He's quickly approaching Mo Salah levels this kid
Lionel Messi - Performances
- Thread starter Rado_N
- Start date
I have to disagree with this.
People may not have been born with the evolutionary development to kick a ball, but there is millions of years of evolution promoting skills like spatial awareness, speed, agility, balance, and those abilities translate into things like running, kicking a ball, dunking a basketball, throwing an American Football, catching an American or Rugby Ball.
I'm actually a perfect example of this. I won a "world championship" in BMX for under 6. I was racing BMX at age 4, hitting jumps and drops and the works. Everything I did in my childhood/teenage years athletically was easy. I didn't have to try. I was faster, more agile, bigger than almost everyone despite being younger than almost everyone in my age group (born at the end of the year). I never had to put work in to be the best locally or even regionally. I took this all the way to college age, where I hit a wall. I didn't progress because I didn't work at it. I stopped progressing. People I had been better than my entire life in sports we both played, continued working and continued playing. I lost interest to a large degree, but I also simply did not have the work ethic to continue at the level I was accustomed to.
Tell me that I started on equal footing with most people? Clearly I didn't. Now, I don't claim to have been a super athlete on a world level, but I know I had inherent advantages athletically over probably 98% of the people who were born around the same time I was. I was more coordinated at age 4, than most people will ever be after a lifetime of training. Even today, approaching 40, I see video of people who have devoted a lifetime to a sport as a hobby, and I think "that poor uncoordinated bastard!" As they lack any sort of fluidity, despite being "good" at an amateur level of what they are doing.
Only a goal today, Salah would score 5 against that Basque lot.
In your opinion.
Messi is one of the best players I've ever seen.
All time great.
Only peak old Ronaldo can compare to players I've seen at the highest level.
All time great.
Only peak old Ronaldo can compare to players I've seen at the highest level.
What a player
Ronaldo had people like Zidane & Ronaldinho fawning over him in much the same way as greats like Iniesta & Xavi do Messi. When you command that much respect from genuinely world class teammates, that's when you know you're something special. In a similar vein (although not to Messi/Ronaldo standards), look at all the respect Scholes gets from his former teammates & Fergie.For me, and I know this is a tad controversial, but I reckon the gap between Messi & CR7 is bigger than the gap between CR7 and the players below/around him.
What a player
For me, and I know this is a tad controversial, but I reckon the gap between Messi & CR7 is bigger than the gap between CR7 and the players below/around him.
I see your point and hope you know I mean "El Phenomeno"
Agreed about CR7.
CR7 is an absoluet machine and an all time great but Messi is simply above him.
And I'm a massive Christiano fan but Messi just reminds me of that lad at school who took the mickey out of everyone chasing him for the ball.
Stop it. CR7 is a great goalscorer , but that is it, that is it.
Messi is a mastermind in football and the GOAT without any discussion.
Messi is a mastermind in football and the GOAT without any discussion.
Have nothing new to write about GOAT.
great goal today. I reckon if he suddenly decided not to enter the opposition penalty area untill the end of the season, he would still score 10-15 goals in the remaining la liga fixtures.
Yep. Gotta agree. He could afford not to enter the penalty box and still come away with a decent 10-15 goals a season with attempts like those. Arrizabalaga had no chance once it left Messi's boot
No thats and 2 become 1
Free kicks aside this was his first goal from outside the box... and there are 9 games left, he's most likely not scoring 10-15 goals even if he stays in the box
Although at this point maybe I'm stupid for doubting it
You're the one that should start watching the matches before arguing nonsense
Because Neymar never scored for fun in South America, and you'd know that if you spent any time watching games or bothering yourself in knowing about what you talk about
Neymar: 83 games 53 goals. Competitive matches? 30 games 17 goals. Friendlies? 53 games 36 goals.
Messi: 123 games 61 goals. Competitive matchest? 81 games 34 goals. Friendlies? 42 games 27 goals.
Copa America: Messi 8, Neymar 3
World Cup qualification: Messi 21, Neymar 6
World Cup: Messi 5, Neymar 4
Confederations Cup: Messi 0, Neymar 4
In fact, where did the idea that Ney scored for fun in South America get into your mind? Between the 2011 and 2015 Copa America, he played ZERO official matches in his continent, all his goals come 1 in 2011, 2 in 2015 and 6 in the 2018 WC qualifier, in which, btw, he finished 1 goal behind Messi.
There's also another guy who sees his scoring ratio cut almost in half at international level, you're well aware of that, so bringing this to criticize Messi against guys like Neymar is pointless, it's obvious you're just pushing your feud's agenda.
I'm not pretending anything, I'm just citing facts.
