Messi is out of this world

Not a big fan of declaring anyone the greatest ever. Every generation has one or two incredibly exceptional players and Messi is obviously the greatest of this generation.

History will remember him as a player who had to take drugs.

History will remember him as a player who had to take drugs.

being that he isn't remembered for that now, I don't think that impression will somehow change over time.


but damn is he good.


We ought to send a scout and a doctor out to find a young player who needs help regarding an illness. Apparently it worked out for barca...maybe our guy would be double as good!

In general, its a great time to be a sports fan, Messi, Barca, Djokovic, Nadal, Federer, Woods, Mcilroy, Tendulkar etc, its a rich era.

Also Vettel and Schumacher.

I would add Floyd Mayweather, Manny Pacquiao, Kobe Bryant, Michael Phelps and Usain Bolt to that list.

There's no way Mayweather and Pacquiao stand up in the pantheon of pugilistic greats.

There's no way Mayweather and Pacquiao stand up in the pantheon of pugilistic greats.

This is not the place to have such a conversation but send me PM me and tell me why.

Proof, done.

He's just scored his 74th goal of the season for Argentina against Ecuador in a world cup qualifier in Buenos Aires. Simply Amazing.

He is up there with the other greats, in fact probably at the top.
Pele
Maradona
Cruyff
Zidane

For me it would be between Messi and Maradona as to who is the greatest.

Still don't get why Michael Laudrup isn't considering to be among the best ever. He assisted 30 of Romario's 32 goals in the 93-94 season for Barca, got Zamorano from 12 goals to 37 goals in a season after joining Madrid and scored 10 goals as well.

Certainly the best playmaker of all time imo. He wasn't selfish enough though to be considered among the best I guess, which is a sentiment several top footballers including Raul has said.

Speaking of which, Raul has said he's the best he's ever played with. High praise from a guy who's played with pretty much every top player in the world at the time including Zidane, Ronaldo and so on.

Certainly the best playmaker of all time imo.

Better than Zidane?

Certainly the best playmaker of all time imo.

Better than Zidane?

I'd argue yes. Obviously they're both amazing players but I think Zidane's nationality allowed him to flourish at a bigger stage (WC finals etc) allowing him to surpass Laudrup in popularity.

If you look at what Laudrup has done at club level AND international level, I think he surpasses Zidane. Laudrup won the league with Barca, switched to Madrid and won the league with them. Not a coincidence.

THe most underrated player of all time imo. The only people that seem to hold him at the highest levels are ironically enough the players he played with.

Seriously though, we were considered a top tier international team when he played for us. Denmark. Think about it. We went from ALMOST beating Brazil at the 1998 WC to losing all of our games at the 2000 EC after his retirement.

If you look at what Laudrup has done at club level AND international level, I think he surpasses Zidane. Laudrup won the league with Barca, switched to Madrid and won the league with them. Not a coincidence.

I haven't had the opportunity to watch Laudrup play but I've watched enough DVD's and clips of him and I rate him highly as one of the greatest european players ever however, he's no where near Zidane in terms of skill and vision but to say Laudrup has performed better than Zidane at both club and international level is bit far fetched TBH because the simple truth is, Laudrup won trophies with his clubs whilst Zidane won it for them.

Zidane won bucket load of trophies with Juventus and he was the heart and the soul of an an average side compared to the great team that Michael played in where he had the likes of Platini, Boniek, Rossi, Tardelli, Scirea, Cabrini and Gentile who were all world class players and Rossi, Scirea, Tardelli, Cabrini and Gentile were all world cup winners hence why Michael's time at Juventus isn't remembered fondly as he hasn't done anything especial there especially when Platini retired and Juve thought they had a ready made replacement in Laudrup.

Before Juventus Zidane used to carry a Bordeux side who were minnows in the French league those days and they've won intertoto glory and runners-up in Uefa cup to Bayern Munich. On their way to that final he almost single handedly destroyed AC Milan with all their super stars on the pitch including Baggio, Maldini, Baresi and Weah.

Here's some Zidane highlight from that match. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dz3f2Q3pZdk" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

At Real we all know what he's done and will forever remember 'THAT' goal at Hampden Park against Leverkusen and at International level I'm not sure whether you're serious or not when you're saying Michael did more than Zidane because Zidane won everything there's to be won with France while Michael only Confederations Cup with Denmark.

At Real we all know what he's done and will forever remember 'THAT' goal at Hampden Park against Leverkusen and at International level I'm not sure whether you're serious or not when you're saying Michael did more than Zidane because Zidane won everything there's to be won with France while Michael only Confederations Cup with Denmark.

How is Laudrup supposed to compete?

Let's take the 1998 World Cup which France won.

