One of - if not the best players I ever saw in a red shirt talking about his favourite player of all time.
|
|
That's why Maradona (as well as a few other players) are 'better' than Messi) i.e. they didn't/don't need to be surrounded by lots of other world class players, be pandered to by teams/managers, or be protected by refs and officials in order to consistently light up games, and even effectively win competitions on their own.
One of - if not the best players I ever saw in a red shirt talking about his favourite player of all time.
You don't need to be surrounded by world class players to win the WC necessarily. One or two will do. Look at Germany in 2014 - they weren't chalk full of people with a genuine case at being the best in the world in their position - I guess you just need 2-4 in key areas. Neuer, Lahm, Kroos, maybe Özil... at a rather large stretch one of the CBs.
I think you need a solid core with some class sprinkled throughout.
Etiam si omnes, ego non
2006
Messi
Tevez
Mascherano
Ayala
Crespo
Heinze
Riquelme
Saviola
Melito
All shite.. haha
2010
Messi
Tevez
Aguero
Higuain
Mascherano
Milito
Heinze
Samuel
Di Maria
Total shite.. hehe
2014
Messi
Aguero
Higuain
Lavezzi
Di Maria
Mascherano
Zabaleta
Demichelis
Rojo
Garbage
2018
Messi
Aguero
Higuain
Dybala
Di Maria
Mascherano
Zabaleta
Banega
Rojo
Turds the lot
Poor Messi - needs some better players - Like Ronaldinho - Xavi - Iniesta - Busquets - Neymar - Suarez - Alba..
@Noods
Messi's been to four WCs iirc - 2006 but he was a baby then (though the likes of Pelč had already been the best player at a WC by that age but hey ho, he was mostly done with his great feats by the age of 26-7 iirc and Messi was still going strong post 30). In 2010 I think Argentina comfortably had one of the three-four best squads at the WC, but they had a clown of a manager and were by no means the favourites. Personally I had both Germany and Spain ahead of them. In 2014 they had a good squad, but not the best at the tournament and he and Masch took the to the final where they lost to Germany in a game where they had the better chances. In 2018 their squad was completely unbalanced - their defence was a joke.
I see your point and agree with it to an extent, but I also feel for him - it's not his fault Maradona had Burruchaga to score against West Germany and he had Higuain to put it wide when through one on one vs Neuer with all the space in the known universe. That's why I hesitate to base my comparison of the two on such individual incidents. Imagine if Jorge misses that chance and idk... Rummenige puts in one more and Higuain or Palacio score one of their one-on-ones against Neuer. Then the script is completely flipped in the Messi v Maradona conversation. That's why I don't like basing such comparisons so heavily on such individual moments.
Edit: spelling and some clarification
Etiam si omnes, ego non
Looking at the Argentina WC squad of '86 (and bear with me, this is waaaay before my time) Maradona had the likes of:
Burruchaga, Pasarella, Pumpido and Valdano with him. I've at least heard their names and some pretty awe-inspiring things about the first two. Iirc Argentina were second favourites before the tournament (think I researched this when I wanted to have a structured Maradona vs Messi debate, but failed miserably ). So it's not as if he had ten planks of wood with him either.
Etiam si omnes, ego non
Argentina were one of the favourites for the tournament. Can you hazard an unprejudiced guess as guess as to why ?
Go on knock yourself out.
I think Pasarella was a defender, and captain at that time. I used to like Kempes, but he was before then. Helped them win in 78.
If you're not sure what to do with the ball, just put it in the net, and we'll talk about the other options later... Bob Paisley.
Bookmarks