needs to lose the beard. Its slowing him down
Lionel Messi - Performances
- Thread starter Rado_N
- Start date
I watch Barcelona quite frequently as my brother and father are fans, but what do you guys think, have we seen the best of Lionel Messi? He is still probably the best player in the world and he is playing in a different role, but to me Messi of a few years ago was quite better than he is now, he regained his form in 2015 but even though he's still the best now, it looks as if the best Lionel has passed.
Both the big two are past their peak. It's obvious even though Messi is still the best footballer on the planet and Ronaldo still a wonderful player and goalscorer.
The greatest ever continues to be just that
Maybe a case of playing so many games since a young age.
Also Barca are no where near as good as they have been in the past 6, 7 years.
Also Barca are no where near as good as they have been in the past 6, 7 years.
He's a different player and certainly past his physical peak, but still the best. His spritely play and amazing runs are more sparse these days but he's improved his passing and his freekick taking over the last couple of years. I feel he should be rested a bit more often or at least subbed - look at the difference in his game against Valencia after a week off; was dribbling, pressing and was all over the field.
Another thing, especially in big games which are tight (which he has underperformed in since 2015), he should hold his position on the right to find space as it's always too congested in the middle. His starting position in the treble season was certainly more wide but he's drifted more and more into the centre.
Another thing, especially in big games which are tight (which he has underperformed in since 2015), he should hold his position on the right to find space as it's always too congested in the middle. His starting position in the treble season was certainly more wide but he's drifted more and more into the centre.
Messi is definitely past his peak, but weirdly enough now that he is.. when he goes for the slalom dribbles now (few and far between), it takes your breath away (you can hear the roar in the crowd) and makes you realise what a genius he was at his peak.
Only difference is he's not as consistent throughout the 90 minutes. Takes far more pauses. Perhaps part of that is down to the team. Nowadays he's basically doing xavi's job on top of his own, so in those stretches where he catches his breath, you notice it more. With xavi, whenever he was catching his breath there was xavi running things and timing their accelerations to Messi
Don't know. Still the best player in the world(but neymar's gaining ground) and one of the 3 greatest of all time
Don't know. Still the best player in the world(but neymar's gaining ground) and one of the 3 greatest of all time
Cheers guys, I think we were lucky to witness peak Messi, in a few years I will watch his compilations with jou. Miss those explosive dribbles and linkups in the most congested areas.
Definitely past it (peak wise)
But I think his passing, vision, control, dribbling and especially his decision making in the final 3rd are so good (and beyond anyone else in the game) that if they switch him to a traditional 10 he can still be the best in the world for a long while yet.
But I think his passing, vision, control, dribbling and especially his decision making in the final 3rd are so good (and beyond anyone else in the game) that if they switch him to a traditional 10 he can still be the best in the world for a long while yet.
They already switched him to a traditional 10. Did that in 2015 in fact. The treble season, he was already playing mostly as a traditional 10, though he nominally started out wide on the right
Yes definitely.
Even if you don't consider 2010-2011 his best season, I don't see him approaching 2014-2015 either. That injury he picked up at the start of last season seemed to "confirm" his decline so to speak. I think 2010-2011 was his best season personally.
I actually took a look at whoscored and I know their stats and such can be flawed, but they also support a Messi decline with some stats(like his dribbles per game, passes per game, pass accuracy, etc).
Still the best player in the world. Although I think Neymar is closing on him.
Messi in 2010-2011 was simply a cheat code.
He is less explosive now so his dribbling has declined. His passing is no doubt better. The weight of his passing, the decision making, the consitency. It's an evolution. As you lose some things you add other things to compensate. He is still a great finisher, still the best dribbler but his spatial awareness of the field is no doubt better. 14/15 is his second best season for me It had just about everything. The goal scoring, dngerous from set pieces, the big game performance, the weaponised through balls.
The 10/11 Messi wins out because of his big match escapade in the final.
Once before i thought Messi was maybe finished, it was at the end of the 2014 seasons i think, they played Atletico few times and he was invisible i those games, didnt shine in other games as well, like he wasnt interested in football anymore. Season after that, we saw that right wing version of Messi where he was close to his best, or maybe even topped that.
