Lionel Messi Appreciation

gimmick

Clearly this guy is the best player in the world at the moment. Strong on the ball, plays with both feet, loves running at players, amazing passing range and a great goal scorer. He is 21. He should have at least another 10 years ahead of him if he can stay injury free and keep his head together. Are we seeing the beginnings on the best player the world has seen since Maradonna (who calls Messi his "successor"), or another flash in the pan?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LYmghqczklU

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bLW4DKoncvM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KZnUr8lcqjo

monkey9

He's very good at football!

He also looks like the preacher guy in 'There Will Be Blood'.

eZe^

BPITW.

kingshankly

without doubt an absoloute genius and the best footballer in the world but there is no way i would swap him for stevie g who in my biased opinion is more valuable for his ability to play in several positions

Royale with Cheese

gimmick wrote: »

Are we seeing the beginnings on the best player the world has seen since Maradonna?

Yes, yes we are.

ntlbell

I would of thought today would be the day for Stevie G appreciation no?

he's definitely clicking at messi's heels.

whatawaster

i thnk Messi is the best player many of us will have ever seen, or are likely to ever see

5starpool

If Messi doesn't sweep the world/european awards next time out then there is something wrong in the world of football. Scary that he is still only 21 as well.

Such as exciting player to watch.

Dcully

He is such a brilliant player, the best in the world without doubt.
Closely followed by Gerrard imo.

monkey9

5starpool wrote: »

If Messi doesn't sweep the world/european awards next time out then there is something wrong in the world of football. Scary that he is still only 21 as well.

Such as exciting player to watch.

He's only 21??? Je$us H Christ!!!!!!

itsjaybud

The best player in the world full stop imo!:) would prefer to have him playing in a team even over Ronaldo last season! An exceptional talent with the right attitude!

Bubs101

I'm not a United fan by any stretch of the imagination but I'd have Ronaldo as the equal of him. He might not be as beautiful as a player but he's just as effective and as a legit threat in the air has one more attacking avenue than Messi

itsjaybud

Obviously theres no taking away from Ronaldos outstanding performances last season and the number of goals he scored but for me i think it boils down to his attitude when playing that i tend to lean towards being alot more of a messi fan! Overall i think i prefer watching messi play and have alot more respect for him.

Goals do win you games and Ronaldo sure does get alotof them but i dunno this season for him was summed up saturday against fulham, it really does look like the accolades he has recieved has all gone to his head!


Anyway back to Messi!!:)

eZe^

Bubs101 wrote: »

I'm not a United fan by any stretch of the imagination but I'd have Ronaldo as the equal of him. He might not be as beautiful as a player but he's just as effective and as a legit threat in the air has one more attacking avenue than Messi

But then Messi has more ability when it comes to passing, so he creates three times more for his team than Ronaldo scores with his head. Messi may score as many as Ronaldo did last season, as well as bagging about 25 assists. Lets just see how it goes. He's Thierry Henry from 2002-2003 good atm tbh.

yahoo_moe

Bubs101 wrote: »

I'm not a United fan by any stretch of the imagination but I'd have Ronaldo as the equal of him. He might not be as beautiful as a player but he's just as effective and as a legit threat in the air has one more attacking avenue than Messi

But United for the previous two full seasons (ie the two leagues they won) have been almost exclusively about getting Ronaldo into positions where he can score from. He's become less of a dribbler, less of a crosser and less of a passer. (Lethal finisher though.)

Messi for me can create more by himself - both for himself and for others as eZe said. I think Ronaldo winning last year was debatable - for me, that award was partially for the team play that revolved around him as well (not that he saw it that way ). But this year, there's no way it can be anyone but Messi. And if he keeps this form, I don't think anyone else will win it for some time.

Bubs101

eZe^ wrote: »

But then Messi has more ability when it comes to passing, so he creates three times more for his team than Ronaldo scores with his head. Messi may score as many as Ronaldo did last season, as well as bagging about 25 assists. Lets just see how it goes. He's Thierry Henry from 2002-2003 good atm tbh.

yahoo_moe wrote: »

But United for the previous two full seasons (ie the two leagues they won) have been almost exclusively about getting Ronaldo into positions where he can score from. He's become less of a dribbler, less of a crosser and less of a passer. (Lethal finisher though.).

