Yes he would. Easily. Ben Arfa is a better dribbler than Messi if eyetest was all that mattered
You Messi fanboys are the funniest bunch.
Not a fanboy, just pointing out some facts.
I actually remember Messi at around 18-19 was regarded as top 3 young player in the world at that time, just behind Rooney and Ronaldo. He wasn’t considered as one of the very best in the world until he reached around 21-22. At around 18 you could argue he was most talented though with best dribbling, but not exactly the best young player out there. As teenager, Mbappe was more established and proven.Oh dear. Bodied
However, Young Messi was a better player than young Mbappe, that much cannot be debated if you actually watched both of them play. I just take issue with people that try and claim Mbappe is ‘not that good’ or a ‘pace merchant’. He’s an exceptional young talent with multiple Ballon D’Or award winning potential.
a 19 year old Messi scored hattrick in a Classico match in 2006. He was already regarded as among the best players in the world in 2007 when he just reached 20 years of age, finished third behind Kaka' and Ronaldo in Balon d'Or that year.
Mbappe before reaching 20 scored 2 goals vs man city, 3 goals vs dortmund, 1 goal vs juve, 1 goal vs bayern, 4 goals in the world cup finals including 2 against messis argentina and 1 in the final. We cant deny as a teenager Mbappe was performing at a higher level more consistently than Messi or Ronaldo and thats not including anything he done in ligue 1 during those years, doesnt mean he will go on to be better than them but at that age he was just further ahead in his progression as a player.
Mbappe also finished 4th in ballon d'or rankings ahead of Messi (in 5th although i didn't necessarily agree with this) at the age of 20 despite having the disadvantage of playing in a weak league (only ligue 1 player in the top 10)
Sure but an 18 year old Rooney scored an amazing hattrick plus an assist in his debut, and 18 year old Ronaldo has had an electrifying performance in his debut too. Just saying, Messi wasn’t as good/established as Rooney and Ronaldo in straight comparison when he was only 18-19, although Rooney and Ronaldo was a little older and more experienced at that time (Ronaldo was 20, Rooney was 19 with few years under their belt when Messi was 18). Messi did turn into a top player when he was 20, but even so he was not as good as Ronaldo yet, who was main contender for Ballon D’or at that time. He did become best in world when he was 22.
The difference is that Messi hasnt only improved remarkably but proved his consistency throughout his senior years, let's see if Mbappe can do that.
100% true, I don't even think Mbappe will reach the level he did especially in that short amount of time. As soon as pep came in and made some changes to the team, Messi reached another level. But by that time he was already 21. People like to act as if Ronaldo and Messi were already gods since they were teenagers and looking back at their highlights as teens in hindsight its easy to say they were but in reality that just wasn't the case. Ronaldo also became truly world class after we sold Van Nistelrooy and changed to a more fluid front three, by that time he was already 21 also. Mbappe was looking the real deal and performing consistently ever since he burst on to the scene at Monaco, he was only 18. That doesn't mean hes gonna be better than Messi or Ronaldo. This is the point im trying to make.
Ronaldo Phenomenon was a god as very young player. Best player in the world at 20 years old already.
Messi finished top 3 in the Ballon D’Or voting in the year that he turned 20, so this is obviously incorrect.
Agsin, you are making the mistake of looking at the goals he scored and claiming this makes him a better player at that age. That’s not how football works. I like Mbappe a lot, but he was not a better player at that age. He may have scored more goals, but that doesn’t determine who is better.
Only the eyetest of someone who'd be on heavy drugs
Only the eyetest of someone who'd be on heavy drugs
There are two reasons why Mbappe put up similar numbers to a young Messi.
I’ve tried to humour you and reason with you because I’m a big Mbappe admirer, but it’s pretty clear now that you don’t know what you’re talking about.
Literally everything you wrote here is false
Only the eyetest of someone who'd be on heavy drugs
You guys quite simply don't watch Ben Arfa at all it's okay. No need to be ashamed about being ignorant on a player.
You don’t know what you’re talking about, it’s quite clear. If Mbappe was at that Barcelona team at 17/18 instead of Monaco, he also would have been a substitute.
Have you actually watched football at that period? You didn’t sound like you did.
To Ludovic Giuly? What a good one. Mbappe at 18 scored 26 goals and had 11 assits in all comps
Not sure why you’re ragging on Giuly so much here. He played a very useful and specific tactical role in what was a very effective attack. One of the key qualities he possessed that Ronaldinho, Eto’o or Messi didn’t was a willingness to be subservient to better players, to recognise his place and play a tactical role rather than an individualistic one. Which we know Mbappe wouldn’t. It isn’t a straight 1 for 1 swap because that isn’t how team balance works.
Mbappe finished top 4 in Ballon D’or voting in the year that he turned 20 too. Apparently huge difference to you between top 3 and top 4.
Mbappe at 18 had more goals and more assists in all comps than Messi did at 20
Ah now, come on. He might be a bit easier on the eye and employed a wider range of skills when beating opponents, he is more of a show pony and his dribbling rarely led to anything productive.
Yes that sounds very relevant to the point I was making
you're a bullshitter extraordianire. I've watched Hatem since his first ever pro game. Even watched for the U20 at the time, he was the most promising young player of that famous group but you gotta be absolutely special in the dome to think his dribbling was better than Messi at the time. Messi was only a sub because he was struggling for fitness, it was obvious he was a unique generational talent. Even that young, he was that good
You’re a bit slow so I will try and make it as clear as possible for you:
Another empty reply without any substance to back it up. Mbappe has top class performances in WC and CL to back it up, what has Messi got at 18-19? Sure, dribbles. Thats all it matters for fans like you. Dribble > everything in football, including goals, assists, and WC trophy, of course.
I said going by the EYE TEST his dribbling was and still is better than Messi's. Far more variety of skills, and he even has several of solo goals where he dribbles the entire pitch.
You don’t know anything about football so there’s no point debating further.
Agree with the last part, so far you have been totally pointless.
Having a greater variety of tricks or flourishes doesn’t make you a better dribbler. Only an insane person would claim that Ben Arfa is a better dribbler than Messi (‘eye-test’ or any test….)
You mean I haven’t given you lots of stats with no context whatsoever. I told you, only clueless people do that.
You haven't raise a single valid point to back up anything in your arguments. A waste of time discussing anything constructive with people like you.
