Some rare highlights of Messi in Spanish division 3 at sixteen years of age.
Lionel Messi
- Thread starter Scarecrow
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Most of these clips above are from 2004 and early 2005 when he was 17 years old. For Barcelona B, I believe.
God, some of the 'tackles' he faced. 
Looks like one of Maradona's compilations because of that.God, some of the 'tackles' he faced.
It's crazy that although there's a hype around young players like never before (Mbappe, Sancho, Felix, Haaland, Havertz, Fati, ...) not a single one of them looks even remotely as talented as Messi.
I wonder when we get to see the next talent in the prodigy category of Maradona, R9, Messi, etc.
I wonder when we get to see the next talent in the prodigy category of Maradona, R9, Messi, etc.
Even then his dribbling, passing and vision looked elite.
It's not crazy at all. And the idea that it's crazy is one of the things that bothers me when people judge other players and use Ronaldo or Messi as examples. These two are all time greats, they are among the 10 best players of all time.
Pure, undiluted, raw talent. The sheer ferocity and drive of his running with the ball is unlike anything else. Just exhilarating to watch.
A Piranha among goldfish.
Yes and no. They're an unfair benchmark, that's correct, but in the past there was almost always a talent of that level around. I exclude Cristiano because although he's obviously insanely talented, IMO he never was one of these prodigies. Messi really entered the scene around 2005, roughly 10 years prior to that there was R9's incredible PSV, Barca and Inter years. Before Ronaldo, there was Maradona and before him Zico. And if you go back even further, there were Cruyff, Best, Beckenbauer, Pele, di Stefano and Puskas all playing relatively simultaneously.
So although we like to call Messi or R9 "once in a lifetime talents" the term "once in a decade" would be more accurate. Of course not all of them utilize their potential like Messi did but at least there's someone of that category around. IMO no talent currently around looks as good as those guys at the same age. The most talented is IMO Neymar and he''s having a pretty underwhelming career as of now given his talent. Mbappe and Sancho are great but IMO belong in Cristiano's category of talent.
But you are confirming my point, you have basically named 10 players from the last 70 years. These type of players aren't predictable since this status is based on consistency and longevity at the very top, there are many players that have played around Messi's level and were unplayable for a short while but what separates all time greats with the rest is that it's their average level or close to it. The likes of Robben and Ribéry have done it, Salah was like that a couple of years ago, for Suarez it was around 2014/2015 but Messi or Ronaldo are always like that, that's the difference.
If you take Mbappé as an example, he is close to what these players have been doing at the same age and he has done it in CL and at international level but whether he is in the same category will only be determined in the next decade because for him now it's all about consistency and longevity.
And I pesonally don't think that Ronaldo is in a different category to Cristiano Ronaldo. When you take into account the fact that the portuguese has been extremely consistent for more than a decade and that he is one of the most physically and technically gifted players that we have ever seen, I'm bemused by people putting him in an inferior category.
https://www.theguardian.com/football/2020/feb/04/barcelona-meltdown-lionel-messi-eric-abidal
A lot of unrest in the Barca camp. I don't even know why they want to air their dirty laundry in public. Imagine if it was Rashford or De Gea who said it against the Man Utd board.
A lot of unrest in the Barca camp. I don't even know why they want to air their dirty laundry in public. Imagine if it was Rashford or De Gea who said it against the Man Utd board.
Imagine? The fans would adore them forever.
Thank you so much for that. Was a treat. Best player of all time. Wonderful talent, dribbling and his weight of pass just oozes machismo
I read on a barcasite that he has been playing with an injury for some time now.
Messi could walk out after this season for free if he wants? That can’t be true, surely? How’d they manage to paint themseleves into that particular corner?
Imagine the damage done if he'd have come out blaming individual players. Abidal could have chosen his words a little better but Messi is being a bit daft here.
Do you think Lionel Andrés Messi Cuccittini and his agent don't have the leverage of writing an exit clause into his contract? Specially after all the years of service and the trophies he has given to the club? His contract runs down in 2021 anyway.
I think he'll stay. His entire life is in Barcelona and other than maybe giving it a go for a season with his childhood club Newells Old Boys, I don't see him uprooting his family. More likely he gets Abidal removed if this doesn't quite down soon.
Well, Abidal should've kept his mouth shut. Messi acted like a captain and spoke out, trying to defend his teammates.
Abidal got out of line and discussed team issues in public. That's just a daft thing to do.
To be honest, who can afford Messi wages anyway if he walks out from Barca? Surely he won't join Real Madrid, but who else can pay this salary? Maybe PSG?
He earns 84m a year in salary and winnings.
Yeah, probably. He’s the real president of Barcelona.
@RedRonaldo probably a few more clubs, none he’d go to in any case.
