Messi was obviously below par in the final, but his teammates were even worse. He could've done more to set himself free from his markers by changing his game (making more final runs rather than trying to get the ball to feet). But that doesn't negate the awful awful manner in which Argentina were playing and attacking. The defenders (and even Masche and Biglia) were always trying to clear every ball and try the stupidest of passes. Nobody was trying to link with Messi. The problem is Messi never changes his game, you can fault him for it but maybe the team agreed that this is how Messi should play and he stuck to that role without fail.
Being the player he is and the stature he has, imo Messi should try and do his own thing when he feels that the situation requires it and things are not going his team's way. He doesn't need to always stick to the coach's plan.
My evaluation of him doesn't change, he's still the best player I've seen and I think he is also better than Maradona but others who have watched him may disagree.
