Was Pele better than Naymar and Messi?

Merlin5

Merlin5

Merlin5

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From http://news.bbc.co.uk/sportacademy/hi/sa/football/features/newsid_3301000/3301349.stm

Pele
Imagine a striker with the pace of Michael Owen, the skill of Thierry Henry, the heading ability of Alan Shearer and the finishing prowess of Ruud van Nistelrooy.

Done it? Well, then you've got a player about half as good as Pele.

The reason Pele is rated as the best footballer ever is simple - he could do everything.

Most of all, he could score goals. In total he hit the net an amazing 1,283 times in 1,365 appearances.

I imagine footballers are quicker and fitter these days than Pele? But even so, did he have more skill than the current players, or only genius by a lower and slower level of football of his day? Would a young Pele today be better than all the other big names, particularly given the same training as the modern players.

Pele said in an interview at a press conference "Some people are saying that Messi is better than Pele. First of all he has to be better than Naymar because he isn't yet".

 
Can't compare apples to apples (unfortunately).
But like for like, Pele wouldn't be even close to today's greats.
 
Good (above average pace), good (well above average) ability to read opponents and general awareness, likely he'd have been up with the greats of today's football but impossible to tell how well he'd do trying to beat today's goal keepers and teams with better trained in capabilities to counter him. I think his finishing ability would be much diminished against today's teams.

Purely off the cuff but I think he'd have to hone his talents much more towards that of at an attacking midfielder/playmaker rather than that of a striker to shine in the #10 position against today's teams.
 
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Maradonna has to be the best player of all time, carried Argentina to a WC win, some of his goals in that tournament were out of this world.

Won Napoli 2 league titles in the toughest league in the world at the time, they have not won a league title since then.

If Messi can win the World Cup he will no doubt be regarded as one of the best between him and Maradonna, for me he has already cemented his place in history as possibly the greatest ever.

Quite an unbelievable player and i will probably never see another like him in my life time.

Pele never played in Europe and was in some of the best Brazilian teams to ever play the game. That is why i rank Maradonna higher than him.
 
Hard to compare old players with new players sometimes.

I sometimes hear the argument that now the game is quicker, players fitter blah blah, and I just think that given the amazing talents of the older players, giving them todays fitness and sports science would be interesting.

I feel very privileged to be able to watch so many good footballers so often. I think that's one of the best things about the modern age, the ability to be able to consume more football than ever before. I mean, interviewing people and talking to people / old players is fantastic but the lack of television and highlights reels is frustrating.

There are literally so many amazing older players though, it's hard to narrow it down to just a few.
 
The funny way to look at this is the other way round how good would messi and Newmarket be in the 70's with the old school really heavy ball and no protection what so ever from really hard and often blatant fouling? The modern game is quicker but the equipment playing field and clamp down on aggressive physical play have made a huge difference.
 
Impossible to know how good Pele would be in today's game.

Impossible to know how good Neymar is going to get so wrong to compare him to either Messi (who is probably at the height of his game after years of experience) and Pele who finished playing 40 years ago or whatever

a1ex2001 said:
The funny way to look at this is the other way round how good would messi and Newmarket be in the 70's with the old school really heavy ball and no protection what so ever from really hard and often blatant fouling? The modern game is quicker but the equipment playing field and clamp down on aggressive physical play have made a huge difference.
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No dis-respect meant to Messi, but he wouldnt have been any player at all without modern (totally legal) medicine - so he is a "product" of his time.

Neymar, hmmm it is stil his speed and agility /control that makes him the player he is, yes with different (weight) of ball he would possibly be slower and maybe require a little more muscle but he would still be the agile player with the great touch etc he is now
 
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Hard to say, scored most his goals in leagues nobody really acknowledges. Looking back on old footy the defending looks Sunday league at times too.
 
Davey_Pitch said:
The fact that Pele thinks Neymar is better than Messi renders his opinion on this matter null and void.
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Pretty much. Neymar isn't half the player Messi is and he never will be in my view. I read an article on Pele the other day from the BBC and it suggested that the only place that Pele is not revered that much is in Brazil. If you ask them who their best player of all time is, hardly anyone would say Pele.
 
Neymar isn't remotely close to being on Messis level.

He has time on his side, but I don't see enough to make me think he will be among the elite of the game
 
The Running Man said:
Whereas brazil 2014 defending looked positively stone age. Therefore Klose should be stripped of his accolade ?
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No one has ever suggested that Klose is actually a great player as far as I can see. "Amazing achievement" and that sort of thing is usually what you hear.
 
Ayahuasca said:
Hard to say, scored most his goals in leagues nobody really acknowledges. Looking back on old footy the defending looks Sunday league at times too.
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Hence my comments - his pace, abilities with the ball and ability to read an opponent is all generally translatable but a lot of his finishing isn't against any real challenge nor marked by the same level of talent in isolation.
 
fez said:
No one has ever suggested that Klose is actually a great player as far as I can see. "Amazing achievement" and that sort of thing is usually what you hear.
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You have to give Klose credit for his fitness, consistency and longevity in the major international tournaments. A lot of "great" players never actually realise their potential because they simply can't manage any of these things. He always turns up in the big games as well. If you compare him to someone like Rooney who you could say is more talented but just doesn't turn up the difference is night and day.
 
grimm said:
You have to give Klose credit for his fitness, consistency and longevity in the major international tournaments. A lot of "great" players never actually realise their potential because they simply can't manage any of these things. He always turns up in the big games as well. If you compare him to someone like Rooney who you could say is more talented but just doesn't turn up the difference is night and day.
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Have to agree with this, Klose has always been a consistent performer and never shies away from big games as he always wants to be involved during the game.
 
Come on, he has scored all his goals from about 5 yards at best. If Rooney was the focal point of the Germany teams of the last 15 years he would have that many easily.
 
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