All time football world 11, from 60s onwards

[Number]

Real Ronaldo has inferior record compared to CR in goal scoring. I think the standard of defense in la liga has come down.

[dragonfly]

No list complete without Chima Okerie and Krishnendu Roy.

[CSK Fan]

IMO, while one can argue over Pele or Maradona (and maybe eventually, messi) as being the best attacking footballer ever, one thing is for certain IMO: in terms of a purely goal-scoring and striking capability, there is no one comparable to the El Phenomeno, the one and only, original Ronaldo. He had it all. Explosive speed, crazy good footwork to practically out-dribble anyone and most 2-man markings, excellent header and above all, the best allround shot in soccer. A cannon from outside, as well as high angle finesse like no one else from close range. And even though people remember his fat 2006 version the most, Ronaldo from 95 to 2001 or so was a beast- he was so bloody strong and muscular ( due to his squat frame) that he would simply run through defenders and even pulling like hell on his shirt while he is running doesnt seem to faze him one bit. And to pair him, IMO, is none other than Romario- probably one of the best underrated strikers ever,simply because he was not an amazing dribbler or a cannon shot. But he was the Miroslav Klose with better finish & control: the perfect opportunistic scorer due to his extreme foot speed and foot skill at close range.

m8bZhNBQktQ Also surprised that the insanely talented Ronaldinho doesn't figure on any list 1Arb7XPG-jw

[King Tendulkar]

IMO, while one can argue over Pele or Maradona (and maybe eventually, messi) as being the best attacking footballer ever, one thing is for certain IMO: in terms of a purely goal-scoring and striking capability, there is no one comparable to the El Phenomeno, the one and only, original Ronaldo. He had it all. Explosive speed, crazy good footwork to practically out-dribble anyone and most 2-man markings, excellent header and above all, the best allround shot in soccer. A cannon from outside, as well as high angle finesse like no one else from close range. And even though people remember his fat 2006 version the most, Ronaldo from 95 to 2001 or so was a beast- he was so bloody strong and muscular ( due to his squat frame) that he would simply run through defenders and even pulling like hell on his shirt while he is running doesnt seem to faze him one bit. And to pair him, IMO, is none other than Romario- probably one of the best underrated strikers ever,simply because he was not an amazing dribbler or a cannon shot. But he was the Miroslav Klose with better finish & control: the perfect opportunistic scorer due to his extreme foot speed and foot skill at close range.

Romario was magnificent. I disagree, fantastic dribbler, sublime player. Zagaloo screwed up in 98 not picking romario, him and Ronaldo in combo like they were leading up to wc would have been amazing. Still remember teary eyed romario when zagallo did not pick him and went for oap over the hill and inferior any way bebeto.

[KhanSaab]

Messi is already the best player ever in my view. Compare his club record with Maradona etc, its shockingly superior. Pele never actually played in Europe with top pros.

[Muloghonto]

Messi is already the best player ever in my view. Compare his club record with Maradona etc' date=' its shockingly superior. Pele never actually played in Europe with top pros.[/quote'] Club records cannot b compared through the eras. For eg, if messi played in italy circa 95 to 05,he'd struggle to break 15 goals a season. Pele didnt play in europe but very few from south america did at his time, which means samerican clubs were as strong as euro clubs back then. Maradona and pele also got fouled much more brutally frequently than messi as fifa did not have .auto red card for cleats up contact as they do now Sent from my GT-S5830D using Tapatalk 2

[KhanSaab]

Club records cannot b compared through the eras. For eg, if messi played in italy circa 95 to 05,he'd struggle to break 15 goals a season. Pele didnt play in europe but very few from south america did at his time, which means samerican clubs were as strong as euro clubs back then. Maradona and pele also got fouled much more brutally frequently than messi as fifa did not have .auto red card for cleats up contact as they do now Sent from my GT-S5830D using Tapatalk 2

But club records can be compared for specific eras. Many players during Maradona's time were scoring at roughly the same rate as him. Take a look at someone like Platini. Both were classic #10's playing in Serie A at the same time. Platini's stats and record are very comparable to Maradona's. However what Messi is doing today is simply amazing for this era, only CR7 comes close to his accomplishments. So assuming that competition is as fierce today as it was back then Messi is clearly besting Maradona's club career. While you are right about the heavy fouling during Maradona's time, I think player fitness and defensive coaching philosophies are far more advanced today.