I don't watch nearly enough of Barca to make an intelligent statement on this but any time I see Barca play they seem to play football that is very much intune with messi's play where they have three fast and skillful players just running at people which would seem to suit him down to the ground in terms of getting assists. Like Eto'o is nearly always going to score bags of goals as should Henry but I wouldn't say the same about Rooney and Tevez, even Berba seems like a fish out of water. At United, they have an incredibly solid team but they are so reliant on him for penatration. Think his game would change alot if he moved to a more creative team

yahoo_moe wrote: »

Messi for me can create more by himself - both for himself and for others as eZe said. I think Ronaldo winning last year was debatable - for me, that award was partially for the team play that revolved around him as well (not that he saw it that way ). But this year, there's no way it can be anyone but Messi. And if he keeps this form, I don't think anyone else will win it for some time.

I really don't see the debate over Ronaldo winning last year and if he didn't get it it would have been up there with Totti in terms of robery, he was just on another level in the best team on the planet. I do think people are writing Ronaldo off long term too easily though, this Barca season could be a flash in the pan as last year they had a very similar squad yet were a shadow of the current team

Mr Alan

I agree with Zidane

yahoo_moe

Bubs101 wrote: »

Think his game would change alot if he moved to a more creative team

Maybe - but I'm only judging him on what we've seen, where the team was designed for two seasons to get him on the end of as many chances as possible.

Maybe Ronaldo in the current Barca team instead of Messi would be completely different... but we can't know that.

Also, while Barca were poor last season, Messi was still excellent when fit. But injury (and the lack of a Champions League title) maybe meant that his impact wasn't as constant.

VinylJunkie

Please don't compare Messi & Ronaldo! Ronaldo is not a footballer he is a cheat, just as bad as Robben in my opinion. Messi plays football the way it should be played and we should all be thankful we are around to see him at work.

kingshankly

kingshankly wrote: »

without doubt an absoloute genius and the best footballer in the world but there is no way i would swap him for stevie g who in my biased opinion is more valuable for his ability to play in several positions

Mr Alan wrote: »

I agree with Zidane

I agree with both of these statements 100%

daithijjj

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bS6nS8W0bOU&feature=related

dont know if this is in the above links but its messi aged 6.........amazing stuff.

redout

First off I feel that one can only judge Messi if they watch him every week and not just in a champions league appearance and maybe two El Clasico's a season. My take on him compared to Ronaldo is:

Dribble - Messi by far
Passing - Ronaldo/Messi
Assists - Messi
Shooting - Messi by far
Heading - Ronaldo by far
Team work - Messi
Attitude - Messi
Dead balls - Ronaldo

EDIT: Forgot an important one

Big Games - Messi

kingshankly

Messi is a class act and probably is the best fooballer in the world but would like to add football is a game that has many facets including tackling heading defending, man marking,drive, leadership, as well as the more fashionable dribbling and shooting yet it is always an offensive player that is considered .

Bubs101

redout wrote: »

Shooting - Messi by far

Would have to question this one. Ronaldo's is top notch so even if Messi's is better it can't be that much better. Like saying Usain Bolt's sprinting is by far better than Asafa Powell's when Powell is still a damn good sprinter

Mgoraf

Ronaldo is definetly the better finisher.

Mental Mickey

Messi, purely for his attitude. He's absolute world class. He doesn't spend half his time on his a**e like Cristina Ronaldo does, and he gets kicked around a lot more.

IMO, he's miles better than both Ronaldo and Gerrard. I only hope that he doesn't burn out too early in his career....?

redout

If you were to compare the amount of Shots Ronaldo takes compared to the percentage he scores then Messi is far more clinical without a doubt. I am sure the resident Barca expert eZe^ can confirm that (actually not sure how much Man Utd eze watches). Not to difficult really if you actually watch both players every week. Ronaldo takes more shots without doubt.

EDIT: almurphy83 pointed out in the Man Utd v Inter thread that Ronaldo had the most shots on target and the most shots wide in the Champions league this season and zero goals. Messi has 6 goals with obviously less shots.