Similar things i saw in 2014 i see now but on a much smaller scale, most times he doesnt look interested in football even though he still produces in most games which is incredible really when you think about it. But to finish my thought, i wouldnt be surprised if we saw a third version of Messi where he will again produce a peak that is very close to his own best....This time a midfield version? He certainly has all the ingredients.
Similar things i saw in 2014 i see now but on a much smaller scale, most times he doesnt look interested in football even though he still produces in most games which is incredible really when you think about it. But to finish my thought, i wouldnt be surprised if we saw a third version of Messi where he will again produce a peak that is very close to his own best....This time a midfield version? He certainly has all the ingredients.
Hmmm using the phrase 'cheat code' for a player who either has or had an exemption to use HGH
I honestly think there's still a huge gap between the two. Neymar may be the best player in the world in a year or two, but that'll be because Messi and Ronaldo's levels have dropped incredibly, not because Neymar made a huge leap.
I would love to see him eventually take on a kind of Pirlo role as a deeplying playmaker who's first thought after playing a pass isn't to follow it or get in an around the box.
He's shown on a few occasions thay he can track back and he knows how to use his body so well to retrieve the ball (a time against aguero springs to mind). Given time and space, there's no reason why he can't be one of the worlds best central midfield players age 35 and beyond.
He's shown on a few occasions thay he can track back and he knows how to use his body so well to retrieve the ball (a time against aguero springs to mind). Given time and space, there's no reason why he can't be one of the worlds best central midfield players age 35 and beyond.
His dribbling is so interesting because he doesn't really dribble. He never does fancy step overs or flicks like Ronaldo and Ronaldinho did. Instead, he just runs with the ball as if running between cones. It really is something else. His close control, acceleration, balance, ability to stop in an instant and his agility makes fancy dribbling redundant for him - it would only slow him down. He makes it look too easy.
Why everyone gives an excuse to a finished player like him?
He's clearly past it and wouldn't be a top scorer in the Scotish premier league.
He's clearly past it and wouldn't be a top scorer in the Scotish premier league.
Pretty much.
Maybe. I think if Neymar scored more goals, it'd be a tighter argument. His finishing really lets him down.
Other than that, there's not that much between the 2 IMO. Messi's a superior passer, but I think Neymar has eclipsed him in dribbling and he's more explosive now. And he's performed better than Messi in the big games lately.
Will be curious to see how the 2 perform in the remaining big games.
Not even close. I don't think Neymar is anywhere near second best in the world either.
Compared to when he was 16? Yes. Compared to 2011? No. You just see more of it now. His spatial awareness, passing, decision making have remained largely the same since he was 21. Mostly because they were humanely impossible to improve. Messi's natural instictive grasp for the game was already at an uncoachable level when he was 16.
The only thing he improved on during his career since he was 21 is his ability with his right foot. Everything else could not really be improved(i mean big improvements). That's why he's one of the 3 greatest players of all time
Interesting. Who do you have as the 2nd best player behind Messi then?
I don't really know, hard to tell, but for example Suarez is much better player than Neymar IMO.
He's not. Watch them for barcelona. Naymar's been consistently better aside from a 4 months spell in spring 2016
His free kicks have improved a lot too.
Yes, that too
Sensational and majestic as ever
Neymar has been far their worst player out of the front three this season all until the PSG games. He hardly scores in the league whenever they don't score 4 or 5 goals.
Doesn't he have the most no of assists and chances created among MSN in the league? So shouldn't be that crap.
He's created more chances than anybody in europe. If he didn't forget how to score he'd be the best player in the world this season. He's consistently their best player on the pitch in terms of performances. It's him and Messi, Suarez mostly converts what they create for him. They're probably the 3 best players in the world though, so there's not much of a difference. Except when Messi enters God-Mode
And yet, he's the top scorer in La Liga?
There is no chance Suarez is better than Neymar at anything other than finishing. Suarez, imo, is inferior to what he used to be. He's great at finishing now but overall, Messi and Neymar are just better footballers.
Football won't be the same when he retires. I already hate when Barca go out early in the Champions League because I want to see him in the big games while he's still the best.