Slates, the problem with your arguement is that your focus is on the team while the discussion started about individual players. Secondly, while Dwight accomplished a lot in club football, T&T have yet to benefit from his years of playing professionally. Whenever, he plays for T&T he has been unable to influence those games in the way that Zidane would in the French team or Falcao did for the Brazilian team to name a few. Imagine, in the USA game they did not even find it necessary to pay him any extra attention, why, because his game was average. Did he play badly? No, but he was not special either. I agree with your arguement that most of his accomplishments came as a result of playing with a good team. Not to undermine his ability to put the ball in the back of the net, that is not easy to do consistently, eventhough the goals are being created by others.
Yuh know when ah think about it, there is not really a problem with slates argument. Cause those individuals also had better teams and team camaraderie than more recent years. Dwight although blessed with good players on T&T was not blessed with the same Team spirit, ala British teams, ala the old days. T&T better players today are basically journeymen, "passing thru". Even in our local PFL. Steve David, Archie, Gally etc.. had basically 2 teams for the most part... Whey dey grow up, and Trinidad....when the guys went to the NASL, they basically hooked up with many older World Class players, who could contribute to their successes.
So for eg. when a young potential star like a Lovelace ran out for Colts, although Colts may not have been all top class ballers ala a Maple or so...the whole of that colts team, would do everything in their favor to push and support MR. Lovelace son from up the road, and help him stand out as the star he should be...
This occured with many of our better footballers in the past...The rest of his team will give it their all for him, and in so doing the team as well..
Today, everybody is aspiring to that stardom,as the new motifs are "Just do it", "The potential is within", and thus very few are willing to play that supporting role. Especially so, they way our mentality, culture has developed....
I and I, taken to the literal sense..we are the master copiers, but sometimes the things we copy, may look real, sound real, but no real substance...
So we used to sing stuff like, "So Jah say, not one of my seeds, shall sit on the sidewalk and beg no bread"...we chant the words, but few try to fulfill the ideas...
So our football has evolved, a bunch of talented I & I individuals, not all mind you...but very few I & WE.
I would like to express some more personal views, but I am at work...
So to conclude, it is very difficult to compare the greatness of individual players, across different times and societal evolutions, in my view.