[Muloghonto]

But club records can be compared for specific eras. Many players during Maradona's time were scoring at roughly the same rate as him. Take a look at someone like Platini. Both were classic #10's playing in Serie A at the same time. Platini's stats and record are very comparable to Maradona's. However what Messi is doing today is simply amazing for this era, only CR7 comes close to his accomplishments. So assuming that competition is as fierce today as it was back then Messi is clearly besting Maradona's club career. While you are right about the heavy fouling during Maradona's time, I think player fitness and defensive coaching philosophies are far more advanced today.

i dont think player fitness is much more advanced at all. Pele at his fittest played against and was fit enough as any top leaguer today. only difference is, longetivity factor has been increased a bit in soccer, from late 20s to 31 being the retirement age to now its sitting in the mid 30s for many. how good you are compared to your era is also a relative thing that has many variables present. a sachin tendulkar in an era of 2 laras and 2 Sehwgs would not have stood ou as much as a sangakkara in an era of 1 Steve Waugh and 2 Azharuddins. How much competetion you face directly is a hard benchmark to compare to. Maradona grew up in an era of skilled individual football ruling supreme. By his late career, it had evolved into modern team based positional football that minimized individual wizardry. So his era obviously, had a greater number of individual maestros to compete with. In an era where team play is the king, the guy with individual carry potential obviously gets magnified because there are less of him around. its not really harder to play the individual maestro + team player style for the carry players these days, its just rarer due to coaching factors and thus, more eye catching. I also think that football in the earlier eras was of higher quality.( up to the early 2000s before a huge mergers & more creations of inter league soccer happened) These days, there are too many athletes who get gassed or are injured in a soccer tourney. its understandable, they do play 2x more matches these days. but it does lower the quality of the game. Used to be that injury time goals in soccer between two good teams were extremely rare, as players ran like hell to not fall behind or concede the lead with less than 5 minutes to play. now, late goals are increasingly more frequent as players run outta gas. thats a bit disheartening and frankly, compensates a lot more for lower than maradona's figures.

[King Tendulkar]

But club records can be compared for specific eras. Many players during Maradona's time were scoring at roughly the same rate as him. Take a look at someone like Platini. Both were classic #10's playing in Serie A at the same time. Platini's stats and record are very comparable to Maradona's. However what Messi is doing today is simply amazing for this era, only CR7 comes close to his accomplishments. So assuming that competition is as fierce today as it was back then Messi is clearly besting Maradona's club career. While you are right about the heavy fouling during Maradona's time, I think player fitness and defensive coaching philosophies are far more advanced today.

But Platini was magnificicent. At the time Platini and maradona were like Ronaldo and messi. Leading up to 86 world cup they were both seen as best 2 in the world and there was genuine debate as to who was best. After 86 world cup maradona took the plaudits and became best ever. So comparing him to platini is no disgrace. Platini was fantastic player and superior to Ziddane. As again Platini could do something Ziddane never could, score lots of goals

[KhanSaab]

Player fitness is well advanced today than it was even a decade ago, not to mention the 80s when Platini and Maradona played. Players now run way more than they did back then. They getr tired at the end because they are competing against other top professionals not players from the 80s. Also the game is more competitive today than before. More players/countries play soccer seriously today than they ever did before. Clubs are more efficient in moving superior talent up the ranks, players are bigger faster and stronger in general. Coaches use advanced stats, scouting video reports etc in way more detail than they ever had access to 30 years ago. So if you think Platini is comparable to Maradona then why not include him in your best ever consideration instead of limiting it to Pele and maradona?

[KhanSaab]

But Platini was magnificicent. At the time Platini and maradona were like Ronaldo and messi. Leading up to 86 world cup they were both seen as best 2 in the world and there was genuine debate as to who was best. After 86 world cup maradona took the plaudits and became best ever. So comparing him to platini is no disgrace. Platini was fantastic player and superior to Ziddane. As again Platini could do something Ziddane never could, score lots of goals

Yeah I agree Platini is criminally under-rated. He should be right up there with Maradona. However there were other top players with similar stats. Zico for example with Udinese (though he spent most of his career in Brazil) or even the Milan duo Gullit and van Basten.

