Lionel Messi | PSG Watch

[Son]

Let's get real, though. It's Messi. He'll wake up in mid-December and score 35 league goals in three months.

He could do. I get the feeling though the reason it’s not working is you need Messi as the centre of the team only. Everything needs to run through and end almost with him most of the time.

I’d argue this PSG side cannot do that with Mbappe and Neymar too who want their share of the goals. Neither is an assist king either to give it back to Messi.

 

[Rooney in Paris]

Well, happiness is relative to each persons experiences. Give a starving kid in Africa a cheeseburger and he may be happier than a rich spoiled kid getting a PS5. Humans get used to their way of living.

Thanks for enlightening me on the relativity of happiness and humanity in general. Feeling even harder for the Messis now.

 

[Wolf1992]

Let's get real, though. It's Messi. He'll wake up in mid-December and score 35 league goals in three months.

PSG looks too disjointed for Messi to score 35 goals in 5-6 months.
They can't even dominate midtable french teams, and rely way too much on individual brilliance to win matches, plus Pochettino tactical don't help much.

Ligue 1 is more physical than La Liga, and Messi being 34 years old just makes it worse...and he doesn't have the physical attributes of Zlatan and Cristiano in their 30s.

 

[VanKenny]

Wouldn't be so sure of that. Salah could well be in with a shout this year, especially with recency bias playing a part.

Too late for that. If he keeps this form for a few more months then 2022 is pretty much his.

Thanks for enlightening me on the relativity of happiness and humanity in general. Feeling even harder for the Messis now.

Oh i get it, you are "that" cool sarcastic dude every middle-school classroom has. Carry on man, i think you can even be more sarcastic, give it a try.

 

[kouroux]

Too late for that. If he keeps this form for a few more months then 2022 is pretty much his.




Oh i get it, you are "that" cool sarcastic dude every middle-school classroom has. Carry on man, i think you can even be more sarcastic, give it a try.

In a world cup year ? No chance if he doesn't win the CL at least

 

[Daysleeper]

https://www.photobox.co.uk/my/photo/full?photo_id=504209211158

 

[Lord SInister]

Any idea how long he is out?

 

[Lord SInister]

PSG higher ups miffed with Messi for flying with Argentina NT.
Does not make sense to be angry now, when they happily signed his contract with a clause where PSG has to let him go with NT even when he is injured.

 

[ayushreddevil9]

Thanks for enlightening me on the relativity of happiness and humanity in general. Feeling even harder for the Messis now.

 

[Pep's Suit]

At this point he only cares about the World Cup and those two Champions League campaigns he's got left. I thought he could still return to Barca for one season in 2023 if Xavi does well there but at this point MLS is more likely, I guess.

 

[Bogdannn]

Messi's performances for PSG have proven what we've known all along: that he could not do it on cold Sunday night in Stoke.
He can't do shit in the weak farmers league that is Ligue 1, let alone in the Premiership. Defenders here aren't softies like in La Liga.
And Messi can't adapt to a different playing system than his disgusting tiki taka.
He's overrated !!!

 

[Regulus Arcturus Black]

Messi's performances for PSG have proven what we've known all along: that he could not do it on cold Sunday night in Stoke.
He can't do shit in the weak farmers league that is Ligue 1, let alone in the Premiership. Defenders here aren't softies like in La Liga.
And Messi can't adapt to a different playing system than his disgusting tiki taka.
He's overrated !!!

He’s no Marouane Fellaini that’s for sure.

 

[Pocho]

Messi's performances for PSG have proven what we've known all along: that he could not do it on cold Sunday night in Stoke.
He can't do shit in the weak farmers league that is Ligue 1, let alone in the Premiership. Defenders here aren't softies like in La Liga.
And Messi can't adapt to a different playing system than his disgusting tiki taka.
He's overrated !!!

He is injured. Go and troll elsewhere please.

 

[Bogdannn]

He is injured. Go and troll elsewhere please.

