10 - Lionel Messi - v4

[Flavia]

To be fair, he COULD do more than he did today. It was not a great performance from him, and we should expect more from him in such an important match. Yeah, the tactics and the play of the other Argentines might prevent him from having an absolutely dominant display, but there's something between that and his display today. Just because the rest of the team doesn't play well doesn't mean that Messi gets a completely free pass for not really performing well himself.

Hell, if he had played really well, they might've still lost, because the other attackers might have completely screwed up tons of chances he gave them or something. It wouldn't have surprised me. But that's not what really happened. He wasn't great. So yes, there IS something he could've done that MIGHT have overcome the ineptitude of players like Higuain. He could've run around more, created more magic, etc. It's not like he did everything that could be done under the circumstances.

Messi could do better. But he didn't see much of the ball either. Argies were plaing hoofball all game long. He was ignored even when he was free and had a clear path to goal.

 

[Sumlit]

To be fair, he COULD do more than he did today. It was not a great performance from him, and we should expect more from him in such an important match. Yeah, the tactics and the play of the other Argentines might prevent him from having an absolutely dominant display, but there's something between that and his display today. Just because the rest of the team doesn't play well doesn't mean that Messi gets a completely free pass for not really performing well himself.

Hell, if he had played really well, they might've still lost, because the other attackers might have completely screwed up tons of chances he gave them or something. It wouldn't have surprised me. But that's not what really happened. He wasn't great. So yes, there IS something he could've done that MIGHT have overcome the ineptitude of players like Higuain. He could've run around more, created more magic, etc. It's not like he did everything that could be done under the circumstances.

As far as I'm concerned, there's no reason Messi should be this starved of the ball. It is totally a failure in coaching. Argentina have been cursed with completely and utterly tactically inept coaches for the last 2 WCs and CA.

It's not like Messi was just sitting there in the wing not moving and expecting balls. No, he went deep, he went central and he was open. The team simply chose to play differently. More than a dozen times Messi was all alone in the central circle and the players elected to hoof the ball forward, or take off on a dribble into traffic, or just simply pass to the wing.

There's literally ZERO reason Messi should not be getting forced fed the ball on this team. ZERO reason he shouldn't be getting over 100 touches per game. He is their best player, their most creative player, their most dangerous player, and is bar non the most versatile attacker in football. period. You force feed him the ball. You sacrifice others games in order to maximize him, not the other way around. You give and give and give him the ball. You lose this way if you must, but you simply cannot play your game around him instead of through him.

 

[raki]

They were in this copa. But overall all teams were bad. Apart from the 6-1 vs paraguay, Argentina showed nothing. That was the anomaly.

Not true. They played good games except Jamaica.

 

[Stric]

They were in this copa. But overall all teams were bad. Apart from the 6-1 vs paraguay, Argentina showed nothing. That was the anomaly.

They still made the incredible success of reaching two finals in two years. Nobody expected Argentina to achieve anything in last year's WC, but they managed to reach the freaking final, and instead of being praised for that, they're constantly criticized for losing. I swear sometimes by the comments you'd think Argentina did worse than Spain. I can understand that they've had average performances, but to say that they're an average NT is simply incorrect. An average team doesn't reach World Cup and Copa America finals back to back, even if they didn't win. That's a huge success in its own right, especially when it's above prior expectations.

 

[LordLichtenstein]

I hope Messi uses his "power" in the dressing room and forces Higuain out.

 

[Hamzah]

so is cristiano back in the balon d'or running?

 

[serghei]

so is cristiano back in the balon d'or running?

Yep. He was MotM against his son in the park last night, while Messi was poor vs Chile. Advantage Ronaldo.

 

[LordLichtenstein]

so is cristiano back in the balon d'or running?

Hell no.

 

[khaled_a_d]

so is cristiano back in the balon d'or running?

Lol,no chance .he can sit all year and he would probably win it .even Cr7 probably know that

 

[omidferoz]

So pissed at Tata and Higuain. who in their right mind shoots a penalty like that you moron.

 

[Truthist]

Messi is the best player I've seen but he really needs to roll up his sleeves and get involved more in these kind of games. He's always on the peripheral of the game when he should be demanding the ball.

I still can't fathom why Tata subbed on 2 useless craps Lavezzi and Higuain,it was a recipe for disaster.

 

[Morten]

Yep. He was MotM against his son in the park last night, while Messi was poor vs Chile. Advantage Ronaldo.

You could have said that for the CL-final, but its not Ronaldos fault he is not from south/mid-America. What could he possibly do to play the copa-final, or the copa at all?
But the ballon dor is decided anyway, so dont worry, and Messi deserves it.

 

[Barcaman]

World Cup Final last summer and now Copa America final.

 

[lessthanjake]

As far as I'm concerned, there's no reason Messi should be this starved of the ball. It is totally a failure in coaching. Argentina have been cursed with completely and utterly tactically inept coaches for the last 2 WCs and CA.

It's not like Messi was just sitting there in the wing not moving and expecting balls. No, he went deep, he went central and he was open. The team simply chose to play differently. More than a dozen times Messi was all alone in the central circle and the players elected to hoof the ball forward, or take off on a dribble into traffic, or just simply pass to the wing.

There's literally ZERO reason Messi should not be getting forced fed the ball on this team. ZERO reason he shouldn't be getting over 100 touches per game. He is their best player, their most creative player, their most dangerous player, and is bar non the most versatile attacker in football. period. You force feed him the ball. You sacrifice others games in order to maximize him, not the other way around. You give and give and give him the ball. You lose this way if you must, but you simply cannot play your game around him instead of through him.

I agree. But to be fair, he did actually have more touches of the ball than any Argentine attacking player. And by a significant margin. Furthermore, you're saying that Messi should be force fed the ball, but people also criticize Argentina for constantly just passing to Messi and hoping he creates some magic.

I suppose there's a happy medium between those two. Make play always run through him, but have other players play off of him, rather than statically watch him do his thing. But I guess that's easier said than done, especially in the NT context when players aren't entirely used to playing off of each other.

 

[Catalan Fan]

Everyone is moping about after this result, I honestly wouldn't bother too much unless I was Argentine.No one has died right ?

In the grand scheme of things he's still the best in the world and he's ours !