Lionel Messi | PSG Watch

It’s embodiment of his career. He’s working hard, and has completely belief in himself that he can push himself further when everything points him hit being able to reach that level. It’s not getting him down, he’s not tuning away from it. That’s the killer mindset. Not reportedly fecking off to MLS after spending 2 years in France when he’s still in amongst the top 10 players in world football.
Not being comfortable in a poor Barca side and being forced to leave due to financial rules. That’s not a man pushing his career as far as he can and that elite mindset is 100 percent a factor in sports. It’s actually the first time I’ve ever seen it downplayed and, surprise surprise, it’s because one side of Ronaldo v Messi has that in his favour. As good as Messi is, he does have a history of settling imo. Should have left Barca a lot earlier, should never have went to France and the MLS is a travesty

Such nonsense. Messi was regularly playing at 16 and has made the 14th most senior appearances of any footballer ever. He's played more games than Ryan Giggs and Paolo Maldini FYI. He is more than entitled to go play MLS when he's 36.
 
:lol: Some of this stuff is cracking (ly stupid). Bet you're one of those numpties who thinks that Sir Alex got lazy and comfy at United whereas Jose-got-sacked-a lot Mourinho is the true greatest ever football manager.

Now apparently you aren't allowed to leave Europe at the age of 35/36 when you have almost nothing to prove given you're obviously the best of your era, because some raging Ronnie fan will cry / boast ? about you lacking the proper mentality while their hero stinks up the PL and fans can't wait to get rid.

Comical stuff.
:lol: too true
 
This is the important point. Messi was at Newells as a kid and they couldn't afford the treatment that he needed. Barca stepped in and agreed to take him as a player and pay for the treatment. He therefore felt loyalty towards them as they were largely responsible for him being able to have a professional career.

He did not want to leave even at the time that he did; if he'd had his way, he would probably have been a career Barca player (with perhaps a late stint in MLS or back in Argentina). Because he was not able to stay longer, he was denied a proper farewell in front of the Barca fans, which is sad because his tenure there was by far the most successful in the club's history. The same cannot be said for any of Ronaldo's periods at his clubs.
He went to River Plate who was going to pay for his treatment but Newells refused to realese him, lucky for him Barcelona apperared and the rest it´s what we all know.
 
It’s embodiment of his career. He’s working hard, and has completely belief in himself that he can push himself further when everything points him hit being able to reach that level. It’s not getting him down, he’s not tuning away from it. That’s the killer mindset. Not reportedly fecking off to MLS after spending 2 years in France when he’s still in amongst the top 10 players in world football.
Not being comfortable in a poor Barca side and being forced to leave due to financial rules. That’s not a man pushing his career as far as he can and that elite mindset is 100 percent a factor in sports. It’s actually the first time I’ve ever seen it downplayed and, surprise surprise, it’s because one side of Ronaldo v Messi has that in his favour. As good as Messi is, he does have a history of settling imo. Should have left Barca a lot earlier, should never have went to France and the MLS is a travesty

This post is terrible. Ronaldo left Madrid for one reason only. Money. Madrid didn’t want to pay his new wages. I agree if Messi leaves for MLS after this season it would be weak, but Messi stuck it through with Barca, while Ronaldo wanted to leave United the second things weren’t what he expected. If anything he’s a quitter when the going gets tough.
 
Well, what a surprise, who could've guessed - discussion about Messi turned into Messi vs Ronaldo. I must resist at all costs :drool:
 
Good point, why didn't Sir Alex 'test himself' by going to manage in a non-English speaking country? Rested on his laurels at United. Poor. No killer mentality. Jose meanwhile has 'proved himself' in different leagues therefore Jose >>>>> Fergie.

Do people rate Beckham over Giggs, because Giggs stayed In his comfort zone and Beckham did a alright job for Madrids galacticos?
 
This post is terrible. Ronaldo left Madrid for one reason only. Money. Madrid didn’t want to pay his new wages. I agree if Messi leaves for MLS after this season it would be weak, but Messi stuck it through with Barca, while Ronaldo wanted to leave United the second things weren’t what he expected. If anything he’s a quitter when the going gets tough.

