Now, as you wonder why on earth I’ve placed those three in the same phrase, first a little background on the author’s (i.e. my) reasoning.
There are/have been several great debates in football over the years, and I’ve always had a side. I don’t like draws: it’s either win or go home (the Liverpool Way). One common thread throughout time has been ‘the best player’ debate.
I would like to hereby state that it is the position of this blog that Diego Armando MARADONA is the greatest player to ever grace the beautiful game.
I won’t go into the details of why I think so in this article (someone remind me to do that in the future). However, the reason why (in my opinion) a lot of people tend to think the G.O.A.T {greatest of all time} is one PELÉ is because Diego was (and still is) so often known for so much besides his amazing football genius. And humans being as fickle as they are will always associate his name with his off-field antics and scandals. This is in no way a glossing over of his great and many shortcomings, however, I don’t understand why people don’t CHOOSE to focus on his brilliance and all the good he did for the game…they do that everyday for Michael JACKSON and yet we all know how he liked to touch them boys had many scandals surrounding him, and yet is still fondly recalled by most!
I digress. What I was trying to communicate was that greatness is greatness, remember that!
Now, to the second character in the narrative: Cristiano RONALDO. Again I find myself in the minority in the argument of best player on the planet: I believe that the Portuguese self lover is arguably the better, more all-rounded player than the little genius Lionel MESSI. Again, that’s a whole other argument for a whole other time (someone remind me to write about that in the future). I got to watch him quite often when he was at United, and I dreaded seeing no other player stand over a dead ball/burst up the field on the counter/generally do anything on the pitch more than I did the former Red Devils’ number 7. {shiver}. However, I did not watch him play with awe/envy as I would say a Thierry Henry in his prime, because he’s so full of himself! A lot of people’s thinking of him is tainted by that fact, and it’s why he may do EXACTLY what Messi does week in week out for Barcelona at Madrid, but nobody notices. Neither does anyone factor into the argument that he is his national team’s captain and so far has (mostly) put a good show of himself in national colours.
What I am trying to communicate is that greatness is greatness, remember that!
And now, the villainous genius of the trifecta: Luis Alberto SUÁREZ. May I begin by predicting that Suárez will probably be the most exciting foreign import to the English Premier League of this decade, a legendary signing on the level of Dennis Bergkamp, Eric Cantona, Thierry Henry, Gianfranco Zola, Peter Schmeichel. A truly exceptional spot by LFC’s scouting department. The superlatives for this guy will be spewing for years. However, how do/will people think of him? For much of the African continent, the man who “unfairly” denied them a first ever semi finalist on home soil!!! {never mind the fact that Asamoah Gyan blew their greatest and SURE chance to get them there with an over-excited spot kick}. For others in the Netherlands, he’ll be forever associated with his hot Latin temper {he hasn’t showed much of it in England, but he was quite er...fiesty not too long ago}. For others still (i.e. The Daily Mail, Telegraph, and other like publications) he’s the guy that goes to ground a wee bit too easily, and likes to wind up opponents. I won’t be going into the dynamics of the negativity that surrounds Suárez, just to make a prediction that in years to come I’ll look back on and smile and say: “I told you so”:
Despite whatever shortcomings he may have, Luis Suárez is a few seasons away from being one of the 3 or 4 best footballers in the world.
