Is every football (soccer) player unique?
Comparison 1960’s – 2011 (Pele)
There is no doubt that Brazilian striker Pelé was the greatest player of the 1960s. Pelé and Maradona are the two players that are always mentioned when the common question is asked: “Who was the greatest player that ever lived?” Pelé will often be the answer. So what was Pele like? Pelé was a natural goalscorer, the Santos striker was incredibly athletic and his combination of dribbling and balance was unstoppable for defenders. His ability to get past defenders at such speed and maintain such balance credited many scoring chances, which Pele would most likely score emphatically. Pelé had technique, the passing ability of a central midfield master, the engine of a marathon runner and the power of a steam train. His statistics are sensational, 1281 goals in 1363 matches.
No one can live up to the Pele name; George Best of Manchester United in the 1970s was a similar type of player to Pelé, but he was more of a winger than a striker. In the modern era, few have been compared to Pelé, but none have lived up to the reputation that the Brazilian Pelé possessed. AC Milan’s Alexandre Pato was hailed as the Pele of this era, but he has yet to show phenomenal form to even be tagged as one of the best strikers today, let alone in history. Manchester United’s Wayne Rooney is the closest this decade we have compared to Pelé. Rooney has the same power and physique as Pele, the same ability to select a 70-yard cross and the same vision and technique. England striker Rooney simply doesn’t have the same amount of pace that Pele did, compounded by the fact that Rooney doesn’t particularly outplay players with skill and flair.
Wayne Rooney has scored goals you wouldn’t think were possible with the impressive volley against Newcastle and the recent potential goal of the season against Manchester City. Pelé scored impressive goals in the 1960s and 1970s for Santos and Brazil, an ‘almost’ goal that would have been one of the greatest goals of all time. His play against Uruguay left the goalkeeper for dead when the ball went one way and Pelé turned around the other, but his unbalanced shot from a tight angle went wide.
Comparison years 70 – 2011 (Johann Cruyff)
Johann Cruyff was part of the Ajax team that inherited the ‘total football’ philosophy introduced by Dutch coach Rinul Michels. Former Barcelona and Ajax leader Johann Cruyff’s playing style was influenced by the total football approach he took to his game. His natural position was center forward, but due to the tactical way the Ajax team played, he wandered and ended up playing on the wing and in midfield most of the time. The Dutch striker spent half of the 1970s at Rinus Michels’ Barcelona, where he was crowned European Footballer of the Year during his time at Barcelona in consecutive years.
Cruyff was nicknamed the ‘Booted Pythagoras’ due to his ability to select passes from angles that seemed impossible. Not only did he have an eye for passing, but he also had tremendous speed and his ability to accelerate away from defenders, which was aided by the ‘Cruyff spin’ named after the Dutch maestro and still associated with football. 40 years later.
I don’t think any striker could take advantage of Cruyff’s ability to play multiple positions to maximum effect, so I went with a playmaker and speed trader who would take advantage of Cruyff’s technical and physical attributes to his game, Ryan Giggs. Both players in their prime had the ability to outplay players with style and tremendous pace creating scoring chances. Giggs isn’t as prolific as Cruyff as a finisher, but Giggs certainly lives up to the playing skills that Cruyff possessed. Ryan Giggs in his prime was speeding from 5 to 10 yards and could maintain such a terrifying pace from 40 to 50 yards that he shared with Cruyff.
However, as football has changed a lot over the years since Cruyff’s successful days at Ajax and Barcelona, the style of play has changed and there aren’t many similar types of players of Cruyff’s caliber who can naturally play up front and go back further and further. be extremely effective.
Comparison years 80 – 2011 (Diego Maradona)
Maradona or Messi? There is no doubt that in today’s match, Lionel Messi is the closest, if not potential, candidate to surpass Maradona’s ability as a footballer. Former Barcelona striker Diego Maradona, along with Pelé, is one of the greatest players to ever grace this planet. He wasn’t as clinical as Pelé, but without taking anything away from Maradona, he still had a very good scoring record for club and country. Maradona and Messi’s style of play with the ball is identical. Both dribble with extreme pace and a very low center of gravity; both possess extreme dribbling skills with the ability to have 5-10 touches in the space of seconds to make it impossible for defenders to tackle. Many have questioned whether Lionel Messi could do what Maradona did at Napoli. Maradona won what is now the Italian ‘serie A’ with Napoli with a very average team, Maradona being the fundamental part of the Napoli squad and certainly would not have been a title winner if Maradona were not on his books. Could Messi make a similar fate at Blackburn of the English Premiership, Udinese of the Italian Serie A? Many doubt that Messi can.