It's a fact that since Italy 90 they never went past QF in the WC, despite having great generations
It's a fact that since Ecuador 93 they haven't won any international competition
It's a fact that Argentina has played the same amount of Copa America finals with Messi than without him
The real embarrassment is that you're here saying that reaching 3 finals in a row is embarassing, any country would sign with blood playing a WC final and two continental ones in a row, you can try to be as deceitful as you want, doesn't make your point valid.
Like we say in Spain, talking is easy, but to lose a final, you need to reach it first, and only two teams do that, not an easy feat.
This decade Messi has put Argentina at the heights of Germany or Spain, the only squads on his era that have played a WC final and 2 continental ones (3 for Messi and Argentina). Those are big shoes to fill when you talk about international level, and again, it's not an opinion, it's a fact
@Ishdalar
It's a pretty big opinion to say Messi has put Argentina at the heights of Germany or Spain and it's certainly not a fact. I'd call it a wrong opinion
Fair enough on most of the rest, I disagree with some of it but won't repeat myself.
It's a pretty big opinion to say Messi has put Argentina at the heights of Germany or Spain and it's certainly not a fact. I'd call it a wrong opinion
Fair enough on most of the rest, I disagree with some of it but won't repeat myself.
SGOAT
The best
Oh yeah of course, I agree with what you are saying here.
@Ishdalar
It's a pretty big opinion to say Messi has put Argentina at the heights of Germany or Spain and it's certainly not a fact. I'd call it a wrong opinion
Fair enough on most of the rest, I disagree with some of it but won't repeat myself.
You probably disagree with the man himself :P
"In Argentina it seems that arriving to 3 finals is meaningless. If we dont win this WC with Argentina, I wont play again for the NT".
I should be payed for saying what he thinks even before he says it
You probably disagree with the man himself :P
"In Argentina it seems that arriving to 3 finals is meaningless. If we dont win this WC with Argentina, I wont play again for the NT".
I should be payed for saying what he thinks even before he says it
Yes, I disagree and it seems that in Argentina they also disagree then. If they had gotten to those finals playing a different set of teams it would have been different imo.
Did he actually say he won't play for Argentina again?
You probably disagree with the man himself :P
"In Argentina it seems that arriving to 3 finals is meaningless. If we dont win this WC with Argentina, I wont play again for the NT".
I should be payed for saying what he thinks even before he says it
Wonder if this will be like his last retirement
Yes, I disagree and it seems that in Argentina they also disagree then. If they had gotten to those finals playing a different set of teams it would have been different imo.
Did he actually say he won't play for Argentina again?
Not only him, that the thought in this generation of Argentina players is that if they don't win the WC, they won't return to play in a team where some people (he says that's a minority, but fueled by some of the press) don't want them.
They have a Copa America in Brazil in 2019, I'd be very surprised if players retired from the national team before then, especially Messi.
He could easily still be playing at a high level in Qatar
I hope he continues to play after 2018 but honestly, I feel like the Argentina players really hate playing for the NT. Those penalty losses to Chile really did them in on top of the world cup. I can't even fault them for the world cup, Germany were heavy favorites in that match and Di Maria being injured really sucked the life out of them. The Chile matches were the ones they should've won (especially the most recent one) and even Mascherano says putting on the Argentina jersey is like putting on a curse.
I feel like this WC is the last hurrah for this group. And then Dybala will be the leading man for everything post 2018.
I don't know if you understand Spanish or watched the whole interview, but it's another bucket of "Leo, save us but you're not really the Leo we're waiting for".
In the first cut, the interviewer lands the punchline of "He's broken all the records there's to break... but only with Barcelona", when he already has a few for Argentina.
And later, he has another conversation
- Are you worried about people saying if you played good or bad?
+ I'm the first one who knows if I played bad or good
- Good or bad, what's that, an average of one or two goals per game? assists? How do you measure it?
+ It's not about goals, feeling good in the pitch, being involved in the build up, getting in touch with the ball, take good options, don't lose the ball, it not about "I scored two goals, I played great", sometimes I score and play a bad game, goals always cover everything, but playing good or bad it's not related to that.
Which basically, covers my wall of text a couple days ago, if you watch him play with Argentina, you can notice he's not trying to be the same player for Argentina than from Barcelona, which he expresses too
- Someone told me, ask Leo which things he did before for Argentina, and what does he do now that he didn't before.
+ One grows and learns, before I just grabbed the ball and do my play (to score), nowadays I try to get the team involved more, stay closer to the ball and not finish so many plays, just move the team from other spots beyond striker.
I get easily why he's bothered by what Argentina demands of him, they want the Messi that scored tons of goals for Barcelona, they want to measure him in stats and titles, and are overlooking all he's trying to do in order to improve that team, even if it means taking a hit at his stats. It has to be awful coming to the point that you put your whole legacy aside to become what your team needs most at this time, and getting bashed for not just scoring at Barcelona rate. Kane, Salah, Ronaldo, Cavani or Neymar are unable to score at the same rate in international competition, it's just how it is, expecting anything else it's just delusional.
