They often do turn out wrong.
I see something special in this kid, though. Like when I watched Messi and Rooney at a young age. You just knew. Dembélé has that about him too. 18 assists this season!
Lionel Messi - Performances
- Thread starter Rado_N
- Start date
They often do turn out wrong.
I see something special in this kid, though. Like when I watched Messi and Rooney at a young age. You just knew. Dembélé has that about him too. 18 assists this season!
You have a point but Messi was something else entirely at the same age.
IMO Messi is still at his best when he's as close to the box as possible. If Barca want to compete for trophies again they really have to nail the next transferwindow and buy a good CM who can share the playmaking with Messi.
Yeah. Despite how good Messi has been this year, there's just too much burden on him to score as well as dictate and create. Their midfield is average right now and I think Iniesta needs to be replaced. Rakitic and Busquets are still quality but Iniesta needs to be replaced by someone (not Coutinho)
He didnt show the shirt to the Madrid fans, but the Barca ones? That was my impression during the game and now seeing the pictures, where he looks up
Who though?
I wonder what the chances are of buying Thiago back. What a shame he left.
Sign Verratti and they're laughing. Their finances are a bit of a mess, though.
Players like Gomes will improve next season. There's more to come from Denis Suárez as well. Iniesta will play even less.
His first goal was phenomenal, scored two against a superior Madrid side and has got Barca back into the title fight.
Don't think I've ever seen a player with better balance. Maybe Maradonna? The two of them are streets ahead of the next best.
Barca compete for trophies this season as well. Only in CL they messed up big time. The target here is not competing for trophies but winning them. This team has won 5/6 big titles in the last 2 years.
They should go for Verratti, even if unlikely, but if anyone can pull it off, then it would be Barca.
I thought they should have bought Pjanic last year, for 25m or whatever it was.
That celebration was really fecking cool.
Viva!!! The best of all time. No player comes close he's in a different league to any player playing the game right now.
Anyone have a picture taken from the crowd with him holding the jersey up?
You just knew it was only a matter of time before he stamped his mark on a Clasico.
Words can no longer describe his magic.
The best. The greatest. The Messiah.
Words can no longer describe his magic.
The best. The greatest. The Messiah.
Best celebration I've ever seen in my opinion. A late winner against your biggest rivals in their stadium, that was a moment of history and that image will be immortal.
Adebayors was better
Yeah, take your shirt off and show everyone your name for 10 seconds (like they didn't already know) then cross yourself like some imaginary being in the sky has anointed you. Very humble.
What's the obsession with players being humble. False modesty is incredibly annoying. He is one of the best of all times..
That goal yesterday was simply amazing.
That goal yesterday was simply amazing.
Simply an iconic moment. Snatching the winner in a Clasico in injury time. We have witnessed history.
Burning an indellable mark on the soul of your enemy that will no doubt become an iconic reference to the devestation he has heaped upon them in Clasico's has to include humility why?
That was the ultimate 'Leo woz 'ere.' gesture that can never be scrubbed away. More a statement of fact than anything to do with ego, anyway: he has been the ultimate thorn in the side for them and yesterday essentially was the cementation of that. None of the opposing players or support who were there will forget what he did last night, same goes for a vast majority of the watching millions around the world.
I loved the celebration only because I knew it'd have the Ronaldo fanboys frothing and that's always amusing.
Greatest of all time.
How many accounts does Cal have?
I'd have Best up there also.
This might be the best celebration I've ever seen. *bows*
Just since the highlights. Both goals were brilliant.
Absolute genius.
Absolute genius.
Do you think in that crazy moment of euphoria, he still knows he hasn't a yellow card and therefore he can allow himself that kinda celebration? Booking him there is stupid IMHO, the game has gotten way too soft, as long as the players doesn't do insulting gestures and signs, he shouldn't be booked.
I think seperating the fanboyism from the objective discussion of where Messi stands on the all-time podium is becoming more interesting and complex as he ages. Those that pop up in here after any good performance and declare: 'GOAT' don't really aid constructive discussion - especially so as they don't say a word after performances like the Juve game - but a few elements regarding Messi are undeniably forging themselves in his body of work now that could only be proven over time.