[King Tendulkar]

Player fitness is well advanced today than it was even a decade ago, not to mention the 80s when Platini and Maradona played. Players now run way more than they did back then. They getr tired at the end because they are competing against other top professionals not players from the 80s. Also the game is more competitive today than before. More players/countries play soccer seriously today than they ever did before. Clubs are more efficient in moving superior talent up the ranks, players are bigger faster and stronger in general. Coaches use advanced stats, scouting video reports etc in way more detail than they ever had access to 30 years ago. So if you think Platini is comparable to Maradona then why not include him in your best ever consideration instead of limiting it to Pele and maradona?

No Platini is not as good as maradona. But just saying in lead up to 86 world cup there was genuine debate as to who was the best between them. But of course that debate ended and Maradona became undisputed number 1

[King Tendulkar]

Yeah I agree Platini is criminally under-rated. He should be right up there with Maradona. However there were other top players with similar stats. Zico for example with Udinese (though he spent most of his career in Brazil) or even the Milan duo Gullit and van Basten.

Zico was great player. I feel gullit was a tad overated

[KhanSaab]

WC is such a small data set, 6-7 games to decide who is better.. Comparing them over hundreds of games in the same league over several years is the proper way to do it. And using the larger data sample Platini is right there with Maradona.

[King Tendulkar]

WC is such a small data set' date=' 6-7 games to decide who is better.. Comparing them over hundreds of games in the same league over several years is the proper way to do it. And using the larger data sample Platini is right there with Maradona.[/quote'] You cant just number crunch and its not just about wc. I am just pointing out that up to 86 wc there was debate about who was best. But as the years rolled on Maradona did not just become number 1 and better then platini, he became maybe best ever All this stat crunching is pointless, as other wise if about goals it would be pure forwards who score goals who are the best only. Maradona almost singled handedly won 86 wc for argies. Also the fact he propelled average Napoli to win the league was amazing, again almost single handedly. Little old Napoli winning the league, amazing, just cos of diego. Platini was in all powerful Juve team, power house institution. Platini could never have won the league for Napoli like diego did. In fact no player in history of game could have. Forget the number crunching, you missing the point!!!

[KhanSaab]

Haha I only have numbers to crunch. Anyway Platini sidetracked the main argument. What do you think Messi's status is compared to Maradona and Pele?

[King Tendulkar]

Haha I only have numbers to crunch. Anyway Platini sidetracked the main argument. What do you think Messi's status is compared to Maradona and Pele?

That's tough one. Personally I would put it as 1 Maradona 2 Pele 3 Messi Messi doing amazing things, is a total genius. But the goals he scores and volume are reflective of modern age. As now get breathed on get a free kick, players totally protected by refs who brandish yellow cards for even slightest touch. Plus messi in such an amazing team in bracelona, with style, structure just all set up for him. Also there play on perfect pictures with amazing footballs. This is such a big world cup for messi to show not just a great player for a marvellous, all conquering barca team who win games 5 to 6-0. To some extent in this wc messi already proved a lot Maradona played in era were a player would stab a player in the back and ref would wave play on, literally maradona would be dribbling past players with knives hanging out of back:hysterical: Pele was more like C Ronaldo. Powerful complete player. Left foot, Right foot, heading, had it all. Plus Goals!!!

[India-KXIP fan]

The two greatest qualities of Ronaldo was his presence of mind and the fact that he was equally good with both the feet' date=' so he did not have to rely on one side. He could read the game better than most players and therefore could score with ease. Many times he used to shoot way before the goalkeeper had anticipated, he made goal scoring look easy. The best striker I have seen.[/quote'] Best goal scorer? Not for me. Best No.9 I've seen? Yes. Best overall center forward...I dunno Gerd Muller seems alot more impressive. Truth is we never saw the full potential of fat Ronaldo. Had he not been injured 3 years and continued to develop....guy had 2 world player of years at age 21, at 25 he would have been even more of a beast had he not been out 3 years and developed to max potential.

