Lionel Messi
- Thread starter cesc's_mullet
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Henry has that arrogance that opposition fans might take offence to. He was unreal at arsenal in the premiership but i don't think he was admired amongst fans the way Messi is now. His personality on the pitch i think is what makes it maybe a bit easier for fans to show appreciation.
Who is that number 20?
Edit: It was Dani Alves, what a pass
If you just click on the video and open it in youtube you can click high quality making it much easier to see what's going on.
Irrelevant to the point you made about performances, but I agree. Henry was never likeable for opposition fans, neither is Ronaldo. Messi is.
Although his personality on the pitch has it's own laws too, such as spitting...
Ronaldo at Messi's age wasn't half as petulant as he is now, as the years go on I'm sure the constant kicking gets frustrating so Messi might well lose his temper in the same way Ronaldo does now and lose some of his admiring opposition fans in some sense.
Maybe.
Maybe and maybe not. The "spitting incident" was so low key and basically i question it. He spat, players spit all the time, i'm sure on the pitch i may have once spat on a player accidently. Maybe Messi was jesturing to that player and spat in his direction, but it was one time and it was no Diouf.
As for getting frustrated i think he might have learned at a young age not to react. His debut for Argentina was one to forget for Messi, coming onto the pitch he was fouled and was using his arms to shrug off his tackler. THe ref interpreted it as an elbow and sent Messi off minutes into his national debut.
He said recently that he doesn't care about being fouled, that it is part of football and it doesn't make a difference if he complains. However he also said that if he feels a player is kicking him deliberately he will say something.
He really is the best footballer in the world this season, by quite some margin.
If/when Ronaldo does regain his form of last season (which I'm confident will happen eventually) he's gonna have to be absolutely phenomenal if he wants to win individual honours again.
If/when Ronaldo does regain his form of last season (which I'm confident will happen eventually) he's gonna have to be absolutely phenomenal if he wants to win individual honours again.
Messi is god. He's just such a joy to watch, who cares about stepovers if you can get a perfect shoulder drop.
Aye. That's one of Ronaldo's flaws, IMO.
He doesn't seem to be able to beat players with feints and changes of direction in the way that Messi, Robben or Giggs does.
Sometimes the simplest way to beat a player is the most effective. Trying to stand your defender up, then beat him with fancy footwork, just gives more time for cover to arrive. Which is why I sometimes think Ronaldo does his best work when he does the old-fashioned "kick the ball past the defender and run like the clappers" tactic. Bollox to step-overs, says I.
I'd hardly call it a flaw, cause it's incredibly hard to do. How Messi does it is unbelievable. The scary thing is he manages to do it consistently even Giggs could never beat a man this easily. What's been disappointing with Ronaldo's game recently is that he hardly tries to take on a man any more, seems more keen to get a cross in or a pass.
It's not easy. But this is a fabulous player we're talking about.
One of the best shoulder drops I ever saw was some footage of the Law-man twisting the hell out of someone on the half-way line, before running almost the length of the pitch and scoring. I've tried digging it out on youtube but no joy. It was a cracking goal.
Messi has that frenetic movement and agility, like a Jason Robinson. Makes him naturally unpredictable and a absolute nightmare to defend against.
Beating your man is one of the hardest things in football; Messi does it to the extent that you'd assume it was one of the easiest had you never played before.
Messi is head and shoulders the best player in the world now, and I'd probably go as far as to say that he is well on his way to surpassing the Ronaldinho of a few years ago.
Messi is head and shoulders the best player in the world now, and I'd probably go as far as to say that he is well on his way to surpassing the Ronaldinho of a few years ago.
The incredible thing about Messi is how predictable he actually is. You know he is going to do the same things match in match out, yet there is absolutely nothing anyone can do to stop it. Apart from foul him viciously. He makes what he does look so easy and so routine. Yet it's the hardest of things to do.
Just imagine that Barca team with this Messi and the great Ronaldinho of 2005,2006
Unstoppable.
That would be a disgustingly good team. Ronaldinho and Messi are probably the two most gifted footballers to emerge since the turn of the millennium.
Would of been an absolute joy to watch.
Here's a video of Ronaldinho againest Chelsea at the Nou Camp a few years back:
He links up with Messi a couple of times, specially at 35 seconds in. And this was when Chelsea had the meaniest defence on the planet.
Such a shame he couldnt keep up this level of performance.
I don't think there will be a player more skillful, intelligent and creative than Ronaldinho in this generation but Messi will go on to be better. It's incredible he's so good at such a young age.
Just imagine Messi in this United team with Ronaldo on form.