Yep, especially because he isn't a pundit and he's their DoF, iirc? Also added that bolded bit to your first sentenceWell, Abidal should've kept his mouth shut. Messi acted like a captain and spoke out, trying to defend his teammates (& himself, I'm sure).
Abidal got out of line and discussed team issues in public. That's just a daft thing to do.
Messi being Messi behind closed doors.. Nothing to see here.
This is a dumb take. The board is insanely toxic and to go to the press to make a false claim blaming the players is a joke. The point of naming individual players is that there aren’t really any to name. That’s the point of what Messi is saying. Abidal is full of it. He’s a puppet for the board.
It’s about time Messi spoke up against the board that is driving this team into the ground
Messi is being a captain and defending his teammates.
Messi has a point. The directors should do their jobs and take responsibility of their actions. Barca's transfer has been a mess since Neymar's transfer to PSG, their coach quality since Pep resignation is questionable, and they failed to find a replacement for Suarez this winter. It weakens the chance for Messi to win the league and also another UCL.
If Messi was so concerned about winning a league or UCL title, he'd start playing with Griezmann instead of doing pretty much anything not to give him the ball. Also, when you're asking that much money making sure your club can't really buy another good player without taking the total payroll throguh the roof, you can't complain too much about who's recruited or not. Obviously the board is toxic but the "all in on Messi" strategy isn't working that great atm.
*glances at table of La Liga winners over past 10 years*
Your point? It's a new season and the team isn't working, for several reasons but the fact that Messi doesn't seem interested in creating any kind of relationship with Griezmann on the pitch is one of them.
Messi is the de facto president of Barcelona. And he clearly has a point here against Abidal. But I think time has come for Messi and Barcelona to part ways, his wages is hindering in their recruitment, if he stays couple of years more and then leave, the dent it will leave on Barcelona will be of similar magnitude as United faced when Sir Alex left, so it is better it is done right now, when most big clubs are in rebuilding phase.
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Messi has been playing through pain more or less since September when he first strained the adductor of his left thigh. Setién's training methodology hasn't improved it; in fact, it's aggravated it a little more. It's much more plausible that playing hurt is the determinable reason for the above, than a simple lack of desire or will on his part.
Agree 100%. This is all on management and their awful job of recruitment. I've never seen a club spent so much on transfers without addressing any of their weaknesses.
United can do with a left footed right winger. just saying.
The fact that he's injured doesn't help but on many occasions i've seen him trying to connect with Ansu Fati when Griezmann was in better position.
Messi "earns" that kind of salary, just like CR7 in real madrid. They did not rob their clubs. They fully deserve it. The same can't be said for Sanchez or Ozil at the moment.
Granted, but then there's the countless other times that he's slipped Griezmann in through on goal one-on-one with the keeper with a mercurial pass when it seemed that Perez, Fati or Suarez was the more obvious and preferable option. But perhaps the main consideration, especially since Griezmann has brought this up himself, is that those other players are more familiar with how the system moves around Messi, whereas, Griezmann is still trying to adapt from the Simeone way of playing to the Barca way of playing. I'm not saying Messi hasn't decided against the easy pass to Antoine, but I don't want to make any assumptions about his personal motivations because I cannot prove it.
I've never said they were robbing their clubs, but I can say that with salaries like that, they're hindering their clubs abilities to rebuild a team. Now obviously the board is to blame as well because they wasted a fortune on Dembele and Coutinho and it didn't pay off. But surely, giving Messi 100M/year doesn't help.
It is the board's responsibility to look after the finance of the club and also to rebuild the team, not Messi. Messi and CR7 are superstars and with superstar salary. I didn't see anyone back then complained about Michael Jordan's salary in Chicago and he hindered the club's ability to build a team.
Messi salary does not hinder the club in any way, especially with the return they get from him. What hinders the club is throwing close to €300 million in the trash with the purchases of Dembele and Coutinho. If that wasn't enough they went and made the same mistake again with Griezmann for €120 million. One panic purchase after another, without any vision..truly incompetent management. It was written in the sky that Coutinho and Griezmann would not be good fits.
Come on, we all know what happened for years between CR7 and Messi and the massive ego race to know who has the highest salary. That's the reason why Perez decided to let Cristiano go. Obviously nobody forces the board to give Messi this insane salary but nobody wants to be the manager who lost Messi in Barcelona, so they keep on paying more and more to the point where it becomes ridiculous.
Great exemple mentionning the bulls, what happened after Jordan left because they couldn't renew their team? No playoffs for 6 years straight and 1 single conference final in more than 20 years. Brilliant.
On the other hand, Dwayne Wade left 18M on the table to bring the big three to Miami (and so did Bosh and Lebron) and we all know what happened. That's team players.