Maradona or Pele?

[cotter]

pele was a better all round player. phenomenal in the air, two good feet, the vision and technique to supply goals as well as score them in bucket loads, and the pace and the strength to lead a line. he could have played anywhere on the pitch, including goal (he was brazil's reserve keeper during at least one of their world cup campaigns).

[Dundalis]

i've seen pele in various documentaries including recent ones showing him later in his career. I'm just not as big a fan of pele as i am of maradona. just prefer maradona's ability to go past people and dictate games rather than pele's goal scoring ability.

 

also maradona's passing ability was massively underrated

You obviously haven't seen anything on Pele of any substance if they didn't show Pele's ability to beat players. Pele was only MARGINALLY behind Maradona as a dribbler, he was as gifted a player technically as anyone you want to name.

[keysaint]

i've seen more instances of maradona going past players than pele. It's just personal preference.

[Rashid]

Take Pele out of those teams and they would still win everything, take Diego away from the Argentina and Napoli team and you would have bare bones. Put Pele into the Argentina and Napoli teams and take awya Diego you wouldn't have the same success. All hypertheticals but probably true...

[G Richards]

It is impossible to compare players from different eras. You can have a go if you must, but it is always unsatisfactory.

 

My ham-fisted attempt is that Maradonna had marginally more natural talent, but significantly less application. Pele thus made the more significant contribution to the game. Maradonna had a sublime World Cup in 1986, but Pele had 3-4 tournaments at an incredibly high level.

[KevieG]

I've seen plenty of videos of Pele's dribbling and to say it was only marginally less that Maradona's is simply laughable. Any player getting over a hundred goals a season on a regular basis calls into question the strength of that league for me.

 

There is no way he'd have gotten that in the 60's in England.

 

Maradona is the choice of the soccer fan, Pele is the choice of the establishment.

[cotter]

Take Pele out of those teams and they would still win everything, take Diego away from the Argentina and Napoli team and you would have bare bones. Put Pele into the Argentina and Napoli teams and take awya Diego you wouldn't have the same success. All hypertheticals but probably true...

 

pele was a massive part of some of the greatest teams football has ever seen, maradonna wasn't.

[cotter]

I've seen plenty of videos of Pele's dribbling and to say it was only marginally less that Maradona's is simply laughable. Any player getting over a hundred goals a season on a regular basis calls into question the strength of that league for me.

 

There is no way he'd have gotten that in the 60's in England.

 

Maradona is the choice of the soccer fan, Pele is the choice of the establishment.

 

maradonna was a great dribbler of the ball, probably the greatest.

 

pele would have scored goals wherever he played, and is indisputably a better goal scorer than maradonna ever was. he was two-footed for a start and had a rocket of a shot, he was also one of the best headers of the ball in history.

 

they're different styles of players. but pele was more complete.

[Rashid]

pele was a massive part of some of the greatest teams football has ever seen, maradonna wasn't.

 

Wheras the Maradona was the SOLE reason his teams were successful.

[KevieG]

pele was a massive part of some of the greatest teams football has ever seen, maradonna wasn't.

 

 

what's this, the Gary Neville defence?

[cotter]

i doubt maradonna's argentina would have beaten any of the brazil side's pele represented over fifteen years. he was the best player and icon in all of those teams, with perhaps only garrincha getting close. his longevity is important, whether you believe maradonna shone brighter at points or not.

 

dalglish's ability isn't talked down because he was part of a brilliant side, neither should pele's.

[CtrlAltDelete]

Pele has been the greatest player and ambassador for football ever.

[bobhorse]

For all those in the Maradona camp he joind Napoli in 84 and left in 1991 yet won only 1 Title and he was supose to be a one man team who could win everything on his own

Rose tinted glass, great player but far far away from the class that is Pele his goals record was less than half that of Pele so as a goal scorer he is second to Pele on a skill level mabe he is the same as Pele in heading he comes second TV as given some people a slanted view IMHO

[Dirk]

Same as Pele on skill? No chance. Moreover, Maradona wasn't a goal scorer, sure he scored goals but so does Ronaldinho, so did Dalglish but neither of them were typical centre forwards. Pele was nowhere near as good as Maradona when it came to technical ability. Saying someone is a better player on the basis of goals if like saying that Aldridge is a better player than Barnes.

[stmichael]

Both genius' but it has to be Pele. He scored 1279 goals in 1367 games.

[RedKnight]

Tennis.

[Zippy]

I voted Maradona but is it a very difficult choice.

 

This is what Alf Ramsey thought: 'Pele had nearly everything. Maradona has everything. He works harder, does more and is more skilful. Trouble is that he'll be remembered for another reason. He bends the rules to suit himself.' Sir Alf Ramsey (1986)

[Red Mist]

For all those in the Maradona camp he joind Napoli in 84 and left in 1991 yet won only 1 Title and he was supose to be a one man team who could win everything on his own

Rose tinted glass, great player but far far away from the class that is Pele his goals record was less than half that of Pele so as a goal scorer he is second to Pele on a skill level mabe he is the same as Pele in heading he comes second TV as given some people a slanted view IMHO

Er, he won TWO Serie A titles, playing for a crap team. They hadn't won anything before he arrived and not won anything since he left. And he won the UEFA Cup when it was a tough tournament to win. And he was also top goal scorer in one season, not bad for a midfielder.

