10 - Lionel Messi - v5

[Total-Football]

If you want to win the CL you need your best player leading the way. Messi has been poor along with the rest of the team in Europe in recent seasons. It would be a different story if he was putting up god-tier performances and we were still losing, but he has not played like a player that's wants to win the CL.

As much as it's easy to to shift the blame around and make it seem like Messi's teammates and coaches are the reason for his woes in the CL as of late, the truth it Leo himself is as much of the culprit as anyone. You talk about him being a legal cheat code, hope we see that version of Messi come February at Stamford Bridge.

I disagree completely. In 2013 he was injured against bayer, not at fault. But i blame him not as much as the others but more for last year's performance against Juventus both home and away. Other than that he was let down by the others. in 2012 he was surrounded by -then- slippy Sanchez and Lord Issac. And in 2010 he was betrayed by big nosed Zlatan who wanted Pep to loose the match more then to win the games versus Inter. in 2014 he was still suffering from that injury and that was his rock bottom in terms of performances and it showed in the world cup where he did little (by his standards) despite being the best player of the tournament.

Again even in 2008 It was basically Machester United versus Messi; mainly because Rickard lost his command of the squad at that stage of the season.

 

[KingLeo10]

If you want to win the CL you need your best player leading the way. Messi has been poor along with the rest of the team in Europe in recent seasons. It would be a different story if he was putting up god-tier performances and we were still losing, but he has not played like a player that's wants to win the CL.

As much as it's easy to to shift the blame around and make it seem like Messi's teammates and coaches are the reason for his woes in the CL as of late, the truth it Leo himself is as much of the culprit as anyone. You talk about him being a legal cheat code, hope we see that version of Messi come February at Stamford Bridge.

the set up of the team/ system is what fosters otherworldly performances from him. messi is a ferrari, you need the right track and conditions for him to fully showcase his abilities and annihilate the opposition.

this is not to say that he is dependent on barcelona's system, i think he would thrive in any system, but there has to be one in place. not the chaos we have experienced in lucho's 3rd season and the tata and ill tito/roura years.

 

[RMU ReBorn]

Messi created two clear cut chances to Don and Suarez in Turin last season. 2-0 up away, we had a chance in camp Nou . saying that he didn't stepped up last season is ignorance . 2015-16 against Atletico he wasn't up to the mark . But he did well last season considering how poor was our tactics . 3-4-3 against Psg wouldn't have worked if Messi was absent like he was in paris . He was asked to do a a particular role in a crowded midfield providing width to Neymar and Rafinha in flanks . He had 85 %passing percentage as well .

 

[George_Costanza]

If Ronaldo wins the world cup with portugal by fluke like the euro again...then he'll win the ballon dor

Kinda unfair tbh, he is not the most influential player on his team but most marketable hence he wins if his team win. Last year he won only 4 MOTM in La Liga in comparison to 16 for Messi, yet two good games against Bayern and ATM won him the ballon.

 

[Raki13]

If you want to win the CL you need your best player leading the way. Messi has been poor along with the rest of the team in Europe in recent seasons. It would be a different story if he was putting up god-tier performances and we were still losing, but he has not played like a player that's wants to win the CL.

As much as it's easy to to shift the blame around and make it seem like Messi's teammates and coaches are the reason for his woes in the CL as of late, the truth it Leo himself is as much of the culprit as anyone. You talk about him being a legal cheat code, hope we see that version of Messi come February at Stamford Bridge.

That is up there with some of the worst pieces of garbage written on this site , and this is a supposed fan of the club ?

 

[Ousmane Dembélé]

That is up there with some of the worst pieces of garbage written on this site , and this is a supposed fan of the club ?

So not blindly sucking Messi off and blaming all this team's failures on others means I'm not a fan of the club? I'm a Barca fan first and a Messi fan second.

 

[Raki13]

The last couple of seasons hes been playing with sub standard players, its ridiculous coming on here and putting any of the blame on the guy . Hes leagues ahead of some of the shite hes had to play with. This team over the last three years were nothing without him.
The new players brought in have given the whole club a lift , he will only get even better next year with a better standard playing around him.
Take your negative shite elsewhere.

 

[Ousmane Dembélé]

The last couple of seasons hes been playing with sub standard players, its ridiculous coming on here and putting any of the blame on the guy . Hes leagues ahead of some of the shite hes had to play with. This team over the last three years were nothing without him.
The new players brought in have given the whole club a lift , he will only get even better next year with a better standard playing around him.
Take your negative shite elsewhere.

I'm not being negative, just realistic. Has he been playing with sub-standard players and coaches over the years? Sure, I don't disagree with you on that one. Has he also carried this team over the past couple years? I also agree on that, but what I do have a problem with is his lack of effort in the latter stages of the Champions League in the last few years. The rest of the team has been poor, but so has Leo. It's not just the lack of good performances from him that I have a problem with, it's the lack of effort more than anything. Against PSG he couldn't be arsed, he didn't look up for it against Juve last year despite creating a few chances in the 1st leg. He disappeared against Atletico in 15/16 along with the rest of the team.

