Greatest player of all time and why (2 Viewers)

[Alen]

I love Zidane.. i'm a supporter of the French NT so he's one of my favourite players ever..But to be frank he doesnt hold a candle to Maradona...The difference is so big its not even funny imo..

I never got the chance to watch Pele.
I was only 7 at the WC 1986 and the first thing connected to football i remember is the commentator saying :Maradona-Belgium 2-0.
People who never cared about football used to cancel everything just to watch Maradona play. That's how popular and attractive he was. The only other sportist who had such an impact on the public, worldwide, was Michael Jordan.
Zidane i followed since Bordaux's UEFA campaign in mid 90's and more or less i followed him during his entire career. Even though he wasn't as attractive or charismatic as Maradona, i don't think there was such a difference between the two of them as you think. From pure footballing point of view, they were both brilliant and they both had the same influence on the game.
I'd still give an advantage to Diego, but not a big one.

 

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[Bjerknes]

Word.......

But...

Zico > Mueller > Maradona >Beckenbauer >Candyman >Pele



But this is what I think....


Molinaro > Beckham > Rooney > Hargreaves > Carrick > Delpie

Hmm. I don't think Zico or Mueller were better than Maradona.

 

[ßöмßäяðîëя]

And you left Boumsong out?Disgraceful.

 

[Hambon]

maradona

peep at around 1:30... nobody got nothin on him...

 

[Bozi]

Word.......

But...

Zico > Mueller > Maradona >Beckenbauer >Candyman >Pele



But this is what I think....


Molinaro > Beckham > Rooney > Hargreaves > Carrick > Delpie

man i loved zico, he was not the greatest ecer but....my god what a player smhame that people forget how good he is just ebcause brazil didnt win that world cup

 

[Bjerknes]

man i loved zico, he was not the greatest ecer but....my god what a player smhame that people forget how good he is just ebcause brazil didnt win that world cup

Yeah, he was fantastic from what I've seen.

That backheel around a defender then goal was just fucking amazing. One of the best goals I've ever seen.

 

[Bjerknes]

I mean look at this shit.


One of the best highlight reels I've ever seen.

 

[Bozi]

I mean look at this shit.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ARpEnjZIWko

One of the best highlight reels I've ever seen.

good find andy plus rep coming your way

always teh first player i add to my team on pro-evo, i was just fixated with him as a kid, him platini and then maradonna helped ease the pain of scotland nly having gordon strachan

 

[Zé Tahir]

Zico was amazing, pitty I never got to see him play. I watched a movie about him about a year ago and got to see how it was growing up for him and how he trained. He had an amazing work ethic. I specifically remember one scene where he would practice free-kicks for hours. He would hang his t-shirt from the bar and practice hitting it. Nothing fancy, but it's no wonder he was one of the best free kick takers ever

 

[Bozi]

Zico was amazing, pitty I never got to see him play. I watched a movie about him about a year ago and got to see how it was growing up for him and how he trained. He had an amazing work ethic. I specifically remember one scene where he would practice free-kicks for hours. He would hang his t-shirt from the bar and practice hitting it. Nothing fancy, but it's no wonder he was one of the best free kick takers ever

nice man nice, can you remember teh name of it as i would love to see this. i was only like 3 when this world cup was on,god knows how i remember anything but certain things from your childhood stick with you. for me seeing zico play was unbelievable, i was hooked on his skill, his style and his presence...i also vividly remembered a certain paolo rossi:eyebrows:

anyway from as young as i can remember i was hooked on football and zico was one of the main reasons. when you look at the players in that team, it included socrates and falcao it is testament to zico that he was the man that stood out beyond them

 

[denco]

The Brazil 1982 team is my favourite all time XI. I would not call Zico the standout talent , he was a key player possibly the best of them but not by a lot as Junior, Cerezo, Falcao, Socrates were all excellent players.

Maradona would always be my all time favorite player but Zidane is possibly the best big game player that I have ever seen. In any big game he would always shine and his performance in the 2006 wc was nothing short of amazing if you recall how crap he was up till then.

To totally outshine the Brazilian team was a testament to his greatness. Maradona was something else, you could put him in any team and they would do something, it is what set him apart from the rest for me as the others had greatness alongside them but he did not.

I was on the train the other day and some old Man united fans were calling George Best the greatest of all times but I almost said to the guy how can you call someone best of all times if he could not lead his country to a big tournament? i dont mean win it, I mean just qualify. Surely if you are the greatest ever that is the least you can do; not score less goals for your country than David healey and Jimmy Quinn.

