is saying something lol )

oops !! sorry about that

high_lander 24 Mar 12 10:04 
Messi is a bit one dimensional



Is this clown actually for real? I sense we're all being fished here.


high_lander 24 Mar 12 10:20 
Messi's goals all look the same, go on watch some and tell me that I am wrong



There's thread on here somewhere, where a guy posted a youtube to link to all his Barca goals, i suggest you go and watch it. Solo goals, goals from outside the box, goals from inside the box, even the occasional header.

You don't win 3 consecutive world player of the year awards by being 'one dimensional'

agreed biscuit , he even scored a header in the champs league final !!

The game was much tougher in Pele's day, with defenders kicking lumps out of forwards. It would have been too much for Messi, he wouldn't be able to function on the football field back then. Not only that but the ball was much heavier and picked up moisture as the game went on, Messi wouldn't have been able to control that heavy ball. It's ridiculous that Pele could bend the ball and do the magic he did with that concrete football, he must have been crazy talented.

high-lander , u are a funny guy , il give u that , i have no doubt u have watched and studied a lot of pele's  games , fair play sir

high-lander , u are a funny guy , il give u that , i have no doubt u have watched and studied a lot of pele's  games , fair play sir

Just imagine what Pele could do with today's lightweight football?! It doesn't bear thinking about, he would score thousands of goals and win everything

yeah , u were right earlier when u said pele would outscore messi x3 if he played for barca , if pele played for barca he would have scored 150 goals so far this season , u r spot on ........ U CLOWN !!!!!!!!

where's this article?

pele the most complete footballer of all time. You could have played him in goal and he would have been the best.

Mar 24, 2012 -- 3:14PM, Biscuit1979 wrote:

high_lander 24 Mar 12 10:04  Messi is a bit one dimensionalIs this clown actually for real? I sense we're all being fished here.high_lander 24 Mar 12 10:20  Messi's goals all look the same, go on watch some and tell me that I am wrongThere's thread on here somewhere, where a guy posted a youtube to link to all his Barca goals, i suggest you go and watch it. Solo goals, goals from outside the box, goals from inside the box, even the occasional header.You don't win 3 consecutive world player of the year awards by being 'one dimensional'

twas me    worth a watch, a masterclass in finishing

It could be argued that he isn't even the best player at Barcelona... best ever? Get real!

was pele really that good?

did pele play for brazil in 1966?

He was injured in '66, broken leg I think.

He played a couple of matches in 1966 and was hacked down several times in the 2nd match and didn't play again. Certainly didn't break his leg though.

Yes,Dessie. He was.

Anyone who thinks it was 'tougher in Peles day', go and have a look at the 1958 WC final on youtube.

Those Swedeish defenders wouldnt get a game in todays womensn intl side, they are that bad.

Yes let's base our thoughts on one match. Always a good idea.

Well, when that one match was the world cup final, then it is relevant to the standard of the time.

dont see how not winning a world cup can have any baring on whether you were the greatest ever or not.

either u got it all or u dont.

there is absolutely nothing leo messi cant do and what he can do he does it the best.

best ever imo!