khaled_a_d
Senior Member
Which still means Mpabbe can do it at younger age
Jadon Sancho
- Thread starter Donatello
- Start date
Which still means Mpabbe can do it at younger age
KingLeo10
Senior Member
True, he can. But as you said, it's unlikely. Anyway, I think it's a matter of preference. Maybe I've been too spoiled with Messi and the two Brazilians before him that I'm holding a certain on-the ball magic standard. He could take the CR7 vein and be legendary in his own right.
There's no guarantee he will make it either, what i mean by 'make it' is being an alltime great.
I've seen it all before with these teen prodigies. 18-21 year old Wayne Rooney was basically Mbappe, that guy was incredible. But even though Wayne Rooney broke records for England and went on to be a world class footballer his career disappointed me, i would have took a 18 year old Wayne Rooney over 26,27,28 year old Rooney anytime, the guy should have been at the peak of his powers then, but he wasn't. Michael Owen, even better, that guy as a teen was unbelievable, speed and so prolific, but injuries ruined him.
Also football fans (and I'm guilty of this too) we seem to think all these young prodigies are the next in line to throne (Ballon d'Or) but more chance than not they won't be, many footballers don't mature until they are mid 20's. Salah/KDB was sold by Chelsea early 20's, look at them now. Zidane (an alltime great) didn't start blossoming until around 24 and Zlatan's best years was in his 30's.
People say after Messi/Ronaldo it's the era of Mbappe, but he could go to another league and flop, he could get a bad injury and never be the same, you can know for sure in football, I'm betting it will be someone unexpected.
DonAK
President of FC Barcelona
I agree with you that there's no absolute guarantee, but I believe Mbappé is the closest to it. But as you said, injuries could derail his career, poor career decisions could derail his progress, even though I don't believe he would struggle anywhere.
I don't agree with the Rooney comparison. While Rooney was really talented, he was never the professional Mbappé is. Rooney would sometimes end up doing some dense/stupid things which kept him from being in ultimate shape all the time.
I agree, that's what ruined him, but like Mbappe 18 year Rooney was compared to L.Ronaldo, this wasn't just English hype, he was compared as a similar talent to L.Ronaldo (like Mbappe is) all-throughout Europe, stood out as a better talent than even C.Ronaldo at United up until around 22, he used to blast through defenses. By the time he hit 25 he couldn't go past anyone.
He became world class player that age, but through football intelligence instead, not the explosive player United signed who burst on the scene for Everton/stared at Euro2004 and who scored a hattrick on his United debut.
Lots of Mbappe fans in here tonight.
I will say he's clearly better than his peers but also that this isn't the strongest generation.
Curious as to why you think the mbappe/sancho generation as not being that strong?
I don't look at the Ballon D'or placements or what a talent has achieved by X age compared to others. It is a very simplistic view of looking at football and since the development of a prospect is never linear it is hard to use those attributes alone as a measure of future growth or success.
I prefer to watch the matches and from I have seen with my eyes Mbappe is the best talent of the next generation so far, but it seems to me he is more a standout due to his early physical and mental maturity rather than any phenomenal technical abilities.
Also any player coming after this Messi/Ronaldo era will look like an amateur, so we need to temper expectations.
I prefer to watch the matches and from I have seen with my eyes Mbappe is the best talent of the next generation so far, but it seems to me he is more a standout due to his early physical and mental maturity rather than any phenomenal technical abilities.
Also any player coming after this Messi/Ronaldo era will look like an amateur, so we need to temper expectations.
Yannik
Senior Member
People said that at times when Pélé, Cruyff, Maradona or Beckenbauer were around. Football is in a constant developement. It's always becoming faster, tougher, smarter and as long as the public interest in this sport isn't dropping more and more kids will play football and the bar to make iot professional rises. Stricter diets, modern training grounds, computer analytics, better medical assistance, sport scientists developing strategies to make the human body perform even better, a larger talent pool to pick from, countries like China aiming to become a dominant power in a 50 year project etc
If a meteor isn't whiping us out in near time, then we'll have more Messis and Ronaldo's in the future, and they'll break all those records from today.
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JohnN
Senior Member
No one knows. But here is a thing to consider. Messi and Ronaldo have been around for 12+ years. In all those years not a single player has seemed even remotely comparable to them. Is that going to change so dramatically?
I would argue that players line Ronaldo will be more due to technological advancements. But Messi's talent is not something you can manufacture.
I would argue that players line Ronaldo will be more due to technological advancements. But Messi's talent is not something you can manufacture.
Before Messi and Ronaldo, Pele and Maradona were in a tier of their own in terms of GOAT, i believe there are now 4 players who can argue that they are the best of all time, it’s people’s preference who they prefer, i can see a case for all 4.
I don’t think football have seen 2 genuine all-time greats go up against each other like Messi and Ronaldo have over the years and none have had done it for the length amount of time they have, those 2 have been the best for the last 12 years and they still are now.
We will probably see someone with the talent those 4 have in the near future, a player which fans will claim can/will go on to be the best of all time, but i don’t think we’ll see 2 together at the same time like Messi and Ronaldo.
I don’t think football have seen 2 genuine all-time greats go up against each other like Messi and Ronaldo have over the years and none have had done it for the length amount of time they have, those 2 have been the best for the last 12 years and they still are now.
We will probably see someone with the talent those 4 have in the near future, a player which fans will claim can/will go on to be the best of all time, but i don’t think we’ll see 2 together at the same time like Messi and Ronaldo.
There was an agent / pundit on the radio last night who said that Sancho had his heart set on joining Barca !!!
MTL_Barca
Well-known member
Maybe we see some more players like Ronaldo after he transformed into a scorer. If Mbappe can keep up with the numbers he's pulling at this young age and chooses the right club(s) he could do it. Rare, especially on a consistent basis but not too spectacular seeing how even Lewandowski is on a good way to finish very high on some all-time rankings. Ronaldo isn't/wasn't really magical for a big part of his career, "just" very clinical and damn consistent. Even if someone doesn't do it for 10+ years like Ronaldo i could definitely see players reach that level for let's say 2-3 seasons.
Messi on the other hand is an all around genius and pure talent imo. We probably won't see someone like him for many many years. His quality and style combined with having the same efficiency and consistency as Ronaldo is pretty much the perfect combination. I mean right now the closest to him is...Neymar? But he's already in his prime years and never really came close to Messi imo. And Neymar is already an generational talent.
This post is just basically a way of saying why you think Messi is the GOAT and trying to belittle Ronaldo in some way.
If you think Messi is the GOAT that's fair enough, but this is the Barcelona forum so many will think that on here. I will say though Ronaldo has won the same number of Ballon d'Or's as Messi so if this guy as won the same amount of Ballon d'Or's (and broke more individual records) as this GOAT (in your view) in the same era than surely he must be up there too?
And there's more to Ronaldo's game than goals, he won the Ballon d'Or at United as flare player (a Neymar type player). How he transformed his game in his 30's and went on to win the amount of Ballon d'Or's he has during this stage of his career is nothing short of incredible, it's a feat no other player as done in 140 years or so in football, so to say there's a player who may go on to do that right now (Mbappe) and who is only 20 years of age (start of his career) and not finished in the top3 of a Ballon d'Or yet, never mind won it is a bold statement.
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TBH I'd rather avoid another overpriced youngster from Dortmund.
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