Dont get me wrong he was a great player but he only seemed to do it for manchester united.

The 1 player I want to really study in great detail is Alfredo Di Stefano as I have never understood the hype

 

[HelterSkelter]

maradona

peep at around 1:30... nobody got nothin on him...

I just saw that video.The presentation at the stadium alone gives you goosebumps.

Maradona was something else, you could put him in any team and they would do something, it is what set him apart from the rest for me as the others had greatness alongside them but he did not.

I agree with you on The Maradona bit completley.In refrence to the reception he got at the stadium during his Napoli presentation..have you ever seen anyone else been given such a passionate reception on his transfer from another club?

I havent really seen a lot of presentations TBH,but this one was phenomenal.It was like they had won the CL or something.

 

[denco]

I just saw that video.The presentation at the stadium alone gives you goosebumps.


I agree with you on The Maradona bit completley.In refrence to the reception he got at the stadium during his Napoli presentation..have you ever seen anyone else been given such a passionate reception on his transfer from another club?

I havent really seen a lot of presentations TBH,but this one was phenomenal.It was like they had won the CL or something.

Its all that Neapolitan icecream that is the cause of their passion.

Seriously though he was quite the player. Did you know the Nou camp was increased to its present capacity mainly because of his purchase in 1982? I was reading a Barcelona book a few years back and they said thats why they had to increase the capacity. Curent Real madrid manager was 1 of the players that refused point blank to wear the number 10 jersey when maradona left for Napoli cos he felt there ios no way he could play under that kinda pressure. So who was bold enuff to wear the number 10? It was the mucho popular, mucho talented Scotland's very own Stevie Archibald, who counts amongst his illustrious clubs Aberdeen, Clyde, Tottehham Hotspurs, East Fife and Home farm Everton(the Irish club not Everton in England).

 

[Elvin]

When Ronaldinho won the Balon d'Ore for 2 years in a row, people were like "Oh shit here comes the next big thing after Zidane"... but he fucked up.

 

[HelterSkelter]

Its all that Neapolitan icecream that is the cause of their passion.

Seriously though he was quite the player. Did you know the Nou camp was increased to its present capacity mainly because of his purchase in 1982? I was reading a Barcelona book a few years back and they said thats why they had to increase the capacity. Curent Real madrid manager was 1 of the players that refused point blank to wear the number 10 jersey when maradona left for Napoli cos he felt there ios no way he could play under that kinda pressure. So who was bold enuff to wear the number 10? It was the mucho popular, mucho talented Scotland's very own Stevie Archibald, who counts amongst his illustrious clubs Aberdeen, Clyde, Tottehham Hotspurs, East Fife and Home farm Everton(the Irish club not Everton in England).

I didnt know about the capacity bit.I think this is where Maradona eclipses all other greats of the games,when it comes to his influence,his impact,and the starpower that he had.The contrversies only add to the legend that is Maradona..and this is the drug addict we're talking about.Had he not done drugs,God knows how more phenomenal he might have been.

Btw,could you recommned me some good books On Maradona,and his time in Napoli in particular?I want something that i can download from the Internet as finding books on footballing icons in Pakistan is awfully hard,plus Amazon does not work in Pakistan either,so i cant order a book.

When Ronaldinho won the Balon d'Ore for 2 years in a row, people were like "Oh shit here comes the next big thing after Zidane"... but he fucked up.

He is still the closest thing to the 'next big thing after Zidane' that the world has seen along with Kaka.

 

[Zé Tahir]

nice man nice, can you remember teh name of it as i would love to see this. i was only like 3 when this world cup was on,god knows how i remember anything but certain things from your childhood stick with you. for me seeing zico play was unbelievable, i was hooked on his skill, his style and his presence...i also vividly remembered a certain paolo rossi:eyebrows:

anyway from as young as i can remember i was hooked on football and zico was one of the main reasons. when you look at the players in that team, it included socrates and falcao it is testament to zico that he was the man that stood out beyond them

It's called Zico: O Filme. I found a torrent for it, but not the subtitles; good nonetheless.

 

[denco]

I didnt know about the capacity bit.I think this is where Maradona eclipses all other greats of the games,when it comes to his influence,his impact,and the starpower that he had.The contrversies only add to the legend that is Maradona..and this is the drug addict we're talking about.Had he not done drugs,God knows how more phenomenal he might have been.