In contrast, Messi has achieved much more than Maradona at this age, having won the Spanish League 4 times and the Champions League 2 times. Messi is only 23 years old, Maradona at 23 won the treble with Barcelona in 1983 and an Argentine title with Boca Juniors in 1981 but that was it. So so far Messi has had a better run in silverware success, but Maradona’s achievements at Napoli and in the international arena set him apart from Messi. Infamously, Maradona also has a World Cup named after him in 1986 that Maradona named after him.
There’s no doubt that Barcelona winger Messi scores goals from all kinds of angles and all kinds of brilliant runs, but Maradona’s second goal against England in the 1986 World Cup has been hailed as the goal of the century by many people. . Maradona carried the ball 60 meters and faced six English players in the process, rounding England goalkeeper Peter Shilton and scoring from a tight angle to beat England 2-1 in the 1986 World Cup quarter-final that won. The former Napoli striker also scored the controversial ‘hand of God’ goal in the same game that has been talked about ever since. Messi hasn’t really shined on the international stage and if he does, it could be the thing that takes him beyond his childhood hero status.
Comparison 1990’s – 2011 (Ronaldo)
He was a natural goalscorer of his day and by far the best striker of his generation simply by scoring goal after goal. Ronaldo played at the highest level throughout the 1990s and early 2000s, representing PSV, Barcelona, Inter Milan, Real Madrid and AC Milan in an illustrious career that was cut short by serious knee injuries.
Brazilian striker Ronaldo was a born goalscorer, he had the ability to outplay players with his skill and power, but his challenging threat was in the box. He scored 62 goals in just under 100 appearances for Brazil and has been voted Brazil’s best striker since Pelé by numerous panels of judges. Former Real Madrid striker Ronaldo was indestructible, if he entered the area it was inevitable that he would score.
As Ronaldo has been playing until very recently, it hasn’t been long for someone to potentially replace Ronaldo’s prowess as a well-known goalscorer. However, there are some players who this season in world football have begun to develop their reputation. Manchester United’s Javier Hernandez is a striker who could have the potential to match Ronaldo’s abilities in front of goal. He already has 16 goals for Manchester United in his first season and is a predator in the area just like Ronaldo. It is doubtful that Mexican forward Hernández will have the impact that Ronaldo had on world soccer, but the Mexican is a striker very similar to Ronaldo in his prime.
Barcelona’s David Villa is another striker known for his potential in the box. Spanish hitman David Villa earned his trade at Valencia for several years and finally sealed his move to Barcelona, where he already has 21 goals. Villa has lived up to Ronaldo’s international reputation as well, as he has won the European Championship in 2008 and the World Cup in 2010, with Spain being a key member of the winning side in both tournaments with his contribution of goals.
Comparison 2000 – 2011 (Zidane)
One of the most gifted players of this century was French midfielder and former Juventus/Bordeaux midfielder Zidane. One of the most natural players in the game, Zidane glided through the game in a nonchalant manner that made him one of the most collected soccer players to ever appear in the game. As a central midfielder, Zidane possessed an ability to score goals from midfield and also the ability to create magic in midfield to launch attacks for his team.
Zidane joined Real Madrid from Juventus in 2001 for a world record fee at the time of around £50m. Zidane enjoyed success at Real Madrid, winning the Champions League and the Spanish League in his 6 years at the club. Not to mention, he became a World Cup winner with France in 1998 and runners-up in 2006. Zidane was a tall, strong 6’1 midfielder, no fool defending and not afraid to challenge an aerial battle, but Zidane came through. alive in the attacking half and his deft touches of the ball and seemed to have eyes in the back of his head at times with his awareness of the space around him.
Not many footballers have composure as a skill in their game due to the extreme amounts of pressure footballers are put under and now with all the money on the line. However, Manchester United’s Dimitar Berbatov is one of the few footballers who possesses excellent composition on the ball, which is a very elegant skill. Bulgarian striker Berbatov and French midfielder Zidane also share the same style of control and first touch, and Berbatov has one of the best techniques in the world today, similar to Zidane’s in his prime. Although the former Tottenham striker Berbatov is an absolute striker and Zidane never played up front, the skills the two have are very similar. Even their mental approaches are very similar, they are both very calm and particularly don’t talk much when competing competitively. Both have tremendous ball control, both have the ability to outplay players with skill on the ball rather than speed or strength.
Big players are easy to come by; it’s the magic players that are hard to find. Who is going to replace Barcelona’s Messi or Real Madrid’s Cristiano Ronaldo of today in a few years? Soccer has the ability to produce stars to show off on the world stage, which makes soccer such an incredible sport to watch.