Won't be surprised if Messi ends up at Inter. Barcelona still want Lautaro and Inter want Messi.
Lionel Messi
- Thread starter Scarecrow
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You think Messi wants to link up with lukkaku?
I’d pay to watch that!
He should go to Juve. To 2 greatest of all time having a personal goal competition. Could be the stuff of dreams or nightmares. Top entertainment.
Even including Lautaro, they would have to add a pretty big bag of cash. As bad as things are you can't convince Messi to come and play with Young/Lukaku and a half fit Alexis. They would get dropped at the first knockout round. They're also about to be coachless.
I think he will stick around and see what Koeman can do. And if that's still rubbish he will have the whole year to prepare his next club to build a decent side around him.
A resume of Messi's career of "failure" with Argentina:
https://twitter.com /MessiScored/status/1305173450751909889
just remove the espace after twitter.com.
Its mindblowing actually. I knew he was good with his national team, but thats just makes the whole argument of Messi not being good with Argentina a complete turd of an argument.
https://twitter.com /MessiScored/status/1305173450751909889
just remove the espace after twitter.com.
Its mindblowing actually. I knew he was good with his national team, but thats just makes the whole argument of Messi not being good with Argentina a complete turd of an argument.
The Olympics and U20 world cup are both rather irrelevant in the grand scheme of things for footballers and their legacy. I still don't think Messi deserved his golden ball for the 2014 World Cup.
And the argument was never, "Messi isn't good for Argentina."
It was that Messi hasn't performed as well for Argentina as he has for Barcelona.
'He did not deserve the golden ball' has its response in the tweet itself. And the argument of most IS actually that he is not good for Argentina. The 'as good as' argument can be made for most players.
Thanks for saving me the time.
Its almost as if its that hard to understand that football is a team sport and what other 21 players do on the pitch can greatly influence the results of a game. Players dont magically change their abilities when they put on a different shirt, thats just one of the many ridiculous arguments people use to discredit Messi.
Lionel can sleep easy tonight after the ECJ decision today.
Messi has won his fight to trademark his surname which has been an issue since 2011.
Its Messi not Massi !
Messi has won his fight to trademark his surname which has been an issue since 2011.
Its Messi not Massi !
I knew there was something wrong with my DHGate kitNot a single clip of him destroying Stoke though.
Don't see Stoke in that compilation.
He might have had a record number of dribbles against us in 2008 when we had Rio, Vidic and Evra in their prime while he was only 21 years old, but could he really put a Stoke defender on his arse?
@Shamana
It's not playing purely against an English team that people talk about when people ask whether he can do it against stoke. We have all seen Messi rip another one in to English teams in the CL.
Its playing for a different team against a different type of team for the majority of the season and then changing when required to take it up a level for the CL.
Barcelona's game no matter what people think suits Lionel Messi. There is an essence to Barcelona's tactical DNA from a combination their Dutch history, la masia, arguably the best team in football history playing possession football with Pep - no matter if you change the manager there seems to be some of that lingering around still and that is always going to not just help Messi but alot of their other technical gifted players.
The closest I can explain it by another team is back in Arsenal 1990-2000's - even if we were competitive & maybe even more successful; they had a tactical DNA to their style that suited a certain type of player. A more, technical player than the rest of Premiership had starter to build on and they were playing good quick passing football. This ultimately suits a certain type of player.
That's simply talking about Barcelona.
Then theres the defensive aspect. The defenders are bigger, and more physical here. (What Havertz said even vs Bundesliga which is also more physical defensive than La Liga). Messi would be playing for a team possibly less getting the best use out of him (Pep is the only one who can get the best) but playing against defenders that are bigger and more physical & maybe even now pressing even more as a unit.
You consider how a physical striker like Zlatan didnt get to make it at Barcelona in comparison to the Neymars, the Greizmanns, the Suarez's, the dembele's, the Messi's, the Pedro's and the Messis. You consider how such a physical striker was more the type of striker of a manager like Jose ( read what Zlatan says about him vs Pep) - he was the direct opposition to the Possession football that was played by Pep back in the day.
All that physicality - the failed ones at Barcelona but do well everywhere else (due to a certain type of football they play that suits messi as much as it can hinder others), the managers who play such tactics all in one league, the physical defenders playing against you every week whilst your feeling physically week a bit yourself by 2% only but maybe emotionally a little bit because your team isnt always technically dominant as Barcelona always seem to be. It's not been as easy but he has gotten through..Yet then theres the CL matches..
The physicality of stoke is the beauty of the wonder - just as much as Messi would be playing against teams like them more often; people wonder how he would do playing FOR a team more like stoke as well..
I am not going into long hypothetical speculation of how Messi might play for a Stoke-like PL Club. It's all purely speculation. The best players with a few exceptions end up at the clubs where they get paid the most, play the best brand of football, feel happiest(and what's best for their spouse and family) and have a good shot at winning the biggest trophies. Messi is one of those players who ended up at Barcelona the right club for him since he was 13 because he was a outstanding prodigy. Any move from Barcelona would only be sideways at best and downwards mostly. Inter Milan made a bid for him for 150 mil euros when he had just turned 18 years old. A all-time world record fee at the time for a unproven 18 year old, but he decided to stay.@Shamana
It's not playing purely against an English team that people talk about when people ask whether he can do it against stoke. We have all seen Messi rip another one in to English teams in the CL.
