Pelé, Messi, Ronaldo. Perspective.
I’m new to this kind of thing, never blogged before…. But I thought to myself. You have an opinion, you’re articulate, you’re lucid…. at times, go out there and give the world your viewpoint. What could possibly go wrong? Well read on and find out, I’m sure at some point in the next few lines the proverbial wheel will doubtless come off and bounce down the street past this dilapidated shitbox of a blog…. Here goes!
In my time I’ve played a bit of football, to quite a high standard I hasten to add, and I’m not referring to the American variety, you know the variety where they actually handle it more than they kick it! Not that kind, the kind that was given to the world by the English (or so I’m happy to be lead to believe) where they literally use any part of the body excluding anything hand or arm related, predominately though with the feet.
Anyway, my story. I was standing minding my own business in a local pub, watching the gogglebox which was perched precariously on a shelf of questionable stability. On this particular box of electrical wizardry was a Saturday afternoon UK footballing TV show. Being broadcast at this time was highlights of a game between Barcelona & Seville and the commentator was lauding Leo Messi stating he was “The greatest of all time”. Now I’m not a hater. I admire both Messi and Juve’s Cristiano Ronaldo, both are fabulous players, but the greatest in history? Thats some statement, especially when you consider the players who have preceeded the two current top players. Johannes Cruijff, George Best, Diego Maradona, Fenenc Puskas, Garrincha, Eusabio, Ronaldo (Luis Nazario de Lima) Pelé to list just a few. I personally feel that this area needs addressing. After being born late to my parents I grew up hearing tales of Garrincha, Di Stefano, Puskas and Pelé and being the inquisitive soul that I am, I immersed myself in their world, I watched and read everything I could get my hands on, researched their statistics and compared players based on those statistics. Now my opinion about who I think is the greatest player in the history of the the game isn’t relevant here, I’m writing this to offer a perspective, something to consider when this subject raises it’s head as it so frequently does, before individuals go charging in with an ill thought out opinion, that has largely been influenced by media misinformation, lack of historical knowledge, tunnel vision and/or bias. Now please don’t misunderstand me, I’m not saying that people aren’t entitled to an opinion on this subject, on the contrary, have your opinion, football is all about opinions, especially with a few scoops in the local boozer with either your close friends or the wider clientele, but look at the whole picture, take in relevant statistics and couple this with other relevant evidence and information. Another aspect to take into consideration is that every spectator is a unique individual and sees things from different perspectives, each fan looks at a particular player and loves things about their game, that player will produce moments of magic that specifically appeals to that specific spectator, and that will make them a stand out player to them, but that individual should still be able appreciate the high class qualities in other players who vie for the same number one spot.
The main reason though that I feel direct comparisons are unrealistic and futile is that the game that we all know and love as football is not the same game today as it was 60/70 years ago, or any time since as it has constantly evolved into its current form, but we are still mindless enough to compare the likes of Pelé who retired from international football 50 years ago and from football completely 43 years ago (at the time of writing) with the likes of Lionel Messi and Ronaldo who are still plying their trade. How many changes has the game seen since Pelé was playing? How many law changes? Whenever comparisons are made in industry or in a laboratory test conditions must be identical otherwise the test result cannot be construed as accurate. Conditions will never be identical now or in the future so why do we insist on trying to shoe horn a comparison here? It’s ridiculous! I’m aware that, that may sound like I’m vying for the position of minister for stating the bleeding obvious but it is a relevant measure to consider.
In 1938 Sir Stanley Rous who was at the time secretary of the F.A (Football Association) completely rewrote the laws of the game and introduced the sending off of players for serious foul play. In 1965 substitutions were allowed at club level for the first time. The laws were changed again in 1970 which saw the introduction of red and yellow cards and substitutions being allowed at international level for the first time at the world cup in Mexico. At this juncture I woud like to offer a thought to proceedings. During the 1966 world cup group 3 game Brazil met Portugal at Goodison Park. Pelé was targeted by every Portuguese player and systematically kicked, barged and shoulder charged out of the game subsequently injuring him in the process but because substitutions weren’t allowed at that time he had to see the game out, Messi, Cristiano or any other international standard footballer for that matter receive nowhere near the level of aggression in the tackle that the likes of players back in the Pelé era for example, but could those players perform in the current game? Alot of other aspects have also changed. Training facilities, including the quality of the surfaces that they play on, on match day are like billiard tables, long gone are the ploughed field pitches like the Baseball Ground of Derby County, this also includes the artifical surfaces that are now indoor heated or air conditioned arenas, gyms are all very high tech these days will all the exclusive kit available in this money no object business, kit that the players wear is taylor made for them specifically designed to enhance their performance, the balls are all computer designed to assist in their flight and trajactory capabilities, no longer made of leather that would soak up water and make them harder to pass, control or head, respective club kit that is of a wicking variety, compression under garments, all make life more comfortable during a game. dieticians are now at the beck and call of all the top class players to ensure they are taking in all the necessary nutrients to help enhance their performance, chef’s now travel with the first team away from home, training methods from a sports science perspective are better understood and plans taylored to suit each player. The list is almost endless.
I could go on to talk about the changes in the laws of the game, no longer allowed to tackle from behind, not allowed to show your studs in the tackle….. Hows that even possible? 50–50 challenges are almost obsolete, if one did occasion itself and one of the protagonists rolled around at its conclusion, the whistle would be blown for a free kick.
Players like Messi, Ronaldo are also at the biggest clubs where there is an attempt to corral all the biggest names under one roof so Lionel for the majority of his career has had the luxury of Xavi and Iniesta behind him, played alongside Luis Suarez, Neymar, Rakitić, Busquets. I recall growing up where non of this existed, each club in the top flight had a world class player or two within their ranks
There is one statement that makes me smile on each occasion that I read it. “Pelé only played in a league of farmers and thats the reason why he scored so many goals.” Ok, lets look at that, with the exception of Silva who was in 1966 playing for Barcelona before reurning to play again in Brazil, every player that represented Brazil at a world cup between 1950 to 1970 was playing in Brazil. I’ll tell you something, those farmers were some footballers, out of those six tournaments those farmers won 3 world cups and were runners up in one of the others. If you would like to apply the same argument to Pelé about playing in amongst a fabulous array of players during his time in the yellow of Brazil, please go ahead. Yes, I agree that Brazil side was something very special, he’d been amongst those calibre of players since the age of 16 scoring a hat-trick in a world cup semi final against France aged 17 and twice in the final against Sweden. His record of goals for Brazil stands at 77 goals in 92 apperances. How’s Lionel fairing at international level? (I use Pelé as my example as he’s the one who Messi is frequently being compared to)
I’m not trying to convince anyone of anything, just attempting to offer perspective. Due to the reasons explained above I don’t believe that a greatest in history comparison can ever be made. I will remain unmoved in my stance on this and I appreciate that there are individuals who will fervently disagree with me, go ahead you’re entitled to your opinion, it doesn’t mean that either of us are incorrect, we just look at it from different perspectives.