He’s been the best player in the world by quite some margin this season. To score that many goals and create that many chances when he most games has to drop down to centre midfield to even get on the ball is astonishing. People who don’t watch Barca regularly probably think he still has the same role as in the Pep years. We barely create anything these days unless Messi goes past a couple of opponents or involves himself very early in the build up. Some of his dribbles and runs this season has really turned back the clock. If he, as he should now when the league is basically secured, gets some rest before the CL semifinals & WC we could be in for something special. Even though Argentina are awful on paper it has to be said, would take a miracle for them to win it.
Romero
Bustos - Otamendi - Rojo - Tagliafico
Di Maria - Masche - Biglia - Acuna
Messi
Aguero
It’s actually insane how bad they are. That centre midfield and full backs.
Romero
Bustos - Otamendi - Rojo - Tagliafico
Di Maria - Masche - Biglia - Acuna
Messi
Aguero
It’s actually insane how bad they are. That centre midfield and full backs.
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Pretty much sums this place up. After a bicycle goal from his adversary they created a separate thread for that occasion and his "nemesis" is now in the contention for the greatest of all time. I think someone mentioned that in Messi vs Ronaldo thread the gap between Ronaldo and Messi decreased by 10% after his goal.
Seems to be getting better at free kicks, his first touch for the second goal was incredible .
Ohh Messi, My Messi. Sometimes I wonder, do I just watch Barcelona just to see him play? What will I do when he retires?
Within all the arguments, I just wonder how can some not enjoy what they see him doing, how can some just waste there time arguing. As there is only a couple of years left to enjoy this etherealness on the pitch. So enjoy while you can, cuz after 4 years or so he's only available on the Youtube clips.
Within all the arguments, I just wonder how can some not enjoy what they see him doing, how can some just waste there time arguing. As there is only a couple of years left to enjoy this etherealness on the pitch. So enjoy while you can, cuz after 4 years or so he's only available on the Youtube clips.
Goat
Goat.
Another day in the office for the 'Gana-Ligas' Leo Messi.
Goat. Consistently good this season, i'll miss watching Barca matches when he retires
No player now or in the history can make as much impact in a game as this guy does. Dribbling, Passing, Scoring, Free kicks, key passes - this guy is just brilliant in everything. Such a shame he did not get a chance to lift the WC trophy despite coming so close.
I seriously have no idea how you guys will handle his departure. What he has been doing the past 10 years practically and aesthetically is just insane.
Messi has hit a point where his goals and performances are taken for granted, where the ridiculous becomes the norm. I remember the goal he scored right at the end of last season Vs Eibar, ran from the half way line and beat about five players. The TV cameras failed to capture it live and it was only shown on replays, it was pretty much ignored by everyone. Anyone else scores that and it would be mentioned for weeks on end.
He's dragging Barcelona to European domination this season with a squad littered with average joes, they've proven they can't rest him even when he's struggling for fitness. If they do the unthinkable and go unbeaten/win a third treble most of it will rightly be attributed to him again. Three trebles under three different managers would be extra special. and it's no coincidence it's in the Messi era, a true once in a lifetime player, and I honestly don't think we'll ever see a player of his kind again.
He's dragging Barcelona to European domination this season with a squad littered with average joes, they've proven they can't rest him even when he's struggling for fitness. If they do the unthinkable and go unbeaten/win a third treble most of it will rightly be attributed to him again. Three trebles under three different managers would be extra special. and it's no coincidence it's in the Messi era, a true once in a lifetime player, and I honestly don't think we'll ever see a player of his kind again.
Pretty much sums this place up. After a bicycle goal from his adversary they created a separate thread for that occasion and his "nemesis" is now in the contention for the greatest of all time. I think someone mentioned that in Messi vs Ronaldo thread the gap between Ronaldo and Messi decreased by 10% after his goal.
What a strange thing to say. It wasn't just a bicycle goal. It was one of the best bicycle kicks in elite (televised) football history, one of the best goals in Champions League history, his 10th scoring game in a row in the Champions League (stretching back to his 2 goals in the CL final agains the same team), and his 25th goal in 2018.
All of which combine together to make it a crowning moment in what will be yet another year he's in contention for the Ballon d'Or, which if he were to win would make him the first player to win 6 and the oldest outfield player to win it since the very first winner, Stanley Matthews (equalling di Stéfano's record). There were obvious reasons it was a talking point beyond some kind of blind bias. Messi scoring a hat trick against a relegation battler is much less interesting to discuss for all sorts of reasons.
And for what it's worth I'm of the view that Messi is clearly the better player. But Ronaldo over the last 3 years has been absurdly successful on an individual level, and has drove both his club and national team to historic successes with key contributions in key moments, just as he nears retirement. It's weird for any football fan to dismiss that given it's one of the most remarkable stories in elite football history.