Its playing for a different team against a different type of team for the majority of the season and then changing when required to take it up a level for the CL.
Barcelona's game no matter what people think suits Lionel Messi. There is an essence to Barcelona's tactical DNA from a combination their Dutch history, la masia, arguably the best team in football history playing possession football with Pep - no matter if you change the manager there seems to be some of that lingering around still and that is always going to not just help Messi but alot of their other technical gifted players.
The closest I can explain it by another team is back in Arsenal 1990-2000's - even if we were competitive & maybe even more successful; they had a tactical DNA to their style that suited a certain type of player. A more, technical player than the rest of Premiership had starter to build on and they were playing good quick passing football. This ultimately suits a certain type of player.
That's simply talking about Barcelona.
Then theres the defensive aspect. The defenders are bigger, and more physical here. (What Havertz said even vs Bundesliga which is also more physical defensive than La Liga). Messi would be playing for a team possibly less getting the best use out of him (Pep is the only one who can get the best) but playing against defenders that are bigger and more physical & maybe even now pressing even more as a unit.
You consider how a physical striker like Zlatan didnt get to make it at Barcelona in comparison to the Neymars, the Greizmanns, the Suarez's, the dembele's, the Messi's, the Pedro's and the Messis. You consider how such a physical striker was more the type of striker of a manager like Jose ( read what Zlatan says about him vs Pep) - he was the direct opposition to the Possession football that was played by Pep back in the day.
All that physicality - the failed ones at Barcelona but do well everywhere else (due to a certain type of football they play that suits messi as much as it can hinder others), the managers who play such tactics all in one league, the physical defenders playing against you every week whilst your feeling physically week a bit yourself by 2% only but maybe emotionally a little bit because your team isnt always technically dominant as Barcelona always seem to be. It's not been as easy but he has gotten through..Yet then theres the CL matches..
The physicality of stoke is the beauty of the wonder - just as much as Messi would be playing against teams like them more often; people wonder how he would do playing FOR a team more like stoke as well..
Any manager with a brain plays a player in his best role. It's meaningless wonder about how Messi function as a target man for a Stoke-like club to receive long balls to win in aerial duels or floating crosses to headers since he's short by todays standards. It might be just as stimulating to wonder how Pelé would have fared in the first division in England rather than playing his entire prime in Santos, but who really cares?
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Messi is basically David Silva on steroids (all of them), and with around twice the vision and football IQ, so i mean we may never know how would he do on the PL... but you can kind of get an idea...
Kind of a disservice to Messi since he's is one the most prolific goalscorers and best dribblers of all time. Other than the playmaking ability, they don't have a lot in common. But yeah all Messi's opponnents have noted that he's incredibly strong and has a lot of upper body strength. He's not easy to just knock off the ball. But yeah basically Mata(for chelsea at least), Silva and Ageruo proved that short latin players can excell in the PL.
Still can't believe the very first headed goal of his professional career came in the CL final against us after all the debates about him and Ronaldo and how Ronaldo was so much better than him in the air.
Jeez, did anyone see Messi's insane no-look pass the other day vs. Girona? Not only was it a no look pass, but he slipped it inside the full-back onto Trincao. I think him and Trincao are going to be a huge combination this season. I'm calling it.
Only video I could find of it....
and also Messi's long range goal on his right foot
Only video I could find of it....
and also Messi's long range goal on his right foot
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Nice skills. They look awful in pink though!
These are the things that go unnoticed if you don't watch games but only rely on stats.
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Brilliant vision.
This post highlights that you don't watch Barcelona games and didn't watch Zlatan at Barca either. Greizmann and Dembele have performed at a lower standard than Zlatan did at Barcelona - absolutely no Barcelona fan or anyone who watches them regularly would claim that Greizmann or Dembele have 'made it'. The reason Zlatan was shunted is because Messi was more effective in the centre therefore making Ibrahimovic superfluous to the team. However, he still was decent at Barca and your painting of him as a 'physical' striker compared to say Suarez is daft, as Zlatan is technically better or equal to every player you mentioned bar Messi and Neymar. Ibrahimovic would have made it at Barcalona fine, but unfortunately for him he had the best player in the world entering his prime playing in his position.@Shamana
It's not playing purely against an English team that people talk about when people ask whether he can do it against stoke. We have all seen Messi rip another one in to English teams in the CL.
Its playing for a different team against a different type of team for the majority of the season and then changing when required to take it up a level for the CL.
Barcelona's game no matter what people think suits Lionel Messi. There is an essence to Barcelona's tactical DNA from a combination their Dutch history, la masia, arguably the best team in football history playing possession football with Pep - no matter if you change the manager there seems to be some of that lingering around still and that is always going to not just help Messi but alot of their other technical gifted players.
