the greatest of all time.

[meatboy]

those of us that follow football and can remember players like,

puskas,pele,uesabio,di-stefano,i.allchurch,ronaldo[brazil] j.charles and george best,is this man the greatest?

i can honestly say having watched him play the last 7-8yrs CHRISTIAN RONALDO has got to be the greatest of all time expecially in the modern time.his record is second to none,and this he has achieved in 2 of the greatest football league's in the world.

having just watched him score another hat-trick for portugal against sweden was magic.

i can only think of 2 players that are half as good as him george best considering his life style he was good,

the other one barry john his record oop's i am getting carried away.

T.I.T. TAFFY IN THAILAND.

[smokie36]

What about Bob Latchford?

[nev]

Agree Ronaldo for me best player ever, he is unstoppable at times, great hatrick and good to see ibrahimovic applaud him.

[sumrit]

I've been watching football since 1958 and have got to agree, Ronaldo is the best I've seen.

[Jip99]

This is so difficult when you are judging over 6 decades.

I didn't think that I would see anyone better than Best or Pele. But, I have to agree that I would also choose Ronaldo - especially as he is playing against better quality defenders compared to the 60's/70's,

[meatboy]

What about Bob Latchford?

wasnt he the bloke that invented back door latch?

[meatboy]

Agree Ronaldo for me best player ever, he is unstoppable at times, great hatrick and good to see ibrahimovic applaud him.

yes nev.that was a good to see ib.applaud him,i have only took notice of him since he started playing for p.s.g.not bad for someone in his thirties.

[carmine]

No he's not. When he single handedly wins the next world cup for Portugal as Maradona did in '86 for Argentina then i'll take the thread seriously but until then its nonsense. When Ronaldo joins the bottom of the table team in La Liga and makes them champions as Maradona did in Serie A with Napoli i'll take this thread seriously.

Diego Maradona is the greatest player i've ever seen and the only player that could rate along side him would be Pele, a player that i've never had the opportunity to see enough of but whose achievements in the game speak for themself.

Edited November 20, 2013 by carmine

[carmine]

Come to think of it, Cristiano Ronaldo hasn't won a Ballon D'Or either has he?

[carmine]

Come to think of it, Cristiano Ronaldo hasn't won a Ballon D'Or either has he?

Is that because Messi keeps winning it because he's a better player too.......

[sumrit]

This is so difficult when you are judging over 6 decades.

I didn't think that I would see anyone better than Best or Pele. But, I have to agree that I would also choose Ronaldo - especially as he is playing against better quality defenders compared to the 60's/70's,

I grew up watching Pele and Best and on natural talent and ability I don't think you could separate the three of them.

For me though, Ronaldo's desire, determination and dedication means he would get my vote.

Ronaldo has probably achieved almost everything he can in football yet this You Tube clip shows how much desire he still has to be a winner.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7npU-fChjmA

After playing nearly 80 minutes of the game he produces that. How many other players have that sort of commitment?

Forget footballers, how many professional athletes could produce that sort of speed and determination, in football boots, on grass and after playing almost a full match?

Coupled with his undoubted natural ability, it's that sort of single minded commitment that sets him apart.

[meatboy]

maradona,messi dont make me laugh carmine i can add another [M] to those two MANNING [bernard]

[carmine]

maradona,messi dont make me laugh carmine i can add another [M] to those two MANNING [bernard]

With all due respect, you are talking nonsense

[sumrit]

No he's not. When he single handedly wins the next world cup for Portugal as Maradona did in '86 for Argentina then i'll take the thread seriously but until then its nonsense. When Ronaldo joins the bottom of the table team in La Liga and makes them champions as Maradona did in Serie A with Napoli i'll take this thread seriously.

I'll agree Maradona was the star of the 1986 world cup but to say he single-handedly won it is an insult to the rest of the Argentine side, they had a few other good players and, collectively, a much better squad than Portugal currently have.

Pre-tournament, Argentina were actually second favorites after Brazil in 1986, hardly the outsiders Portugal are likely to be.

Napoli also spent a lot of money on other players as well as Maradona. Are you totally dismissing their contribution as well?

Maradona was an exceptional player. When you're trying to separate players at the very top their technical ability is not in question, it's down to opinion and how we were influenced by different players at different times. But, for me, like George Best (my idol as a young teenager), Maradona didn't have the dedication and total commitment to put him at the very top.

Edited November 20, 2013 by sumrit

[mrbojangles]

Come to think of it, Cristiano Ronaldo hasn't won a Ballon D'Or either has he?

Is that because Messi keeps winning it because he's a better player too.......

