May 18, 2015

So I recently got into a debate with someone on Facebook that claimed Pele was undoubtedly better than Ronaldo and Messi and I took it upon myself to do some research on him considering I'm only 18 and never got to see him play. Obviously the rare video footage that there is of him shows that he was a tremendous player but it also shows how weak his opponents were. I mean defenders would stand right in front of him completely flat footed and not even attempt to step in, goal keepers out of position etc. Also, his record of 1200+ goals isn't all that impressive when you consider 500+ of those goals came in friendlies & unofficial matches, they even counted goals that he scored for the Navy Academy lol. The fact that he never played in Europe and in Brazil his entire career makes that record even more unimpressive as well.

Also, his role in those 3 World Cup victories is kind of exaggerated. In 1958 while he was only 17 years old and he scored in big moments, he wasn't voted the best player of that tournament, Didi was. In 1962 he got injured and barly played in any of that tournament yet Brazil still won the World Cup due to how great that team was. In 1970 he held a higher level of importance but it could be argued that Tostao & Jairzinho were equally as important. Also, he never won the golden boot despite being praised as a great goal scorer. In fact, he only lead Brazil in goals in one of those tournaments (1958 World Cup).

These are just some facts I've read but wanted to know your guys thoughts.

 

May 18, 2015

i dont think he's overrated he done some amazing things in football

but i think players are better nowadays and if pele was playing now would he be scoring more goals than games played each season like messi or ronaldo? i don't think so

these 2 have taken it to the next level

 

May 18, 2015

This tbh. We don't know how good he would've been if he had the possibilities Ronaldo and Messi have now.

 

May 18, 2015

The reason I say overrated is because usually when people speak of him, they act as if he is the undisputed GOAT. I don't want to come across like i dislike him, he's without a doubt one of the greatest to ever play, I just don't think he's as "untouchable" as a lot of people seem to claim.

 

May 18, 2015

I have a hard time believing that any athletes from the 60s or prior could hang with their modern counterparts. There is a reason that Olympic records continue to be broken time and time again. Athletes are better/smartly conditioned today and stand on the progress in technique of the past history of their respective sports.

That said, I don't think pitting them in a head-to-head hypothetical is fair. You should compare their resumes.

 

May 18, 2015

I agree with what has been said by everyone. Like all legends he paved the way for the next generation with his brilliance which was at the time the equivalent to our Messi & Ronaldo, football since then has gone through so much evolution and we've seen more incredible players like Cruyff, Maradona, etc. also make their mark on the game.

 

May 18, 2015

 

May 18, 2015

its like with messi and ronaldo comparisons now, pele has always been compared to maradonna as 2 of the best

personally from what i've seen maradonna was a better player, single handedly(pun intended) won the world cup on his own where as pele won it in much stronger teams

 

May 18, 2015

maradona and zidane s--- on everybody before and since

 

May 18, 2015

 

May 18, 2015

How has no one mentioned Brazil's Ronaldo in this thread... Even though he was hit with injuries the man still managed to win World Player of the year 3 times. I always thought Pele was overrated (to be fair I'm not old enough to talk about that generation) but to me Zidane and Brazil's Ronaldo s--- all over all other players, including C. Ronaldo and Messi.

Ronaldo was the best out of Brazil.

 

May 18, 2015

only watching highlights of him last week, hes definitely up there

world cup 2002

scored for fun

 

May 18, 2015

As a filthy American, I can honestly say the only thing I know about Zidane is the headbutt.
I played soccer (football lel) for half of my life and never followed the sport lol.

 

May 18, 2015

He was possibly the most other-worldly player ever from 96-98, he traveled with the ball at a blinding pace and had the ball control & agility to easily move past you. Not to mention he was skillful if necessary and had an insanely cool head in front of the goal. The injury took him a notch down (sadly below other strikers in terms of effectiveness) but he still managed to remain world-class.

 

May 18, 2015

f--- thought this was about Key and peele and u just had a typo

 

May 18, 2015

im almost pissed this is the only thing some of you know about him

he is literally top contender for best player of all time

excuse him for never smiling

 

May 18, 2015

Every generation has players who are on another level. Pele is basically a god because he was one of the first legends, and his achievements were amazing and he shaped football history, in a way. Even in 1958 he was basically a 17 year old kid scoring in the most important tournament of the quadrennium, the youngest player to score a hat trick, he scored / gave assist in crucial matches etc. And all this happened 40-50 years ago, when they played football with s-----y shoes etc. Ofc the competition is stronger now, but that's because science and the game itself have progressed; this goes both ways though. Would Messi even be able to play if he was born in the 50's? I strongly don't think so, considering his condition.

Pele is one of the players that were ahead of their time, definitely not overrated imo. The most important player of his generation. The same can be said about Messi, Cristiano, maybe Robben atm, the same could be said about Zidane, about Maradona, about Cruyf etc etc.