29 is an age where the other two who are probably his only competition at the very, very top gave their last hurrahs. After that, they were no longer a patch on their former selves and it could be fairly said that younger stars began to shine brighter than either of them (Mueller, Beckenbauer, Cruyff etc; Gullit, Van Basten, Baggio, etc) and that they were no longer in contention as the world's best player.
Wherever you stand on the body of work of any of the three of them before the age of 30, Messi has the chance to take longevity to another level in regards to discussion within this select group and actually leave the others in the dust in this department should he continue along his current path where he is clearly no longer at the peak of his powers but can still post up performances and stats like he has done this season into his 30's.
It seems more like a case of motivation for Messi as opposed to his body being wrecked to the point he can no longer get it to do what he wants ala what Pelé experienced by 30. There's no doubt that the horrendous fouls and hardships both Pelé and Maradona had to endure hastened their decline by a degree that might have to be factored in if Messi does continue along this season's performance output for another 2-3 or 3-4 seasons (and there's not much reason why he shouldn't outside of his own zeal) as he, and what he shows capable of would not be unfair markers for what could have been for the other two (certainly Pelé - Maradona's addiction issues are another discussion entirely) had their footballing lives at the top ended organically.
I don't know if it is the same for others with an objective curiosity about proper 'GOAT' discussions, but I am finding Messi's 'bottom-level' far more interesting than his peaks or top-end performances. Alongside Pelé, he has the best 'bottom-level' the game has yet seen, I think, and it is testament to Messi that in a season where most can agree that he does appear to be waning a bit (in comparison to himself of bygone years) that he can still be: on course to score 50 goals in a season; be the likely pichichi; be absolutely instrumental for his team and still have the capability to perform like he did last night.
I've thought for a long time now that the gulf between Messi and the next contender for current best in the world is completely on Messi and not the challengers behind him. As I said previously, his seems to be a case of motivation over anything else, and when he is motivated, he still puts in performances nobody else active can get near. Even in decline, given a predictive line for him waning and the next one (let's say Neymar) ascending, or even maintaining their best for a couple of seasons, is vast. Along those lines, unless some new all-time great player (let's say Mbappe is the real deal) emerges and immediately finds himself in BPITW discussions, Messi still has at least two years on anyone active as the best in the world, if not more, as assuming his motivation remains, it will simply be a case of others catching up when his [Messi's] body starts to fail, rather than them closing the gap of their own volition.
My own assumption is that Messi is a long way from done and that this will be a nadir for Barcelona as a season before they re-tool themselves properly over the summer and actually give him a supporting midfield and defence once again that will allow him to focus more on his own game than that of others as he has had to do throughout this season. He has one last realisitic roll of the dice for the World Cup next year, but that ship might have sailed by now, and the next question for purists will be whether his club form can match Puskas and Di Stefano's into his 30's and negate that somewhat anyway.
It will be interesting to see where Messi's career goes over the next couple of seasons. I think he is perfectly capable of usurping this one by a strong margin to the point some will say he is resurgent when really, we'll just be seeing him in a functional team once more. He's a long, long way from being done as the best player in the world. If he does manage that, we'll have witnessed the longest time at the very top any footballer has had throughout his career, which is a merit in itself that not even Maradona or Pelé can contest.
29 is an age where the other two who are probably his only competition at the very, very top gave their last hurrahs. After that, they were no longer a patch on their former selves and it could be fairly said that younger stars began to shine brighter than either of them (Mueller, Beckenbauer, Cruyff etc; Gullit, Van Basten, Baggio, etc) and that they were no longer in contention as the world's best player.
Wherever you stand on the body of work of any of the three of them before the age of 30, Messi has the chance to take longevity to another level in regards to discussion within this select group and actually leave the others in the dust in this department should he continue along his current path where he is clearly no longer at the peak of his powers but can still post up performances and stats like he has done this season into his 30's.
It seems more like a case of motivation for Messi as opposed to his body being wrecked to the point he can no longer get it to do what he wants ala what Pelé experienced by 30. There's no doubt that the horrendous fouls and hardships both Pelé and Maradona had to endure hastened their decline by a degree that might have to be factored in if Messi does continue along this season's performance output for another 2-3 or 3-4 seasons (and there's not much reason why he shouldn't outside of his own zeal) as he, and what he shows capable of would not be unfair markers for what could have been for the other two (certainly Pelé - Maradona's addiction issues are another discussion entirely) had their footballing lives at the top ended organically.
