Messi era

In a previous blog when I discussed great sportsmen I made a point at not comparing sportsmen from different era's for example comparing Tendulkar to Bradman. The reason for this is because the game in which you make the comparison changes so much making the comparison difficult and for many players I was not part of that era therefore I use secondary sources. However today you can not escape the comparison being made between Messi and other all time greats like Pele or Maradona.

Rightly so yesterday Messi was awarded his fourth consecutive FIFA world player of the year trophy. He beat Ronaldo and team mate Iniesta to the Ballon d'Or. There is no doubt in my eyes he is the right winner and the two runners up would have more than likely won it if they were in any other era. Messi had a record breaking year crowning it with 91 goals in the calendar year a feat that no one has ever achieved.

By winning this award for the fourth time it quiet clearly demonstrates the dominance Messi has shown in recent years. Through his performances winning multiple La Liga titles and Champions league titles and his records like the goal scoring record, there is no doubt he has dominated football in recent years.

With this dominance comes comparisons to people like Pele and Maradona. As I mentioned earlier I find it hard to compare players from different eras but the successes I have already talked about are things no one else has ever achieved. The big difference and comparison I will make is Messi has never won footballs biggest prize he is not a World Cup winner. Both the other Two players mentioned have achieved this, something he may need to do to be called the best ever.

While I wait to call Messi the best player ever I will always refer to this period of time in football as the Messi era. No one is as dominate and no one is as successful as Messi and I think in future years people may compare the next great footballers to Messi.