10 - Lionel Messi - v3

[ryuken]

Ppl bashing him, calling him finished, we should sell him and then later claim they r not hater, they just love him. Like wtf

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[Kohe321]

Stats Messi in the game against Iran: 1 Goal, 93% Pass Accuracy, 3 Chances Created, 7 Dribbles Completed #fcblive #arg [via @squawka]

I don't think he can do much better if his teammates don't step up. He can only do so much.

My feelings exactly while I watched the game. Messi did a lot of great stuff, but the follow-up almost always failed. Suarez did well against an attacking England side and was given TONS of space, and one free goal opportunity, and we're going to compare that to Messis game against Iran? Iran is of course worse than England, but they made it harder to score against them than what England did. There was NO space whatsoever, 11 players behind the ball, yet Messi once again saved a victory for Argentina and secured progression into the KO stages.

If Messi was playing for Uruguay against England under that amount of space that he rarely ever sees anymore, who knows, he might have gotten a hat-trick or more. People need to see what is happening in the game, and not just get a tunnel-vision on Messi and expect that every time he has the ball it HAS to lead to something spectacular, or else he has failed. Thats just really unfair.

 

[Paganinisrvnge]

I'd also like to add; if the theory that Messi is saving himself for the world cup is correct then why can't he save himself for the knockouts? It's a fairly easy group and he only needs to turn on beast mode when his team are being shit. In the knockouts he'll go full beast mode and destroy.

 

[ammarfcb]

we should sell him, his finished...i'm not evena hater just been real.

 

[Luftstalag14]

Yeah but his speed, acceleration is still there... that's what makes Messi, Messi, but Messi looks uninterested at times, there's been many plays where he just watches the ball pass by him, and just looks at it but doesn't really move to get himself in a good position to do damage.

I don't really know whats wrong with him regarding that aspect, but him losing his skills and speed is out of the question, there shouldn't even be one to begin with.

This.

I think his skills also deteriorated a bit. It seemed to me that he is not dribbling as much as he did before. and he tends to lose more balls and gets dispossessed more often. Not to mention his finishing in general has been rather rusty for some time, compared to before.

 

[Kerrybai]

Do you think Messi is past his peak?

In terms of technical ability, speed, acceleration etc No. In terms of moitivation/passion ... Maybe

The magic is still there but the work rate and effort have declined a bit, just not to the extent that some people make out. I think he would benefit greatly from some better coaching... surely the coach should be able to rectify his movement issues.

 

[serghei]

What do you mean with effort? He played in a very deep role in front of many many defenders. I don't expect him to try to dribble past them to call it effort. His effort was to put his teammates in a good position, to deliver passes around the pitch. When he had space, he tried to score, he was pacey.
We know Messi as a constant goal-scoring threat but his role today was very different. I liked him today, Flavia posted some interesting stats to back this up (though I don't like stats at all.)

I mean walking on the pitch, or even standing still while the ball was in ARGENTINA's possesion. You can't expect to unlock defensive blocks by not moving off the ball.

 

[Vilarrubi]

He probably looks like he's not trying because he HAS to stand around to receive the ball.. Gago and Mascherano don't exactly have amazing vision and passing ability. Di Maria does but has yet to show his full potential yet. Imagine if Messi played with someone like Pirlo.. he would get get at least 10 chances a game to run at the defenders only rather than a 10 man defensive wall. Argentina just don't have that sort of player unfortunately.

 

[spark]

we should sell him, his finished...i'm not evena hater just been real.

Yes Spain crashed out but Iniesta still has more to give.

 

[footyfan]

In terms of technical ability, speed, acceleration etc No. In terms of moitivation/passion ... Maybe

The magic is still there but the work rate and effort have declined a bit, just not to the extent that some people make out. I think he would benefit greatly from some better coaching... surely the coach should be able to rectify his movement issues.

See you are looking at the player, while I tend to look at the performances. I don't think Messi will ever be as good as he showed in 2010-2012, which logically means he is past his peak. The golden generation has ended and I highly doubt the next one will provide Messi the platform that he got in 2010-12. It doesn't matter if his technical ability, speed etc. remain the same if he can't put it on show like before.

 

[spark]

He probably looks like he's not trying because he HAS to stand around to receive the ball.. Gago and Mascherano don't exactly have amazing vision and passing ability. Di Maria does but has yet to show his full potential yet. Imagine if Messi played with someone like Pirlo.. he would get get at least 10 chances a game to run at the defenders only rather than a 10 man defensive wall. Argentina just don't have that sort of player unfortunately.

Yea, How many times did those two try a pass between the lines only for it to be cut out and spark a counter. You can add Di Maria to the list too in his current form. Only way he'll get the ball is 5-10 yards away. Anything else and its asking too much of that midfield.

 

[Luftstalag14]

Who cares, he won them both games. If Lucho needs him to move more then I'm sure Messi will listen and take his advice. He played with 3 players around him today, the only way he could move was backwards where he would receive the ball in front of 11 players. Honestly where do people want him to move to? Maybe it's incredibly difficult to break down these buses. Maybe he needs a tactically astute coach who can help him get out of these 3 man blockades.

He's the best player out there but maybe he struggles with understanding off the ball movement etc. I've never seen a player marked as tightly as Messi.

Assuming that he is physically capable (if he is not sick or unfit), I think he could definitely have had more off the ball movement, trying to move closer to the goal when his Argentina teammates had the ball. He could have made himself more available to receive the ball (this is one thing that Ronaldo does really well). Instead, for the most part he just stood there and watched them, he received the ball pretty deep, he got the ball and then passed it to another teammate, that's it.

I think Messi should take a look at how players like Suarez move these days and take a page from their playbook.

But again, if he is losing the interest/desire/fire in football, then nothing will change.

 

[Kerrybai]

See you are looking at the player, while I tend to look at the performances. I don't think Messi will ever be as good as he showed in 2010-2012, which logically means he is past his peak. The golden generation has ended and I highly doubt the next one will provide Messi the platform that he got in 2010-12. It doesn't matter if his technical ability, speed etc. remain the same if he can't put it on show like before.

Fair point. We certainly won't recreate the golden generation but we can still be a step above our current form.

 

[Vilarrubi]

Yea, How many times did those two try a pass between the lines only for it to be cut out and spark a counter. You can add Di Maria to the list too in his current form. Only way he'll get the ball is 5-10 yards away. Anything else and its asking too much of that midfield.

Exactly, disappointing really.. He's literally got to bring the ball out of midfield himself to start any attack. I do feel with a more even game they will get more chances to attack. Whether they can defend or not is a different matter.

 

[Luftstalag14]

So...

in the first game , Sabella fucked it up by playing 5-3-2 in the first half . Team played like shiet. Changed it in the second half and Argentina began to boss it.
Messi managed to score a wonder goal , make 4 key passes , his cross ended in an own goal , 7 dribbles ( which is the highest in a game so far ) and got Motm.


Against Iran , who pretty much parked the airplane 80% of the game the team did manage to create chances. They had 4 big chances to score in the first half but managed to fuck them up. Messi was bad but still managed to create some chances here and there , he made 7 dribbles again , plus he scored again a stunning goal that won them the game and got Motm again.

So out of all this , you have to be a big Messi fan to see anything positive ?

Calinutz, we are all Barca and Messi fans. It is just we have different expectations. Some of us expected a lot more from the so-called GOAT, some of us are more content given the consequences.

Anyway, I am seeing some neutral fans tearing up Messi and Argentina. However, one thing even these fans had to give it to Messi was Leo delivered despite having a very poor game, which proved that why he is who he is.