RIP Diego Maradona

[SallyCinnamon 21,565]

2 hours ago, LondonOwl313 said:

Bit harsh just because he cheated in a game 34 years ago.. can’t see why anyone would get joy out of someone else they don’t even know dying.

 

That said, I don’t get the size of the reaction to this news. I can see why it’s being reported and can see why Argentina might choose to mark it in some way, but the media over here are making such a big deal out of it. People die all the time and there are thousands of former footballers

The reaction tells you everything you need to know about his genius. He was captivating. And that’s why it’s dominating headlines. 

[chizumgeorge 474]

20 hours ago, ChapSmurf said:

He had undoubted talent, but cheated both on and off the pitch. He simply cannot be classed as one of the worlds greats. He's not even close to the likes of Best (way before my time), Messi, Ronaldo or Ibrahimovic. To me he will always be a cheat.

 

I've zero emotion about his death, except the fact that he was obviously a troubled person. I don't like to think of people suffering from mental health issues, but he obviously did.

Ibrahimovic better than maradona?! Really

[chizumgeorge 474]

7 hours ago, Steelman said:

No RIP from me. He can go to hell.

 

Cheat and a vile character. I got some really good life-changing news yesterday and then when I heard this in the car on the way home it was the cherry on top.

 

Only thing sad about it is that it was painless and he wouldn't have known much about it.

What s ********!

[Tyto Alba 3,845]

I don't really care about what he was like as a bloke, not interested in his politics or private life, I just watched him play football.  What an incredible player he was.  Short fat bloke who was easily the best player in the world.

 

 

[Revenant 2,628]

1 hour ago, SallyCinnamon said:

The reaction tells you everything you need to know about his genius. He was captivating. And that’s why it’s dominating headlines. 

He was better than Zidane, Beckham and lots of others world class Football names. Whether he's better than Pele or Best, that's open to opinion and debate.

 

Don't get me wrong. I was angry as hell when the hand of God incident happened. He was the best footballer in that tournament in 86 and for me, he embarrassed himself looking back. He had his reasons. England and Argentina had only just recently been at war. There was clearly hatred involved on his part. In Argentina they love him for it. El Carterista they called him. The pick pocket. Let's also remember the ref turned a blind eye to it. I can understand the hate, but I got over it a long time ago, because in his later years you could see he was quite a character. I could understand why he did it.

 

As for the drugs. In the end they clearly harmed him more than they helped him. By 94 he was on ephedrine just to get on the pitch, and you expected he was going to get caught for having something in his blood stream. He'd already been busted for possession of cocaine.

 

I don't believe he was on anything in 86 on the pitch. He didn't need to be. By 94 you could see he was a shadow of his former self. He was never going to mellow into a midfield maestro pulling strings in his mind, after his legs had gone, similar to Gazza in that way. Both fireworks. Short-lived footballing excellence but brilliant, for a brief period of time.

 

That's Diego, loved and hated in equal measure.

 

During the 80s he was a footballing genius.

 

[Revenant 2,628]

Commedy Gold: Andy Giddings on RS was spinning the old yarn again last night about the other club in Sheffield who attempted to sign him, only to inexplicably miss out on his signature to Barcelona

 

 

Giddings opined maybe Diego would have been better off signing for ### #### as it didn't work out for him at Barcelona.

 

 

Had me rolling around on the floor in laughter.

 

 

 

[ANDY 11,795]

 

[ANDY 11,795]

 

[ChapSmurf 2,854]

2 hours ago, chizumgeorge said:

Ibrahimovic better than maradona?! Really

 

Yeah really. Ibrahimovic is still playing and scoring regularly at 39, two years after Maradona had finished playing a handful of games for Boca. Ibrahimovic has also played more club games, more internatoinal games, scored more goals at both levels and has a better scoring ratio. He has also played for more high profile teams than Maradona.

 

He's also won more Footballer of the Year awards (14 vs 4), more Top Scorer awards (5 vs 2), more club Championships medals (11 vs 3) and more domestic cup competitions (19 vs 5). The only thing Maradona has achieved that Ibrahimovic hasn't is a World Cup and I think a Champions League medal.

 

So in my opinion, a far better footballer who has achieved far more than Maradona.

Edited November 26, 2020 by ChapSmurf

[Worthing_owl 61]

For me the best player ever, Second third or fourth doesn't really matter he was the best full stop.  Pace,  control, Cunning,  dribbling And of course magic nobody else ever had.