France had the likes of Lizerazu, Djorkaeff, Deschamps, Thuram, Petit, Lebouef, Vieira, Henry and Trezeguet.

We had Helveg, Allan Nielsen, Brian Laudrup, Tøfting, Møller, Heintze etc.

You cannot use "he won it all" as an argument against Laudrup. Zidane played for a country with 11 times as many people as Laudrup did.

It's like saying RVP isn't half as good as Rooney because he hasn't won anything since breaking into the starting XI.

It's you who started the comparison and now you're saying I can't use it against Michael because Denmark has lesser population and talent than France.

It's neither Zidane's nor Laudrup's fault that they were born in their respective countries however, individually Zidane was simply more gifted than Michael and had more successful career at both club level and with France than Laudrup.

Denmark won Euros in 92' by beating both Holland & Germany and England never won it (Until this year) and they all have more population than Denmark so...?

There's no doubt in my mind whatsoever that Michael Laudrup was a great player, easily one of the greatest players Europe ever produced but Zinedine Zidane is notch or two above him and the whole world agrees and rightly so.


PS. Good Luck with Denmark, Something tells me you'll send one of them big boys packing for home early and in Christian Eriksen you have another world class number 10 in the making.

Messi vs Ecuador

Absolutely incredible performance, every time he touched the ball he did some thing special and got the crowd cheering.
The team play from 6:33 is more than worth the match ticket fee, notice the timing of Aguero's run which really shows how far ahead of the play he is thinking/seeing.

Aguero worries me. This guy had a phenomal first season here and he's growing with every game. Now that he's tasted how it is to become a champion. I think that he will join be in the same class as Ronaldo soon. Still only 24.

Laudrup is definitely up there with Zidane, he's just not as current, so he doesn't get the youth vote.

Zico,Platini,Laudrup,Bergkamp, Baggio, Nedved and so on are all better no10's than Zidane. Find him seriously overrated, wasn't even Juve's best player in the late 1990's imo. Wouldn't make it to my list of top 5 best players.

1.Pele
2.Maradona
3.Cruijf
4.Messi
5.Beckenbauer

Di Stefano?

Played virtually everywhere, and won 5 European Cups on the trot as the talisman of that great Madrid team.

Forgot about Di Stefano. Good shout. He has a case, actually come to think of it, scrap it. Quite difficult to compose it considering the number of excellent players there has been for the past decades.

Edit:double post.

Anyone who grew up watching football whilst Michael Laudrup was in his prime will consider him to be amongst the finest playmakers to have ever graced the game. He's not really underrated at all, to be honest.

Aguero worries me. This guy had a phenomal first season here and he's growing with every game. Now that he's tasted how it is to become a champion. I think that he will join be in the same class as Ronaldo soon. Still only 24.

I agree, which is why I wouldn't mind selling to Man City if Van Persie was really on his way out. I don't think there is much between them, or Rooney for that matter, and other than bolstering their squad, their first team isn't really going to improve much with the Dutchman's inclusion. (We're way past the point of being Man City's feeder club, IMO)

As for the greatest of all time debate, I would like to nominate Ladislao Kubala as a candidate. He was more enthralling than Alfredo Di Stefano, and had the same level of exuberance and innovation as Pele. Phenomenal player who is arguably the most underappreciated player in history.

Pele is numero uno, though, and Messi will never surpass him. Simply because, Pele was the complete footballer. He was world class in every single category.

Seriously though, we were considered a top tier international team when he played for us. Denmark. Think about it. We went from ALMOST beating Brazil at the 1998 WC to losing all of our games at the 2000 EC after his retirement.

I get your overall point about Michael Laudrup's influence on the Danish NT team, but there is no need to twist the truth to better your point. You did not "ALMOST" beat Brazil at the 1998 WC. Ronaldo tore your defense apart and Schmeichel had a stinker. I would have accepted your statement if you had lost on penalties or a freak goal in extra time.

Regarding the 2000 Euro you did not miss only Michael Laudrup but also Brian Laudrup. Jon Dahl Tomasson was a better like for like replacement for Michael than the the youngster Ebbe Sand was for Brian. You are the expert on your NT team, but I would imagine that it was the combined effect of losing both Michael and Brian Laudrup that hit your offense hard.

By the way, Denmark won the Euro 1992 without Michael Laudrup. People tend to become very selective about facts when they discuss players to which they have an emotional connection.

Scored two so far against Brazil.. Starting too produce for the NT now too!

What a goal by Messi!! 4-3 now!

Holy ****, he's just scored a wonder goal, ******* bow down to the best ever.

so messi scored a hatrick today vs brazil not bad son not bad.

What a goal.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=pl ... MPK5DLEXk#" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;!

That's what they call Golazo in Latin America. Marcelo must hate the sight of this guy with passion.

Simply the best.