Btw,could you recommned me some good books On Maradona,and his time in Napoli in particular?I want something that i can download from the Internet as finding books on footballing icons in Pakistan is awfully hard,plus Amazon does not work in Pakistan either,so i cant order a book.

He is still the closest thing to the 'next big thing after Zidane' that the world has seen along with Kaka.

There is a book called once upon in a time in Naples by john ludden. Its 1 that you may want to get if you can on the net.

Ronaldinho is a great player and noone can take away the 3 or 4 brilliant years that he produced. The one thing that would put him a notch below Zidane however is his inability to produce at all on the bigger stage, which is a pity really.

As great as Maradona was its almost mind boggling to think what he would have been like without the cocaine. There was an Italian journalist that stated on a programe i saw last year that Maradona hardly used to train with the Napoli team, he would just come in onve in a while and blend in without any problems and the likes of careca, alemao, Ferrara, Crippa, De napoli did not mind at all in fact they were all in awe as he used to inspire them with his will to win and ability.

Just like the world never saw Muhammed Ali at his very peak.

Maradona also played 86 world cup with a knee injury as a fan came onto the pitch and kicked him on the knee as the fan was not too pleased that he was making a mockery of his team, dribbling them at will.

I saw highlights of Pele and everyone knows that is not a good way of judging a player but you can tell he was damned good. I was incredibly impressed with the dummy he gave the Uruguayan goalkeeper in the 70 world cup as that was genius.

The only 90 minute game i saw him was a video recording of the 70 wc game against England and i gotta say he was pretty ordinary, giving the ball away with alarming regularity. Bobby Moore was the best player on the field and i was not surprised when he said that was his best ever performance.

Zidane is the next best player I have seen after maradona, he was and I am priviledged to have seen 2 really wonderful players in my lifetime. Platini had the best vision and perhaps the best free kick taker i have seen, zico's free kick were not shabby either nor were maradona's.

There have been so many wonderful players in all honesty like van basten as well but too many to mention

Cruyff, pele, garrincha, eusebio, beckenbauer, puskas etc were before my time.

If you can afford it try and get brazil's 81/82 national teams matches including 82 wc gems against russia, scotland, italy and argentina.

Hollands euro88 games and France euro 2000, those are wonderful teams.

 

[X Æ A-12]

The Brazil 1982 team is my favourite all time XI. I would not call Zico the standout talent , he was a key player possibly the best of them but not by a lot as Junior, Cerezo, Falcao, Socrates were all excellent players.

Maradona would always be my all time favorite player but Zidane is possibly the best big game player that I have ever seen. In any big game he would always shine and his performance in the 2006 wc was nothing short of amazing if you recall how crap he was up till then.

To totally outshine the Brazilian team was a testament to his greatness. Maradona was something else, you could put him in any team and they would do something, it is what set him apart from the rest for me as the others had greatness alongside them but he did not.

I was on the train the other day and some old Man united fans were calling George Best the greatest of all times but I almost said to the guy how can you call someone best of all times if he could not lead his country to a big tournament? i dont mean win it, I mean just qualify. Surely if you are the greatest ever that is the least you can do; not score less goals for your country than David healey and Jimmy Quinn.

Dont get me wrong he was a great player but he only seemed to do it for manchester united.

The 1 player I want to really study in great detail is Alfredo Di Stefano as I have never understood the hype

I'm sorry but Zidane was not superb in the W.C. 2006 and had nothing on Cannavaro or Pirlo that summer. He was amazing against Brazil and good against Italy. Every other game he failed to stand out. Maradona is probably the best player to have ever lived yet i have only been a football fan for about ten years so i can't say who is the best. Watching highlights on youtube does not justify my opinions and I have to say i have no idea who it is because i have not seen them all.

I have to say though one player who really could have been one of the best to have ever lived was Cassano. He was so talented so young and i had high hopes for him. He threw it away and even after spending years on the Madrid bench he comes back to Sampdoria and is an automatic hit. I am not saying he would have been the best at all but Imagine if Cassano had stayed at Roma and played constant football for the past few years. I have no doubts that he would have at least one Ballon d'or.

