Because he didn’t score?
He is been one of the best players in this world this season so you’re comment doesn’t really make sense.
Plus it’s a team game. Why would one player be blamed for losing a game?
Lionel Messi
- Thread starter Scarecrow
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In the latest episode of the United Hour Podcast, Nik @Rood and Imran @Annihilate Now! start with the good news by celebrating Manchester United Women's emphatic FA Cup win over Spurs at Wembley and the future of manager Marc Skinner.
Then it's the bad news and the ever worsening form of our Men with losses to Arsenal and Palace.
Finally the main debate - ETH Out now or keep him until the end of the season - if not longer. Are you Team Nik or Team Imran?
Plus it’s a team game. Why would one player be blamed for losing a game?
Delighted he crashed out. Even if it was to Liverpool.
We'll he did create some very good chances that should have at least get to one goal. In a team performance that was absolutely horrific.
Suarez should have buried that one on one.
Same story every year.
Barca wins: Messi goat, carries the team etc.
Barca loses: Teammates suck, what can one man do...
Barca wins: Messi goat, carries the team etc.
Barca loses: Teammates suck, what can one man do...
But he does carry them. Take Messi away and they'd be lucky to challenge for the league or cup trophies.
They're completely out of idea when he's not playing.
He has never and probably will never win the Champions League without Xavi and/or Iniesta in the side
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Did three times...
Meant to say without
Gotta give it to Messi, he truly is a magician!
Disappearing when it matters most again !
Forever not a big game player
...When Barca/Argentina struggle, Messi walks around the pitch with his head down with a look of giving up and hopelessness.
When Utd/Madrid/Juvé/Portugal struggle, Ronaldo holds his head up while inspiring his teammates and picks the team up.
I hope people are honest enough to be able to accept that because it’s the facts and has been clear as day the past number of years especially with Messi bottling and Cristiano creating history (CL 3peat + Euro Champ).
Disappearing when it matters most again !
Forever not a big game player
...When Barca/Argentina struggle, Messi walks around the pitch with his head down with a look of giving up and hopelessness.
When Utd/Madrid/Juvé/Portugal struggle, Ronaldo holds his head up while inspiring his teammates and picks the team up.
I hope people are honest enough to be able to accept that because it’s the facts and has been clear as day the past number of years especially with Messi bottling and Cristiano creating history (CL 3peat + Euro Champ).
No he cries, he cries a lotGotta give it to Messi, he truly is a magician!
Disappearing when it matters most again !
Forever not a big game player
...When Barca/Argentina struggle, Messi walks around the pitch with his head down with a look of giving up and hopelessness.
When Utd/Madrid/Juvé/Portugal struggle, Ronaldo holds his head up while inspiring his teammates and picks the team up.
I hope people are honest enough to be able to accept that because it’s the facts and has been clear as day the past number of years especially with Messi bottling and Cristiano creating history (CL 3peat + Euro Champ).
After the final whistle has blown sure, that’s understandable for any player.
In the game, his body language and demeanour is to never give up and always to keep on pushing.
...I’m not going to post about every instance. You can look for Euro’s / WC etc by yourself if you like. Generally speaking that’s known across the footballing world. Not saying every time it’s like that for Messi & Ronaldo but for the most part it is.
Messi even today gave that facial expression that he does every time when his team is down as if he’s smelt a terrible fart while you can see the anger build up inside of him. And then he just looks on hopelessly and walks with his head down.
Going to leave it at that since this is the Messi thread with all due respect.
He put Alba, Suarez and Coutinho 1vs1 against the GK...
Had one of them scored my guess is Liverpool would have scored 5. That's how pathetic the Barcelona defence was.
The goal from the corner
https://fivethirtyeight.com/feature...nt-than-ever-and-barcelona-is-more-dependent/
Good article of just how dependent Barcelona are on Messi and their collective decline in pressing. Once the best pressing team in the world, I don't even think they're in the top 10 now.
Good article of just how dependent Barcelona are on Messi and their collective decline in pressing. Once the best pressing team in the world, I don't even think they're in the top 10 now.
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It was remarkably noticeable just how...uncomfortable they looked at times tonight. As an overall team. They never looked like a side in control of the game the moment Liverpool took the initiative. Even in the final minutes their attacking spells basically felt like Liverpool feeling like they had to defend because that's what teams who're about to beat Barcelona have to do. And on-field dominance has always been a fundamental feature of Barca for the past 10 years, even when they've dipped. There's been something up with them even this year, and I couldn't put my figure of it, and I assumed I was being uber-critical of a side that I assumed were basically going to walk their way to the CL. Maybe not though.
They looked a bit like us. They just didn’t look fit at all.
Busquets, Vidal, Rakitic, Suarez and Coutinho. There’s not much legs in that. The only player you could say looks fit was Alba and he was doing his best Ashley Young impression.
