Maradona | Page 2 | Vital Football

Maradona

Not sure why mention his off field struggles. Seems like a man that had his own personal demons and didn't respond the right way. He was barraged with xenophobic and racist comments his whole career and sometimes lashed out. He was a phenomenal footballer and we should just leave it at that.
 
Red Wimp said:
I watched that, yes I agree anyone would have struggled in that environment. Especially without any support, in a slightly different way you can see George Best was similar
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I'm not so sure that the 'struggling' is entirely down to the environment. I think the underlying personality has more to do with it. For every Maradona, Best and Gascoigne there is a Pele, Cruyff and Mesi.
 
GertLushImp said:
You often hear the hyperbole of - 'he won that single-handedly', but that is how the Argentina '86 World Cup win felt for me. It's like he just said to his team, get on my back, I can win this. A performance possibly only matched by Pele in '58.

Personality wise , he was a bit of a dickhead (possibly influenced by being kicked all over the place by defenders, in an era where there was much less protection from referees and the laws of the game). But at the same time his flaws made him a lot more interesting than the anodyne 'professional' money machines that have followed in his wake.
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I'd presume that every player taking steroids might play better than the others. Add the most disgraceful act of cheating in that game against England and you have a despicable character. No apology ever came. Those people old enough to remember that match will recall how they felt at the time.
 
Maradona most definitely one of the best players ever to grace the game. Probably No2 for me as I rate Zidane as the best ever. Pity he had his problems and pity he will be remembered in this country for the "cheat." Flawed Genius.
 
cherryexile said:
I'm not so sure that the 'struggling' is entirely down to the environment. I think the underlying personality has more to do with it. For every Maradona, Best and Gascoigne there is a Pele, Cruyff and Mesi.
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For me there was Stanley Matthews , Danny Blanchflower , Dave Mackay to name but 3
 
Ex-Ref said:
I'd presume that every player taking steroids might play better than the others. Add the most disgraceful act of cheating in that game against England and you have a despicable character. No apology ever came. Those people old enough to remember that match will recall how they felt at the time.
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The former I agree with. The latter could be talking about every player at every game in this era. The diving, the yelping in pain, the rolling around, there is much more cheating these days and many more goals (penalties/free kicks) won by cheating than there were back then. Wasn't his fault that the ref and linesman were blind (or paid off.) He did what all of today's footballers do. Try to win by any means and then pass it off as normal or nothing afterward. Managers of those players are no different. They might say they will reprimand the player but the players do it again the next game. All about results.
 
Mixed feelings really, he's getting a lot more respect on here and elsewhere too than i expected he would. No doubt he was good with a ball but then again Lance Armstrong's good on a bike, i wonder when Lance pops his cloggs whether he'll be remembered as a cycling genius who won 7 Tour de france titles or a cheating drug taking twat? I somehow feel it will be the latter.
There's a similar thread on the Fishy at the mo with an unbelievable clip of Maradonnas mate running onto the pitch after he'd scored in a friendly and giving him "a line"'whilst he was still being congratulated by his team mates.!!!!A football genius but as bad as an example of a professional in the game as you could find. If he'd have been British he would have been totally shunned no matter how good he was for such behaviour, not a national hero. As part of the football family though, cant help but admire his skill.
 
Ex-Ref said:
I'd presume that every player taking steroids might play better than the others. Add the most disgraceful act of cheating in that game against England and you have a despicable character. No apology ever came. Those people old enough to remember that match will recall how they felt at the time.
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Did he take steroids? I knew about the ephedrine at the back end of his career but that's a bit of a weird one - it is banned but it wasn't banned in a lot of sports (like American ones) until the noughties? Sort of fat burnery/getting rid of appetite?

Really not bothered about the whole cheating thing especially having watched that game recently but fair enough if people are still upset about the handball.
 
Rasenimp said:
Did he take steroids? I knew about the ephedrine at the back end of his career but that's a bit of a weird one - it is banned but it wasn't banned in a lot of sports (like American ones) until the noughties? Sort of fat burnery/getting rid of appetite?

Really not bothered about the whole cheating thing especially having watched that game recently but fair enough if people are still upset about the handball.
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Strong evidence he took cocaine on the field of play and was given drugs while in the dugout on one occasion...
 
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