Lionel Messi or Diego Maradona?

[persianbruin]

LOL reminds me of all the LBJ vs MJ debates.

what planet are you from
you mean Kobe MJ debates cuz have lived in the US for 17 years and I have never heard any MJ LbJ debates before! They dont even have the same style and dont even play the same position

There have even been commercials on ESPN about this!

[Masoud_A]

what planet are you from
you mean Kobe MJ debates cuz have lived in the US for 17 years and I have never heard any MJ LbJ debates before! They dont even have the same style and dont even play the same position

There have even been commercials on ESPN about this!

Turn on your TV then.

[persianbruin]

Turn on your TV then.

It would be disrespect to the Greatest of alltime Diego Armando Maradona (PBUH) to hijack this thread so later on I am gonna go to the NBA thread and post a link to MJ himself saying Kobe is the greatest since him

[Team Melli Fan]

LOL reminds me of all the LBJ vs MJ debates.

im pretty sure it was kobe vs. michael jordan

[tashakor]

I absolutely admire Messi, but Maradonna was something else. This poll is 10-15 years before it's time . Maradonna was a creator, an originator. That's what makes him unique.

[zand]

has Messi won the world cup yet? is he ever going to win it? Maradonna won the world cup by himself in 1986 and took Argentina to Final in 1990 and if he had not been banned, he could have done it in 1994 too. Let's see what Messi is going to do this summer?

[chuck bass]

has Messi won the world cup yet? is he ever going to win it? Maradonna won the world cup by himself in 1986 and took Argentina to Final in 1990 and if he had not been banned, he could have done it in 1994 too. Let's see what Messi is going to do this summer?

I guess Grosso is a greater player than Messi then.

[The-Red]

Well becoming world champion involves too many factors often beyond a star player's control, so considering the number of trophies won in the comparison it's not fair IMO. You got to look at more individual factors contributions rather than his entire team has done.

This is a close call but I go with Messi due to his more professional attitude towards the game. Also, I certainly believe by the time Messi retires, he will achieve way more than Maradona and will develop into even a more complete player.

[BacheLot]

shitttttt, i watch some wc games from early 80s and i feel like hell i coulda made the argentine wc squad ..!! seriously...!

you put the today's beast Messi in the 86 wc and hell he would have literally raped everyone in every game against any team..!!
football has come a loooooong way since 80s and todays players and defenders are like a bunch fine tuned machines and in whole different league than those from even a decade ago not to mention over 2 decades ago..!!
there are a few football skills which armando was clearly better than messi in, but if u consider the whole package as a game breaking player..!! messi would edge maradona across many other football skills..!! and to think that this kid is doing this at such a tender young age..!!

to me messi is a better overall footballer than maradona at his prime...! YET he is still faaaar from reaching legendary status of diego..!! for that he has to shine on the national team and wc scene and take argentina to the promise land ..!! but to do such he still has at least 2-3 cracks and and a minimum of 10-12 more years at peak performance ..!
besides he seems to be a very down to earth and level headed kid and it seems highly unlikely for him not to live to his potential in the normal course of life ..!!

[The-Red]

shitttttt, i watch some wc games from early 80s and i feel like hell i coulda made the argentine wc squad ..!! seriously...!
you put the today's beast Messi in the 86 wc and hell he would have literally raped everyone in every game against any team..!!
football has come a loooooong way since 80s and todays players and defenders are like a bunch fine tuned machines and in whole different league than those from even a decade ago not to mention over 2 decades ago..!!
there are a few football skills which armando was clearly better than messi in, but if u consider the whole package as a game breaking player..!! messi would edge maradona across many other football skills..!! and to think that this kid is doing this at such a tender young age..!!
to me messi is a better overall footballer than maradona at his prime...! YET he is still faaaar from reaching legendary status of diego..!! for that he has to shine on the national team and wc scene and take argentina to the promise land ..!! but to do such he still has at least 2-3 cracks and and a minimum of 10-12 more years at peak performance ..!
besides he seems to be a very down to earth and level headed kid and it seems highly unlikely for him not to live to his potential in the normal course of life ..!!

Very well said, great arguments and valid points.

[persianbruin]

shitttttt, i watch some wc games from early 80s and i feel like hell i coulda made the argentine wc squad ..!! seriously...!
you put the today's beast Messi in the 86 wc and hell he would have literally raped everyone in every game against any team..!!
football has come a loooooong way since 80s and todays players and defenders are like a bunch fine tuned machines and in whole different league than those from even a decade ago not to mention over 2 decades ago..!!
there are a few football skills which armando was clearly better than messi in, but if u consider the whole package as a game breaking player..!! messi would edge maradona across many other football skills..!! and to think that this kid is doing this at such a tender young age..!!
to me messi is a better overall footballer than maradona at his prime...! YET he is still faaaar from reaching legendary status of diego..!! for that he has to shine on the national team and wc scene and take argentina to the promise land ..!! but to do such he still has at least 2-3 cracks and and a minimum of 10-12 more years at peak performance ..!
besides he seems to be a very down to earth and level headed kid and it seems highly unlikely for him not to live to his potential in the normal course of life ..!!

yeah you could make the argentine squad cuz everyone on that team sucked so that makes maradona's achievements even more impressive

but your analogy its interesting in terms of the game having come a long way. I get that feeling when I watch chicago bull games of the late 80's early to mid ninties

[Amin_]

True, Argentina's squad in 1986 SUCKED, which makes Maradona's achievement even more impressive. He also brought them to the finals 4 years later, where they narrowly lost to Germany. Same with him at Napoli. It's not hard to win trophies playing in the best team of the world (both Barca and Argentina now belong to the top of the cream).

This poll is flawed anyway. Most members haven't seen Maradona's game and are now excited by Messi, so it's easy to choose for Lionel now.

The fact that most of the older members who have seen both in action choose for Maradona says enough.

[BacheLot]

yeah you could make the argentine squad cuz everyone on that team sucked so that makes maradona's achievements even more impressive

Yup that only prove diego had a superior leadership qualities to messi NOT Overall Footballing skills..!!(most folks would agree that Diego assumed and performed the leadership responsibilities of his teams Much better and with more intensity and confidence than Messi, so far..!! but Messi is still a young lad..!! its very hard to act like the Main man when literally everyone in your team is at least 4-8 years older than u..!! In time, messi needs to develop and assume those leadership qualities to go along with his ridiculous raw football skills if he want flourish into the best that has ever played the game..!!

but your analogy its interesting in terms of the game having come a long way. I get that feeling when I watch chicago bull games of the late 80's early to mid ninties

dont go there sister..!! you know michael is the prime reason why the whole game of basketball evolved into its current level..!! he was the originator and founder of today's modern game of basketball and in his prime, he could do things on the court that today's players still can't dream of pulling off..!! Not to mention his god like leadership and personality traits that are yet to be half emulated by any other athlete in any sport in the world..!!

[Demis-11]

Im not usually one to compare the old with the new (I cant stand all the MJ/Kobe debates and such but its not so bad in soccer)

Im no Maradona fan, primarily because hes a knob, doing drugs and greatly jeapordizing his health years after his retirement, he had sublime talent but I just like players with a good attitude

If Messi can win one WC this becomes a very legitimate conversation, and Messi is on pace to adding a lot of silverware and individual allocades year by year

I believe Messi could be the better player in the end

[HuSsAiN]

I wasn't even born to watch Maradona play every week. It's very different comparing players your seeing now and seeing how brilliant they are, compared to another player you've never seen.
youtube clips and that, don't really make it for me.