The Sports Lowdown For All Your News and OpinionsFootball has seen many great players over the years, many of which were, and continue, to be household names around the globe. The game has changed drastically, but the talent of the players has not, and many of the players who are commonly regarded as some of the best of all time plied their trade well-before the game turned into the mega-business it now is. Every sport has their all-time legends and contemporary stars, and none more so than football, and comparing players of different generations is an impossible task.
Here at The Sports Lowdown, we attempt to do just that. In our top 1o countdown, our specialist team of football writers will formulate a list of the greatest players of all time in reverse order, commencing at 8am on Monday and finishing at 6pm that same day.
Pele? Maradona? Messi? Zidane? Keep a watchful eye on proceedings at The Sports Lowdown to find out who we have picked as our top 10 players of all time, and as usual we would love to hear your views, so any comments would be greatly appreciated!
Here our countdown comes to an end…
It is 18th April 2007. In a Copa Del Rey Semi Final against Getafe, a 19-year old Lionel Messi scores the goal of the century in front of 90, 000 Barcelona fans. It is a goal that is cannily reminiscent of the goal scored by Diego Maradona in the 1886 World Cup quarter finals: both players ran approximately 60 metres, in about 10 second, took 13 touches of the ball, ran past 6 opposing defenders before calmly slotting the ball into an empty net. The stadium are in raptures. A star is born.
Number 1 – Lionel Messi
Yes, you guessed it. Number 1 on our list is the Argentine superstar Lionel Messi.
In my opinion, there can be no real doubt about this one: Lionel Messi is without question the greatest the world has ever seen. Not only is he the most successful player of all time – both individually but also as a team – but he is also the most talented of all players past and present. Messi is a man who not only makes people fall in love with himself or Barcelona, but makes them fall in love with the game, and it is a trait that Maradona and Pele possessed, and likewise Messi has demonstrated throughout his illustrious career.
I have run out of superlatives to describe the diminutive magician: he is quite simply incredible! The records he has set, and continues to set, are utterly mind-blowing, but what is even more staggering is the effortless ease with which he dances past defenders week in, week out, and that is why he is the greatest the world has ever seen.
Boy wonder
“When you saw him you would think: this kid can’t play ball. He’s a dwarf, he’s too fragile, too small. But immediately you’d realise that he was born different, that he was a phenomenon and that he was going to be something impressive.” —Newell’s Old Boys youth coach Adrian Coria shares his first impression of the 12-year-old Messi.
From an early age, it was evident that Messi was like no other. Despite having a growth deficiency that saw him needing medical treatment in his teens, Messi’s technical ability was evident right from the start. Watching footage of a 12 year old Messi is both a poignant and remarkable experience, for, in reality, he has not differed since: his dribbling style and technique is the same now as it was then, and it just highlights the talent Messi was born with.
Like most professional players, “Leo” developed a passion for the game from an early age, and aged four, he would regularly play with his two cousins – who interestingly both became professional footballers as well. He spent his childhood years playing for boyhood club Newell’s Old Boys, and was part of the infamous ‘Machine of ’87s’ – a name given to their incredibly successful youth system which was named after the year of their birth – during which time he scored over 500 goals in 6 years.
His glistening footballing future, however, appeared to be nearly over when, at the age of 10 he was diagnosed with a growth hormone deficiency. His father’s health insurance covered the first two years of the treatment – at a cost of $1000 a month – and so Newell’s Old Boys willingly stepped in and help fund the treatment – although they later retracted this offer. With relatives in Catalonia, Messi’s mother arranged for him to have trials at FC Barcelona. He did so, and the club doctor was so impressed by what he saw from the youngster, that he urged the club to immediately sign him up. Initially reluctant due to is young age, the youth coaches eventually relented and also decided to pay for his treatment.
Despite playing for one of the biggest clubs in the world at a mere age of 13, things were not all plain-sailing for Lionel Messi: he suffered from home-sickness, his football was limited due to a contract dispute with former club Newell’s, and his quiet and reserved personality made integration into the team more problematic.
After completing his treatment at the age of 14 however, Messi began befriending his team-mates – most notably Cesc Fabregas and Gerard Pique – and he became fully integrated into Spanish football. He was a vital member of the ‘Baby Dream Team’ – Barcelona’s greatest ever youth team – and less than a year later, he was playing for Barcelona’s senior team!
