10 - Lionel Messi - v5

[Barcilliant]

Messi needs to be a penalty box predator at this stage of his career.

Him playing deep is stupid.

 

[NotInHere]

I remember back when those "unreal" dribbles that @JamDav speaks of, were possible due to his insane pace. Seeing Mbappe dribble with that quickness reminds me so much of Messi, you can tell he'll be the next big thing in Football.

Not much Messi could do in this WC, but he just doesn't have it like before. He will still be one of the greatest ever, not a goat.

 

[xxxxxx]

I was fully expecting France to win comfortably today..... and they did. They simply have a much better team and play better as a team than Argentina does.

 

[Mitchell1978]

The most ridiculous fact is that Argentina concede 9 goals! If you have a weak team what do you do? You concentrate on defense! You try to concede as little as possible! But stupid Sampaoli did quite the opposite! First he tried to play possession football against much stronger Croatia and he did the same mistake today with France. Instead of narrowing the lines he left them acres of space in the middle. To be fair Argentina never stood a chance with this way of playing.

After they went down, France finally played to their potential and quite easily won, Argentina never stood much of chance really, everybody felt it, thats why the reactions wore mostly subdued at the end, because they lost to a superior opponent.

 

[JamDav1982]

Where did i say barca was as bad as argentina? Quote me on it. All i said was he has shown up againt top sides and single handley won the games. ATLETICO and chelsea being stand out games.

Thought u were better than this man.

Neither of those games were single handed though and saying that implies his team were completely inept bar him anyway so no different from claims about this Argies team.

 

[JamDav1982]

And people seem to forget Messi is 31 now, so he can't carry a team like he did like 4 years ago.

That team four years ago was solid and was not carried by Messi. He was their best player though.

 

[fergus90]

That team four years ago was solid and was not carried by Messi. He was their best player though.

Mascherano was an absolute beast last World Cup too.

 

[FCB50]

442 is probably our best bet again next season

 

[JamDav1982]

Barca are great squad, but not Liga winning squad without Messi. That is the point. Without Messi, this Argentina doesn't qualify to World Cup or pass group stages. Without Messi 2 goals today don't happen.

Thats a fact. Nobody is saying Barcelona sucks, but attacking wise, he carried us without a doubt.

Without just about any teams best player they dont have same success but the point is Messi like all players needs a team around him to allow him to perform as a consistent match winner as this Argies team proves.

People forget this with Barca then make the excuse that team not good enough for Argentina.

 

[ThwiX]

Sticking your head in the sand mate...

1) Leo influences squad picks and his clique is the reason Dybala doesn't play and Icardi wasn't selected
2) He is asked for advice on the coach choices by the FA as a poster boy. He liked Sampaoli because of his CV, but turns out he had no idea of the way he operates -> constant lineup rotations, high press, a lot of effort involved which clashed with the personalities already there. Their level of press precisely shows you how they like to play. [MENTION=15262]serghei[/MENTION] highlighted this in the other thread too
3) He's taken the armband. He's no exemplar leader who runs the pressing game from the front. He's a quiet guy who likes to put his most influential offensive players in a huddle to go over some movement, but nothing beyond that. How is that supposed to work?
4) He was played as a forward and strayed to the right all the time. So who's making this decision? Sampaoli? Or himself? Makes no sense for the coach to tell him to play as a #9/false #9 without a forward. And if Messi is smart enough, he knows it. So why does he continue to go where he's comfortable?

And again, Barto does the same shit. All he does is go all guns blazing for household names whether they're compatible with what Messi is becoming or not. Watch this situation deteriorate over time.

1 and 2 are just rumors and speculation so I can’t even be bothered by that BS. 3 I kinda agree with, but I think it is just kinda expected for him to carry that armband as their best player. Definitely shouldn’t be him, tho. 4 is also fair enough, but that is also Sampaoli’s fault for having no balls and letting him do whatever he wants.
Don’t know what Messi got to do with Barto buying players who don’t fit our team, tho. If anything, that is just what I have been saying for a long time.

 

[Ripsta]

I remember back when those "unreal" dribbles that @JamDav speaks of, were possible due to his insane pace. Seeing Mbappe dribble with that quickness reminds me so much of Messi, you can tell he'll be the next big thing in Football.

Not much Messi could do in this WC, but he just doesn't have it like before. He will still be one of the greatest ever, not a goat.

That wasn't insane dribbling at all, it was kick and run stuff. Messi has never been that quick either, even in his teens. In terms of running with the ball at pace and having control over the ball Messi is still up there and probably only rivalled by Hazard. Mbappe is like a less talented version of the beast Ronaldo was in the 90s.

 

[-SG7-]

Neither of those games were single handed though and saying that implies his team were completely inept bar him anyway so no different from claims about this Argies team.

So the free kick winning goal to stop it from being a draw against atletico
..and 2 goals and assist to knock out chelsea wasnt single handedly dragging barca out of those matches wasnt the decider??

Righto mate.

Bit like how today if it wasnt for mbappe france had a good chance of being knocked out.

 

[Raketa10]

442 is probably our best bet again next season

Or 4-2-3-1

 

[shadows]

I don't care about this match, his world cup still poor for his status, this is unquestionable, Argentina still a trash of team but he barely played one good half in 4 matches, he's not Lebron James just to make an example. If someone is happy for his performance today i guess very low standard are expected from Messi on these days. By the way i hope he stays with NT, at least not a definitive retire. Maybe Argentina in the next years will produce some good players to replace this old and slow core.

I get most of the criticism from others..but comparing Messi to Lebron..seriously?? In NBA, teams hardly play defence these days..if lebron chooses to drive, its an open basket for him...plus Lebron is stronger and gifted than most players..so comparing him to Messi who is a midget in a sport which has become more defensive as the years have gone by is not the right comparison.. My criticism for Messi would be that he should be playing as a false Nine today but he was playing like a 10 behind a striker ..so either Messi doesnt understand tactics or the coach fucked up till late when he finally made a substitute

 

[blaugrana1987]

That team four years ago was solid and was not carried by Messi. He was their best player though.

Agreed, but that team was carried by strong tactics and tight defense. This one lacks both, in spades. They would get mauled by any other top 3 team either way, it was clear as a day today. Not one person in MF or defense knew where it needs to be. They are old, slow and tactically inept in this WC. It was tall, tall order for them to end up winning WC. Pipe dream infact.

When you look at France, when you look at Belgium, when you look at Spain, even Croatia and England, Argentina is simply put nowhere near them. Miles away infact.