What happened ro players retiring when they want to? Cantona? Messi said Zidane made the right choice to retire on top. This might be the final season before he's finished as one the best in the world. He's got nothing left to prove so why does anything think he cares what Ronnie fanboys think about their circular bullshit.
 
What happened ro players retiring when they want to? Cantona? Messi said Zidane made the right choice to retire on top. This might be the final season before he's finished as one the best in the world. He's got nothing left to prove so why does anything think he cares what Ronnie fanboys think about their circular bullshit.

Ronaldo is also arguably doing more damage to his reputation this season than if he had retired from club football last year. If he still thinks he can play for another four years, he should be careful about how that affects his legacy. A younger generation of fans will end up remembering the immobile, goal poacher forward, not the dribbling, complete forward.
 
Ronaldo is also arguably doing more damage to his reputation this season than if he had retired from club football last year. If he still thinks he can play for another four years, he should be careful about how that affects his legacy. A younger generation of fans will end up remembering the immobile, goal poacher forward, not the dribbling, complete forward.

Exactly. You and @Gehrman are right on the money. There’s going out with dignity and then there is whatever the hell Ronaldo is doing this season.
 
He did not want to leave even at the time that he did; if he'd had his way, he would probably have been a career Barca player (with perhaps a late stint in MLS or back in Argentina). Because he was not able to stay longer, he was denied a proper farewell in front of the Barca fans, which is sad because his tenure there was by far the most successful in the club's history.
Messi stuck it through with Barca, while Ronaldo wanted to leave United the second things weren’t what he expected. If anything he’s a quitter when the going gets tough.

Messi tried to walk out on Barcelona after their most humilliating defeat (8-2 to Bayern) by using a clause that allowed him to unilaterally break his contract. It only failed because the season delays due to coronavirus caused end of season to extend to August and there was ambiguity as to whether the clause was season-dependent or month-dependent. He tried to do this when there were no fans in the stadium. This happened just two years ago. Surely you didn't forget.
 
Messi tried to walk out on Barcelona after their most humilliating defeat (8-2 to Bayern) by using a clause that allowed him to unilaterally break his contract. It only failed because the season delays due to coronavirus caused end of season to extend to August and there was ambiguity as to whether the clause was season-dependent or month-dependent. This happened just two years ago. Surely you didn't forget.

Barto is literally a crook, the BS messi dealt with with Barca's front office and the way they Barto handled literally everything is FAR worse than any self sabatoge Ronaldo faced with any club. Not even close. Barto was destroying the club and forced out rightfully so. Messi was against Barto, not the club. Surely you didn't forget.
 
Barto is literally a crook, the BS messi dealt with with Barca's front office and the way they Barto handled literally everything is FAR worse than any self sabatoge Ronaldo faced with any club. Not even close. Barto was destroying the club and forced out rightfully so. Messi was against Barto, not the club. Surely you didn't forget.
So you are saying Messi tried to flee a club in the process of being destroyed.
 
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Not going to lie - I'd love to see Messi winning World Cup in December and then another CL in May. Ronaldo gave us so much joy but I don't really care much about all those childish Messi-Ronaldo debates that seem to be going on even now in late 2022. They're both gift to football.
 
Bartomeu being bad doesn't matter. It is simply a matter of fact that Messi tried to leave Barcelona, when they had no fans, after a terrible sporting debacle.

Barca had SEVERAL terrible sporting debacles. This wasn't the first sign of problems so he bailed. Not like Ronaldo he often causes bad terms when he leaves. Roma, Liverpool, Bayern, but most of all Barto. Notice how he ended up staying after Barto left and wanted to stay even after losing to PSG 4-1? The issue was always Barto, never forget it.
 
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Exactly. You and @Gehrman are right on the money. There’s going out with dignity and then there is whatever the hell Ronaldo is doing this season.

I think everyone's allowed to go out on their own terms. If an athlete chooses to go out a shell of themselves, playing a bit too long, it's their prerogative. The risk there is tarnishing their image, as you pointed out, because the decreased version of themselves gets entrenched in people's mindsets.
If one chooses to leave while on top, that's also their prerogative. The risk there is leaving trophies and accolades on the table (by retiring).

