I know he has 7 Balon d'Ors it was late at night, i meant champions league, I've said it in other threads too (with the correct award haha) that I would love him to win the 5th CL this year and 8th Balon d'Or but Bayern is a very tough game and yesterday they didn't look brilliant PSG but they did enough.
Lionel Messi | PSG Watch
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I prefer Messi plying his trade elsewhere, but this would indeed be
Savage. Messi breaks the Instagram world record for most liked posts twice in a week, takes home a World Cup and then comes to Saudi Arabia at almost double the salary.I prefer Messi plying his trade elsewhere, but this would indeed be
Won't happen, but still......
I suppose he’d be a decent deputy to Ighalo.
Oh yeah, apologies then, that makes more sense and was the obvious conclusion I should have reached.
Yeah it’ll be tough against Bayern. Hoping the current manager is able to balance that front trio’s work rate and input better than Poch could.
He's too good for such leagues.
I hope he doesn't go the MLS either anytime soon.
What can you say at this point? Who plays off 4-5 players, starts the move (though technically Neymar did?), continues it and then ends it like he does?
Just for people who think that 2019 loss at anfield was somehow on Messi. Not a Messi masterclass but in no way a poor performance.
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It never was. People who believe that are just haters or just listened to people who are. If you watch football and you know a little, it's simple to see that season was Messi carrying an awful Barcelona team.
This! Just a game people use to try to prove that he is not “clutch”, as compared to the one we shall not name who obviously unclutched hard in the World Cup
The standards that apply to Messi are completely unique due to his sheer brilliance. Him dancing around a few defenders or playing passes in between the lines is just normal. It's funny because sometimes people just ignore his display and decide how he's played based on his teams fortunes. That same performance gets praise if it's part of his Argentine team's win on route to WC 2022 win.
You also never hear "but Messi didnt get any service" because hes expected to create his own goals and provide most of the service in attack.
Yup. Which is why I find it impossible to compare him to other footballers I've seen. He's just an anomaly in being an elite playmaker / creator, dribbler and goalscorer. And with players becoming more and more specialists who play a specific role supremely well, it'll be interesting to see how long it takes before we see such an alien talent again.
To be fair there is no reasoning with those people , they are desperately looking for sticks to beat him with.
Most of the same people would blame him for the Saudi loss too (they probably did in this thread) even though he "Stepped up" and scored the penalty (no credit for scoring it either but undoubtedly all over his miss vs Poland).
If you walk around thinking like a hammer then every problem is a nail, so if you walk around thinking that Messi is overrated etc anything he doesn't do to perfection is a good reason he is overrated.
The man has had the most successful career of any player of the past 40 years (Pele I can't really speak of so I'll allow others more educated than I go say it's a longer period) so if you want to pick holes in him there are slim pickings, so you better pick as much as you can with as much passion as you can.
There was a poll I saw on twitter about which Messi you would take to your team
2010/11 where he was unstoppable and entertaining
2012/13 when he was just an alien that scored 91 goals in a year
2014/15 the most complete version of him as a passer and dribbler at his peak.
2022 As complete as the previous one but with less pace and more awareness of the game and the players around him.
It was interesting how 2017-2018 Messi wasn't taken in consideration. That season is the first one I saw Messi literally carrying Barcelona on his own, would have won the treble if Dembele didn't miss an absolute sitter and their defense didn't do the impossible to let Liverpool beat them. But that Barcelona was already an Europa League tier team.
2010/11 where he was unstoppable and entertaining
2012/13 when he was just an alien that scored 91 goals in a year
2014/15 the most complete version of him as a passer and dribbler at his peak.
2022 As complete as the previous one but with less pace and more awareness of the game and the players around him.
It was interesting how 2017-2018 Messi wasn't taken in consideration. That season is the first one I saw Messi literally carrying Barcelona on his own, would have won the treble if Dembele didn't miss an absolute sitter and their defense didn't do the impossible to let Liverpool beat them. But that Barcelona was already an Europa League tier team.
7x Ballon D’Ors (soon to be 8)
6x European Golden Shoes
42x Trophies
1x World Cup
1x Copa America
1x Finalissima
4x UCL
11x League Titles
794 Goals
350 Assists
1144 Goal contributions
147x Outside the box goals
2x WC Golden Ball
6x FIFA POTY
3x UEFA POTY
6x European Golden Shoes
42x Trophies
1x World Cup
1x Copa America
1x Finalissima
4x UCL
11x League Titles
794 Goals
350 Assists
1144 Goal contributions
147x Outside the box goals
2x WC Golden Ball
6x FIFA POTY
3x UEFA POTY
Imo his single most impressive stats is his over 300 MOTM award for club and probably closer or over 400 if you add in country, almost double the number of MOTM of the second placed player.