Totally agree Carms. Without a doubt Ronaldo is an exceptional player but never mind having to compare him hypothetically with historical players, he's not as good as a player who is still playing. The only way he will win the Ballon D'Or from Messi is if Messi is injured for a season.

[meatboy]

maradona,messi dont make me laugh carmine i can add another [M] to those two MANNING [bernard]

With all due respect, you are talking nonsense

are you from argentina carmine or is that nonsense.

maradona [hand-sum man]

[carmine]

No he's not. When he single handedly wins the next world cup for Portugal as Maradona did in '86 for Argentina then i'll take the thread seriously but until then its nonsense. When Ronaldo joins the bottom of the table team in La Liga and makes them champions as Maradona did in Serie A with Napoli i'll take this thread seriously.

I'll agree Maradona was the star of the 1986 world cup but to say he single-handedly won it is an insult to the rest of the Argentine side, they had a few other good players and, collectively, a much better squad than Portugal currently have.

Pre-tournament, Argentina were actually second favorites after Brazil in 1986, hardly the outsiders Portugal are likely to be.

Napoli also spent a lot of money on other players as well as Maradona. Are you totally dismissing their contribution as well?

Maradona was an exceptional player. When you're trying to separate players at the very top their technical ability is not in question, it's down to opinion and how we were influenced by different players at different times. But, for me, like George Best (my idol as a young teenager), Maradona didn't have the dedication and total commitment to put him at the very top.

The '86 Argentine side was an average side by their standards. Thats not an insult its how it was. he dragged that team through the tournament. Please don't say thats not the case because it was.

Ask any Italian on their thoughts with regards to the genius of Maradona...enough sad.

there is a strong argument also to say that without the drug abuse and other excesses he'd have been an even greater player.

Maradona is a bona fide legend of the game and to say that Ronaldo's better is laughable....but then again i see its coming for the most part from Man Utd fans....surprise surprise

[BangrakBob]

Ronaldo?? Luis Suarez is the greatest player every to grace the game

[carmine]

maradona,messi dont make me laugh carmine i can add another [M] to those two MANNING [bernard]

With all due respect, you are talking nonsense

are you from argentina carmine or is that nonsense.

maradona [hand-sum man]

Yes thats more nonsense, i'm from Finsbury Park

[meatboy]

No he's not. When he single handedly wins the next world cup for Portugal as Maradona did in '86 for Argentina then i'll take the thread seriously but until then its nonsense. When Ronaldo joins the bottom of the table team in La Liga and makes them champions as Maradona did in Serie A with Napoli i'll take this thread seriously.

I'll agree Maradona was the star of the 1986 world cup but to say he single-handedly won it is an insult to the rest of the Argentine side, they had a few other good players and, collectively, a much better squad than Portugal currently have.

Pre-tournament, Argentina were actually second favorites after Brazil in 1986, hardly the outsiders Portugal are likely to be.

Napoli also spent a lot of money on other players as well as Maradona. Are you totally dismissing their contribution as well?

Maradona was an exceptional player. When you're trying to separate players at the very top their technical ability is not in question, it's down to opinion and how we were influenced by different players at different times. But, for me, like George Best (my idol as a young teenager), Maradona didn't have the dedication and total commitment to put him at the very top.

The '86 Argentine side was an average side by their standards. Thats not an insult its how it was. he dragged that team through the tournament. Please don't say thats not the case because it was.

Ask any Italian on their thoughts with regards to the genius of Maradona...enough sad.

there is a strong argument also to say that without the drug abuse and other excesses he'd have been an even greater player.

Maradona is a bona fide legend of the game and to say that Ronaldo's better is laughable....but then again i see its coming for the most part from Man Utd fans....surprise surprise

as i am from the valley's of sheep shaggers,pit pony's,wellie chuckers,faggots and peas,brains s.a. and a funny shaped ball,i am definately not a man u fan.

we are going to have to put our differences aside and settle this amicabley.

i ues to be schoolboy international class footballer,a traveling darts player,a great fly fisherman and of course a cider swilling champ.so as i am tooooooo old for recreation activities whats it to be standing up or laying down.

[StevieH]

i don't find there's anything at all enjoyable about watching ronaldo play. yeah he's very good but he's not fun is he? far too much preening, posing, playing to the cameras and look-at-me ego. messi's a joy to watch, plays like a kid in a schoolyard and does things that make your jaw drop. ronaldo's just sort of clinical. messi every day for me out of the two of them.

but carmine's right, at the moment maradona's still the greatest. though if argentina win next year's world cup that changes perhaps.