And why are you comparing the number of goals the two scored? Pele was a striker, playing in a league far less competetive than the top European leagues. 115 goals in one season - LOL. Sounds like a Mickey Mouse league to me.

[zigackly]

I've seen plenty of videos of Pele's dribbling and to say it was only marginally less that Maradona's is simply laughable. Any player getting over a hundred goals a season on a regular basis calls into question the strength of that league for me.

 

Pele scored ninety something in ninety something international games. Maradona scored thirty something in ninety something international games. Whatever you want to say about the two there is no way you can argue Pele was not the better goalscorer. It's misleading to compare them only in terms of goals. However for any trick you can find on video performed by Maradona, you can find the same one performed by Pele ...

[zigackly]

In world footballers terms Barcelona are a fucking lucky team - they have had Maradona, Cruyff, Ronaldo, Hagi, Stoichkov, Ronaldhino and Et'oo to name but 7 play for them but only 2 European Cups to show for it!

 

I would call that serially unlucky ... or something.

[bigbak]

Maradona by a mile, but only just ahead of Dalglish.

 

When they show TV clips of him doing something special it's really special. When it's Pele, it's always the same shots of him shooting and missing from the halfway line.

 

George Best was better than Pele. Wrong thing to say on here though.

[Mr T]

What was that Garrincha like? I've heard he was quite special..

[Rashid]

What was that Garrincha like? I've heard he was quite special..

 

All the videos I have seen of him he was THE best dribbler in that Brazilian teameven though he was born with disabilities in his legs. A real old fashioned winger and were it not for Maradona he would be the best dribbler of all time.

[bobhorse]

Same as Pele on skill? No chance. Moreover, Maradona wasn't a goal scorer, sure he scored goals but so does Ronaldinho, so did Dalglish but neither of them were typical centre forwards. Pele was nowhere near as good as Maradona when it came to technical ability. Saying someone is a better player on the basis of goals if like saying that Aldridge is a better player than Barnes.

 

They are both South American No10s Maradona played as a striker all be it in a more withdraw role behind another striker when you compare skill levels of diffrent decades it is impossible unless you judge the players skills against the opponants of the time Pele was head and shoulders above other players at the time IMHO Maradona likewise that is how i came about my opinion also Pele scoring record of better than a goal every international is almost 3 times that of Maradona

 

Pele maintained this over 20 years not 7 season

 

I suggest you re-read my post's as my opinion wasnt based on goals scored like you state or TV clips of flicks and tricks

 

when you take on the mantle of Worlds Best Ever you become a role model for future generations

If you like your role modles smacked of there tits taking pot shots at people then no arguments put before you will alta your opinion

Great a player as Maradona was the fact remain but for 2 goals you would be asking Marawho for all he did in the game

[Dundalis]

Same as Pele on skill? No chance. Moreover, Maradona wasn't a goal scorer, sure he scored goals but so does Ronaldinho, so did Dalglish but neither of them were typical centre forwards. Pele was nowhere near as good as Maradona when it came to technical ability. Saying someone is a better player on the basis of goals if like saying that Aldridge is a better player than Barnes.

Bullshit. Where on Earth would you get that from? Maradona was marginally better in both areas (technical ability and dribbling).

 

I could go on and on about how Pele was just as good a passer as Maradona as well, but people clearly just buy into the typical bullshit spread about Pele that he was just a goalscorer because they can't be bothered doing any research. If I put the effort in it is obviously going to be shot down by people whom are experts after watching one black and white youtube video of both players.

I've seen plenty of videos of Pele's dribbling and to say it was only marginally less that Maradona's is simply laughable. Any player getting over a hundred goals a season on a regular basis calls into question the strength of that league for me.

 

There is no way he'd have gotten that in the 60's in England.

 

Maradona is the choice of the soccer fan, Pele is the choice of the establishment.

Good on you, you have seen plenty of videos of Pele. I've seen full games of Pele playing for Santos, read biographies and heard testimonials by former players on his career. That doesn't make me an expert, as I didn't see him play live, but it gives me a better idea on what kind of player he was than most people on this site.

 

Over one hundred goals a season is inclusive of friendlies (Of which there were many more played than there is now) and internationals. In the domestic competition the most he scored was around 66 goals, but on average closer to 40-45 a season. When you consider someone like Jimmy Greaves was able to score 43 goals in one domestic English season, it is hardly out of the realms of possibility that Pele could have scored a similar amount of goals in England.

 

Maradona is the choice of the football fan with a short memory (i.e most people).