Pele vs Maradona, Definitely not Messi

The debate as to who is the greatest soccer player of all time will always be heated because each generation of soccer lovers feels that the best player of their generation deserves to be considered either the best ever or one of the very best ever! Apart from this generational bias, there is also an offensive bias that always puts offensive players above defensive players.

The stats that most of the soccer public pay attention to in assessing players mostly have to do with goals. As a matter of fact, it would seem the most highly rated defenders helped their rating by their goalscoring contributions.

So, soccer is not fair. It takes the modest efforts of independent fans through artiicles like this to address the unfairness!

As at today, the debate as to the greatest player of all time has been generally limited to 3 offensive players:

1. Pele

2. Diego Maradona

3. Lionel Messi

Lionel Messi has been the greatest footballer of the last 8 years.There is at least 1 reason to rate him above Cristiano Ronaldo, however, there is also 1 valid reason why Messi cannot be placed at same level as either Pele or Maradona.

An offensive player's all time rating should be reflected in the goalscoring performances they participated in at THE HIGHEST LEVELS OF COMPETITION wherein great performances or otherwise cannot be ignored! The most challenging stage of the major international competitions, whether for clubsides or national teams, can be assumed to be the medal determinant or final stages: Semi Finals and Finals, with third place matches arguably to be accorded less weight as they do not produce a tournament winner! 

The problem with Messi's career is that in 4 final performances for a strong Argentine National Side, he has not only failed to help his side win even once (poor), he has also failed to record either a goal or assist in any of these crucial or decisive games! (very poor and decisive).The implication is that compared to either Pele or Maradona, Messi has been easy to mark out of crucial games! Performances in Final Matches CANNOT BE IGNORED!