On May 29 2011 07:09 ilj.psa wrote: I think most people who had seen Maradona play would agree that Messi is better, but the thing is he needs to prove it winning a WC with Argentina
So someone that plays for a country with a shitty national team could never be better than Maradona? Player by player, Argentina was a way better team compared to their contemporary counterparts, than they are today.
I agree with that, he still needs to win a World cup with his national before he is completely on par with Maradona, everybody is saying this, else you're pretty shallow not to know.
That's a bit of a stretch. Nowhere near Maradona as of yet. Has the potential though
Quite easily top 10 already
No. Just no. Not even top 3 of the last decade.
Messi is easily the best player since Maradona.....He has shattered Ronaldo's club record. He has a weaker international team than most other top players, give him a decent side and he can win the WC.
He is garbage on set plays and contributes nothing on the defensive end. While usually brilliant he often goes into funks, and the WC showed that he is basically the Steve Nash of soccer. You have to have a very special sort of team to show off his talents, he is not a guy who can be plugged into any team and instantly raise it to another level.
Ronaldo was more than a "club record" and Zidane makes Messi look like a schoolgirl. That doesn't even account for some of the incredibly brilliant goalkeepers and defensive player we have had over the past few years.
On May 29 2011 10:48 cLutZ wrote: He is garbage on set plays and contributes nothing on the defensive end. While usually brilliant he often goes into funks, and the WC showed that he is basically the Steve Nash of soccer. You have to have a very special sort of team to show off his talents, he is not a guy who can be plugged into any team and instantly raise it to another level.
Ronaldo was more than a "club record" and Zidane makes Messi look like a schoolgirl. That doesn't even account for some of the incredibly brilliant goalkeepers and defensive player we have had over the past few years.
Messi contributes immensely to the defence. It was the first thing Pep did when he took over Barca in 2008 to drill all his players with the right mindset in defence. You can probably go to youtube and search: Messi defence; and see how much he tracks back - often it is to the goal box, but you're probably not going to do that anyway because you're a blind hater. Messi isn't a tall person and so obviously, he is not much of an aerial threat, but he deals with his natural disadvantage by being a good set piece taker - he has scored plenty of freekick goals, and he takes corners when Xavi is not on the field. In defensive set plays, Messi offers the scariest threat of a counter attack - just see some of Barca's counter attacks against Arsenal at the Camp Nou last year - oh, but you won't because you're a blind hater.
I'm not sure if you actually know nothing about football or you're just a blind hater, but Messi will improve any team in the world. You have to be an idiot to think that any team, if given the chance to have Messi play for their team, will not take that opportunity. It is clear that he is only a level above any player of his generation because he offers so much versatility and excellence at the same time. It is a scary if not impossible task to defend Messi considering that he can dribble like Maradona, pass like Xavi and shoot like Ronaldo (who, if you are really a fan of, would agree was all about precision and technique, not about blind power).
I didn't come to this thread to talk about Messi but seeing stupid posts like this one just makes me need to reply back. Nobody is saying Ronaldo was merely a club record of goals, and nobody is thinking that Messi is simply a club record of goals either. The point Barca fans (or at least the rational ones) make when saying Messi is better (though I prefer "influential") than Ronaldo is that not only has Messi scored more goals than Ronaldo (which is Ronaldo's strength), but he is actually a complete attacking player with the most assists in the league as well, something that Ronaldo is not credited with doing. Likewise, many fans would agree that Messi is a better player than Zidane, who is a creative focal point for his teams, but doesn't have Messi's dribbling technique and instinctive shooting. You can't really compare the players since Messi has always played inside forward or false nine, two attacking+creative roles, while Ronaldo played as a complete striker and Zidane played as a trequartista, but in the elements where comparison can be made, it seems that Messi has done the equal or better of his peers.
Anyway, I thought it was a very, very entertaining match, if not a classic. United was very strong in the first ten minutes and Mascherano looked extremely shaky at CB for the beginning, but Barca got into rhythm after United voluntarily chose to slow the intensity after the first 10 minutes (since pressing that high for 90 is suicidal). The goal came from a brilliant assist from Xavi: his dribbling patience, fake look, outside boot slide pass through 4 players, and the way he made 5 defenders guess what he was going to do (was like time just stopped for 1-2 seconds), was just incredible. United came back with spirit and Rooney finished marvelously after a intricate exchange outside the box, but I thought the goal was a hint of offside (Giggs' arm was very offside, but it's not counted in the offside rule). Then Barca just destroyed United in the second half until their third goal, after which they just played possession.
United fans must have a lot of misgivings - everyone played poorly in the second half except Van Der Sar, Vidic and Rooney, but what a match! Grats to both teams.
I admittedly don't watch much soccer at all (just WCs and UEFA champ) and even I recognized and could name like every player on Barcelona. I guess that shows how much money they must spend on that payroll...
GG.. Messi is good.. I still am pretty upset about the end result.. I would of rather seen Berba then Parks on the field any day of the week. Parks just doesnt do it for me.
That's a bit of a stretch. Nowhere near Maradona as of yet. Has the potential though
Quite easily top 10 already
No. Just no. Not even top 3 of the last decade.
Messi is easily the best player since Maradona.....He has shattered Ronaldo's club record. He has a weaker international team than most other top players, give him a decent side and he can win the WC.
I agree. Messi has to play with trash like Cambiasso, Aguero, Pastore, Higuain, Tevez, Milito, Samuel, Zanetti, Di Maria, Mascherano and Banega. It's a miracle Argentina's NT has won a single game the past 3 years.
Compare that to the beastly team of Uruguay that carried Diego Forlan to the semis of the WC.
Manchester United were definitely the team that deserved to be in the finals: they didn't even play bad; Barca didn't let them play at all.
That Barcelona team are the best footballing team I have ever seen in my life (I'm 33).
The only way to beat them is for them to play shit or to do what Mourhinho did and get some advantage and then hold it by playing with 11 men behind the ball and defend the rest of the game. And get lucky.
What passing! That one touch football - fuck me - pleasure to watch.
I dont understand people who say that Argentina had a weak team last year. Did you guys even watch the World Cup?? They had probably the best team in the competition, but lost to Germany because they couldn`t control the midfield. If you replace Messi with Zidane of 10 years ago on that team, Argentina would have rolled everybody.
I like Messi as much as anyone, but he was a major letdown last WC, just like Rooney
Barcelona played tbe best match in this season. Guardiola prepared them very well. I was a bit scared after first 10 mins, cuz Manchester was very agressive and Barcelona had no idea how to play with them. But after, WOW, Messi, Iniesta, Xavi, they just aproved that they are the best.
On May 29 2011 14:52 zYwi3c wrote: Barcelona played tbe best match in this season. Guardiola prepared them very well. I was a bit scared after first 10 mins, cuz Manchester was very agressive and Barcelona had no idea how to play with them. But after, WOW, Messi, Iniesta, Xavi, they just aproved that they are the best.
5-0 Madrid was better IMO. That was a game where everything was absolutely perfect for Barca.
That's a bit of a stretch. Nowhere near Maradona as of yet. Has the potential though
Quite easily top 10 already
No. Just no. Not even top 3 of the last decade.
Messi is easily the best player since Maradona.....He has shattered Ronaldo's club record. He has a weaker international team than most other top players, give him a decent side and he can win the WC.
That's a bit of a stretch. Nowhere near Maradona as of yet. Has the potential though
Quite easily top 10 already
No. Just no. Not even top 3 of the last decade.
Messi is easily the best player since Maradona.....He has shattered Ronaldo's club record. He has a weaker international team than most other top players, give him a decent side and he can win the WC.
EPT
