Messi Makes Same Mistake as Pele

[samosa4u]

So Lionel Messi, the greatest soccer player of the 21st century, signed a contract which will keep him in Barcelona until 2021.

Now why do I see this as a bad move and why did I mention Pele in my title? Let's first talk about Pele and then we'll go back to Messi.

Pele, who is regarded as the greatest soccer player of all-time, spent his whole entire career playing for Santos FC. He set numerous records while playing for this club, but the biggest one he is known for is scoring 1,000 goals.

Now the most common argument soccer fans bring up while discussing Pele is this: if he had played in Europe, would he have been able to score that many goals? Some say no, while others say yes. Now there is no way he could have scored 1,000 goals in Brazil and another 1,000 in Europe, but what he could have done was to leave Santos, maybe in the mid or late 1960s, and played for a European club for a few years. If he led the league in goals and helped his club win the championship, then he could have silenced his critics. However, he never left Santos, and the "what if" questions will always remain.

Fast-forward to today. After Messi signed a contract with Barcelona, he told the media that his "dream is to finish his career with Barca." Now Barcelona is the richest soccer club in the world and can afford to sign the best players. Messi was always surrounded by the best. Now if he had played for another club, would he have been as successful? This is the question a lot of soccer fans always ask. Messi could have spent a few years playing for another club, maybe in the EPL, but nope, he hasn't done this and probably never will.

Messi has just made the same mistake as Pele.

[Peter_Spaeth]

I thought Pele played for the Cosmos for a season.

[samosa4u]

He played for the New York Cosmos for 3 seasons. His friend, who was the owner of the Cosmos, begged him to come out of retirement to play for him. Pele, who was worn-out and past his prime, eventually agreed to do this, but the whole idea was to try to spread soccer in America. NASL was a garbage league anyways and eventually folded. Pele didn't prove anything by playing in New York.

That's like Messi spending a couple of seasons in MLS after his contract with Barcelona ends. What would that prove? Would he be able to silence his critics by making such a move? Nope. It would just be a waste of time, IMO.

[Peter_Spaeth]

Right. But you said he played his whole career for Santos, never left Santos, etc. Not quite accurate, although I know what you meant.

[packs]

Messi doesn't play for Spain in World play. He has 25 goals in World Cup qualifiers and another 5 in the tournament itself. I'd say that's pretty definitive. He doesn't need the players on Barcelona to be Messi.

[Peter_Spaeth]

Given Pele's virtually unanimous status as the greatest player ever, I question the whole premise of this thread, that significant questions remain about how great he was.