[carmine]

i don't find there's anything at all enjoyable about watching ronaldo play. yeah he's very good but he's not fun is he? far too much preening, posing, playing to the cameras and look-at-me ego. messi's a joy to watch, plays like a kid in a schoolyard and does things that make your jaw drop. ronaldo's just sort of clinical. messi every day for me out of the two of them.

but carmine's right, at the moment maradona's still the greatest. though if argentina win next year's world cup that changes perhaps.

I'll go along with that too.

[sumrit]

The '86 Argentine side was an average side by their standards. Thats not an insult its how it was. he dragged that team through the tournament. Please don't say thats not the case because it was.

Ask any Italian on their thoughts with regards to the genius of Maradona...enough sad.

there is a strong argument also to say that without the drug abuse and other excesses he'd have been an even greater player.

Maradona is a bona fide legend of the game and to say that Ronaldo's better is laughable....but then again i see its coming for the most part from Man Utd fans....surprise surprise

I will repeat. Argentina were SECOND FAVORITES. Of the 24 countries that reached the finals TWENTY-TWO were ranked lower than Argentina, ONLY ONE, Brazil, were ranked higher. Argentina were not just 'an average side', THEY WERE ONE OF THE FAVORITES TO WIN, which they did of course.

Again, I will repeat, Maradona was an exceptional player. But to say 'he dragged that team through the tournament' is again insulting the rest of the Argentine squad. Yes, he was the star of that tournament, but not the only player in the Argentine squad. There were 21 other very good players helping him.

Likewise, he might have been the star at Napoli, but the whole squad played their part in winning Serie A. The Napoli supporters rightly remember him as their genius, but they'l also remember the rest of the squad as well. Their views won't be distorted enough to believe he did it all on his own.

As for his drug abuse, Maradona was the best of his era and, as such, was an idol and role model for kids all over the world. Knowing that kids would want to copy him, taking drugs etc is not something we should be excusing' we should all be condemning it.

Maybe if, instead of choosing to take drugs, he had been as committed and dedicated as Ronaldo he could have made that extra step up to become the best ever. We'll never know, but it's those sort of abuses that, for me, keeps him just below the best ever.

Now the rest of us realize that, as one of the most dedicated ABU's on this forum, you have a very distorted view of the game of football and you would rather spend an eternity in hell than admit that an ex Man U player could be a good player, but just for once, please put your distorted views to one side and face reality. Compared to the rest of the countries at the finals, in 1986 Argentina were much better than an average side and both Argentina and Napoli were most definitely NOT a one man team .

[Chicog]

I wouldn't countenance Maradona because he was a drug-taking, cheating <deleted>.

But Messi is a level above Ronaldo and everyone but the blind man knows it.

[carmine]

The '86 Argentine side was an average side by their standards. Thats not an insult its how it was. he dragged that team through the tournament. Please don't say thats not the case because it was.

Ask any Italian on their thoughts with regards to the genius of Maradona...enough sad.

there is a strong argument also to say that without the drug abuse and other excesses he'd have been an even greater player.

Maradona is a bona fide legend of the game and to say that Ronaldo's better is laughable....but then again i see its coming for the most part from Man Utd fans....surprise surprise

I will repeat. Argentina were SECOND FAVORITES. Of the 24 countries that reached the finals TWENTY-TWO were ranked lower than Argentina, ONLY ONE, Brazil, were ranked higher. Argentina were not just 'an average side', THEY WERE ONE OF THE FAVORITES TO WIN, which they did of course.

Again, I will repeat, Maradona was an exceptional player. But to say 'he dragged that team through the tournament' is again insulting the rest of the Argentine squad. Yes, he was the star of that tournament, but not the only player in the Argentine squad. There were 21 other very good players helping him.

Likewise, he might have been the star at Napoli, but the whole squad played their part in winning Serie A. The Napoli supporters rightly remember him as their genius, but they'l also remember the rest of the squad as well. Their views won't be distorted enough to believe he did it all on his own.

As for his drug abuse, Maradona was the best of his era and, as such, was an idol and role model for kids all over the world. Knowing that kids would want to copy him, taking drugs etc is not something we should be excusing' we should all be condemning it.

Maybe if, instead of choosing to take drugs, he had been as committed and dedicated as Ronaldo he could have made that extra step up to become the best ever. We'll never know, but it's those sort of abuses that, for me, keeps him just below the best ever.

