Lionel Messi - Performances

DWelbz19

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It works really well on mobile at least.
 

Needham

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Anyone else feel guilty/stupid for not seeking out every game Barca play these days just to watch Messi. I hardly watch any though I know full well one of the best three footballers in history is turning it on on the other channel. It's like mid career Richard Burton passing through your provincial town to star in a stage performance at the local theatre and you saying, 'Nah, I'm ok' when someone offers you free tickets. I'm going to make more of an effort from now on.
 

Ish

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Anyone else feel guilty/stupid for not seeking out every game Barca play these days just to watch Messi. I hardly watch any though I know full well one of the best three footballers in history is turning it on on the other channel. It's like mid career Richard Burton passing through your provincial town to star in a stage performance at the local theatre and you saying, 'Nah, I'm ok' when someone offers you free tickets. I'm going to make more of an effort from now on.
He's been 90% of the reason I've tried to watch Barca as much as I can, when it's convenient.
 

FCBarca

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Anyone else feel guilty/stupid for not seeking out every game Barca play these days just to watch Messi. I hardly watch any though I know full well one of the best three footballers in history is turning it on on the other channel. It's like mid career Richard Burton passing through your provincial town to star in a stage performance at the local theatre and you saying, 'Nah, I'm ok' when someone offers you free tickets. I'm going to make more of an effort from now on.
I feel this way about not seeing them live enough but that's one of my resolutions going forward
 

TheNewEra

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I feel this way about not seeing them live enough but that's one of my resolutions going forward
I managed to go last year and saw them win the La Liga at Atletico Madrid, was nice to see Xavi bow out too.

The two times I've been to see Barca play live the feeling I go away with is that Defenders just foul Messi because they can't get close enough, the same with Neymar they have no answer to it.

On TV I feel they (the defenders) have a chance, but being in the stands from a few rows up from the pitch I think you appreciate the players even more.
 

IFC 1905

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From now on I'll always go to watch Argentina if they play in Buenos Aires. The only time I saw Messi live is against Ecuador when we won 4-0 and he played insanelly well.
 

Cait Sith

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Anyone else feel guilty/stupid for not seeking out every game Barca play these days just to watch Messi. I hardly watch any though I know full well one of the best three footballers in history is turning it on on the other channel. It's like mid career Richard Burton passing through your provincial town to star in a stage performance at the local theatre and you saying, 'Nah, I'm ok' when someone offers you free tickets. I'm going to make more of an effort from now on.
Felt the same with Ronaldinho. Ever since I practically don't miss a Barca game. The transition from Ronaldinho to Messi to possibly Neymar (though it's still all about Messi) has been flawless so far. I would indeed feel stupid to miss out on watching these historic players regularly. I also really liked Madrid in the early 00s (who didn't love Zidane, Ronaldo, Redondo and Co.) but something really put me off of that team. The whole Galactico celebrity individualism thing, Perez selling Makelele because he is not flashy enough and then replacing him with Beckham. All that felt stupid to me even when I was still an elementary school kid at the time.
 

Šjor Bepo

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How is Messi shit at penalties is the biggest football mystery for me......best player that ever played the game, one of the best finishers in history, cold as ice under pressure and yet he cant score from a fecking penalty:confused:
 

Amethyst

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Excluding shootouts his record for club and country since the start of the 14/15 season is 12 out of 20 which is really poor.

Been sublime so far apart from that miss though.
 

Amar__

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How is Messi shit at penalties is the biggest football mystery for me......best player that ever played the game, one of the best finishers in history, cold as ice under pressure and yet he cant score from a fecking penalty:confused:
What bothers me is when I see him shooting from outside of the box so strong and precise like the goal today and yet he can't repeat that from the penalty. I know it's bit different when the ball is already moving but it's a penalty, fecking Balotelli mastered them.
 

Rockets Redglare

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What bothers me is when I see him shooting from outside of the box so strong and precise like the goal today and yet he can't repeat that from the penalty. I know it's bit different when the ball is already moving but it's a penalty, fecking Balotelli mastered them.
Messi scores plenty of freekicks though, God knows what it is with penalties.
 

