7 REASONS TO HAIL LIONEL MESSI AS THE BEST PLAYER EVER
Posted on
Mar 11, 2013
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Lionel Messi is already in the debate concerning who is the greatest player ever—and deservedly so.
What
he has done at the age of 24 took some players their entire careers to
reach. And yes, that includes some of the greats as well.
The fact
that we will be seeing this player in action for possibly another 10
years or so makes all his accomplishments so far even more astounding.
Here's a couple reasons why you could hail Lionel Messi as the best ever.
His Age Gives Him Time
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Lionel Messi's current competition consists of mainly three players. There is one of the best wingers to ever play the game, Cristiano Ronaldo, and two of the best central midfielders, his teammates Andres Iniesta and Xavi.
Messi has been leading that pack for the past three years and doesn't look like stopping anytime soon.
Things
may become more difficult when the likes of Neymar and the players of
that generation move up in their careers, but who's to say they really
will be a threat. It's definitely a possibility, but not a certainty.
It
would be foolish to say Messi would still be completely dominant at the
age of 30 when these younger players are around, but his main
competition now will be his age or older.
Messi already has them beaten, and the younger players would have a lot of catching up to do.
We've already seen how some of Lionel Messi's accomplishments
will stack up to the past greats, but we'll dig a little deeper here.
Pele
and Diego Maradona are always at the top of the list when it comes to a
best player ever conversation, and in some areas the likes of Johan
Cruyff, Alfredo Di Stefano and George Best are added to the list. Best
will have his own slide, so let's look at the others.
Pele will always have the three World Cups and his goal-scoring record but, as Allan Jiang pointed out in "The Top 5 Things Pele Does Not Want You To Know," both those things can be disputed.
When
you consider what Maradona did for his World Cup trophy, it has to be
viewed very highly. In terms of his other accomplishments though, he
will not match up to Messi in the end, and Messi may just match his
greatest international achievement.
The case is virtually the same
for Johan Cruyff except, instead of the World Cup, he was a major part
of the invention and implementation of possibly the greatest way to play
football. He has no World Cup trophy, yet he is in the world's greatest
discussion for some.
Alfredo Di Stefano is also in the same boat. His achievements may be surpassed, but he heralded a great era for Real Madrid much like Messi is doing for Barcelona right now.
And what about George Best?
As the saying goes, "Maradona good, Pele better, George best."
But what's the criteria there? Is it what George Best did on the pitch
every game and what people knew he was capable of despite all his
problems off it?
Though no one in my generation did see Best play
live, we certainly should and, in my case do, have a great appreciation
for his talents.
If George Best can be brought into the
discussion as being the world's best ever player, then Messi is already
worthy of being there as well.
Pele speaks about titles and
scoring records and Best doesn't have a lot of either. Messi already
does. He does amazing things on the field, just as with all the other
players you can think of, and he already has the accolades to back it
up.
This is not a knock against George Best at all but just a
thought that if players like Best, Johan Cruyff and Di Stefano can be
brought into the mix, then Messi should be there as well.
If you look at Lionel Messi's statistical records from ESPN.com here, you'll see that he has gotten better and better each year.
He
has already surpassed last year's total of 50 goals, with 51 so far. He
only has to have six more assists to match last year's total of 21.
If
you are looking in the 2011/2012 season and wondering where those
number are coming from, add his Champions League goals and assists, here and here, and you'll find out.
It's
fair to say that Messi will eclipse all those achievements from last
year by the time the season is done. Will that continue? It would be
freaky, and let's hope I don't jinx him, but it's possible.
May there be one or two "off" years? Possibly. (And by "off" I mean just 35-45 goals and 10-15 assists.)
Even
if that were to happen, Messi would go down as one of the most prolific
players to play the game and, who knows, may come close to Pele.
Just kidding. Well...