[Muloghonto]

Player fitness is well advanced today than it was even a decade ago, not to mention the 80s when Platini and Maradona played. Players now run way more than they did back then. They getr tired at the end because they are competing against other top professionals not players from the 80s. Also the game is more competitive today than before. More players/countries play soccer seriously today than they ever did before. Clubs are more efficient in moving superior talent up the ranks, players are bigger faster and stronger in general. Coaches use advanced stats, scouting video reports etc in way more detail than they ever had access to 30 years ago. So if you think Platini is comparable to Maradona then why not include him in your best ever consideration instead of limiting it to Pele and maradona?

It is a differet game. To say players run less today is categorically wrong. Try being the guy who got fleet-footed by maradona and ran break-neck with him for half the field. Play back then was more individualistic. Meaning individuals, particulary key individuals, undertook a lot more long runs themselves in bursts, while there being lulls in play involving long crosses or short passes to open up the field for individual play. Now, the game involves more running around in general, but not at top speeds for extended periods, as most players are involved with the ball only for a fraction of a second at a time. Its gone from walk-jog-run 100m dash to 'perma-jog, 10 meter sprint, stop, perma jog'. In terms of total kms ran per game, the varience is less today and maybe they do run a bit more, but not by a whole lot as an average. And they definitely do play a lot more soccer, so they definitely suffer from 'stale/out of gas & overworked' syndrome. Interestingly, this whole 'soccer is better now', is a view that I've predominantly noticed amongst EPL followers and to a minor extent, German soccer followers. But that is understandable, EPL was dire in the 80s and the German league was far less lucrative. Real money back then resided in Spain, Italy, Holland and France and thats where the foreign talent first started to flow and reach a high level as well. but as someone who grew up watching Serie-A, i can assure you that soccer now is just different, but this whole idea of being fitter, is just baloney.

[Muloghonto]

Best goal scorer? Not for me. Best No.9 I've seen? Yes. Best overall center forward...I dunno Gerd Muller seems alot more impressive. Truth is we never saw the full potential of fat Ronaldo. Had he not been injured 3 years and continued to develop....guy had 2 world player of years at age 21, at 25 he would have been even more of a beast had he not been out 3 years and developed to max potential.

Gerd Muller was impressive but IMO he was not the complete package as Ronaldo was. Muller had a unique quality that made him very potent in 'first encounters' (which is why his internationals tally is so fabulous, as internationals were rare and you rarely played the same guys over and over again). Muller was not a very fast guy- he was above average in terms of top speed. he was also not a particularly good dodger or dribbler. He had sound decision-making and several safe & high percentage shots he scored with. But muller's true x-factor, was that he came with one of the best ever accelerations in the game. The difference is pretty crucial: he was not a fast guy, almost always guys blessed with great acceleration tend to be extremely speedy guys in general- like Romario for example. But mueller was a mediocre top speed guy who could accelerate like no other. So he was very very potent against adversaries that hadn't played him much, as you wouldn't expect the guy who isnt so fast, to just slow down and accelerate tremendously past you. He was a fabulous player nonetheless but he was not literally impossible to stop like El Phenomeno was. Ronaldo- you just had to think that he'd score half the time if you got him the ball around the upper-midfield area more often than anyone else. The guy could dribble with the best, the guy was the most powerful forward, almost an ice-hockey esque 'power forward' to bludgeon his way through 2 defenders closing the wall on him, he had an amazing shot from both feet, amazing header...uff, the complete package. Players like him are hard to compare to that of Messi, Maradona, Pele etc. because he was such a crazy shooter that he invariably made goals out of nowhere, whereas Pele, Maradona, Messi are not the level of shooter he was, they passed the ball up a lot more to more optimal shooters in the scoring zone. I still think that we would not be talking about Messi or the pretendo-Ronaldo if El Phenomeno did not blow up his knee at the prime of his career- twice. Yes, he would not have their stats because both La Liga and Serie-A were far more defense oriented and competent in the 90s & early 2000s than they are now but stats in football are very vague. it almost means nothing.