10 - Lionel Messi - v5

[MessiCam]

Hearing Messi will only play the first friendly for Argentina. He will be allowed to leave after that.

Good news if true... Would have preferred he skipped the friendlies entirely but I understand the need for Sampaoli to develop a system for his squad.

 

[Ousmane Dembélé]

He is still by far the best player in the world, but I wonder if he'll ever reach these heights again:

[youtube]MZ5Ejzing18[/youtube]

Peak goal scoring, peak dribbling peak play making, I don't think we'll ever see a season like that again.

 

[barcafan161]

I always hate how easy fans get to him on the pitch. Sure its harmless most of the times but there needs to be one crazy cr7 fanboy with a knife and its game over.
Clubs should be fined if fans rush the field.

better be good for the World Cup with ISIS talking about targeting it.

 

[MessiCam]

He is still by far the best player in the world, but I wonder if he'll ever reach these heights again:

[youtube]MZ5Ejzing18[/youtube]

Peak goal scoring, peak dribbling peak play making, I don't think we'll ever see a season like that again.

There have been better goal scoring and playmaking seasons than that but he can do that. If you want that sort of dribbling you must move him out of the central congestion and back to the RW.

 

[Ousmane Dembélé]

There have been better goal scoring and playmaking seasons than that but he can do that. If you want that sort of dribbling you must move him out of the central congestion and back to the RW.

Teams couldn't just crowd him out on the touchline back then. Suarez and Neymar were in the form of their life and they commanded just as much defensive coverage as Messi. Busquets and Iniesta were 3 years younger and Rakitic was good back then. If Messi moves back to RW now and he would get crowded out by a couple men while they leave nonthreatening players like Rakitic, Deu and Suarez relatively free. The reason he moved to the middle in the middle of 15/16 was because the team started declining badly at that point and weren't able to get him as involved in the build-up, so he had to drop deep and do everything himself.

Crazy how bad our transfers have been since then and how badly our squad has regressed.

We had Xavi and Pedro coming off the bench as impact subs, not to mention Bravo who was world class at that time.

 

[Horatio]

Messi donated 72.000 euro to Doctors without borders after having won a case against La Razon whom claimed he was wearing a hairpiece during World Cup 2014. Dafuq

 

[Yannik]

Messi donated 72.000 euro to Doctors without borders after having won a case against La Razon whom claimed he was wearing a hairpiece during World Cup 2014. Dafuq

Great gesture and also a very good charity choice. My father was one of the foundation members of the German Doctors without Borders (here Ärzte Ohne Grenzen) and worked in Rwanda around the 90s. Me (and most of my family) do regularly donate for them and it's very transparent and almost nothing of your donation goes in administration costs. The people working there are volunteers that have chosen to work in conflict areas for wages that basically cover physical needs and that's it.

 

[dickbutt]

La Razon was actually accusing him of doping

 

[Ripsta]

He is still by far the best player in the world, but I wonder if he'll ever reach these heights again:

[youtube]MZ5Ejzing18[/youtube]

Peak goal scoring, peak dribbling peak play making, I don't think we'll ever see a season like that again.

You could argue over the last 18 months he's been even better than that, difference is Suarez, Neymar, Rakitic, Alves etc were all on fire back then too. The Messi of 2016/17 and so far 2017/18 is a one man band. 'Messidependencia' may have been coined several years ago, but it rings loud and clear these days. The day he retires, we're Fucked, capital F.

 

[dakt]

He is still by far the best player in the world, but I wonder if he'll ever reach these heights again:

[youtube]MZ5Ejzing18[/youtube]

Peak goal scoring, peak dribbling peak play making, I don't think we'll ever see a season like that again.

The only difference between him then and now is beard. Nothing else.

 

[Horatio]

La Razon was actually accusing him of doping

Yes, doping + hairpiece.

 

[Ousmane Dembélé]

You could argue over the last 18 months he's been even better than that, difference is Suarez, Neymar, Rakitic, Alves etc were all on fire back then too. The Messi of 2016/17 and so far 2017/18 is a one man band. 'Messidependencia' may have been coined several years ago, but it rings loud and clear these days. The day he retires, we're Fucked, capital F.

The only difference between him then and now is beard. Nothing else.

Others were also on form at that time, but I feel like he used to get dispossessed a lot less back then and looks to have lost a half step of pace.

Who knows, may be he just loses the ball more now because he's expected to create everything these days?

 

[Horatio]

Others were also on form at that time, but I feel like he used to get dispossessed a lot less back then and looks to have lost a half step of pace.

Who knows, may be he just loses the ball more now because he's expected to create everything these days?

He also gets crowded more quickly nowadays. Back then the team created more space for him to run in.

 

[ASordidGod]

Definitely lost pace. And he can't step away from players quite as easily. But he's so much more creative. Lost a little, gained a little. Still the greatest.

 

[Gordo101]

La Razon was actually accusing him of doping

What's your opinion on his HGH use?

Without something which is essentially a performance enhancing drug, Messi would not be as good as he is today. There is a good argument it isn't fair he plays professional sport, as some of his talents are not from god or genetics but from a chemical given to him to help him grow. Messi should be about 5'2......

Edit: to put it bluntly, HGH makes you bigger, bigger heart, bigger lungs, bigger bones, bigger ligaments & tendons and muscles, it is a phenomenal drug. Ronaldo, Neymar etc would all be better if they were allowed to take it in their teens as Messi was.