bismp
Well-known member
Penaldo getting the Balon Dor this year has nothing to do with him scoring more goals.He won both the CL and the Euro,and despite not being at his best and being lucky with the draw,still it's a big achievement.Messi's domestic double,which is overshadowed by Suarez and also his failure at the Copa America final,simply isn't enough.
As for the whether he is hungry for goals or not argument,i have to say this:i would be really pleased if he got back to the glorious 2012 style of play,but the truth is that the sooner we accept the new situation,the better.In fact,it will only get "worse"for several reasons:
1)When Messi was at the GOAT-Goalscorer mode,let's say between 2010 and 2013,he had players like Xavi,Iniesta and even Alves,Pedro at their prime.That meant that he had a considerable supporting cast to let him do his thing in the final third.Nowadays,we have an aged and tactically different Iniesta,who unfortunately offers almost nothing creatively,bar a few important games.You have Rakitic who obviously isn't Xavinesta and as if this wasn't enough,he does much defensive work and running.Then you have Busquets who plays deep and cannot help that much.And then you have Alba,Bob,Vidal etc who cannot create shit even if their life depended on it.Finally,Neymar and Suarez are superstars who want to score,so they stay up front,and don't have the vision,passing etc of Leo.That's why Messi drops really deep and plays the role of the creator,which was really evident in the second part of the season.The situation is really insane.No wonder why he seemed to score most goals with freekicks in the last few games.
2)When Messi was at his golden goalscoring era,he was at the peak of his physical powers.Now he is 29 and also have sustained a few injuries through the years.It is only natural that he is going to lose most of his speed and explosiveness.Ofc he will still offer moments of magic because he is an exceptional dribbler,but let's not fool ourselves,speed is a major factor regarding dribbling.As for finishing and killer instinct, well it's obviously natural,which means that players like Leo,Suarez,Cristiano will always score many goals,but it's also affected by morale and in-game practice.If nobody can create other than you,and you barely get 2-3 chances per match,you tend to get a little rusty.GOAT Messi would/will score all of these chances,but you see the point.
Ofc,despite getting older and not being provided with much help,Messi will keep scoring 30-40 goals per season,which is still a fantastic number.He will probably have GOAT/Vintage Messi periods like the one he had in early 2016,when he will score 15-20 goals in 2 months.But don't expect him to score 60+ ever again,hell i don't think that he will even score 50 goals again.
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