Lionel Messi..

[Ikki]

I actually agree with Marc. I think Ronaldo would score a high amount of goals regardless where he goes. Messi may still be a better player than Ronaldo but I doubt he'd score as many goals as he does now. He has an incredible advantage in being in a side that almost always has the ball.

 

[weeman27bob]

Having just watched all of Messi and Ronaldo's goals, it strikes me that a lot more of Ronaldo's goals have come from tap-ins when the keeper has been taken out of the equation.

 

[vic_orthdox]

It's also a redundant argument.

Maradona and Pele are held in high regard because they were damn fine players. But the reason their World Cup performances matter more is because they were from an era where the World Cup was their only major international exposure.

Guys like Messi and Ronaldo are constantly exposed through all their domestic games being available to a massive domestic and international TV audience and their participation in the Champions League. In today's world, World Cup performances mean less because it's not the only time we'll see such players.

At the moment, though, it's surely slightly different because the only time that we get to see Messi outside of his Barca environment is when he plays for Argentina.

He's playing for a club side that, even without him would probably be as good as any other in the world, and unlike Pele, Maradona, et al. we haven't seen him play for more than one club side. So his performances for Argentina take more credence.

 

[Uppercut]

The line between quality and achievement is getting blurred a bit here. Maybe we don't want to consider him amongst players who have so far done more with their ability than he has, but if what we're assessing is how good at football he is, I think it's pretty obvious he's on the same level.

 

[Furball]

Having just watched all of Messi and Ronaldo's goals, it strikes me that a lot more of Ronaldo's goals have come from tap-ins when the keeper has been taken out of the equation.

Ronaldo also benefitted from his team-mates deliberately setting him up so he'd win the pichichi.

 

[wpdavid]

They're both superhuman. But Messi's the best player I've ever seen.

Out of interest, why would you definitely place him ahead of Maradonna?

 

[Bun]

Out of interest, why would you definitely place him ahead of Maradonna?

discipline?

 

[Uppercut]

Out of interest, why would you definitely place him ahead of Maradonna?

I can't remember seeing Maradona, I'm too young. I really mean he's the best out of those I feel qualified to comment on i.e. last fifteen years.

 

[GIMH]

Only because you've not seen Dale Jennings play yet tbh

 

[wpdavid]

I can't remember seeing Maradona, I'm too young. I really mean he's the best out of those I feel qualified to comment on i.e. last fifteen years.

Now I'm with you. tbh I forget that anyone under the age of 30-35 wouldn't have seen Maradona live, as it were.

 

[PhoenixFire]

No. Personally I think Messi would struggle at Real and not score anywhere near the goals but Ronaldo would still score a similar number at Barcelona.

Just read this.

It's hilarious to think that Messi would struggle at Real. Such a lol comment.

 

[marc71178]

It'll never be tested, but look how Messi performs in another side where it's not all set up exactly to suit him - his national side.

 

[Tom Halsey]

It's not as though Messi doesn't do a lot of the work for most of his goals.

It's also not as though if he swapped sides with Ronaldo that Real wouldn't set up exactly to suit him. Probably more so than at Barca in fact, as I'd say Real set up more with Ronaldo in mind than Barca do with Messi.

 

[centurymaker]

messi is nothing without xavi n iniesta that is why he is a flop in international matches

I see people say that alot

imo messi > ronaldo but only by a small margin