10 - Lionel Messi - v3

[serghei]

The fact that none of the players had a good season says more about the manager than the players in question. Especially if you look at how all of these players performed up until this season.

Some had. Valdes, Alexis, Alba, Pique & others. Our wingers had better performances this season than 2012-13 for example. Several key players were mediocre, not all though.

 

[Ryan_Cule]

Messi got nowhere near the stick that the likes of Fabregas, Alves and Masch got.

He got stick when he played at walking pace and had poor work rate.

What has Cesc done to not deserve the stick from critics?

 

[Kerrybai]

The only players I would exempt from criticism are Valdes, Pique and perhaps Alba. Ultimately this is down to Tata and the board.

 

[JamDav1982]

What has Cesc done to not deserve the stick from critics?

Well by your standard Barcelona would have been lower down the league without his goals and assists.

 

[serghei]

Well by your standard Barcelona would have been lower down the league without his goals and assists.

Yea, it basically says that we'd be 5th in La Liga if we had played with 10 men almost all games.

 

[Ryan_Cule]

Yea, it basically says that we'd be 5th in La Liga if we had played with 10 men almost all games.

It basically says without Messi's goals Barca would be at 5th place. The stat's focus was to show that even his mediocre year means a lot to Barca and better than many other talents from Europe. Don't be too spoiled. No one is saying Barca would play with 10 men. Messi is irreplaceable. This Barca still doesn't have a player who can outscore Messi, not this season, not next. One average season since 2008/09 and there goes anti-messi shit flowing from all corners, is not justified and disrespectful to say least. We are too ungrateful at times, after what he has done for Barca.

I know that stat is far from perfect. It doesn't take into account what Messi's replacement would or wouldn't produce. Barca needs 40-50 goals from Messi to reach La Liga top spot or second place or to achieve anything which is absurd though. It shows how Messi impacts the game of Barca.

 

[darthvader7888]

The only players I would exempt from criticism are Valdes, Pique and perhaps Alba. Ultimately this is down to Tata and the board.

Yeah, those three are pretty much our only players who have been consistently good all season (except for a shitty first couple of months by Pique).

 

[NotInHere]

Can't wait to see him in an Argentinian shirt. I think we all need a break from Barca and all the negativity. BTW he can be had at 8/1 for WC top scorer. Sounds like easy money but I think Higuain at 20-25/1 is the value bet considering he had more goals from open play during the WCQ's.

What do you mean by 8/1 20-25/1?

and yeah me neither, he has played amazing for the NT so I don't expect less come the WC

 

[Kerrybai]

What do you mean by 8/1 20-25/1?

and yeah me neither, he has played amazing for the NT so I don't expect less come the WC

Those are betting odds for those who like to gamble. The bookmakers have Messi at 8/1 to be top scorer so 100 euro would return 800. Higuain is at 25 so 100 would return 2500. I think Messi will be top scorer but 8/1 isn't a great return considering the risk. :beer2:

 

[NotInHere]

Those are betting odds for those who like to gamble. The bookmakers have Messi at 8/1 to be top scorer so 100 euro would return 800. Higuain is at 25 so 100 would return 2500. I think Messi will be top scorer but 8/1 isn't a great return considering the risk. :beer2:

So are you betting for Hugain?:tata1: higher the risk but more pay

 

[Kerrybai]

So are you betting for Hugain?:tata1: higher the risk but more pay

Yeah if you look at WCQ's Messi had 10 goals and Higuain 9 but I think Messi has 3-4 penalties. Higuain is the smart choice, I'm thinking maybe I'll back them both.

I'm backing them because Argentina have an easy group and second round game where they should rack up a large goal tally. Neymar and Ronaldo are the other favourites but I feel they will miss out as they have very touch groups.

http://www.oddschecker.com/football/world-cup/top-goalscorer

 

[Ode to Django]

The Higuain odds are definately worth a shot, he's the guy with the movement, with the rest being ball hogs.

I would definately put a fair amount of money on that if i could, considering there easy group aswell, but i'm in the US so i can't.

 

[Kerrybai]

The Higuain odds are definately worth a shot, he's the guy with the movement, with the rest being ball hogs.

I would definately put a fair amount of money on that if i could, considering there easy group aswell, but i'm in the US so i can't.

Oh man that's just sad, you can blow all your money on a 50/50 game at a casino but not on a football match Take a trip to Nevada, they surely have bookies.

 

[XaviMessiGirl]

Oh man that's just sad, you can blow all your money on a 50/50 game at a casino but not on a football match Take a trip to Nevada, they surely have bookies.

We can't access betting sites even though it's legal to bet here, there's a block on the entire US no matter the individual state's laws. There are bookies here but they are very limited on what you can bet on when it comes to football since it's not "big" here. I bet on the CL once and the only thing you could do was overall winner, and win/lose/draw for a particular match. Nothing like top scorer, first to score, etc.

 

[Kerrybai]

We can't access betting sites even though it's legal to bet here, there's a block on the entire US no matter the individual state's laws. There are bookies here but they are very limited on what you can bet on when it comes to football since it's not "big" here. I bet on the CL once and the only thing you could do was overall winner, and win/lose/draw for a particular match. Nothing like top scorer, first to score, etc.

I might be wrong about this but I thought their were offshore betting sites Americans could use? I think they operate under a legal 'grey' area.