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Originally Posted by Nurse Duckett
The Ali/Robinson thing is probably a matter of opinion, they were both great boxers. I think Ali had more to overcome in his life, he did manage to overcome all his problems and still regained and remained world champion, that's why I'd choose him.
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Plenty of boxers have had to overcome adversity, Tyson and Mayweather Jnr served prison sentences for example, you wouldn't say they were the greatest. May as well agree to disagree here though.
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The Messi thing isn't really a matter of opinion, and the game moving massively forwards is your opinion but unfortunately its a wrong opinion, if you don't mind me saying it does smell a little bit of Sky/modernmedia propaganda.
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Do you really, genuinely believe this
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Many of the icons of the past would not match up to the top players today in terms of athleticism alone, not even considering tactics and diet and so on. Look at the likes of Socrates and George Best, one was a chain smoking whiskey drinker and the other, well we know what happened there. Yet they were world class players, they wouldn't reach the top of today's game. I don't mind you saying it, but it's just wrong.
Go and watch a compilation of MOTD from the 70s and then watch the last MOTD goal of the month competition. There's no comparison I'm afraid.
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The game has gone backwards in the last 15-20 years, all they've done is stopped tackling, this makes the game easier for players like Messi. I wouldn't put him in the same class as Maradona or Cryuff or Zidane or Platini ( I'll stop at 4 names, I could have gone on), he wouldn't have been given the same freedom or protection on a football pitch as he gets today. If I'm honest I presumed that the person that suggested Messi is the greatest sportsman of all time was on the wind up and just looking for responses, comments like "he's reaching levels that go beyond what you can expect of humans" do make that poster look cliched and sheltered.
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You have quite a romantic and nostalgic/old school view of the sport
It has clearly advanced on the pitch. The game has changed massively and you cannot really compare players through the ages. Your point about tackling doesn't really hold up, it is true that players are more protected these days (and so they should be), but then defenders are technically better and more athletic as well.
Messi has already outscored Maradona for Argentina and he's 27. Now compare their club records. Knock out blow.