Given he had played (started or subbed) for 1000 or so matches, the that is 40ish% of the matches he has featured in being its MOTM. If you only consider starts, its probably closer to 50%. Its insanity
He is the GOAT now for sure, but I just can't take MOTM awards seriously because it's either very subjective or offensive statbase friendly.
Are you talking about official MOTM awards (if there even is such a thing), TV-broadcasters MOTM awards or whoscored/sofascore ratings? He has a playing style that fits statsbased rating a lot (favours dribbles, keypasses and goalpoints), compared to for instance DMs and defenders.
I've seen players win MOTM awards based on fanvoting during matches without even being on the pitch.
Still making plans like that at 35. We're not worthy.
I know it's lesser opposition but still it's next level plays.
Don't forget the FIFA awards only being given to the 2 finalists at the world cup.
Same can be said for Bałon d'Ors, they are a popularity contest and the criteria for winning them was you have to be Messi or Ronaldo and if you won the CL that season it was guaranteed.
The eye test never fails when it comes to being the best player or motm.
The 5 rime IFFHS playmaker record is astonishing given that we are talking about the man who also has the most golden boots ever and highest scoring peak in history
You've mixed that up it was 18-19 when Liverpool won the champions league and knocked out barcelona
I agree that this was one of Messi's greatest seasons. He was majestic in both the League and the CL and really should have won a 5th CL.
I don't know that people said he played horribly, but it was more three years in a row they get knocked out and score 0 goals in the second leg, juventus ok one goal wouldn't have made a difference, the other two one goal would have sent them through against roma or Liverpool. That's more what he got criticised for, not that he disappeared or was totally anonymous but three years in a row, didn't score a goal away from home in the tie they got knocked out it, scared got similar criticism for his away record in the CL so even if it isn't accurate it is the way a narrative begins to stick
You two probably mean 2018-19, not the previous season. He led Europe in goals+assists during both but he was on an entirely different level in the 2018-19 season. At times, he was winning matches by himself and that was as close to winning La Liga single handedly as I have ever seen.
I don’t think Haaland will get it unless he has an absolutely mental CL knockout run. Messi’s World Cup probably had him very far ahead. If PSG win the CL mbappe will also lose some votes to Messi.
I think you meant 2018-2019 for what it is worth and yes, he was brilliant that season.
edit: my apologies, saw that you were already aware. Carry on!
Was there much difference between 10/11 and 12/13? I pretty much view him as the same abnormal alien footballer from that era.
Fantastic votes are idiotic. He has won the most official and stat based MOTM awards.
Would be hilarious but unlike Ronaldo he still doesnt need to go to that farmers league.
Going by how they have played together so far Mpabbe has been far better in the biggest cl games. Messi has been average or poor tbh.
It's all marginal, but his big game performances in 2010-2011 were better imo. He did not have a single poor big game performance in 2010-2011. He dominated the Clasicos. Dominated in the CL and unfortunately dominated us in the CL final(which arguably is his best ever performance).
And I do think he slightly declined a bit physically in 2012-2013. His goal-scoring on a per minute basis did actually peak in that 2012-2013 season(I think it eclipses 2011-2012).
This is why 2010-2011 Messi is still Messi's peak IMO. It was his athletic peak and he was the main man for the greatest club side ever while playing amazing in every key game.
I do think later on, he became a bit more adept with his right foot for finishing though.
Official MOTM. In any case, the sheer number of MOTM he had even compared to his other competitors should smooth out whatever subjectivity there is. Lets not forget his main competitor is even more followed than he is, but has only about half of his MOTMs.
Agreed on the offensive statsbased measures, but that does show he is the MOTM the most in an attacking sense.
7 goals for mbappe and 4 goals for Messi in UCL this season.
4 assists for Messi and 3 assists for mbappe
Mbappe should make the top 3 but I think if Copa America was enough to win Messi the award 2 years ago then the World Cup would sway it even more this season. But let’s see what happens.
I think the only way that Mbappe could take it from Messi at this stage is some absolutely outrageous performances on the way to a Champions league win.
Like multiple "one man team", superhero performances.
Because as the weeks and months pass I think people are beginning to appreciate Messi's performances even more rather than saying they were overhyped in hindsight.
There is a mystique/ nostalgia beginning to grow about it already which I think will only gain traction.
The only problem with Mbappe winning the Champions League IMO is that they play on the same team and for Mbappe to win the Champions league I think Messi will have to play at a high level also and take some of those Votes too.
Mpabbe has been the standout performer in the big games in the cl they have shared. Apart from Messi's debut goal vs City he's been average or wank against the biggest teams in the cl. If he starts performing to his best level against the biggest teams Messi will win another Ballon D'or for sure though.
After the World Cup, the chances of someone other than Messi winning it are between very slim and none.
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