Tottenham Hotspur manager, Mauricio Pochettino, has weighed in on the debate about Argentine greats, Diego Maradona and Lionel Messi. The former Argentina international, who has 20 caps under his name, believes that the Napoli legend would have been a success in this era as well.
The amount of games played these days means that players must have an optimum level of fitness to keep up the standard, hence making comparisons very difficult.
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As quoted from the Daily Star, the former Espanyol boss said, “It’s difficult to compare eras. Football was different 20 years ago and will be different again in another 20 years. It’s like when you compare Pele or Maradona or Alfredo Di Stefano. For me, they were the best players in the world.”
He then went on to admit that it is difficult to compare the Barcelona number 10 with the Argentine World Cup winning captain due to the fact that the two players are from two different eras.
“And now if you compare Maradona with Messi, always it’s difficult to compare because the context is different.”
Finally, he retorted against claims of people who believe that the controversial Maradona wouldn’t have been as brilliant as Messi due to the physical nature of the game today.
The former Southampton boss opined that Maradona would have shattered many defences of this era because of the fact that he was a “great player” who could adapt.
“We say: ‘Oh Maradona never can play today like Messi because now it’s a more physical game’ or things like this. But because Maradona was a great player he would adapt the quality today and would have success the same way as Messi,” said the current Spurs manager
Even though Maradona’s accolades at club level can’t hold a candle to Lionel Messi’s achievements with Barcelona, the former outshines the latter with his international honours for Argentina.
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It is for this reason that many people rate Maradona over Lionel Messi, despite the fact that the Barcelona forward led his team to the final of the World Cup 2014, Copa America 2015 and Copa America 2016 – losing all of them.
Pochettino, meanwhile, is doing a stunning job with Tottenham Hotspur as he has turned the fortunes of the North London club, and into one capable of challenging for the league title.
Spurs are just 3 points off the top and are fifth on the table, and the only unbeaten team in the Premier League after 10 games.
(Video Courtesy: MJAmazing)
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