Rise at FC Barcelona
2003/4 was the year Messi began making his mark at the Catalan club. Despite mostly substitute performances, he became the clubs youngest ever starter at 16 years, four months, and 23 days old, when he came on as a 75th minute substitute. He continued to play mostly for the Barcelona B and Barcelona C sides to gain experience for a couple of seasons, before eventually becoming a fully-fledged member of the Barcelona Senior side.
2005 was his breakthrough year, as he became a regular starter for Frank Rjikaard. With Ronaldinho (at that time the best player in the world) playing predominantly on the left – Messi’s favoured position – the Argentina was forced to play on the right where he could cut in and shoot with his stronger left foot. He soon became a key component in a prolific attacking trio featuring Ronaldinho on the left, and Samuel Eto’o as the central striker. However his first couple of seasons were hampered by injuries, and Messi struggled to make the kind of impact people were expecting him to make.
After Ronaldinho began to loose form, Messi became the star of the team earning him the nickname, the “Messiah”, and he ended the 2007/08 season with a third placed finish at the Ballon D’or – behind Kaka and Cristiano Ronaldo, but like previous seasons his participation in the final months of the season was limited due to injuries.
After two consecutive poor seasons, Barcelona were in drastic need of an overhaul, and this involved the dismissal of Franck Rjikaard and Ronaldinho. Upon the latter’s departure, Messi was given the coveted No. 10 shirt and with it, signed a new contract making him the highest paid player at the club. With his frequent muscular injuries still a big concern, Barcelona changed their training programme, and assigned Messi a personal physiotherapy to travel with him to every match, and this resulted in Messi having four years injury free. Former midfielder, Pep Guardiola was soon appointed manager, and it began a spell of unerring success for both Messi and Barcelona.
During Pep Guardiola’s 4 years at the club, Barcelona conquered European football, winning fourteen trophies, including the prestigious treble in 2009. Guardiola was able to devise a system which helped get the best out of his talisman, and with that came huge success. Messi’s goal scoring record went through the roof with his statistics getting better year after year. His most prolific season was 2011-12, where he managed an astonishing 73 goals in only 60 appearances, on his way to scoring 92 goals in a calendar year – a record. In two of these seasons he managed a half century of league goals ion a single season.
What Messi will be remembered for though is his Ballon D’or. During his time under Guardiola, Messi won four consecutive Ballon D’ors – also a record – in his period of complete domination, and still aged only 28, he is the strong favourite to make it five Ballon D’ors next January, and with arch nemesis Cristiano Ronaldo on the wrong side of 30, it could well be that Messi adds even more individual honours to his name.
Messi has continued his meteoric rise since, but it is down to Franck Rjikaard for giving him the chance, and then later, Pep Guardiola for turning him into the best the world has ever known.
When asked about what if feelf like being the best manager in the world in 2011, Pep Guardiola replied “I came to Barcelona with the aim of making Messi the greatest player in the world. Instead, he made me the greatest manager in the world. My success is down to Messi”.
So whilst the Spaniard is being slightly modest, there are strong elements of truth in this. Messi touches players and managers alike with his brilliance, and makes everyone around him better players.
Creating a legacy: Rivalry with Cristiano Ronaldo
“I feel sorry for those who want to compete for Messi’s throne—it’s impossible, this kid is unique.” said Pep Guardiola after Messi became Barcelona’s leading goal scorer aged 24 in 2012. Now, whilst this statement is slightly exaggerated given the heights both Messi and Ronaldo have pushed themselves to in recent years, it tells you everything you need to know about just how good Lionel Messi is.
His epic rivalry with Portuguese front man Cristiano Ronaldo has, for the best part, defined his career. Both players have taken the game to heights never before explored in the footballing world, and the Champions League goal-scoring record is just one record that the pair have been fighting over in recent years. In actual fact – as Ethan Gore said in his review of Ronaldo at number 4 on our list – it is an impossible task to compare the two for they are two completely different players, playing in two completely different teams. Messi is portrayed as the under-stated team-player; Ronaldo the selfish showman, Messi the magician; Ronaldo the machine. Comparing them is like comparing apples and pears – people will have their preferences, but there will never be a definite answer from everyone.