Stop making excuses, he just can't adapt to a new team/system

 

[Gehrman]

Messi's performances for PSG have proven what we've known all along: that he could not do it on cold Sunday night in Stoke.
He can't do shit in the weak farmers league that is Ligue 1, let alone in the Premiership. Defenders here aren't softies like in La Liga.
And Messi can't adapt to a different playing system than his disgusting tiki taka.
He's overrated !!!

He's already scored against City for PSG.

 

[Pocho]

He's already scored against City for PSG.

Don't feed the troll

 

[Bole Top]

Stop making excuses, he just can't adapt to a new team/system

not to mention he still hasn't learned how to do elastico or rabona.

 

[Regulus Arcturus Black]

He's already scored against City for PSG.

So has Conor Gallagher in fairness, with a much worse team.

 

[Daysleeper]

So has Conor Gallagher in fairness, with a much worse team.

Messi’s goal was much better though

 

[tenpoless]

Still better than Ronaldo despite Ronaldo being coached by a TED talk speaker.

 

[Jackal981]

He’s washed out now but that does not mean we should forget his past accolades and prime as one of the best of all time. Every player will be washed out sooner or later and in case of Messi we see it right now. No player in existence can maintain their prime forever.

 

[Bebestation]

Messi's performances for PSG have proven what we've known all along: that he could not do it on cold Sunday night in Stoke.
He can't do shit in the weak farmers league that is Ligue 1, let alone in the Premiership. Defenders here aren't softies like in La Liga.
And Messi can't adapt to a different playing system than his disgusting tiki taka.
He's overrated !!!

I agree.

What you say might be a bit over the top - but ultimately some fell in love with the pure technical ability of Messi whilst others fell in love with the mental ability of Ronaldo to do it for any team, under any league, under any manager under any tactics that didn't even properly get the best out of him. The guy is now doing better in the hardest league in the world, under the worst manager of the Premiership, under a team that has no tactical style to their play.

That's ultimately what Barcelona was for Messi - it was a place he could show and be the amazing technical ability god of this world. He was playing with a Barcelona team that after Pep's tenure had the possesion game stitched in to their DNA that you saw it under other managers. Players like Xavi, Iniesta, Busquets, Pique, Puyol and others were there for varying times, playing the Barcelona football for the Spain National team - able to play to a pure template that made the football look extremely simplified yet perfect and a rhythm "on the floor" that Messi's was just the cherry on top of the cake, doing skilkfull stuff like juggling the ball above the goalkeeper before smashing the goal in.

An absolutely wonderful goal but do I see him doing and scoring those goals for Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's United even at his prime? Not really. Should he do better in Ligue 1 with a manager like Pochettino when playing with players like Neymar, mbappe, verrati and others - people may make excuses now but yes he should be doing better.

Maybe it's too early to talk like this, all he needs is one goal in the whole rest of the season - in the PSG UCL Final and people will talk about how much of a success he has been; you see this with how they talk about his one CL goal vs City so far. You can't really complain at that point.

It's too early to talk - but I think people like me and you are just generally seeing what we always knew, some players can be the best when the team that's been built to play a type of football that only enhances your abilities as a footballer - Messi would look better as a part of Barcelona than a part of Stoke football team because of how Barcelona plays their football even without Messi. Then theirs the way the whole league plays their football, how La Liga chooses to defend, impose their physicality, or even chooses to attack in a more technical way than a physical way (what level the ball is kept at etc) will ultimately help how Barcelona have to defend themselves and have the ability to play a counter attack anyway isn't it?

Anyway, it's too soon. He can have some time to adapt to PSG and all he really needs is to score a single goal in the UCL Final for him to look like a success story again.

However, I've heard rumours that Messi might have a transfer back to Barcelona in the up and coming future - that would be disssapointing.

 

[RedDribble]

He doesn't really have a strong motivation at PSG. PSG should really sell him as soon as possible when they have the chance. His motivation will rise again when he returns to Barcelona. However, just like Ronaldo he needs to now adapt to the team not the other way around. Barcelona should not adapt around a 34~35 year old player.

 

[Gehrman]

Dont know why this cropped up again, he's been playing half-injured and there has been international break.

