It's so difficult to compare between generations due to so many technical improvements over the years. However, I saw a lot of Maradona at the time and have seen a fair amount of Messi. I don't think there is a massive amount between them in terms of skill levels. Where Maradona edges it for me is because of his strength and balance. He had an almost unbelievable ability to ride the kind of tackles and lunges which now see players automatically in the book but which were commonplace in his day and he was still going forward having barely broken stride. He'd be a joy to watch with the protection creative players are afforded these days.

How did you manager to see a lot of Maradona at time?

By his own admission he was regarded as 6/7th best player in world going into the 1986 World Cup which in itself shows he did not match his WC performances week in week out.

Those are some fair points and no I didn't live in Italy so it was an over statement to say I saw a lot of him at the time and what we did see was often something which he did spectacularly at club level shwown on what little football we did get to see which may have skewed the overall perception. Having said that I'd say that the vast majority of the football watching population of that time saw him for more than 0-9 hours. Don't forget he played in four world cups helping to take Argentina to two finals and he played nearly every minute of his first world cup in 82. Even allowing for the fact that we didn't get to see all his games that is a lot of hours of football.

That said I find JamDav's assertion about him being ranked the 6/7th best player going into the 86 finals as preposterous. By that time both Barcelona and Napoli had seen fit to pay world record transfer fees for him. Clubs don't do that for nearly the best they do it for who they perceive to be the best.

p.s absolute tosh to the dim wit who said Maradona wasn't considered the worlds best player prior to the 86 WC. He absolutely was. To make stuff up to fatten your Messi argument is lamentable frankly.

people who played with and against maradona agree that messi is better, the problem is the world cup probably came at the wrong time for messi, 2 years ago when he was at his best he'd have done things like maradona did in 86, when you look back on players if you are not careful you only remember the good bits, if this forum had been around in 1982 it would have been in meltdown at how poor maradona was and nowhere near pele, 2 years ago messi was remarkable in the level he played to week in week out and I know I'll never see that again

maradona was fantastic but taking performance enhancing drugs always puts a question mark over  someone too

people saying Maradona was a level above Messi emphasise the performances for Argentina.

what about club level?? i doubt Maradona was as good week in week out as Messi has been for the last 8 years or so.

so the Argies know more about football than anyone else eh? cheers for that.

im not under 30. if no-one over 30 thought messi was the best ever we wouldnt be debating this. the likes of Lineker who played with and against Maradona has said he's never seen anyone like messi

Freddie, you've said you're over 30. Okay, can you tell me where you're from?

what about club level?? i doubt Maradona was as good week in week out as Messi has been for the last 8 years or so.

How many top teams ply their trade in Spain? Until the emergence of Athletico this season there has been two for some years. Some of the teams are very average. As someone else said Maradona played in Serie A at a time when it was very strong as evidenced by various Italian teams performances in european football. Prior to him arriving and since then no mainland southern Italian club side won Serie A. Napoli did it twice whilst Maradona was there.

Messi is 27 and pampered compared to Maradona who was kicked from piller to post by some of history's worst hatchet men throughout his career. No wonder by 30 he couldn't influence games in the way he did when he was in his mid 20's like Messi is. He still did what Messi has just done in 1990. The difference is in what he did in 86 when he scored two of the greatest goals seen in any world cup.

i agree with platini on this and i often disagree with him.

f*** of grasser

asparagus and others

The coffin lid on this fallacy about Messi's consistency and Maradona's inconsistency needs to be hammered firmly shut I'm afraid. I'm not talking opinions here. I am as someone famously said talking FACTS:

Messi is playing in a team of stars against another team of stars however many times a year and then he generally plays the equivalent of a load of friendlies against lolly pop ladies. Think of the absolute shiittest player in the Premiership and imagine how good he would look in your local sunday league team.

Now before the obvious retorts of course I am exaggerating but only for effect because you simply cannot wax lyrical about his consistency when the level of competition is usually so average.

And on to Maradona because you also simply cannot skate over what he did at Napoli. As I stated before prior to his arrival in Italy and also after no club from the south of Italy's mainland had or has ever won Serie A. Ever. At all. Napoli not only did it twice whilst he was there but also finished runners up on another couple of occasions. And this was the strongest in depth league in the world with different teams popping up throughout the 80's winning top european competitions or reaching their finals.

So where does this fallacy about Maradona's inconsistency spring from? Ah yes. I get it. Sometimes he was brilliant. Other times he was outstanding and sometimes he played football at a level not seen before or since and on the very highest stage of all where everything is on the line and you go home if you don't produce.

I'll take that kind of inconsistency over running around road sweepers any day.

Pele is also comfortably ahead of Messi. Messi will have to fight it out with a whole host of great players for the third spot, but there is a huge gap between them and the supernatural Maradonna and mercurial Pele.

Eeternaloptimist     15 Jul 14 21:54 
... I really don't see how anybody can argue that there was ever a more influential player in a world cup than Maradona in 86. Certainly not Messi in 2014.

I'll argue the point. Stat based only.

1966, final, Sir Geoffrey Hurst, a mere hattrick (perhaps).

That to me is influential... and some.

We can only assess a player by the ability he showed and the impact he made at the time he was playing, anything else is pure conjecture. For example, how do you know that if Pele was in his prime today, with all the so called superior modern training methods, he wouldn't make Messi and Ronaldo look pedestrian? The answer is you don't. It's impossible to know. All we know for sure is that Maradona showed more ability and made more of an impact in his era than Messi does in this era. That is the only fact we have at our disposal. So therefore it is a fact that Maradona is the better player.

similar players very different records

It's impossible to prove that Messi is better than Maradona and furthermore it's ridiculous for anyone to try.

"You seem to be confusing fact and your own opinion."

That's just your opinion.

highlander has already proved that maradona was better

end of thread

Maradona would score 50 goals and create 50 goals playing in that Barca side against those La Liga defenders.

Or flip it.

Messi would be out injured 3/4 season in Maradonas Italy era and score 10 goals per season.

Maradona is the winner, hands down.