Is Mbappe at the level of prime Messi/Ronaldo?

atypical_boro said:
I agree with most of what you say on this, especially since 2022, but I don't get why you think its such an insult to compare Ronaldo to him? Surely he is as worthy of being compared to him as anyone else, otherwise you might as well say its an insult to compare anyone at all to him? At least Ronaldo played in the same era and a reasonable comparison can be made. Its not like anyone's suggesting we compare Messi to Phil Stamp.

Which would, as it happens, be an insult to Stampy in my view.
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Messi could only dream of doing this in the English league.

Seriously though, I don't think it would be fair to compare anyone to Messi. That bloke is just a freak. He's a one of a kind and I very much doubt there'll ever be someone who comes remotely close to what he has done (and continues to do) on a football pitch. The bloke is the best goal scoring, goal creating, dribbling (I could go on) player there has ever been and ever was.

He has gone down as the greatest player of all time and I don't think that mantle will ever be removed from his name.
 
Marvanelli said:
Yep, his record is great, but if you actually look more in detail you'll see why.

His 5 CL wins came at a club that has consistently excelled in that competition.
The Euro's win he barely contributed. Portugal were terrible that tournament and in fact they won it without him on the pitch.
Most international goals....and yet when it came to it for Portugal...he hasn't scored a single KO World Cup goal to his name. He has scored the majority of those international goals against very weak European teams....hence why he's labelled as a stat padder.

He's been brilliant, but he isn't anywhere near Messi's standards and for him to be compared to Messi is an insult to Messi.

He's a very selfish player and one who will take personal glory over the team's glory.

In fact, both Maradona and Pele eclipse him IMO, as they have both done remarkable things on the biggest of stages, for their country, when it was needed.

No denying Ronaldo will go down as one of the greatest goalscorers ever....but as for taking teams to glory, there are better footballers in history.
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The match against Slovenia perfectly sums up Ronaldo. He had 5 direct free-kick attempts even though his record in tournaments is 1 goal in 60 attempts. There are better free-kick takers in the team than him and some of the positions were more suited to a cross. He then cried when he missed his penalty because he knew there was a chance he was going to get knocked out without scoring his goal that would get him his record of scoring in however many Euros. All of that is very selfish behaviour and very typical of Ronaldo to put himself and his own personal glory above the rest of the team.

He's obviously a great player but he's always been more about his own image/stats/legacy than his teams and that is where Messi beats him. I never watch Messi thinking he's being selfish.
 
Marvanelli said:

Messi could only dream of doing this in the English league.

Seriously though, I don't think it would be fair to compare anyone to Messi. That bloke is just a freak. He's a one of a kind and I very much doubt there'll ever be someone who comes remotely close to what he has done (and continues to do) on a football pitch. The bloke is the best goal scoring, goal creating, dribbling (I could go on) player there has ever been and ever was.

He has gone down as the greatest player of all time and I don't think that mantle will ever be removed from his name.
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In fairness think if Ronaldo hadn't been very good in the air the comparisons wouldn't have been as common. Like usually thats what people say when they say Ronaldo was more 'complete'.
 
Marvanelli said:

Messi could only dream of doing this in the English league.

Seriously though, I don't think it would be fair to compare anyone to Messi. That bloke is just a freak. He's a one of a kind and I very much doubt there'll ever be someone who comes remotely close to what he has done (and continues to do) on a football pitch. The bloke is the best goal scoring, goal creating, dribbling (I could go on) player there has ever been and ever was.

He has gone down as the greatest player of all time and I don't think that mantle will ever be removed from his name.
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Juno's first goal. I remember that match like it was yesterday, including the City fans singing 'Alan Ball's a football genius' after Kinky boots put them in the lead.
 
atypical_boro said:
Well he won't ever prove himself at PSG unless they win the CL. Which I don't think they will.

He probably will win CLs and Ballon d'Ors at RM, and a handful of league titles that are slightly more impressive than PSG winning Ligue 1.

The 40 goals a season thing isn't THAT common though in La Liga, certainly not if you take Ronaldo and Messi out of the equation.
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It’s not that common you’re right and 40 is probably a bit much but I expect he’s going to beat Benzema’s numbers.
It’s definitely more respectable than playing for PSG but I still think it’s almost impossible for him to fail there, but I suppose that’s partly because of how good a player he is, not just because the opposition can’t compete.
 
parnabyscrosses said:
It’s not that common you’re right and 40 is probably a bit much but I expect he’s going to beat Benzema’s numbers.
It’s definitely more respectable than playing for PSG but I still think it’s almost impossible for him to fail there, but I suppose that’s partly because of how good a player he is, not just because the opposition can’t compete.
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Yeah I can't see him failing as a 'good signing', but the comparisons with Ronaldo and Messi have already been made by some (not saying I agree with them) and therefore I think they are the yardstick by which he will be measured by those people.

Commentator last night was already comparing Yamal to Pele!
 
I guess it'll help the fact he's going on a 'free' so he won't have to contend with having a hefty price tag on his shoulders - although we all know he's not signed for 'free'

I do think we might have seen the 'peak' Mbappe at the 2018 World Cup.

I hope I am wrong.
 
As ever, depends how you define "best" - obviously his trophy count is impressive and will only improve but if we're talking about talent/ability it's patently obviously he's not in Messi's league.

I'm a big fan of Mbappe but at it's most basic he's the archetypal modern attacker - fast as hell and a brilliant finisher. His tactical nous, ability to link up, on field intelligence etc are all sub-world class in my opinion.
 
I think Mbappe has a bit of the negative Ronaldo influence. They were saying yesterday he contributes to Deschamps team talks, which I don't mind if it's eye of the tiger motivational BS but it sounds more than that. I also feel they don't get the best out of him positionally. For me he's not as good as prime Henry which is nothing to be ashamed of but played in similar positions but Henry definitely developed into an out and out striker when Mbappe still seems better from the left.
 
I tend to agree with that. He isn't a #9 and he's much better as a left inside forward.

And that is where Vini Jr plays for RM. So it will be very interesting how RM manage this situation.

Vini Jr will almost certainly not be dropped. He's been incredible for them for a while now. So Mbappe will surely have to get used to playing as a #9? or try to play from the other side and displace Rodrygo.
 
Marvanelli said:
I tend to agree with that. He isn't a #9 and he's much better as a left inside forward.

And that is where Vini Jr plays for RM. So it will be very interesting how RM manage this situation.

Vini Jr will almost certainly not be dropped. He's been incredible for them for a while now. So Mbappe will surely have to get used to playing as a #9? or try to play from the other side and displace Rodrygo.
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Where will our own JB play then? #10? Hasn't he played as a false 9 quite a bit too?
 
festa5 said:
I feel like Mbappe is more at the level of prime Neymar or Suarez. No shame in that.

Can't see him having the longevity of Messi or Ronaldo either. His pace is too important to his effectiveness.
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People thought that about Messi though.
 
I think people forget just how outrageously good Messi was at his absolute peak. To even try and compare a player like Mbappe to him is so wide of the mark. I think Mbappe is now suffering from playing in the French league for as long as he has. A lot of league games in France PSG just had to turn up and the strength of their squad would win them games. Mbappe seems to struggle to be reaching the heights, say, of the 2022 World Cup final these days.
 
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