Now the rest of us realize that, as one of the most dedicated ABU's on this forum, you have a very distorted view of the game of football and you would rather spend an eternity in hell than admit that an ex Man U player could be a good player, but just for once, please put your distorted views to one side and face reality. Compared to the rest of the countries at the finals, in 1986 Argentina were much better than an average side and both Argentina and Napoli were most definitely NOT a one man team .

Putting aside your nit picking on me saying he dragged a team through and all that self absorbed ABU <deleted> you United lot whine on about, (yes were all so painfully bored of it don't you know) the fact that you are suggesting Ronaldo has reached a higher level than Maradona just makes you sound ludicrous. He nowhere near the same level that Maradona achieved and Messi is comfortably the best of today.

[StevieH]

cocaine isn't performance-enhancing. imagine how good diego would have been without the beak?

[carmine]

The '86 Argentine side was an average side by their standards. Thats not an insult its how it was. he dragged that team through the tournament. Please don't say thats not the case because it was.

Ask any Italian on their thoughts with regards to the genius of Maradona...enough sad.

there is a strong argument also to say that without the drug abuse and other excesses he'd have been an even greater player.

Maradona is a bona fide legend of the game and to say that Ronaldo's better is laughable....but then again i see its coming for the most part from Man Utd fans....surprise surprise

I will repeat. Argentina were SECOND FAVORITES. Of the 24 countries that reached the finals TWENTY-TWO were ranked lower than Argentina, ONLY ONE, Brazil, were ranked higher. Argentina were not just 'an average side', THEY WERE ONE OF THE FAVORITES TO WIN, which they did of course.

Again, I will repeat, Maradona was an exceptional player. But to say 'he dragged that team through the tournament' is again insulting the rest of the Argentine squad. Yes, he was the star of that tournament, but not the only player in the Argentine squad. There were 21 other very good players helping him.

Likewise, he might have been the star at Napoli, but the whole squad played their part in winning Serie A. The Napoli supporters rightly remember him as their genius, but they'l also remember the rest of the squad as well. Their views won't be distorted enough to believe he did it all on his own.

As for his drug abuse, Maradona was the best of his era and, as such, was an idol and role model for kids all over the world. Knowing that kids would want to copy him, taking drugs etc is not something we should be excusing' we should all be condemning it.

Maybe if, instead of choosing to take drugs, he had been as committed and dedicated as Ronaldo he could have made that extra step up to become the best ever. We'll never know, but it's those sort of abuses that, for me, keeps him just below the best ever.

Now the rest of us realize that, as one of the most dedicated ABU's on this forum, you have a very distorted view of the game of football and you would rather spend an eternity in hell than admit that an ex Man U player could be a good player, but just for once, please put your distorted views to one side and face reality. Compared to the rest of the countries at the finals, in 1986 Argentina were much better than an average side and both Argentina and Napoli were most definitely NOT a one man team .

For Sumrit....

As in your words the most dedicated "ABU" on the forum perhaps i should clear a few points up on that matter for you.

It may surprise you to know but the vast majority of us don't hate United, but rather prefer to see you lose due to your phenomenal success under ferguson, although i have to say that creating your own "ABU" acronym is pathetic and self indulgent in the extreme.

Ferguson always barked on about everyone hating United as a means of dressing room motivation and very clever it was too, but i doubt he expected his fickle shallow fans to take it so literally.

Truth is, the only real dislike i "had" for United was due to the behavior of the bully managing you. The way, as recently posted you travelled to OT into a land that time forgot, where only the home team got a penalty and the manager stood on the touchline bullying and verbally abusing officials without seeming impunity.

I think you'll find that whilst many of us think Moyes is a bit of a plum we also accept he's of a much pleasanter demeanor and United will ultimately be cut a little more slack

Edited November 20, 2013 by carmine

[Les Norton]

Zinedine Zidane without a doubt....and I'm an Australian.

[BangrakBob]

Zinedine Zidane without a doubt....and I'm an Australian.

You might have got credence until that last word

[sumrit]

I think you'll find that whilst many of us think Moyes is a bit of a plum we also accept he's of a much pleasanter demeanor and United will ultimately be cut a little more slack

Interesting.........................So now Moyes is in charge does that mean you will no longer be a typical ABU, making those stupid, attempted windup comments that have absolutely no truth or validity in them whatsoever, such as the one below that YOU made only yesterday.

BIGTOES3's reply was most apt.

BIGTOE3, on 19 Nov 2013 - 03:14, said:

carmine, on 19 Nov 2013 - 02:25, said:

On to more serious matters, do you think ferguson will go for a 4-4-2 this weekend baring in mind the absence of Carrick and Jones?

You really are a TROLL At least you used the man's second name instead of your usual anyway I am off for a

BT