 

[fergosaurus]

Messi's performances for PSG have proven what we've known all along: that he could not do it on cold Sunday night in Stoke.
He can't do shit in the weak farmers league that is Ligue 1, let alone in the Premiership. Defenders here aren't softies like in La Liga.
And Messi can't adapt to a different playing system than his disgusting tiki taka.
He's overrated !!!

How many goals has Lionel Messi scored against English Premier League clubs?

Opponent	Goals	Matches
Arsenal	9	6
Chelsea	3	10
Manchester United	4	6
Manchester City	7	7
Tottenham Hotspur	2	2
Liverpool	2	4
Total	27	35

 

[Gehrman]

How many goals has Lionel Messi scored against English Premier League clubs?

Opponent	Goals	Matches
Arsenal	9	6
Chelsea	3	10
Manchester United	4	6
Manchester City	7	7
Tottenham Hotspur	2	2
Liverpool	2	4
Total	27	35

Yeah but he only did it for playing for Barcelona and all that so it doesn't count. And well 1 goal against City for PSG.

 

[fergosaurus]

Yeah but he only did it for playing for Barcelona and all that so it doesn't count. And well 1 goal against City for PSG.

That's right, the below statement from @Bogdannn is the true litmus test and unfortunately he hid from the challenge in his Barca bubble and now a farmer's league.

he could not do it on cold Sunday night in Stoke.

 

[Gehrman]

That's right, the below statement from @Bogdannn is the true litmus test and unfortunately he hid from the challenge in his Barca bubble and now a farmer's league.

Ronaldo has 2 goals vs Stoke. Debate over.

 

[Bebestation]

Amazing.

People still think Messi would be doing more of the work under Ole more so than Ronaldo.

Ligue 1 easier league. Check
Pochettino better manager. Check
Team mates that absolutely demolish the rest of the league. Check
2 years younger. Check
Proof. Check

And still people are thinking he is great outside his comfort zone.

No one doubts his ability to score against an England team- it's his ability to play for an English team under tactics that are more "english" like SAF'S or even Pochettino's basic tactics than the Dutch or Spanish tactics of Barcelona. Literally playing all his life in possesion based football and team mates who played the exact same thing in International football without him.

Could Ronaldo play for Stoke and still be regarded one of the best playing under their very basic tactics? The fact he is doing it under Ole in the PL with no tactics at all shows that he probably can. Messi playing for Stoke and doing as well as he did at Barcelona? Nope not for me. Doing it more like his PSG career so far - yep that more what I'm seeing.

Good goals when the team needs it but not that monster from La Liga.

 

[Gehrman]

Amazing.

People still think Messi would be doing more of the work under Ole more so than Ronaldo.

Ligue 1 easier league. Check
Pochettino better manager. Check
Team mates that absolutely demolish the rest of the league. Check
2 years younger. Check
Proof. Check

And still people are thinking he is great outside his comfort zone.

No one doubts his ability to score against an England team- it's his ability to play for an English team under tactics that are more "english" like SAF'S or even Pochettino's basic tactics than the Dutch or Spanish tactics of Barcelona. Literally playing all his life in possesion based football and team mates who played the exact same thing in International football without him.

Could Ronaldo play for Stoke and still be regarded one of the best playing under their very basic tactics? The fact he is doing it under Ole in the PL with no tactics at all shows that he probably can. Messi playing for Stoke and doing as well as he did at Barcelona? Nope not for me. Doing it more like his PSG career so far - yep that more what I'm seeing.

Good goals when the team needs it but not that monster from La Liga.

He's 34, half-injured and havn't had many minutes so far. No doubt his league 1 debut has been dissapointing so far, but unless age has finally finished him I expect him to pick up his form, but we'll see. I said he was finished in the beginning of last season but then he had a fantastic 2021 season and summer. I don't believe that Messi like Ronaldo in the sense I expect Messi to be truly finished by 36, because he's not got Ronaldo's body. He might still be able to spray passses and score a dozen a season, but he's not fit to become a poacher as he gets older.

 

[Brwned]

I for one am shocked that a player at the end of his career is playing worse than he did at the peak of his career. Clearly Figo proved he wasn’t that good after all when he he went to Serie A at the end of his career and was just pretty good. Just another one of those frauds benefiting from the La Liga whipping boys. No doubt would’ve been torn to shreds by the mythical PL.