The other thing is all their defenders one vs one struggle against Pace. Pique probably less so than the others. Salah skipped past Lenglet like he wasn’t there in the first leg. I wasn’t sure about him when we played Sevilla when people wanted us to sign him. Umtiti is more rash probably but he’s a better one vs one defender. Then you had Roberto who I myself fancy running past and then you have Busquets who is their version of Matic now.
You look at that peak Barca team. Puyol used to look after Pique. Alves made the other teams left winger defend rather than himself. Where as if you play Roberto there it’s not quite the same threat. Abidal added balance to the left side and could tuck in which allowed Alves to roam forward more.
Barca are just lucky Madrid are shite and they ain’t got 5 other clubs breathing down their necks.
Messi was directly was directly involved in all eight of Barcelona's shots tonight against Liverpool:
• 5 shots attempted
• 3 chances created
• 5 shots attempted
• 3 chances created
What Messi has been doing for Barcelona since Guardiola minus that 2015 season is a bit like what Fergie was doing for us post Ronaldo; Dominating the league through sheer genius and being more or less on auto mode but the shortcomings being cruelly exposed against the better and more cohesive European units.
Really good comparison.
Yeah I'm pretty sure Liverpool outran them badly.
Messi walks all game. Suarez barely covers ground.
They're a very nonathletic team.
The last time they won the CL, they were far more athletic.
Said it earlier, but Messi has really papered over loads of their cracks. He is their SAF.
I think the issue with Messi is he walks as we know.
In games like last night I think he needs to to go the ball, do what Scholes did, control the game, dribble, pass it on, he needed to take the game by the scruff of its neck.
Barca just doesn't have the legs.
In games like last night I think he needs to to go the ball, do what Scholes did, control the game, dribble, pass it on, he needed to take the game by the scruff of its neck.
Barca just doesn't have the legs.
It's a strange and quite sad modern trend really where fans in general seem more interested in celebrating hatred and others failure than success. Chants all over now are about how bad their rivals are and big games like tonight or competitions are more talked about by some in terms of mocking whoever lost and almost taking pleasure in their shortcoming. I may be off and that this existed all the time as I have not been alive but I remember Fergie using a photograph from the '60s to make the point how rival fans were not characterized by the same bitterness and venom we see today so I assume he was onto something.
Got the distanced covered stat for Messi and Suarez by any chance?
Pool's midfield ran the show
Depend on what basis we judge. If we judge him as a team player, he should be the least to be blamed. But if we judge him as GOAT, failing to score a goal or decisively change the outcome of crucial games, over and over again throughout the years, will at least cause some disappointment.
Because he didn’t score?
He is been one of the best players in this world this season so you’re comment doesn’t really make sense.
Plus it’s a team game. Why would one player be blamed for losing a game?
No player in football history has ever always decisively changed the outcome of a big game.
Pele, Maradona, Cruyff, etc have gone through failures too.
For Messi, it getting nearer to the case of “always fail to change”, instead of “fail to always change” the outcome of big games, especially in recent years.
It's not just about inspiring his team to win. It's about inspiring his team, period. Napoli lost to real madrid, sure. But they didn't have a mental breakdown. Messi, for whatever reason, doesn't seem to inspire that kind of faith and confidence and belief in his teammates.
Wrong. This Barca as a unit are awful. It is not just the defence.
Right now only 2 players carry them. Ter Stegen and Messi and its no surprise it was they who heavily contributed to the tie only being 3-4 against them. Alan seem to contribute strictly because he lays on final passes to Messi. Something is seriously wrong with that team
This guy only performs when and wherever he wants! IMO just a prima donna like some of the players we have. Utterly disgusting! IMHO, doesnt hurt to have him in our squad. Love it actually
Christ, it's not enough that he's the best player on his team, he has to be a rah-rah shaman?
To be the best ever? Yeah. Because the competition was just that
Problem at Barcelona is Messi has become bigger than the team. He's pretty much player manager and does what he likes. Argentina have a similar issue, albeit with a weaker team. Football is played by 11 though. Liverpool and Roma showed the collective is more important than pandering to a star player.
Are some of you here just trolling or are you seriously serious with these sort of comments?
Because it's not funny it's kinda sad
I blame him for a absolute nothing last night. He and Ter Stegen couldn't keep bailing them out of tight spots all the time this season. Something HAD to give
TBF to him. He is now older. Its to be expected the drop in work rate.
I also don't blame him for his head dropping though. Even he knew deep down he and Ter Stegen had zero chance of rescuing that particular Barca side yet again. Not with Liverpool finally doing what they should have done at the Camp Nou
Can't find the record for this match specifically but Messi ran on average 8.95km per match in the CL this season.
He might have been Barca's best player this game but statistically he was below his own average for this season in many aspects and way worse if you compare it to the 1st leg.
I don't like just looking at statistics though because statistically Liverpool and Barcelona were almost identical on every level measures except running distance and the difference between the two teams were 4 goals and although Barcelona should have scored a goal in the match Liverpool were clearly the better team.
Klopp learned from the first game. Liverpool gave him less space yesterday.
Still the greatest footballer no doubt.
Still the greatest footballer no doubt.