[Blueform mac 111]

5 hours ago, Ozymandias Owl said:

He was better than Zidane, Beckham and lots of others world class Football names. Whether he's better than Pele or Best, that's open to opinion and debate.

 

Don't get me wrong. I was angry as hell when the hand of God incident happened. He was the best footballer in that tournament in 86 and for me, he embarrassed himself looking back. He had his reasons. England and Argentina had only just recently been at war. There was clearly hatred involved on his part. In Argentina they love him for it. El Carterista they called him. The pick pocket. Let's also remember the ref turned a blind eye to it. I can understand the hate, but I got over it a long time ago, because in his later years you could see he was quite a character. I could understand why he did it.

 

As for the drugs. In the end they clearly harmed him more than they helped him. By 94 he was on ephedrine just to get on the pitch, and you expected he was going to get caught for having something in his blood stream. He'd already been busted for possession of cocaine.

 

I don't believe he was on anything in 86 on the pitch. He didn't need to be. By 94 you could see he was a shadow of his former self. He was never going to mellow into a midfield maestro pulling strings in his mind, after his legs had gone, similar to Gazza in that way. Both fireworks. Short-lived footballing excellence but brilliant, for a brief period of time.

 

That's Diego, loved and hated in equal measure.

 

During the 80s he was a footballing genius.

 

Are you seriously mentioning Beckham in an otherwise excellent t post? There are countries who would not have needed his"  talents"

[owlsdreamer 726]

He could have been a legging in Sheffield but the Oinkers were offers him and decided 1/2 million was too much to pay.

Alex Sabella enter the stage

[@owlstalk 37,286]

 

[@owlstalk 37,286]

[matthefish2002 12,506]

12 hours ago, ChapSmurf said:

 

Yeah really. Ibrahimovic is still playing and scoring regularly at 39, two years after Maradona had finished playing a handful of games for Boca. Ibrahimovic has also played more club games, more internatoinal games, scored more goals at both levels and has a better scoring ratio. He has also played for more high profile teams than Maradona.

 

He's also won more Footballer of the Year awards (14 vs 4), more Top Scorer awards (5 vs 2), more club Championships medals (11 vs 3) and more domestic cup competitions (19 vs 5). The only thing Maradona has achieved that Ibrahimovic hasn't is a World Cup and I think a Champions League medal.

 

So in my opinion, a far better footballer who has achieved far more than Maradona.

 

Maradona won the World Cup for Argentina almost by himself.
Maradona was a genius of a player where as Ibrahimovic is just a very good player.

[Rogerwyldesmullet 2,658]

The reason I don’t think he is the greatest ever is because Pele was a supreme athlete and complete footballer - he could use both feet, dribble, shoot, pass, tackle, head the ball etc.

 

For similar reasons  I think Ronaldo is better than Messi and likewise I can understand why some would say George Best was a more compete player than Maradona but he was rubbish at tackling - broke Glyn Pardos leg as I recall.

 

What Maradona did possess was unbelievable skill with the football. Glenn Hoddle described him as being from another planet in that regard and check out this clip from Lineker.  

 
Lastly - the other thing Maradona did was to make humdrum sides brilliant. Apart from Burrschaga and Valdano, that Argentina side was so so and to win the Scudetto twice with Naples and a UEFA cup at that time was miraculous. So while  I applaud the longevity of players like Ibrahimovic et al, for sheer brilliance and the ability to take teams to another level there are 7 that absolutely stand out in my lifetime 

Pele

Maradona

Best

Ronaldo

Cruyff

Messi

Platini

[sonofbert2 31,000]

Most of us will remember his brilliance and never see a better player EVER.

 

Some of the comments in this thread are, quite frankly, bitter, sad and pathetic.

 

Anyone who truly loves football should truly show love for his death.

 

RIP Diego.

[BIG D 20,772]

I didn't like him but he was one of the true greats.

To mention Zlatan and Beckham is laughable

 

[BIG D 20,772]

True Greats

Maradona

Pele

Messi

 

Next Level

C Ronaldo

Ronaldo

Zidane

Cruyff

Eusebio

Best

 

 

 

 

 

[BIG D 20,772]

5 minutes ago, BIG D said:

True Greats

Maradona

Pele

Messi

 

Next Level

C Ronaldo

Ronaldo

Zidane

Cruyff

Eusebio

Best

 

 

+ the only thing that stops Messi being the best is the fact that he hasn't won the world cup. 

He's better than Pele who has to be classed as a true great but he's not the same level as Maradona & Messi