What the debate does attempt to do though, is decide who the greatest player of our current generation is though, and there is only one correct answer to that question: Lionel Messi. To have reached the heights Messi has – which no player has ever reached before or since, I hasten to add – at the age Messi has, and achieved what he has done in a relatively short space of time is remarkable. Everyone talks about the goals and assists Messi provides, and rightly so, but lest we forget that Messi has recently become the youngest player to make 100 Champions League appearances. That is not only a symbol of one’s true talent, but is also a portrayal of their longevity. By the age of 25, Messi had won four Ballon D’ors – after having won them all consecutively from 2009-13 – and for that reason he is the pinnacle of our generation.
If you were to dissect Messi’s game you would probably find that he is not only the greatest goal scorer, but also the greatest playmaker, passer, dribbler, set-piece taker, most creative and the most prolific assister. There is not a weakness to his game, and whilst he is not the machine Ronaldo is, he makes up for any biological/ physical disadvantages with his mesmeric ability.
The impression I get is that Messi does what he does because he was born to do it: he is not a product of sheer hard work like Ronaldo is, but everything he does appears effortless, almost nonchalant, with apparently very little thought or practice put into it. Messi could most likely not train with his team-mates, and work only on maintaining fitness, and yet he would still be the best in the world, and that speaks volumes. The 5 ft 7″ maestro has the ability to get the audience on to their feet, and marvel at their brilliance. When you look at Messi play, his best goals – the solo goal vs Getafe in 2009, THAT goal against Bayern Munich in 2015, versus Athletic Bilbao on 2015 being just three examples – you realise at that moment that there is no other player currently playing that is capable of doing that. You realise then that you are in the presence of a genius, some greater being, some alien put on this planet by the Gods to teach the world how to play football.
That is the sign of a legend creating a legacy.
This era of football is a golden one, and will most likely be remembered as the Messi-Ronaldo era. But, I think by the time they hang up their boots, Messi will stand a platform higher on the podium of greatness than his contemporary.
As Gianluigi Buffon said, “Messi is an alien that dedicates himself to playing with humans.” And he could not be more right.
The best ever?
The statistics certainly think so. The number of records Messi has broken or set currently stands at a whopping 125 – and counting! Not all of these 125 records are particularly noticeable, but many of them are. He has the most Ballon D’ors in history, is the record goal-scorer for Barcelona, in La Liga, in Spanish football, in El Classicos, and in the Club World Cup, as well as having the most assists of all time in these respective competitions. As far as the record books are concerned Messi is the greatest goal-scorer of all time in European football history, as well as being the best creator of goals – what more could you want?!
The names Messi has often been compared to are Diego Maradona and Pele, and in all honesty the jury is still out on whether he has done enough to surpass them. At club level, certainly – he is the greatest club player of all time by a considerable margin. But internationally? It remains the only blip in his career: the World Cup. Pele won three, Maradone won two, and it remains a poignant piece of evidence for Messi critics to detract from his status on the all-time list.
That said, he has lead Argentina to three finals – two of them in the past two years – where he was ultimately let down by his team-mates. With so much emphasis put on club football nowadays, it is only natural that Messi’s form for the national team drops slightly after a long and arduous season, so it is not entirely fair to criticise him for it. He does, of course still have time on his side being only 28 years of age, and it is far from beyond the realms of possibility to see Messi win the one trophy still alluding him. But regardless, Messi has nothing left to prove. Nothing whatsoever.
His talent is the best of all time, but on top of that he has a humbleness and a humility about him which has endeared him to so many fans. The Argentine has an incredible work-ethic as well, which not many people recognise, but behind all this brilliance is an underlying passion for the game which has kept Messi entertained and satisfied for all these years, and is the same passion that got him involved in the sport all those years ago.
He has reached heights that no player has ever reached, or is likely to reach again, and has maintained this for a time that few can match. No player has defined and dominated an era more than the little ‘number 10’ and for that he is, in my eyes, the greatest player the world has ever seen.
And that brings me back to my opening passage, about THAT goal and a star being born. Everything Messi touches on the field radiates Maradona, and on that day, Lionel Messi matched the brilliance of his Argentine hero.
Not any more though. No, now Messi has surpassed Maradona.
And that leaves it beyond all doubt: Messi IS the greatest of all time.
Thank you for reading. We hope that it was an informative, enjoyable and entertaining read, and we would love to hear your views on our top 10. Any comments would be greatly appreciated!
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