I don't know if it is the same for others with an objective curiosity about proper 'GOAT' discussions, but I am finding Messi's 'bottom-level' far more interesting than his peaks or top-end performances. Alongside Pelé, he has the best 'bottom-level' the game has yet seen, I think, and it is testament to Messi that in a season where most can agree that he does appear to be waning a bit (in comparison to himself of bygone years) that he can still be: on course to score 50 goals in a season; be the likely pichichi; be absolutely instrumental for his team and still have the capability to perform like he did last night.
I've thought for a long time now that the gulf between Messi and the next contender for current best in the world is completely on Messi and not the challengers behind him. As I said previously, his seems to be a case of motivation over anything else, and when he is motivated, he still puts in performances nobody else active can get near. Even in decline, given a predictive line for him waning and the next one (let's say Neymar) ascending, or even maintaining their best for a couple of seasons, is vast. Along those lines, unless some new all-time great player (let's say Mbappe is the real deal) emerges and immediately finds himself in BPITW discussions, Messi still has at least two years on anyone active as the best in the world, if not more, as assuming his motivation remains, it will simply be a case of others catching up when his [Messi's] body starts to fail, rather than them closing the gap of their own volition.
My own assumption is that Messi is a long way from done and that this will be a nadir for Barcelona as a season before they re-tool themselves properly over the summer and actually give him a supporting midfield and defence once again that will allow him to focus more on his own game than that of others as he has had to do throughout this season. He has one last realisitic roll of the dice for the World Cup next year, but that ship might have sailed by now, and the next question for purists will be whether his club form can match Puskas and Di Stefano's into his 30's and negate that somewhat anyway.
It will be interesting to see where Messi's career goes over the next couple of seasons. I think he is perfectly capable of usurping this one by a strong margin to the point some will say he is resurgent when really, we'll just be seeing him in a functional team once more. He's a long, long way from being done as the best player in the world. If he does manage that, we'll have witnessed the longest time at the very top any footballer has had throughout his career, which is a merit in itself that not even Maradona or Pelé can contest.
I think you'd always be aware that you don't have a yellow. It's Messi. He's aware of where every player around him on the pitch are at all times, I'd hazard a guess he'd have the presence of mind to remember he's not on a yellow.
This can't be said enough, but what a celebration. It feels like the perfect culmination of every dicking he's served to Real all these years. Arrogant Messi is much more palatable than fake humble Messi, in my opinion. He's the greatest player ever. There's no need to be nice to his rivals, especially Real Madrid.
One can dream.
The guy plays like an angel with wings. What a player.
To be fair, the rule was already there. It's a ridiculous rule but the ref has to book him. Iniesta was booked for showing a message for Puerta, wasn't he?
To be fair, the rule was already there. It's a ridiculous rule but the ref has to book him. Iniesta was booked for showing a message for Puerta, wasn't he?
The speed of touch for the first goal is just insane, there's not another player in the world capable of that in such a tiny amount of space. It's a matrix moment, this guy is the one I'm sure of it
He's incredible, best I've ever seen. He looks like he doesn't give a feck but can still pull stuff like that off.
No one said it was humble.
It's like the Cantona v Sunderland celebration. Skirting between arrogant and brilliant and it just works.
Don't be so bitter.
Fantastic performance. Why didn't he play like that agains Juve? Is is because they are much better at defending than Real or Messi wasn't motivated for some reason?
This...
Ronaldo has always had the most arrogant and egocentric celebrations (if you describe this celebration as such, imo even for Ronaldo its usually PRIDE motivated) yet this is the most you've seen? Ronaldo was and is the type of player to run off after scoring a team goal (and that being said hes probably my favourite player to watch of all time, at least when he was with Utd).
This is one of few instances if any I can remember of Messi being noticeably PROUD.
Agreed. It's great to see players show emotion. It felt pre-staged but nonetheless it was perfect all the same. Enjoyed it.