Lionel Messi

predator

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Frightening. I've ever seen a player in the modern game consistently make professional football players (of all positions) look so amatuer.
 

Ballache

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Watching him live was an immense experience. He really looked like that kid at school that was much better than everyone else. Difference is he was doing it to professional players.
 

Skills

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I find it difficult to comprehend someone can be better at football than him. Unless they find a way to transfer his ability into the body of a cyborg.
 

MS4

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Still the best player...
and not even in the top3 for ballon dor...such a joke :D
 

Raees

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Great video ... never really get to see Messi speak about his game like that.
 

Tommy

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Where was he in Russia?
Moscow for the Iceland game.
Novgorod for the Croatia game.
St. Petersburg for the Nigeria game.
Kazan for the France game.

:smirk:
 

FootballHQ

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Still the best player...
and not even in the top3 for ballon dor...such a joke :D
No secret really, his club fell short in CL and his country weren't in contention for WC.
 

wub1234

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In my opinion, the best video is Messi vs No Space:


This is almost impossible levels of control, vision, balance, and decision-making.

I have absolutely no doubt that Messi is the best footballer ever. I saw Maradona, and quite honestly he was nowhere near, and definitely nowhere near in terms of consistency and longevity. Pele was obviously great in his own day, but couldn't do half the things that Messi does regularly. No-one else is anywhere close, or should even be bracketed with Messi as a footballer.
 

Scarecrow

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In my opinion, the best video is Messi vs No Space:


This is almost impossible levels of control, vision, balance, and decision-making.

I have absolutely no doubt that Messi is the best footballer ever. I saw Maradona, and quite honestly he was nowhere near, and definitely nowhere near in terms of consistency and longevity. Pele was obviously great in his own day, but couldn't do half the things that Messi does regularly. No-one else is anywhere close, or should even be bracketed with Messi as a footballer.
Very good video.
 

Pow

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Hes just incredible. The best player ive ever seen. Just completely mastered football in the attacking sense. Been a pleasure to have watched his era. Unbelievable playmaker unbelievable goalscorer. Just an unbelievable footballer.
 

MS4

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Moscow for the Iceland game.
Novgorod for the Croatia game.
St. Petersburg for the Nigeria game.
Kazan for the France game.

:smirk:
Could not have said it better.
 

Cal?

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Why not?

The best player of a generation if not ever. The more threads the better
I’m not going to dragged into that argument again.

IMHO not the best player of the generation, but very possibly the 2nd best player ever.
 

SteveW

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I’m not going to dragged into that argument again.

IMHO not the best player of the generation, but very possibly the 2nd best player ever.
Out of curiousity have you warmed to Messi at all over the years. Do you even enjoy watching him play? It never came across as if you did
 

Pocho

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Out of curiousity have you warmed to Messi at all over the years. Do you even enjoy watching him play? It never came across as if you did
He suffers it. Btw hattrick today.
 

Oldham

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Absolute pleasure to watch. Never been a player like him and I can't imagine there'll be a better player ever.
Real privilege to have been able to enjoy his mastery through the years.
 

JeffBoomTetris

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That second goal was eye candy. Most other players, at that speed, would boot that or try to control before placing the shot. He just passed it first time to the corner.
 

SteveW

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Ridiculous performance. 3 stunning finishes and his passing was still arguably the most impressive thing about him. He's a different species to all other footballers.
 

marktan

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He is by far the best player in the world.
By natural talent and all round talent yes, in terms on the big stage performances in the last couple of seasons then no. That would be Ronaldo.

Edit: Not looking to start a Ronaldo vs Messi debate again lol.
 
Last edited:

adexkola

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By natural talent and all round talent yes, in terms on the big stage performances in the last couple of seasons then no. That would be Ronaldo.

Edit: Not looking to start a Ronaldo vs Messi debate again lol.
You know good and damn well this isn't the thread...

Damn. Saw your sneak edit.
 

Eddy_JukeZ

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What happened to the old thread?



Aye.
It's preposterous he wasn't shortlisted for the UEFA POTY nor the FIFA POTY.

I don't know how someone could watch his games last season and conclude 3 players performed better than him throughout the season.
 

Zehner

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By natural talent and all round talent yes, in terms on the big stage performances in the last couple of seasons then no. That would be Ronaldo.
That's a boring discussion, really. For people who prefer Messi, it doesn't mean much that Cristiano scored more on the big stage. It is not about goals and even less about being enabled by your team to play finals and win titles.

In the same way, the Ronaldo of the last three to five years is worse than his 23-27 old self if you ask me. He just happened to play for a lesser team.

However, if your evaluation criteria lead you to the conclusion that Ronaldo has been better because of his goals on the big stage, our understanding of football is so fundamentally different that discussing this matter doesn't make much sense. It was close when Cristiano was still dribbling and wrecking havoc. IMO it is not close anymore.
 

marktan

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That's a boring discussion, really. For people who prefer Messi, it doesn't mean much that Cristiano scored more on the big stage. It is not about goals and even less about being enabled by your team to play finals and win titles.

In the same way, the Ronaldo of the last three to five years is worse than his 23-27 old self if you ask me. He just happened to play for a lesser team.

However, if your evaluation criteria lead you to the conclusion that Ronaldo has been better because of his goals on the big stage, our understanding of football is so fundamentally different that discussing this matter doesn't make much sense. It was close when Cristiano was still dribbling and wrecking havoc. IMO it is not close anymore.
It just depends on your definition of 'best player' really. If it's in terms of ability, then I'd agree with you 100%. I prefered the younger Ronaldo, especially the dribbling one for us circa 2005-2008. And I'd agree that Messi is the better player, at times it looks like running with a ball is easier for him than running without.

I was just making the point that for a lot of people 'best player' is also dependant on performances on the big stage and trophies won - which is reflected in the Ballon D'or haul over the last couple of years. Ronaldo's goals and all round performances in the CL knockout stages of the last 3 years were far superior to Messi's. That said though I like both and I think both tend to get underrated and overrated by those who like one too much, so I won't argue for or against either and leave it that.

Must say it is impressive that Messi's kept up his level at 31, a lot of attacking players start to decline past 30 especially in dribbling but Messi still looks very good. Curious to see how many years he can keep it up for, I'm guessing as long as Ronaldo's around that'll be a motivator for him.
 

ArseHat

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That's a boring discussion, really. For people who prefer Messi, it doesn't mean much that Cristiano scored more on the big stage. It is not about goals and even less about being enabled by your team to play finals and win titles.

In the same way, the Ronaldo of the last three to five years is worse than his 23-27 old self if you ask me. He just happened to play for a lesser team.

However, if your evaluation criteria lead you to the conclusion that Ronaldo has been better because of his goals on the big stage, our understanding of football is so fundamentally different that discussing this matter doesn't make much sense. It was close when Cristiano was still dribbling and wrecking havoc. IMO it is not close anymore.
Even when it comes to big game performances, yes, Madrid have dominated in the champions league the past several years, but it’s not like Messi is a flat track bully only picking on the lesser teams. He is a big game player who’s produced in so many big CL matches and league deciding games as well throughout his career, making fools out of the best players, so that argument doesn’t fly for me.