The closest I can explain it by another team is back in Arsenal 1990-2000's - even if we were competitive & maybe even more successful; they had a tactical DNA to their style that suited a certain type of player. A more, technical player than the rest of Premiership had starter to build on and they were playing good quick passing football. This ultimately suits a certain type of player.
That's simply talking about Barcelona.
Then theres the defensive aspect. The defenders are bigger, and more physical here. (What Havertz said even vs Bundesliga which is also more physical defensive than La Liga). Messi would be playing for a team possibly less getting the best use out of him (Pep is the only one who can get the best) but playing against defenders that are bigger and more physical & maybe even now pressing even more as a unit.
You consider how a physical striker like Zlatan didnt get to make it at Barcelona in comparison to the Neymars, the Greizmanns, the Suarez's, the dembele's, the Messi's, the Pedro's and the Messis. You consider how such a physical striker was more the type of striker of a manager like Jose ( read what Zlatan says about him vs Pep) - he was the direct opposition to the Possession football that was played by Pep back in the day.
All that physicality - the failed ones at Barcelona but do well everywhere else (due to a certain type of football they play that suits messi as much as it can hinder others), the managers who play such tactics all in one league, the physical defenders playing against you every week whilst your feeling physically week a bit yourself by 2% only but maybe emotionally a little bit because your team isnt always technically dominant as Barcelona always seem to be. It's not been as easy but he has gotten through..Yet then theres the CL matches..
The physicality of stoke is the beauty of the wonder - just as much as Messi would be playing against teams like them more often; people wonder how he would do playing FOR a team more like stoke as well..
You're definitely overstating the 'physical' aspect of the premier league, especially given that you've written the word or some derivitive of it 7 times in 3 sentences
You only have to look at the games vs. us where he was putting Vidic on his arse and players like Carrick, Scholes and Park were bouncing off him trying to get the ball from him. Aguero has the best goalscoring ratio in the league's history yet he's slower and weaker than Messi. Hazard and David Silva are two of the best players of the last decade in the league along with Aguero and Messi is a combination of all three and physically superior to all of them.As for your tactical point, of course players form fluctuate depending on the set up. However Barcelona average about 61% possession over the last 5 years, most of the top 6 in the PL average around 59% with City having 63%. City would probably be a better fit for him than Barcelona is at the moment and Messi in his prime would dominate any league and any team you put him in.
Unreal!
Is anyone awed by the fact that Messi's average field position was mildly close to the halfway line last season and still maintained almost peak scoring numbers as if his average position was in and around the box?
Think about that for a second. Which other player could give up considerable average position ground and still maintain rates of scoring? He gets older, drops deeper and individually performs better (even when his team performs worse) whilst still scoring his usual number of goals. Other players get older and have to play higher up the field just to maintain it.
Think about that for a second. Which other player could give up considerable average position ground and still maintain rates of scoring? He gets older, drops deeper and individually performs better (even when his team performs worse) whilst still scoring his usual number of goals. Other players get older and have to play higher up the field just to maintain it.
That's amazing. He really is from another planet.
Wasn't that pretty much the case in the 18/19 season too?
This pass by Messi (today) to Alba for the pull-back 
Pretty awesome but why is he playing so deep in the first place?This pass by Messi (today) to Alba for the pull-back
Pretty standard for him now. Hard to find a heatmap now, but the one I saw from last season had it in its entirety outside the box. He drops back to midfield now to looks to pick passes like the above.
I think Messi will have his worst season in ages due to his age, him not wanting to be there and the overall shit state of team and the club. I don't think Koeman is a great appointment either. I don't know why they have gone down the route of managers they have since Pep.
Last season was the worst Barcelona side they've had since pre-Pep, yet Messi statistically and influentially had his 2nd best season. If I've learned anything about Messi, it's that the state of the team doesn't necessarily result in a worse Messi, but a better one.
Last season can't possibly be the 2nd best statistically and influentially considering the season's he's had since the 2008-2009 season.
It could be in terms of influence, simply because there are fewer other players in the team capable of exerting that kind of influence these days?
Quique Setién had an interview on El Pais yesterday and he says that Messi is very difficult to deal with as a person and that even if he speaks little he forces people to what he wants.
He might be trying to justify his failure at Barça but he also says he ended up doing what Messi's wanted as he felt it was better to do that.
https://elpais.com/deportes/2020-10-31/quique-setien-en-el-barca-no-fui-yo-no-pude-o-no-supe.html
Google translate:
(QS is Quique Setien and DB is the interviewer, the former manager Del Bosque)
He might be trying to justify his failure at Barça but he also says he ended up doing what Messi's wanted as he felt it was better to do that.
https://elpais.com/deportes/2020-10-31/quique-setien-en-el-barca-no-fui-yo-no-pude-o-no-supe.html
Google translate:
(QS is Quique Setien and DB is the interviewer, the former manager Del Bosque)
Tweet
— Twitter API (@user) date
Is anyone surprised he is perhaps having his worst season?
Barcelona should have let him go.
Barcelona should have let him go.