I honestly don't think there is a best player to have ever lived because how can you compare a forward or midfielder to a defender and especially a Goalkeeper. To be 100% honest i think in the years that i have been watching football the player who has been consistently outstanding and been most important for his team is Gigi Buffon. He is the best Goalkeeper i have ever seen and although he will never be recognized since he is a goalkeeper imo he is the greatest player i have ever seen. And before you ask yes i am extremely biased and i admit so my opinion is not the best.

 

[HelterSkelter]

There is a book called once upon in a time in Naples by john ludden. Its 1 that you may want to get if you can on the net.

Ronaldinho is a great player and noone can take away the 3 or 4 brilliant years that he produced. The one thing that would put him a notch below Zidane however is his inability to produce at all on the bigger stage, which is a pity really.

As great as Maradona was its almost mind boggling to think what he would have been like without the cocaine. There was an Italian journalist that stated on a programe i saw last year that Maradona hardly used to train with the Napoli team, he would just come in onve in a while and blend in without any problems and the likes of careca, alemao, Ferrara, Crippa, De napoli did not mind at all in fact they were all in awe as he used to inspire them with his will to win and ability.

Just like the world never saw Muhammed Ali at his very peak.

Maradona also played 86 world cup with a knee injury as a fan came onto the pitch and kicked him on the knee as the fan was not too pleased that he was making a mockery of his team, dribbling them at will.

I saw highlights of Pele and everyone knows that is not a good way of judging a player but you can tell he was damned good. I was incredibly impressed with the dummy he gave the Uruguayan goalkeeper in the 70 world cup as that was genius.

The only 90 minute game i saw him was a video recording of the 70 wc game against England and i gotta say he was pretty ordinary, giving the ball away with alarming regularity. Bobby Moore was the best player on the field and i was not surprised when he said that was his best ever performance.

Zidane is the next best player I have seen after maradona, he was and I am priviledged to have seen 2 really wonderful players in my lifetime. Platini had the best vision and perhaps the best free kick taker i have seen, zico's free kick were not shabby either nor were maradona's.

There have been so many wonderful players in all honesty like van basten as well but too many to mention

Cruyff, pele, garrincha, eusebio, beckenbauer, puskas etc were before my time.

If you can afford it try and get brazil's 81/82 national teams matches including 82 wc gems against russia, scotland, italy and argentina.

Hollands euro88 games and France euro 2000, those are wonderful teams.

I have seen footage of the 1982 finals.Not complete games,but footage revolving around how Gentile marked Maradona out of the game in that tournment.Ive also seen the 1982 Brazil-Italy match.I think that match ranks as one of the greatest football matches ever played.I once read that out of top 3 greatest world cup matches ever to be played,Brazil-Italy have been involved in two of them.This is obviously one of them,but i cant figure out which other one might be up there.Id be pretty shocked if the 2nd match in question is the 1970 final,as that match was pretty one sided.So it could be the 1938 semifinal,the 1978 3rd place match,or the 1994 finals.I havent seen the 1938 match,and i dont think the other 2 matches warrant a place amongst the greatest world cup matches ever played.

Personally,id go for Italy-Brazil 1982,Argentina-West Germany 1986 and Brazil-France 1986 as 3 of the greatest world cup matches ever played.The 1986 final for me is easily the greatest world cup final ever played,and its a shame that 4 years down the road the same teams would put on such a horrible display.Finals rarely live up to the expectations,and the 1986 final was one of the few ones that did live up to the expectations.

Whats your take on Roberto Baggio btw?I think he certainly deserves a mention.While he may not have been as great as Maradona or Pele,id certainly put him in my list of the greatest 30 odd players to have played the game.The greatest player that Italy produced IMO.

I have to say though one player who really could have been one of the best to have ever lived was Cassano. He was so talented so young and i had high hopes for him. He threw it away and even after spending years on the Madrid bench he comes back to Sampdoria and is an automatic hit. I am not saying he would have been the best at all but Imagine if Cassano had stayed at Roma and played constant football for the past few years. I have no doubts that he would have at least one Ballon d'or.
.

You wont find a bigger Cassano fan then me,but saying that he could have been one of the best ever isnt correct.He is still young mind you.He's only 25,which people tend to forget.He certainly has the potential to be an icon,and he does have the talent to be the best in the world,however wether he does that in arguably the most defining phase of his career right now,remains to be seen.I ffor one,do hope that he lives up to what was expectated of him when he scored that wonder goal against Inter as a 17 year old.

 

[Maher]

Maradona , no player will even come close to his level