When it comes to dishing out criticism, I’m right up there with the most controversial of sports fans. Show me the perfect player and I’ll point out the most dramatic flaw. My own blunt self-analyses have, in my biased opinion, improved my performances on and off the field and they have also given me a green light to suggest that it’s okay that I nit-pick at other sportspeople’s contributions – especially those lauded as the greatest talents of their generation (or even further back).
My critique habits had gotten so bad (well, I prefer ‘precise’) that even football’s very own golden boy Lionel Messi was not spared. In fact, I had actually been planning – for quite some time – to complete a blog outlining the weaknesses of the Argentine and undermine his apparent immunity to censure. However, after being advised by numerous friends (or any football fan for that matter) not to pursue the blog entitled ‘The Myth That is Messi’, I thought I should stall the idea. And, in hindsight, after watching Barca’s ace claim another treble – and helping out a little bit with 53 goals and 24 assists – I think my blushes (and reputation) have been well and truly saved. Besides, once I heard someone else steal my thunder, I thought the contrarian in me would appreciate a good argument.
And, just to uphold my outrageous nature, I thought I’d have a pop at Pelé for good measure. Because, speaking on Wednesday night after being asked about the magic that is Messi (I said it), the Brazilian defensively claimed, “Messi better than Pelé? To get there he needs to score more than 1283 goals” (But who’s counting, eh, Pelé?). And whilst I’ve accepted that Pelé was a decent footballer (heck, he was good), I think it was rather bold of him to play down the achievements of Lionel Messi and, at the same time, carelessly big-up his own record.
Spouting out those misleading facts of over a thousand goals with no regard for competitive fixtures, one of the greatest ever players sounded a bit childish and, if I’m honest, desperate. Plenty of people won’t like the criticism I’m aiming at Pelé, but when you’re trying to play down the current claimant to the former king’s throne, it seems more like a case of an old man sitting on a bar stool reliving glory days.
I also don’t want to misquote Pelé because he has obviously, in the past, spoken of what a terrific player Barcelona’s number 10 is, of course he has. And he has done that on more than one occasion. But setting the 2 times Ballon d’Or recipient unnecessary gauntlets to prove his greatness is harsh and unfair – and when you look at it, it is coming from someone who, as ridiculous as this sounds, is relatively unproven. The key word there is “relatively” and I don’t want anyone ignoring that!
When I say that Pelé is relatively unproven, I compare it to some of Lionel Andres Messi’s exploits. Obviously, Pelé has won 3 World Cups and it’s hard to argue with an athlete who has conquered the world consistently for 12 years. However, he is too quick and repetitive at pointing out that Messi is yet to really turn it on for his own country. Having failed to set the world alight in South Africa, the Argentine seemingly failed one of Pelé’s acid tests – one of his bench marks. Funny though, I didn’t notice too much of Cristiano Ronaldo at the World Cup, I didn’t see Wayne Rooney’s potential come through. Times have changed. Cup competitions are generally more difficult in this era because teams realise it is a knockout scenario and thus go out of their way to avoid defeat. Football has changed. Look back over those old footages and tell me how many untrained defenders are falling on their asses, how much space there is in behind. I don’t want to take too much away from Pelé - he is after all an undisputed legend. Similarly though, I don’t think it is right to write footballers off because they haven’t replicated what someone else accomplished 50 years before.
And to ignore what Messi has done for his club when being questioned whether he is one of the greatest is, likewise, out of order. I don’t need to get into stats like I usually would – it’s Lionel Messi! Besides, I don’t think I’d be able to tally the goals and assists that the adopted Catalan has recorded in friendly matches and dubious exhibitions which have, for some reason, always been considered when Pelé’s statistics are being compiled. What I would focus on more tentatively though is the fact that Messi has been lighting up the world from Europe for 6 years now; that he scored, this year, at the Emirates, the Bernabéu, and in the final of the Champions League all when his club needed the 23 year old veteran the most; that he has won, and starred in, 3 European Cups already, 6 domestic leagues and cups (in one of the best two leagues in the world) and taken home countless Player of the Year awards that have made me, someone who is actually slandering Pelé, withdraw my criticism of him. Meanwhile, Pelé spent his entire career concealing his talent within the Brazilian leagues and, oh of course, America.
The thing is, we will never know who is the greatest between Messi and Pelé – not without a Rocky-esque computer simulator at least. But even if Lionel doesn’t win a World Cup, even if he doesn’t score a thousand goals (notwithstanding 5-aside games), he should never be dismissed by someone who has partly ruined the debate because of his refusal to cross the Atlantic.
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