My hypothesis had more chances of happening.
@John Terry acting like a twat at the end and in the goal Ronnie scored @ Makelele and Paulo Ferreira at 01:26 @Ferreira in general Messi is a brilliant player and will be remember among the greats but I don't know if his style of play will ever be as mesmerizing as Ronaldinho .
Its wrong. Not taking anything from Ronaldinho here, but in terms of dominating the opponents Messi is already in a different level inspite of being one footed and a lesser allround goal threat. Our Ronaldo on his day would've timed those flicks and cheeky passes better than Ronnie.
I'm not just talking about this match but overall when Ronaldinho was on top of his game ,I've never seen opponent players getting fooled like that by dribbles ,feints and all. I'm not taking anything away from Messi but I prefer Ronaldinho's style of dribbling , it's much more spectacular.
For me C.Ronaldo has never reached that level of entertainment but maybe it's my personal opinion and somebody else will have his own. I mean the guy did a flick with his back in a competitive match , how cool is that ?
Well, it depends on how you define mesmerizing...Fat Ronaldo, Giggs and Messi can blow away opponents as if they were not present. Ronaldinho, Zidane etal can entertain the crowd a lot and more eye catching to watch. However handy it appears its only the end product that stacks them up in a some order.
I'm not taking end product into account here (it's not as if Ronaldinho was another Denilson anyway), just pure entertainment.
Yeah Ronaldhino was a real entertainer. But personally it was his ability with the ball that I loved. The sometimes superfluous flicks and stuff (something the old C. Ronaldo was often guilty of) never really impressed me.
For me Messi's ability to blitz past and through people is the greatest sight in football since F. Ronaldo in his prime.
For me Messi's ability to blitz past and through people is the greatest sight in football since F. Ronaldo in his prime.
According to Revista de la liga, there are concerns about Messi off the field in the past year or so, part of the Ronaldinho and Deco saga. Apparently Messi was the only one to miss the last training session before christmas, and then was late to the first training session of the new year - and there was a young Barcelona player who Ballague speaks to, who spoke of the same concern he had about Deco and Ronaldinho in the dressing room, with regards to Messi too.
They were also saying that once a player sees how important to a club they are and what they can get away with, its hard for them to turn back. This would of course be something that applies to Ronaldo too.
They were also saying that once a player sees how important to a club they are and what they can get away with, its hard for them to turn back. This would of course be something that applies to Ronaldo too.
It's a very interesting point, but a key part of the whole basis to that story is the name highlighted. I think he shows a nice understanding of football in general, but he has a distinct tendency to turn any very untrustworthy rumours into things that they aren't, and puts them across as something that he's quite sure is true.
Bit of a media whore IMO.
Barca's quintet of attacking players back then was just one of the most awesome attacking forces in the history of football. It boggles the mind to think of it. The most dazzling player in a long time and easily the best in the world in Ronaldinho on one wing, the most talented youngster in 25 years on the other, possible the best striker in the world feeding on them and having it orchestrated by Xavi and Deco, both players with very valid claims to being the best playmaker in the world at the time (although deco edged it for me then). And they actually played as a coherent team, unlike real's 'galacticos'. I'm not sure if it's even possible to improve on such an attacking unit.
That game against Real when Ronaldinho scored a brace stands out for me. It wasn't just the quality of the goals, barca were absolutely ripping them to shreds. Messi went past carlos everytime he had the ball, ronaldinho was sparkling with overhead passes and what not (and like so many other big games, scored some great goals) and deco absolutely took the piss with his passing in midfield.
Well, I'm not sure I believe him when it comes to transfers since he told us Torres was coming to United... Though he gets them right every now and again obviously.
But I do believe him when he says that he knows and talks to players at the clubs. I've got no reason to doubt that to be honest. And thats what he's saying, that its from a Barcelona player.
none of these lads have anything on a young giggsy. still the best sight in sport is giggsy running with a football. glided on the pitch with tons of pace and grace.
Ronaldo is the best forward that I have ever seen.
I'm sometimes guilty of being a bit too nostalgic, but even the young Giggs wasn't on Messi's level.
If Ronaldinho did that in England, it would be called showboating
What a team they had back then, mind you their squad as a whole is bigger/better now anyway.
I was laughing at "f. Ronaldo". I think he's the best I've seen too.
Indeed. For me the thing that sums up the difference between Ronaldinho and Messi is Ronaldinho's goal vs an in form Cech at Stamford Bridge. I'm convinced only Fat Ronaldo in his hey day or Maradona could pull such a thing off.
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