Lionel Messi - Performances

Bob Loblaw said:
It's funny. People will still say it anyway, they've been blaming Messi for Suárez's slow adjustment to the Barcelona team. They blamed Messi for Zlatan leaving even though Zlatan couldn't talk any higher of Messi.

Once the narrative is set, you'll get idiots ignoring all evidence to the contrary.
Click to expand...

Same with David Villa, linked up superbly with Messi for a season then when he lost form Messi got the blame, despite Villa never having a bad word to say. It's double standards mate, they say he controls the club and decides what happens yet Zlatan's only criticism of Messi in his book was that he's like a school kid because he always did exactly as Guardiola told him.

And if anything Barca started to dip when Suarez was introduced to the team in the clasico.
 
JazzG said:
That is why I feel he'll be remembered as the best player of this generation, while Ronaldo can match his finishing skills and goals he isn't anywhere near in those other departments. Some of those through balls are unbelievable, the type you'd expect only top drawer play makers to be pulling off. He's being doing it for years though and scoring at a crazy rate on top.
Click to expand...
I feel that if one day, I am telling my grandchildren about him, I would not need to show them Messi's stats. I can just tell them to watch videos of him with the ball at his feet passing, dribbling and they'd get what a marvellous player he is. When you add to that the fact that he scores as much and consistently to pretty much any player who has existed, it is really mind-blowing.
 
Bob Loblaw said:
I think what's even more impressive is how he never seems to fail to spot a runner. I've seen him play passes over the past few years to free men that I didn't even notice on TV, yet he sees them even if 5 players are around him.
Click to expand...

He's an incredible passer. Considering the fact he is so positive with his passing, it is insane how accurate he is. He is not a tiki taka possession style passer.. he takes risks but he's so damn good he makes it look like routine passes.
 
CLARiiON said:
Is that true?

http://toptenslides.com/sports/top-10-players-best-goal-ratio-last-25-years/10/
Click to expand...

Not sure if you read something like this:

#6. Ruud Van Nistelrooy
"There have been so many great Dutch strikers in the past 25 years or so and Ruud Van Nisterlooy is one of them. The former Manchester United and Dutch icon is hailed as one of the world’s best strikers of his generation. Van Nisterlooy has a tally of 382 goals in 659 appearances overall, averaging 0.59 goals per match. He has part of the winning squad in 1999, when Manchester United won the dramatic final against Bayern Munich."
 
Snake Plissken said:
Same with David Villa, linked up superbly with Messi for a season then when he lost form Messi got the blame, despite Villa never having a bad word to say. It's double standards mate, they say he controls the club and decides what happens yet Zlatan's only criticism of Messi in his book was that he's like a school kid because he always did exactly as Guardiola told him.

And if anything Barca started to dip when Suarez was introduced to the team in the clasico.
Click to expand...

In fairness that's not strictly true, he makes a direct reference to Messi influencing team selection/tactics in his book.

'It was a childhood dream and I was walking on air...it started well but then Messi started to talk...He wanted to play in the middle, not on the wing, so the system changed from 4-3-3 to 4-5-1. I was sacrificed and no longer had the freedom on the pitch I need to succeed.
Click to expand...

Although, having said that, I'm sure players moan about being in the 'wrong' position all the time, it's just that when a player as good as Messi is saying it you're more likely to listen. Rooney notably did similar in Fergie's last season when he was being played in midfield to accommodate RVP.
 
To be fair that was as good a decision as Guardiola made.
 
amolbhatia100 said:
To be fair that was as good a decision as Guardiola made.
Click to expand...

Yeah I think it's beyond doubt that it was entirely the correct decision, but how Messi got it to happen is very similar to what Rooney got blasted for a couple of years ago on here. Although admittedly the seeds of much of the antimony towards Rooney that came out then were probably sown when he wanted out of the club in 2010. Messi's never done anything like that to antagonise the fans.
 
jeff_goldblum said:
Yeah I think it's beyond doubt that it was entirely the correct decision, but how Messi got it to happen is very similar to what Rooney got blasted for a couple of years ago on here. Although admittedly the seeds of much of the antimony towards Rooney that came out then were probably sown when he wanted out of the club in 2010. Messi's never done anything like that to antagonise the fans.
Click to expand...
indeed
 
Tried hard, but couldn't come up with a suitable caption.

Partido-de-vuelta-de-cuartos-d_54425213652_54115221154_600_396.jpg


Any suggestions??
 
He was great again last night. Shows that you can play well without getting a goal or an assist ;)

Took a hell of a beating from Atlético players too, they were pretty pathetic. I don't think I've seen him fouled that badly since Juande Ramos was Real Madrid manager.
 
That was ridiculous. Can't even imagine seeing a better player than him during my lifetime.
 
last couple of games made me wish more that I could see him in a regular counter attacking side. When you see him with a lot of space on the counter he's nearly impossible to defend against such is his dribbling and passing abilities. But because of Barca's regular game and how opponents line up against them you rarely see him in any sort of space.
 
Pogue Mahone said:


Look how often he scores in injury time. Match-winner.
Click to expand...


Worth remembering that 45+ and 90+ are actually a collection of about 10 different minutes he can score in consolidated into 2.
 
Pexbo said:
Worth remembering that 45+ and 90+ are actually a collection of about 10 different minutes he can score in consolidated into 2.
Click to expand...
In like 90% of La Liga games the ref adds one minute to the first half and 3 to the second.
 
Lovely collection, cheers!
I think Alba should be embarrassed now by the amount of chances he missed.
 
He's insane.

I'm thankful to have lived in a time where I have had the privilege of watching Henry, Ronaldinho, Ronaldo and Messi at their peaks.
 
Villa has scored 11 goals this season, Messi has 12 goals in right-foot this season. That surely says something about Villa's offensive line.
 
Unreal. All these right footed finishes too.

For those of you in Manchester who've never seen this guy play, City's CL tie at the Etihad against Barca is now on general sale. You can get up to 4 tickets.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.