La Liga - 2014/15

Messi...

not-worthy.gif
 
yep, only one assist and made a player commit an own goal

i wish our players had played that bad today against WHU

I mean "relatively" or as in messi-esqu manner. His weird pass resulted in the 1st goal. That's what I was referring to.
 
i know what you meant, i just think he did a good job

I think he played well too but he did give away the ball for Bilbao's first very sloppily which kind of underlines his point.

Neymar's been unbelievably wasteful here.
 
Barcelona are back to being compulsory viewing again. No prizes for guessing why, watching Messi is just brilliant.
 
I said it dropped, I didn't say he was playing poorly :p

Remember, Messi is the very best - he's judged on a different scale since there are no bad matches from him
I know, but he really shouldn't be. This sometimes makes people lose perspective.
 
Still think they look a little suspect defensively, whilst no where near as dominant as they were in the Guardiola era to marginalise similar shortcomings.

Great to watch, and Messi is the best ever in my opinion, but I don't think they'll get further than the quarters in the CL.
 
Enrique needs to take Neymar in the corner and slap his ass (not too hard though :wenger:). He's just too casual, can't afford that against top teams. Cut out the fancy tricks and just try to be efficient. Many Brazilians have wasted their career before him from promising positions trying to be too fancy.

He could have got a hatrick today. And someone please teach Alba to score a goal, please..
 
And btw, the ref did make a big mistake when he didn't give yellow card to Pique in the beginning of the game.

Hardly the worst mistake one can make. He allowed play to continue for both teams for many challenges. There has to be much stronger argument than such trivial issues.
 
I know, but he really shouldn't be. This sometimes makes people lose perspective.

Except it wasn't really judgemental, he was in 'the zone'. Those moments he's feeling it and can pretty much take over a match, it should've been over in the first half hour had his teammates been more clinical. His rhythm just wasn't the same to start the 2nd half and he certainly had at least 2 moments to pull off some of his signature goal moves but failed to convert. That's how good he is, we expect him to score those without question.

I know what that means and it's why I watch him almost exclusively - it's surreal how good he is and we have to just enjoy him. He's had 90 minute matches like that where everything is out of this world, including the finishes and I thought we were in for one of those treats at halftime. We still got the genius of course but I love the extra high of those special nights where everything is perfection
 
I don't think there's a reliable record of assists over the entire history, but he has the most (possibly joint?) Assists in the last 25 years apparently.

Assists are always tricky to measure. I think espn/transfermarkt/whoscored measure it differently even today.
 
Big win tonight, very impressive - they are building some great momentum
I remember saying back in November that Barcelona would have a strong second half to the season due to Messi, Neymar and Suarez developing more chemistry, other players like Rakitic becoming more settled and also Enrique having more time to mould the team into the one he wants. Both Barcelona as a team as well as their key players are hitting top form at a very good moment (just like Madrid did last year) and if they keep building on this momentum and improving further, with Madrid looking knackered and Barcelona looking to have Atletico's number, they will be in a great position to launch a full-scale assault on both La Liga and the CL and they are also the big favourites to win the Copa.
 
Except it wasn't really judgemental, he was in 'the zone'. Those moments he's feeling it and can pretty much take over a match, it should've been over in the first half hour had his teammates been more clinical. His rhythm just wasn't the same to start the 2nd half and he certainly had at least 2 moments to pull off some of his signature goal moves but failed to convert. That's how good he is, we expect him to score those without question.

I know what that means and it's why I watch him almost exclusively - it's surreal how good he is and we have to just enjoy him. He's had 90 minute matches like that where everything is out of this world, including the finishes and I thought we were in for one of those treats at halftime. We still got the genius of course but I love the extra high of those special nights where everything is perfection
I know what you mean, although I think Messi still had a very good second half. But even though many people do tend to create a separate scale for Messi to judge him on, I still think people should take a step back when making overall judgements about how well he played (so people won't lose perspective). It doesn't matter if it's Messi or not, this statement:

"Messi's 2nd half was actually very bad. Totally messed up his passes and gave possession away in bad regions"

just can't be said about how Messi played in the second half. There is no way he was as bad Jonny Evans in the second half.
 
read this, anyone confirm is it's true?

Historically speaking, official assist numbers are a bit inconclusive to be honest. Doubt individual assist numbers have been maintained since 1927. But nonetheless Messi, equalled Figo (106 career La Liga assists) in the assists (since they were carefully recorded) category. And yes, he's the highest goalscorer of all time too, with Telmo Zarra second at 251. That's just the tip of the iceberg in terms of individual accomplishments.

A more comprehensive list of records he has broken or equaled is just mind-boggling :

http://messivsronaldo.net/records.php

Still only 27 with possibly 5 top goal-scoring seasons and 7-8 top creative years left in him provided he stays healthy for the duration. When his career is finished, it won't surprise me if he sets a benchmark for European club statistics that probably won't be bettered for a long, long time.
 
They looked complacent as a whole team after the first half. After conceding they quickly hit back with 2 and it could have been 3 within 10 minutes. That front 3 is ridiculous. Iniesta has shown signs of improvement recently so if he also gets back into form and Suarez starts scoring regularly - just wow.
 
Wouldn't go that far. Not yet anyway.

I don't mean they are there already, I just mean the potential is pretty clear. Incredible individual talents like these rarely work well enough to be consistent over time but they are showing phenomenal chemistry. When Suarez was first rumoured to come, the idea seemed virtually improbable to have a chance to succeed. I see something special developing and no doubt that their current run of success is absolutely a result of it. There is skill and belief that they are unstoppable. They just needed to find their rhythm and imagine how good they will look when they gel even more
 
I think Real will find it tough against this lot if they keep the intensity up like the did today. These Basque boys can press like crazy and do tend to play good football against Barca.
I see Real have to travel in March, would be a cracking game if they play like today.
 
That 5th goal really encapsulates Messi as a player... there was seemingly no danger of any kind, nothing looked on and somehow he forced the crucial opening for it.