The past was always better. That seems to sum up Pelé’s vision of modern soccer. He said that nowadays he would be a much better player than he was in his day because there is more preparation and care for footballers.
The 75-year-old Brazilian born as Edson Arantes Do Nascimento criticizes his compatriot, Neymar. Pelé qualifies him as just a good player. "He has scored many goals in his life, but how many using his head? Neymar is a striker and play facing forward. He does not cooperate in defense, he does not create, he does not go with the ball coming from his defensive side ... it's difficult to compare him with other players who did too many things in the field. Neymar has many flaws," he said in an interview with the magazine Placar.
Among La Liga 2015/16 and the current edition of the Champions League Neymar has scored 16 goals, none of his head.
However, Pelé who won three World Cups (1958, 1966 and 1970) , admitted that Neymar is the only star that performs for the Brazil National Team these days.
Moreover, while Pelé has said that Lionel Messi is the best player of the moment, he said that there are not great players today to compete with. "Now [there is] Messi with the same style as Diego Maradona's. He is lucky because there is not someone to compare him. In my time I was compared with (Frank) Beckenbauer, Socrates and Dirceu Lopes, who were very complete players."
Pelé also talked about a couple of Messi’s "weaknesses": "I have always said that Messi is the best in the last ten years and one of the all-time best footballers. However, he does not go well when he has to score with his head and he uses more his left leg. He is not ambidextrous."
Pelé believes that the best Brazilian players are Garrincha, Paulo Roberto Falcao, Zico, Rivellino, Romário, and an unknown named Vasconcelos, who was injured in 1955 playing for Santos and it allowed Pele was used as a replacement for him in that team.
Among European players O’Rei, as he is called, ratifies his admiration for the German Beckenbauer and praises the British Bobby Moore, Bobby Charlton and George Best and the Dutchman Johan Cruyff.