UEFA says Ronaldo has 18 shots on target and 16 shots wide with 1 assist and zero goals.

UEFA says Messi has 8 shots on target and 8 shots wide with 3 assists and six goals.

http://www.uefa.com/competitions/ucl/statistics/index.html

Mgoraf

redout wrote: »

If you were to compare the amount of Shots Ronaldo takes compared to the percentage he scores then Messi is far more clinical without a doubt. I am sure the resident Barca expert eZe^ can confirm that (actually not sure how much Man Utd eze watches). Not to difficult really if you actually watch both players every week. Ronaldo takes more shots without doubt.

Yeah another variable which stats fail to take into account. Ronaldo takes Utd's free kicks and has alot of shots from outside the box, Messi doesn't.

Bubs101

redout wrote: »

If you were to compare the amount of Shots Ronaldo takes compared to the percentage he scores then Messi is far more clinical without a doubt. I am sure the resident Barca expert eZe^ can confirm that (actually not sure how much Man Utd eze watches). Not to difficult really if you actually watch both players every week. Ronaldo takes more shots without doubt.

EDIT: almurphy83 pointed out in the Man Utd v Inter thread that Ronaldo had the most shots on target and the most shots wide in the Champions league this season and zero goals. Messi has 6 goals with obviously less shots.

UEFA says Ronaldo has 18 shots on target and 16 shots wide and zero goals.

UEFA says Messi has 8 shots on target and 8 shots wide and six goals.

http://www.uefa.com/competitions/ucl/statistics/index.html

The Champion's League is just one competition though, clearly one he has underperfomed in this season. Barca also score far more goals so you'd expect one of their leading attackers to get more than a Man Utd player. Since 2006/7 which is when Ronaldo developed into the player he is today and Messi broke through Ronaldo has scored far more and won a European golden shoe. He's scored 83 compared to Messi's 65 in a team that's scored around 30 league goals less

redout

Bubs101 wrote: »

The Champion's League is just one competition though, clearly one he has underperfomed in this season. Barca also score far more goals so you'd expect one of their leading attackers to get more than a Man Utd player. Since 2006/7 which is when Ronaldo developed into the player he is today and Messi broke through Ronaldo has scored far more and won a European golden shoe. He's scored 83 compared to Messi's 65 in a team that's scored around 30 league goals less

Ronaldo has underperformed in all competitions this season if comparing him to last season. Ronaldo has 81 shots this season in the premiership according to Opta with 13 goals giving him a 16% shots/goals ratio. Without having stats for Messi unless someone knows a website with Spanish la liga stats I reckon his must be better than Ronaldo's considering he has more goals and usually less shots.

Mgoraf

Stats prove nothing in all fairness. I seen one last season that Adebayor had the same/similar shots-goal ratio as Torres/Ronaldo. Would you say that he is on the same level as them in terms of finishing?

Bubs101

redout wrote: »

Ronaldo has underperformed in all competitions this season if comparing him to last season. Ronaldo has 81 shots this season in the premiership according to Opta with 13 goals giving him a 16% shots/goals ratio. Without having stats for Messi unless someone knows a website with Spanish la liga stats I reckon his must be better than Ronaldo's considering he has more goals and usually less shots.

Obviously he's underperformed this season compared to last season, he was superhuman last season. I'm pretty sure Totti underperformed after he scored 30+ league goals from midfield as well. Fact of the matter is that he's second top scorer in the Premiership from midfield so it's not as if he's underperformed at all. He just set the bar too high

internelligent

redout wrote: »

Ronaldo has underperformed in all competitions this season if comparing him to last season. Ronaldo has 81 shots this season in the premiership according to Opta with 13 goals giving him a 16% shots/goals ratio. Without having stats for Messi unless someone knows a website with Spanish la liga stats I reckon his must be better than Ronaldo's considering he has more goals and usually less shots.

