:good: He's nearly as good as Ronaldo - Ach
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:good: He's nearly as good as Ronaldo - Ach
On that documentary I noted some of the pundits say that he can't be considered the best ever unless he wins a World Cup. That seems somewhat unfair as clearly you need more than one outstanding player to do that. Pele was in probably the best international side ever. George Best was never going to do much internationally because of his nationality, he should still be considered alongside other all time great players.
I certainly think he's up there with Pele and Maradona and in the same way the Henry/Bergkamp debate rages among Arsenal fans I suspect the Pele/Maradona debate will become a Pele/Maradona/Messi debate. But I do think it's fairer to judge him with the perspective of history. It's a bit like how when we had the Invincible season someone (Henry maybe?) said it's only in 20 years time when they've all retired and look back that they'll realise how special what they did was.
When it's all said and done I think Messi will eventually be talked about on a pedestal of his own. In 20-30 years, it will be us and others in our generation who will spread the word about just how good this player was.
He has far more in his locker than Maradonna and Pele. Far, far more.
The lad is the best there ever has been. No question for me.
Balance, technique, vision, workrate, tackling, goal-scoring, pace, trickery, makes the right decision and knows when somebody else is in a better position. He has everything. He can even head the ball for a short bloke.
Seems like a half decent bloke too.
Only thing that annoys me, is the odd dive here and there. He doesn't need to do it. He's above all that shit, as he doesn't need to cheat.
True, but on the flip side, look how many times the gets the shit kicked out of him and he just bounces back up.Quote:
Originally Posted by LDG
He's phenomenal.
Yeah, I guess.Quote:
Originally Posted by Grimandi's Perm
Ugly fucker though :pal:
Exactly my thoughts. And you can extend the playacting stuff to Barcelona in general. As a team, they should be far too good to involve themselves in that. Even in the transfer market etc. they don't need to act like ****s.Quote:
Originally Posted by LDG
People can have different preferences. Messi might be the best but they might have enjoyed watching different players more. When they walk to the CL title again this year, this Barcelona side might be judged the best team in history but I know a Chelsea fan who says Arsenal from 2002-4 played better football. If you prefer a more pacey, counter-attacking style to complete control and ingenious creativity, then you would say that.
Messi is the greatest player but certainly not my favourite. I prefer players like Zidane, Bergkamp, Van Persie (not just because two of them are Arsenal men). Even Nasri - it's hard to explain but it all looks more elegant in that smooth perhaps lazy style when he's dropping the shoulder as opposed to the more beep-beep style.
I read someone on here sum Messi up quite nicely in that the things he does now are spectacular but they look unspectacular because of the frequency at which he does it.
First and foremost and to the detriment of all else, he's a cheating ****. I don't mean he's into gamesmanship and takes the piss, I mean he's a cold, calculating cheat. Barcelona is a team full of dirty cheats who attract the most favour from referees I've ever seen - it's ridiculous. Messia can only be measured when he hasn't got the deck so massively stacked in his favour. Ronaldo did the biz in the PL remember, his last season was pure genius. He's doing it in Span now too so in my book he's the more accomplished player. Messi has more talent, but we haven't seen him under any pressure yet or having to face any significant challenge. Apart from the World Cup where his record is invisible. But all that's by the by, because as I have said, the guy is a filthy cheat.
So for Messi to be more accomplished he has to leave his club? That's very strange given the antipathy you show to Nasri for moving elsewhere, for whatever reason it might ultimately have been driven by. Ronaldo's last season at Man Utd was 26 goals, I'm guessing you mean the 42 goals one the season before?
Messi has dived on occasion, he has rolled about on occasion. And yes, he has even handballed one in before but really, relative to the amount of times he gets pummelled, it's not much really.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZFZ-29w2uqk
Stupid title because he doesn't 'never' dive, just like most players dive but the video does show he gets up more often than not.
What does under pressure even mean? When it was 0-0 against Real Madrid? When they were 2-3 down against Real Madrid? When they were drawing 1-1 with Man Utd?
Ronaldo has played in a competitive league, Messi hasn't. So we don't know if he could handle that or not. We've seen him in the CL where he's been hot and cold. He played well against us in one match and was anonymous in the game where we would have soundly beaten them had it not been for their purchase of the referee.Quote:
So for Messi to be more accomplished he has to leave his club?