FC Ronaldo

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I heard he scored 1 and set up 3 today.

Scraped a decent game then? Just about got a 7 or 8 out of 10 would you say?

:lol:

The lad is a fecking beast.
 

Cait Sith

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I heard he scored 1 and set up 3 today.

Scraped a decent game then? Just about got a 7 or 8 out of 10 would you say?

:lol:

The lad is a fecking beast.
He certainly set up more than 3 but only 3 were converted. :D


















8/10 game for Messi. 14/10 game by any other player's standards. Or something along those lines. :p
 

Eddy_JukeZ

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His passing was incredible today. He's hitting top form at the best time for Barcelona.
 

pseudo_canadian

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Simply an absurd player, there's really not much you can say.

He's just too good, and has basically been playing a different sport than everyone else for years at this point.
 

FCBarca

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We've become so accustomed to his extraordinary level of play that I believe it's often overlooked just how unique he is - the only thing or player he can be compared to is himself as we've witnessed his game evolving over the past 10 years. Yet even then, I think words fail because he really has no peers as a footballer.

However, it's quite noticeable that his level has raised since the start of 2016 which is staggering considering how good he already had been playing, means his competitiveness still burns brightly ahead of the key stretch of the hunt for titles. Best of all, I actually think he still has another gear to go into
 

amolbhatia50k

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What I find most fascinating about watching him these days is the playmaking. Much more so than the goals. He picks the ball up in those pockets, and with minimum fuss, and actions, he opens teams right up. Don't think I've seen a better passer. I used to claim he isn't as good a passer/playmaker as the likes of scholes and pirlo, but that comes across as utterly laughable now.
 

Needham

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Really feel ashamed by comparing him to Ronaldo in the past, he's so much more than a goal scorer, stats really show just a minuscule part of his game.
That phase of there being a "world's top two" has definitively gone, Messi is competing in his own head with past giants or nobody at all. I like it. Cuts through the bullshit of debate and allows everyone just to enjoy a footballing genius at work. Watching (and drooling) last night, though, I still couldn't get out of my head what a powder puff era the present one is for tackling and physical contact. It's one of the reasons Maradona still edges it for me.
 

FCBarca

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The other important aspect to his trajectory as a player is the burden that's been lifted playing alongside Neymar & Suarez. Without them, perhaps the risk of burnout was going to be an ongoing concern due to how much the team relied on him for playmaking, scoring etc. but now I see a more relaxed Messi yet no less lethal. Moreover, I believe the brilliance of Suarez & Neymar probably serves as a new motivation for the player who has little to prove - without them, would we have seen this arc to his development?

Glorious to witness
 

VP

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Amidst all these eulogies let's not forget: none of this would have happened if LVG hadn't laid the foundations.
 

Pexbo

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The other important aspect to his trajectory as a player is the burden that's been lifted playing alongside Neymar & Suarez. Without them, perhaps the risk of burnout was going to be an ongoing concern due to how much the team relied on him for playmaking, scoring etc. but now I see a more relaxed Messi yet no less lethal. Moreover, I believe the brilliance of Suarez & Neymar probably serves as a new motivation for the player who has little to prove - without them, would we have seen this arc to his development?

Glorious to witness
In the interest of balance though (I think he's the greatest ever fwiw and by a margin), having two great players makes anyone's job easier. Two more targets, two more distractions and two more intelligent players to link up with.
 

FCBarca

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In the interest of balance though (I think he's the greatest ever fwiw and by a margin), having two great players makes anyone's job easier. Two more targets, two more distractions and two more intelligent players to link up with.
This is true in theory only because in practice these scenarios of putting stars together rarely works out to the degree one might expect - RM says hello. And in the case of MSN, the whole is arguably greater than sum of it's parts
 

Kevin

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In the interest of balance though (I think he's the greatest ever fwiw and by a margin), having two great players makes anyone's job easier. Two more targets, two more distractions and two more intelligent players to link up with.
Exactly what i wanted to post after reading @FCBarca 's tenth eulogy about him. Love him and all that, but contineous posts like that stir the rebellious side in me begging me to swim against the current.