I think it's also worth pointing out the style of play in La Liga. So many of Messi's goals come from him dribbling past 2-10 players and slotting the ball home. Granted, he's scored some quality goals from further out but if you take Ronaldo's style of play, he shoots alot from outside the box. What I'm trying to say really is that Messi generally only takes a shot at goal when he's right beside it and there's a 90-99% chance it's gonna go in.
Important to note, this info may not be 100% correct:))

applehunter

Its just beautiful to watch this guy play. No fuss. Amazing close control and ability to shift direction marks him out as almost unmarkable.

On the other hand I just get angry watching Ronaldo play. Great goalscorer and all but he comes accross like a right prat.

Highsider

Top 3 in the world imo (when they are on their game).....1st Messi.....2nd Gerrard....3rd Vidic

Idu

So you think Gerrard and Vidic are better than Ronaldo of last year?? Gimme a break. People need to get over their dislike of Ronaldo and just judge this in terms of footballing ability.

I would take the Ronaldo of last year ahead of any player I've ever seen bar maybe the original Ronaldo in his Barca heyday when he was unplayable

Silver-Tiger

yawn. I'm a utd fan and a ronaldo fan. But what does he have to do with this thread. It should just be praise and videos of messi. Who is undoubtedly the best footballer in the world. Was at the cl semi against barca last season and everytime he got the ball 70,000 people took a deep breath and feared the worst. No footballer in world football has that power imo.

eZe^

It's a shame that most people here have to undermine Ronaldo (I've even been guilty of it in the past) to appreciate Messi, surely both are independent of each other.

kingshankly

eZe^ wrote: »

It's a shame that most people here have to undermine Ronaldo (I've even been guilty of it in the past) to appreciate Messi, surely both are independent of each other.

the problem with ronaldo is he is a horrible ****.
saying that he totally deserved world player of the year last year,but a year is a long time in football and ronaldos form at present is average.
i would say messi is a shoe in for the accolade this year

carlop

kingshankly wrote: »

the problem with ronaldo is he is a horrible ****.
saying that he totally deserved world player of the year last year,but a year is a long time in football and ronaldos form at present is average.
i would say messi is a shoe in for the accolade this year

Is this really relevant to Lionel Messi? And just for the record, its not as if the other players mentioned in this thread have always behaved angelically. Say what you like about Ronaldo, but to the best of my knowledge he has never spat at another player on the pitch and has never appeared in court on charges of affray or tried to snap Gary Naysmith in two.


Edit: Messi is a total legend, when he runs with the ball it seems stuck to his foot. Based on his goal the other night, he's also developing a right foot.

kingshankly

carlop wrote: »

Is this really relevant to Lionel Messi? And just for the record, its not as if the other players mentioned in this thread have always behaved angelically. Say what you like about Ronaldo, but to the best of my knowledge he has never spat at another player on the pitch and has never appeared in court on charges of affray or tried to snap Gary Naysmith in two.


Edit: Messi is a total legend, when he runs with the ball it seems stuck to his foot. Based on his goal the other night, he's also developing a right foot.

whatever

Loomis

VinylJunkie wrote: »

Please don't compare Messi & Ronaldo! Ronaldo is not a footballer he is a cheat, just as bad as Robben in my opinion. Messi plays football the way it should be played and we should all be thankful we are around to see him at work.

There is very little point in you telling people not to compare the two if you then do it yourself while excluding the fact Messi spat at another player. Makes you look very foolish painting Ronaldo as a cheat (which as a United and Ronaldo fan, I'll admit, he can be) but Messi as a saint when he's done things which are clearly far from saintly.

Hypocritical, snide, begrudging and pointless remarks aside, Messi is a fabulous player. He has that quality you can identify in certain players who absolutely love having the ball and just driving at the opposition with a pure love for the game. Ronaldo (Brazillian), Ronaldinho, Kaká are similar players who just ooze that quality and it's a joy to watch when that ability and desire in a player is in full flight. I hope to watch him go on to great things in the years to come in the way I used to get excited watching players like Zidane conduct on the pitch.

Bubs101

carlop wrote: »

Is this really relevant to Lionel Messi? And just for the record, its not as if the other players mentioned in this thread have always behaved angelically. Say what you like about Ronaldo, but to the best of my knowledge he has never spat at another player on the pitch and has never appeared in court on charges of affray or tried to snap Gary Naysmith in two.


