I cannot possibly see how this could be true. I'm open to being corrected, but Messi is so good that I'm at a loss to understand how anyone could've been better than him to the extent that you could be justified in saying the above.
I mean, he's absolutely ridiculous. He's probably the best finisher in the world at the moment (finishing consisting of more than just shooting), the best dribbler, the most creative, has superb vision, he's amazing off the ball, he has perhaps the best technique of any footballer around and he never gets injured anymore. He's just the ultimate footballer. It's not like he just has one strength and a few other decent ones - everything he's good at, he's top notch at.
And the stats...'kin hell. Goal-scoring, assists, efficiency...
Gret, detareminearshun, pahshun...it's in the back of the net. He's brilliant.