OK, I know I should be writing about Bayern Munich’s magnificent victory over Manchester United or the fact that no English teams have made it to the Champions League semi-finals but I’m English and I don’t want to!!
Instead I’m going to look at the best player in the world.
Some would argue for Cristiano Ronaldo, some for Fernando Torres, some for Kaka and no doubt some for Rooney, Xavi and Iniesta amongst others. They are all great players. However, I think that Tuesday night finally proved that Lionel Messi is the best around at the moment. After his four goal performance against Arsenal people were queuing up to say how brilliant he is.
If most of us can agree that Messi has more ability than anyone else in the world at this time then the obvious question is whether we think he is yet at the level of a Maradona or Pele.
Glowing
Ardiles is probably right to say that he cannot be judged in such glowing terms until he has produced the goods at a World Cup, but is he as good as they were?
I remember Maradona at his best but I only saw Pele towards the end of his career. For people of my generation I don’t think we thought we would ever see another player with the skill and talent that Diego Maradona produced regularly at the very highest level.
Pace
I have to say that with the pace of the game getting faster all the time and the tactical and defensive ability of teams constantly improving, the sort of performances being produced by Messi for Barcelona are probably as good as anything that we have seen before.
If Ardiles is right and Argentina go on to have a good World Cup, then the stage will be set for Messi to put down a marker as being the best the world has ever seen. The really frightening fact is that he is still only twenty-two years old and may have another three World Cups to play in if he stays fit.
Whether he is better than Maradona or not, he has the best chance of anyone in recent years to go on to become known as the best ever player.
