Why Pele is the most OVERRATED Footballer Ever

Pele is one of the most iconic football players who have ever lived. He is a national hero in Brazil, has unbelievable records under his name, and countless people worldwide consider him the greatest player to ever step foot on the pitch. So would you believe me if I told you that Pele is actually the most overrated footballer of all time? Hey guys, what's up, it's Raymar back again for another video and today, we're gonna look at why Pele is the most overrated footballer of all time. But before you hit that dislike button and call me an idiot in the comment section, I just wanna say that I am in no way trying to disrespect Pele or the impact that he had on football, so just watch till the very end to see all the information before you start to hate. So with that being said, let's get onto it. For as long as I can remember, the idea that Pele was undoubtedly the greatest player ever just seemed to be taken in as a fact and nobody really questioned why. Whenever names like Maradona, Messi, Ronaldo, or any other footballing icons are brought up, Pele always seems to be the benchmark or standard by which fans use to judge these players. Even a young 17-year-old Cristiano Ronaldo has stated that Pele is the greatest player in football history. Well, Ronaldo was born in 1985 and by that time, Pele had already been retired for 8 years. So the question remains to even you guys watching out there, how can you call someone the greatest of all time if you've never even seen them play? So to break down why Pele is the most overrated footballer ever, let's begin with his unreal and almost godlike record of scoring 1,283 goals, which is the most recorded by any footballer in history. However, the truth is that 526 or roughly 40% of those goals were not actually scored in official matches. Those goals were actually scored in friendlies, exhibitions, and tour games against below-average teams and players. Even unofficial games like the ones recorded against the Brazilian Coast Guard were counted towards his goal tally. Pele's official record is 757 goals in 812 appearances, which, don't get me wrong, is of course still legendary, one of the best goal scoring ratios of all time. However, if you look at the score sheet, you'll notice just how skewed some of these scores are in games that Pele scored more than 3 goals. We can see his team dominating their opponents with scores like 11-0, 11-1, and 10-0. Also, if you look at the clubs they're against, you'll probably notice Nacional, Juventus, and Botafogo. But those aren't the actual club giants. He never scored 5 goals against the Juventus in Italy or 5 goals against the Nacional in Uruguay, but he did score on the ones with the same name that played for the Brazilian League. Onto my next point is that the overall competition and level of football that Pele was playing against at the time was not very exceptional at all. Back in Pele's era, the overall standard and quality of football was not as good. Pele was an exceptional player in that generation because of how he transformed the game. It's no surprise that the nature of football, or any other sport, just like with everything else in the world, increases in quality as time goes on due to factors like technological advancement, better understanding, and new styles being developed. If you've been paying attention to the level of defense being played, it was hardly impressive. In that era, only a handful of players really stood out. There weren't many elite defenders in that era, but to be fair, Pele was a generational talent that had never been seen before. Being an exceptional offensive talent with that flair and touch that just seems to come natural to many Brazilian talents in today's game. In fact, Pele's style of play actually bridged the term Joga Bonito, or the beautiful game to the football world. But a good question you should ask yourself is, could Pele actually do this against defenders like Sergio Ramos, Paulo Maldini, Fabio Cannavaro, or other elite defenders that came so much longer after he had retired? I mean, try naming even a couple of elite defenders in Pele's time. And if you can't, then go ahead and hit that like button. Also, Pele's FIFA World Cup achievements aren't as marvelous as everyone is led to believe. Although he does have the most finals wins, many people believe that he also held the record for the most goals scored. But that record actually belongs to Ronaldo the Phenomeno. Or that was until Germany's Miroslav Klose broke the record in 2014. The most World Cup games won also belongs to fellow Brazilian Cafu with 16. In fact, Pele was actually outperformed in all three of his World Cup final wins and really only won two World Cups. In his first World Cup final win in 1958, his teammate Didi was voted the player of the tournament. In his second World Cup win in 1962, he was injured and didn't even play any significant minutes while his teammate Garrincha led Brazil to a win with some breathtaking performances. And on his third and final World Cup win in 1970, which was the first ever World Cup to be broadcasted in full color, Pele wasn't even Brazil's top goal scorer. The honor actually belongs to his teammate Jairzinho who scored 7 goals in the tournament. So I read, many Brazilians are actually aware of these facts. It's more common knowledge for them, but to everyone else, Pele's name just seems to be on a whole nother level. Apparently, if you ask any Brazilian who their greatest players are, you're likely to hear In fact, on my video about the tragic story of Robinho, there are quite a few Brazilian viewers saying how Pele is crazy and that nobody really pays attention to the things he says. Which, if you do want to watch, is on the top right corner of your screen right now or the first link in the description. Interestingly enough, in 2002, a year where Brazil won the World Cup, their coach Luiz Colari said that he believes Pele knows nothing about football. By the 1970s, Pele was world renowned, being the second most recognizable name in Europe second only to Coca-Cola. Pele was so famous that his club Santos took him out on multiple world tours to play exhibition matches and friendlies because so many people would pay to see him play, even if he was against absolute scrubs. And this is where most of his 500-plus unofficial goals would come from. He would play more than a hundred games touring around Europe and maybe this is how he earned such a legendary status. Every time Pele went on a tour, there would be newspaper articles and columns that circulated all over the world, not only in Europe. He was a walking box office hit. Each tour he went on increased not only his fame, but his seemingly legendary goal scoring record. And maybe it's because of this that people would spread his name and tie it to being the greatest of all time. In all honesty, it just seems to me like the older generations talking about Pele as the best ever has kinda just been passed down and blindly accepted. Pele did impact the game and bring football into a whole new level, bringing even more popularity and interest in the sport. I guess you could say Pele is the grandfather of football. And maybe you as a football fan consider him the greatest ever simply because of all this. And don't get me wrong, Pele was the most dominant player in his era and was immensely gifted for his time. He is the all-time leading goal scorer for Brazil with 77 official goals, holds the record for the most hat-tricks with 92, the youngest to ever score a goal in the FIFA World Cup, and the youngest to score a hat-trick in the World Cup. He is in FIFA's 100 Greatest Footballers list, was the FIFA Player of the Century, and was also included in Time Magazine's 100 Most Important People of the 20th Century. Anyways, the purpose of this video is to just inform you guys about a lot of misconceptions surrounding Pele's career and to basically give you a rundown of why I believe Pele is the most overrated footballer of all time. But again, I just want to say that I am in no way trying to disrespect Pele and what he has done for the world and for football. Because Pele is an amazing person, still traveling the world and acting as an ambassador for the sport. It's definitely not a bad thing for the younger people to learn more about such an iconic figure. I mean, who knows? Maybe in 20 years, the younger generation won't even consider Pele's name in the conversation for who was the greatest player of all time. I definitely believe that that debate will be between Messi or Ronaldo. But let's save that topic for another video. Thank you guys so much for making it to the end of this video. This is my first upload over 10 minutes in a while, so leave a like if you enjoyed. Let me know in the comment section below if this video changed your opinion about Pele. Also, if you aren't already, make sure you're subscribed so you don't miss out on any of the best football documentary content. Thank you for all the support and I'll see you in the next one.