 

[Gehrman]

I for one am shocked that a player at the end of his career is playing worse than he did at the peak of his career. Clearly Figo proved he wasn’t that good after all when he he went to Serie A at the end of his career and was just pretty good. Just another one of those frauds benefiting from the La Liga whipping boys. No doubt would’ve been torn to shreds by the mythical PL.

He's still favourite to win the Ballon D'or. But yeah expecting a player in the twillight in his career to be as good as in his prime is silly.

 

[Bebestation]

He's still favourite to win the Ballon D'or. But yeah expecting a player in the twillight in his career to be as good as in his prime is silly.

It's more the fact that he is going to win the Balon'dor for his achievement as a player just last year for Barcelona, for the La Liga.

Just last year.

As soon as he moves to PSG a few months later- he is in the twilight of his career to people due to the way he performs.

 

[Gehrman]

It's more the fact that he is going to win the Balon'dor for his achievement as a player just last year for Barcelona, for the La Liga.

Just last year.

As soon as he moves to PSG a few months later- he is in the twilight of his career to people due to the way he performs.

He is in the twillight of his career. He's no longer by far the best. I don't consider him by default to be better than Mbappe, Neymar, Haaland, Salah and Lewandowski. And I expect it to go downhill sooner or later. He's still been struggling with injuries and havn't played many minutes. He's played 325 minutes in League 1 so far. It's always hard to call it when Ronaldo and Messi are past it, but I expect things will look better when he's had a chance to really get going.

 

[Eddy_JukeZ]

He just hasn't been good this season.

But people rewriting his entire career based on this season are hilarious.

Make no mistake, Messi would have completely destroyed the Premier League in his pomp.

 

[Gehrman]

He just hasn't been good this season.

But people rewriting his entire career based on this season are hilarious.

Make no mistake, Messi would have completely destroyed the Premier League in his pomp.

Messi really ruined his legacy by spending 20 years at his dream club.

 

[Regulus Arcturus Black]

How many goals has Lionel Messi scored against English Premier League clubs?

Opponent	Goals	Matches
Arsenal	9	6
Chelsea	3	10
Manchester United	4	6
Manchester City	7	7
Tottenham Hotspur	2	2
Liverpool	2	4
Total	27	35

That tells us nothing about cold nights in Stoke.

 

[Gehrman]

I think due most us being United fans there is a pl bias where scoring a hattrick vs Newcastle or west ham seems more exciting than getting a hattrick against Sevilla. Before Messi and Ronaldo there was none getting supernatural numbers in La liga. I think La liga has gotten weaker since PL clubs started buying the best players from la liga teams that werent barca and real madrid however i still dont think la liga is as weak as people think it is.

 

[Zehner]

I think due most us being United fans there is a pl bias where scoring a hattrick vs Newcastle or west ham seems more exciting than getting a hattrick against Sevilla. Before Messi and Ronaldo there was none getting supernatural numbers in La liga. I think La liga has gotten weaker since PL clubs started buying the best players from la liga teams that werent barca and real madrid however i still dont think la liga is as weak as people think it is.

I mean, comparing goal numbers across leagues or even teams, seasons, positions etc. is not really readable anyway. Goals scored, assists etc. are more or less the most superficial statistics out there. Even advanced metrics are very hard to compare so the quantitative approach many take in here is not really an alternative to the qualitative one, a. k. a. the eye test.

And let's be honest, most people in here nost likely don't even bother watching Messi etc. play.

 

[Gehrman]

I mean, comparing goal numbers across leagues or even teams, seasons, positions etc. is not really readable anyway. Goals scored, assists etc. are more or less the most superficial statistics out there. Even advanced metrics are very hard to compare so the quantitative approach many take in here is not really an alternative to the qualitative one, a. k. a. the eye test.

And let's be honest, most people in here nost likely don't even bother watching Messi etc. play.

The headline of this video is stupid because Messi's 2018 world cup wasnt great, but look where he picks up the ball and what he does for team. He's so much more than a goalscorer.

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