Edit: Messi is a total legend, when he runs with the ball it seems stuck to his foot. Based on his goal the other night, he's also developing a right foot.

kingshankly wrote: »

whatever

The man has a point, Gerrard is [edit] nowhere near the top 3 in the world so if you take of the red shaded spectacles there for a second you may begin to appreciate Ronaldo. I'm a Chelsea fan so he's cost us far more than he's cost you in the Premiership and I can't help but appreciate him. Liverpool have been nowhere near the top of the league in the last two seasons and would have lost out regardless of Ronaldo. Last year we lost two trophies because of him. If you continue to let your opinion be shaded with such obvious bias people won't take you seriously

kingshankly

Bubs101 wrote: »

The man has a point, Gerrard is scum and nowhere near the top 3 in the world so if you take of the red shaded spectacles there for a second you may begin to appreciate Ronaldo. I'm a Chelsea fan so he's cost us far more than he's cost you in the Premiership and I can't help but appreciate him. Liverpool have been nowhere near the top of the league in the last two seasons and would have lost out regardless of Ronaldo. Last year we lost two trophies because of him. If you continue to let your opinion be shaded with such obvious bias people won't take you seriously

for feck sake read the post i had quoted an earlier post, and when i stated ronaldo is a horrible**** i was eluding this was a reason people were not judging him on football ability alone.
i wonder would you be saying the same of gerrard if he was wearing the blue of chelsea

Bubs101

kingshankly wrote: »

i wonder would you be saying the same of gerrard if he was wearing the blue of chelsea

I would. I have very little time for most Chelsea players let alone the inconsistent ones:D

kinaldo

He reminds me a little bit of Maradona!

I really hope that he more than most avoids serious injuries such as those that plagued Ronaldo.

Dcully

Bubs101 wrote: »

The man has a point, Gerrard is scum and nowhere near the top 3 in the world so if you take of the red shaded spectacles there for a second you may begin to appreciate Ronaldo. I'm a Chelsea fan so he's cost us far more than he's cost you in the Premiership and I can't help but appreciate him. Liverpool have been nowhere near the top of the league in the last two seasons and would have lost out regardless of Ronaldo. Last year we lost two trophies because of him. If you continue to let your opinion be shaded with such obvious bias people won't take you seriously

On what do you base your point that gerrard is scum?:rolleyes:
Shouldnt you take a look at some of your own players first to label as such?
Terry and Cole spring to mind.

Back on topic Messi is simply fantastic and has been the best in the world the last few seasons imo,great attitude to top it all off.

Bubs101

Dcully wrote: »

On what do you base your point that gerrard is scum?:rolleyes:
Shouldnt you take a look at some of your own players first to label as such?
Terry and Cole spring to mind.

Was basing it on among many things his recent charge for affray and his ridiculous treatment of fans. "I'm Liverpool for life.. oh I'm going to Chelsea...nevermind, Liverpool for life....a but Chelsea....nevermind, didn't offer me enough money...Liverpool for life". Anyway, got a yellow card for it

kingshankly

Bubs101 wrote: »

Was basing it on among many things his recent charge for affray and his ridiculous treatment of fans. "I'm Liverpool for life.. oh I'm going to Chelsea...nevermind, Liverpool for life....a but Chelsea....nevermind, didn't offer me enough money...Liverpool for life". Anyway, got a yellow card for it

bubs you must live the life of a saint if gerrard is considered scum i think i need to go and take a long hard look at myself:rolleyes:

daithijjj

kingshankly wrote: »

bubs you must live the life of a saint if gerrard is considered scum i think i need to go and take a long hard look at myself:rolleyes:

Was thinking on the same lines myself, are monasteries still taking fresh applications coz i need some personal dicipline.

Dcully

Bubs101 wrote: »

Was basing it on among many things his recent charge for affray and his ridiculous treatment of fans. "I'm Liverpool for life.. oh I'm going to Chelsea...nevermind, Liverpool for life....a but Chelsea....nevermind, didn't offer me enough money...Liverpool for life". Anyway, got a yellow card for it

Incredible simply incredible , the mind boggles :rolleyes: