Is Messi the best ever?
Messi has achieved what no player has achieved this season in
scoring 73 goals in all competitions for Barcelona. He also ended up with the
second highest number of assists in La Liga and finished the Champions league
top scorer for the fourth season in a row. Despite this Barcelona finished
second and were eliminated by Chelsea in the Champion league this season. Based
on these stats it hard to argue that Messi is not the best player in the world
although there is a section of the football world that would argue that
Christiano Ronaldo is the world’s best. This is down to a number of factors.
First of all that technically is Ronaldo stronger in some areas? For example
strength, free kicks, long shots and aerial ability. Ronaldo has also performed
exceptionally well in two divisions. Both La Liga and the Premier League have
seen Ronaldo dominate with glittering performances and stunning goals. He also
has winner’s medals from both competitions. He also like Messi has won the
Champion league. It’s harder to define what makes Messi better than Ronaldo
other than there currently simply no other player who can do what Messi can.
However Ronaldo has scored 40 goals in two consecutive and was named player of
the season in La Liga. You could argue all day with no conclusive winner other
than maybe it simply boils down to personal opinion. Unfortunately for these two
in my opinion to be the greatest of all time it is far more complicated than
just club form. There is international form as well as your performance in
different club competitions. So in this respect Ronaldo is ahead of Messi having
performed exceptionally in two major divisions.
Both players have yet to light up the international stage and
have failed to add these honours to their impressive
collections.
Does Messi deserve the title of the
greatest player of all time? Or simply he is part of the greatest club side of
all time? The Barcelona side of the last 4-5 years have simply been outstanding
under Guardiola. Is it simply the system that allows Messi to be this great?
Messi certainly profits from playing alongside the likes of Alves, Xavi and
Iniesta. I will ask another question then would Messi be as good and score as
many if he didn’t play alongside these players? It has to be asked as Messi has
not performed to the same level for Argentina in what is a super talented
Argentina side. With the likes of Tevez, Aguero, Di Maria and Higuian there is
no excuse or doubt that this Argentina side are capable of winning a major
tournament. Messi didn’t perform as expected in South Africa at the last World
Cup with Argentina falling to Germany at the quarter finals. I accept that one
player cannot win a World Cup on his own but an individual can inspire a team to
success by delivering magic performances of their own. There have been players
who have lifted weaker club and national sides to achieve success at the highest
level. Messi has plenty of tournaments ahead of him to rectify this. However
there are others who have who for me stand before him in the line of
consideration for the title of the greatest player of all time.
The two obvious names for the title of ‘the best of all
time’ are Maradona and Pele. They both played at a time different to Messi. In
fact the game was far more physical back then. In terms of a comparison between Messi
and these two, Pele is the most similar in that although he went to play in the
USA at the very end of his career he spent the majority at Santos. He was a one
club man like Messi. The difference being Pele won three world cups! If we are
talking about an assessment of performance over time Pele is miles ahead of
Messi. Messi like Pele plays for an exceptionally talented national side and so
Messi simply must win the world cup at least once to be considered alongside
Pele in the international arena. Messi plays in a much tougher league
competition than Pele did with Santos and also Messi has performed on the
Champions league stage dominating the competition with Barcelona.
Messi has been forever likened to his boyhood hero Maradona and
faced enormous pressure in the title of the ‘new Maradona’. Messi has become his
own name emerging from the shadow of Maradona and is very much to be considered
in his right. Let’s compare the two then. Maradona for one has achieved the
highest honour of leading Argentina to a World cup in 1986. So Messi has yet to
reach this height achieved by his idol. Maradona unlike Pele and Messi plied his
trade in three separate leagues achieving variable levels of success. Maradona
won the championship in his native Argentina with Boca Juniors as well as
success in Serie A with Napoli. He also had spells with Old Boys and Barcelona.
He enjoyed small success at Barcelona but his achievements at Napoli were really
something to take note of. He took and led a small side to Serie A glory on two
occasions as well as a Uefa Cup. Is this something Messi could do? Could he
leave the greatest club side of the modern generation and join a small side and
help them achieve greatness. I don’t believe he will to this extent due to the
money in football. Any possible transfer involving Lionel Messi would be
astronomically high limiting the amount of sides he could join. So in that
respect he may not be able to do what Maradona did by joining a small side like
Napoli. However he could go and play for the top Italian sides and the top
Premier league sides. He to be considered as the best of all time must be
successful in another league. So Maradona leads Messi in his international
achievements and also in the fact he led a weaker side to
success.
In
terms of a modern great to compare Messi with there is a few that stand out.
Ronaldo and Zidane are both much closer to Messi in terms of age and in relation
to the modern game. Starting with Zidane he achieved league and European success
with Real Madrid. He also won the league with Juventus. So for me the fact that
he has achieved success in two different leagues already makes a strong argument
for Zidane to be considered ahead of Messi in terms of modern greatness. Couple
this World Cup and European Championship success with France on the
international stage Zidane record outshines Messi’s. Messi has scored a vast
amount of goals and has achieved phenomenal success with Barcelona winning
titles and the Champions League but needs to extend this into the international
scene as well as another league. Ronaldo has won two World Cups and has two Copa
America’s to his name. He also is the highest scoring player in World cup
history. So again on this basis you cannot compare the two with regards to
their achievements at international level. Messi has to win with Argentina and
not only win but dominate and lead the team in this pursuit. At club level
Ronaldo enjoyed a successful spell at Real Madrid winning titles. He had a
spell at Inter and PSV before that and then ended his career winning the
championship in Brazil. In terms of success Messi has the edge here for me but
Ronaldo did venture into four different leagues which enabled him to improve as
a player. The combination of both his club and international form has him ahead
of Messi though.
So to conclude, currently Messi cannot be deemed as the
best player of all time. He has the title of best player in the world currently
but has to leave the comfort of the Nou Camp and all the perks and protection he
enjoys at Barcelona to become the greatest player ever. There is no doubt he
has time on his side with possibly three more world cups and more Copa
America’s to play in to deliver for Argentina . He has all the natural ability
and talent to go and play and be successful in another of the world’s top
leagues and become the best. So
does he have the ambition and is he willing to risk failure in order to become
the greatest player ever or will he remain at Barcelona? So Messi its up to
you......
Messi has achieved what no player has achieved this season in
scoring 73 goals in all competitions for Barcelona. He also ended up with the
second highest number of assists in La Liga and finished the Champions league
top scorer for the fourth season in a row. Despite this Barcelona finished
second and were eliminated by Chelsea in the Champion league this season. Based
on these stats it hard to argue that Messi is not the best player in the world
although there is a section of the football world that would argue that
Christiano Ronaldo is the world’s best. This is down to a number of factors.
First of all that technically is Ronaldo stronger in some areas? For example
strength, free kicks, long shots and aerial ability. Ronaldo has also performed
exceptionally well in two divisions. Both La Liga and the Premier League have
seen Ronaldo dominate with glittering performances and stunning goals. He also
has winner’s medals from both competitions. He also like Messi has won the
Champion league. It’s harder to define what makes Messi better than Ronaldo
other than there currently simply no other player who can do what Messi can.
However Ronaldo has scored 40 goals in two consecutive and was named player of
the season in La Liga. You could argue all day with no conclusive winner other
than maybe it simply boils down to personal opinion. Unfortunately for these two
in my opinion to be the greatest of all time it is far more complicated than
just club form. There is international form as well as your performance in
different club competitions. So in this respect Ronaldo is ahead of Messi having
performed exceptionally in two major divisions.
Both players have yet to light up the international stage and
have failed to add these honours to their impressive
collections.
Does Messi deserve the title of the
greatest player of all time? Or simply he is part of the greatest club side of
all time? The Barcelona side of the last 4-5 years have simply been outstanding
under Guardiola. Is it simply the system that allows Messi to be this great?
Messi certainly profits from playing alongside the likes of Alves, Xavi and
Iniesta. I will ask another question then would Messi be as good and score as
many if he didn’t play alongside these players? It has to be asked as Messi has
not performed to the same level for Argentina in what is a super talented
Argentina side. With the likes of Tevez, Aguero, Di Maria and Higuian there is
no excuse or doubt that this Argentina side are capable of winning a major
tournament. Messi didn’t perform as expected in South Africa at the last World
Cup with Argentina falling to Germany at the quarter finals. I accept that one
player cannot win a World Cup on his own but an individual can inspire a team to
success by delivering magic performances of their own. There have been players
who have lifted weaker club and national sides to achieve success at the highest
level. Messi has plenty of tournaments ahead of him to rectify this. However
there are others who have who for me stand before him in the line of
consideration for the title of the greatest player of all time.