Ultimately, all that matters and what they'll be remembered by is their body of work. Messi already has the balloon d'or and golden boots records locked up. He's set the all-time sports record for most goals in a season and calendar year. He's set the all-time record for most assists in a calendar year, and total career assists. He could retire tomorrow tomorrow and he'll be remembered as the greatest ever. With Ronaldo, that isn't the case. So he'll have to hang on as long as he can while attempting to rack up more trophies and cumulative totals.
 
Messi tried to walk out on Barcelona after their most humilliating defeat (8-2 to Bayern) by using a clause that allowed him to unilaterally break his contract. It only failed because the season delays due to coronavirus caused end of season to extend to August and there was ambiguity as to whether the clause was season-dependent or month-dependent. He tried to do this when there were no fans in the stadium. This happened just two years ago. Surely you didn't forget.

That's one way to depict it. Leaving out some important details doesn't let you look particularly objective on the matter, though ;)
 
Messi tried to walk out on Barcelona after their most humilliating defeat (8-2 to Bayern) by using a clause that allowed him to unilaterally break his contract. It only failed because the season delays due to coronavirus caused end of season to extend to August and there was ambiguity as to whether the clause was season-dependent or month-dependent. He tried to do this when there were no fans in the stadium. This happened just two years ago. Surely you didn't forget.

There are many conflicting reports on this but let's say for argument's sake that it happened exactly as you say. You think fans of the other guy would be satisfied that Messi didn't 'rest on his laurels' because he was at Barca for 20 years instead of 21? Please be serious,

Me saying 'if he had his way he'd have been a career Barca player' does not mean that the relationship between player and club was always a matter of harmonious kumbaya. This is billion euro elite level sport FFS and he wants to win. But it's pretty clear that he was loyal for a long time to the club that gave him a career. That's just a fact
 


"45 days without seeing our family guys. We had an objective, and we're one step away from getting it done. There are no casualities. You know what? This cup was meant to be played in Argentina. And God brought it here. He brought it here for us to lift it at the Maracaná, and it becomes even more nice for us. Let's go out there calmed and confident, We'll bring this Cup home"
 
That Haifa team is solid, especially away. They beat Juventus (which I admit is not really an achievement these days), gave a gutsy performance against PSG and Benfica and knocked out Red Star in the qualifiers.
They're a decent side. Burnley would probably bend over in the away game, having never experienced what a hostile atmosphere in football actually looks and feels like.
Yeah Haifa team looked really solid today haha, especially away hahaha. Just call a spade a spade mate. Doesn’t take away from the fact that he’s one of the greatest of all time but trying to defending either Messi or Ronaldo to extremes makes no sense to me. Messi needs to win the CL this year for him to have a successful year, goals against these nobody teams and uber eats don’t matter.
 
Or win the WC..

Netflix will be streaming a new documental about the last Copa América with Argentina. In the trailer you can see Messi giving an awesome speech before the final.
 
Worst gane from Messi i’ve ever seen. 2/10 performance. WC mode.
 
Yeah Haifa team looked really solid today haha, especially away hahaha. Just call a spade a spade mate. Doesn’t take away from the fact that he’s one of the greatest of all time but trying to defending either Messi or Ronaldo to extremes makes no sense to me. Messi needs to win the CL this year for him to have a successful year, goals against these nobody teams and uber eats don’t matter.
he doesn’t need to win anything. He’s 35 and he is playing in a club that never won the CL.
 
Worst gane from Messi i’ve ever seen. 2/10 performance. WC mode.

Apart from one great pass to Mpabbe, he didn't really seem to do anything much noteworthy or right. Had one or 2 good dribbles but that was it.
 
Foyth was a calamity
Is he still riding on the brief good spell he had at Villareal ? Never understood what people saw in him, distinctly average :confused:
 
Is he still riding on the brief good spell he had at Villareal ? Never understood what people saw in him, distinctly average :confused:

I think as a left back he can be good in terms of defense. He was doing well there, but he got injured and Hasn't played since August.

I could do the Argentina NT Thread at the WC forum