The two obvious names for the title of ‘the best of all
time’ are Maradona and Pele. They both played at a time different to Messi. In
fact the game was far more physical back then. In terms of a comparison between Messi
and these two, Pele is the most similar in that although he went to play in the
USA at the very end of his career he spent the majority at Santos. He was a one
club man like Messi. The difference being Pele won three world cups! If we are
talking about an assessment of performance over time Pele is miles ahead of
Messi. Messi like Pele plays for an exceptionally talented national side and so
Messi simply must win the world cup at least once to be considered alongside
Pele in the international arena. Messi plays in a much tougher league
competition than Pele did with Santos and also Messi has performed on the
Champions league stage dominating the competition with Barcelona.
Messi has been forever likened to his boyhood hero Maradona and
faced enormous pressure in the title of the ‘new Maradona’. Messi has become his
own name emerging from the shadow of Maradona and is very much to be considered
in his right. Let’s compare the two then. Maradona for one has achieved the
highest honour of leading Argentina to a World cup in 1986. So Messi has yet to
reach this height achieved by his idol. Maradona unlike Pele and Messi plied his
trade in three separate leagues achieving variable levels of success. Maradona
won the championship in his native Argentina with Boca Juniors as well as
success in Serie A with Napoli. He also had spells with Old Boys and Barcelona.
He enjoyed small success at Barcelona but his achievements at Napoli were really
something to take note of. He took and led a small side to Serie A glory on two
occasions as well as a Uefa Cup. Is this something Messi could do? Could he
leave the greatest club side of the modern generation and join a small side and
help them achieve greatness. I don’t believe he will to this extent due to the
money in football. Any possible transfer involving Lionel Messi would be
astronomically high limiting the amount of sides he could join. So in that
respect he may not be able to do what Maradona did by joining a small side like
Napoli. However he could go and play for the top Italian sides and the top
Premier league sides. He to be considered as the best of all time must be
successful in another league. So Maradona leads Messi in his international
achievements and also in the fact he led a weaker side to
success.
In
terms of a modern great to compare Messi with there is a few that stand out.
Ronaldo and Zidane are both much closer to Messi in terms of age and in relation
to the modern game. Starting with Zidane he achieved league and European success
with Real Madrid. He also won the league with Juventus. So for me the fact that
he has achieved success in two different leagues already makes a strong argument
for Zidane to be considered ahead of Messi in terms of modern greatness. Couple
this World Cup and European Championship success with France on the
international stage Zidane record outshines Messi’s. Messi has scored a vast
amount of goals and has achieved phenomenal success with Barcelona winning
titles and the Champions League but needs to extend this into the international
scene as well as another league. Ronaldo has won two World Cups and has two Copa
America’s to his name. He also is the highest scoring player in World cup
history. So again on this basis you cannot compare the two with regards to
their achievements at international level. Messi has to win with Argentina and
not only win but dominate and lead the team in this pursuit. At club level
Ronaldo enjoyed a successful spell at Real Madrid winning titles. He had a
spell at Inter and PSV before that and then ended his career winning the
championship in Brazil. In terms of success Messi has the edge here for me but
Ronaldo did venture into four different leagues which enabled him to improve as
a player. The combination of both his club and international form has him ahead
of Messi though.
So to conclude, currently Messi cannot be deemed as the
best player of all time. He has the title of best player in the world currently
but has to leave the comfort of the Nou Camp and all the perks and protection he
enjoys at Barcelona to become the greatest player ever. There is no doubt he
has time on his side with possibly three more world cups and more Copa
America’s to play in to deliver for Argentina . He has all the natural ability
and talent to go and play and be successful in another of the world’s top
leagues and become the best. So
does he have the ambition and is he willing to risk failure in order to become
the greatest player ever or will he remain at Barcelona? So Messi its up to
you......