While he's not the main reason or sole culprit why we've been struggling in the CL of late, he hasn't helped. There's only so much blame you can put on coaches and his teammates. At the end of the day this is the best footballer ever we're talking about and he hasn't looked like he's even trying in the CL knockouts the last few years. He seems to be able to put up great performances in the league week in week out, but he hasn't done that in the CL lately.

While he could use some more help in the midfield and a better system, he has been very mediocre individually in the Champions League for a few seasons now and the blame for that solely rests on his shoulders. If a player like Rakitic or Suarez plays poorly most people don't blame their shortcomings on the system or the coach, but for some reason people have this need to justify and make excuses for Leo's poor performances as they can't bring themselves to criticize him. Some people on here think Leo's immune to cricisim, he is the GOAT, but when he doesn't play well you bet I'm going to call him out.

 

[Ripsta]

I'm not being negative, just realistic. Has he been playing with sub-standard players and coaches over the years? Sure, I don't disagree with you on that one. Has he also carried this team over the past couple years? I also agree on that, but what I do have a problem with is his lack of effort in the latter stages of the Champions League in the last few years. The rest of the team has been poor, but so has Leo. It's not just the lack of good performances from him that I have a problem with, it's the lack of effort more than anything. Against PSG he couldn't be arsed, he didn't look up for it against Juve last year despite creating a few chances in the 1st leg. He disappeared against Atletico in 15/16 along with the rest of the team.

While he's not the main reason or sole culprit why we've been struggling in the CL of late, he hasn't helped. There's only so much blame you can put on coaches and his teammates. At the end of the day this is the best footballer ever we're talking about and he hasn't looked like he's even trying in the CL knockouts the last few years. He seems to be able to put up great performances in the league week in week out, but he hasn't done that in the CL lately.

While he could use some more help in the midfield and a better system, he has been very mediocre individually in the Champions League for a few seasons now and the blame for that solely rests on his shoulders. If a player like Rakitic or Suarez plays poorly most people don't blame their shortcomings on the system or the coach, but for some reason people have this need to justify and make excuses for Leo's poor performances as they can't bring themselves to criticize him. Some people on here think Leo's immune to cricisim, he is the GOAT, but when he doesn't play well you bet I'm going to call him out.

Yep, he has all the ability in the world but he lacks the same drive Ronaldo does to win.

When he gives a fuck, games like the last two Clasico's show his brilliance, haven't seen much of that from him in Europe since 2015.

 

[RMU ReBorn]

Ronaldo's drive = Ballon D'or . Nothing else . There is a reason why he is not putting that effort in league and saving it for Cl knock outs .

 

[raskolnikov]

Ronaldo's drive = Ballon D'or . Nothing else . There is a reason why he is not putting that effort in league and saving it for Cl knock outs .

He would if he could but he cant. He’s over the hill.
To be more specific: he depends on the team more than ever. Real can still motivate thenselves on cl level and give him the cherished 8 silver playter chances a match. In la liga they suck so he sucks. His finishing is also off for his norm.

 

[sickstar]

It's a whole different environment there in CL group stage and in la liga. The little teams are not used to madrid's style of play, and hence his goals (two penalties btw).

Which is not exactly the case in la liga where most teams has been familiar with their play, having faced them seasons in and out.

What I still can't comprehend till now is: How the hell did Ronaldo destroyed Bayern last season?? If I'm not mistaken two consecutive hattricks or some 5 goals in two matches? Against the likes of Bayern?? He does make some solid appearances at times, and it's lucky for real that he does several times of them during the late stage of that tournament.

We need that cup hungry attitude back from Messi atm (It's not that he never have it anyway).
And a team that works! Of course.
Hopefully this year the cup will be ours once more!.

 

[Stoichkov1]

It's a whole different environment there in CL group stage and in la liga. The little teams are not used to madrid's style of play, and hence his goals (two penalties btw).

Which is not exactly the case in la liga where most teams has been familiar with their play, having faced them seasons in and out.

What I still can't comprehend till now is: How the hell did Ronaldo destroyed Bayern last season?? If I'm not mistaken two consecutive hattricks or some 5 goals in two matches? Against the likes of Bayern?? He does make some solid appearances at times, and it's lucky for real that he does several times of them during the late stage of that tournament.

We need that cup hungry attitude back from Messi atm (It's not that he never have it anyway).
And a team that works! Of course.
Hopefully this year the cup will be ours once more!.

The fact that offside doesn't count for Madrid in Europe helped.

 

[serghei]

If you want to win the CL you need your best player leading the way. Messi has been poor along with the rest of the team in Europe in recent seasons. It would be a different story if he was putting up god-tier performances and we were still losing, but he has not played like a player that's wants to win the CL.

As much as it's easy to to shift the blame around and make it seem like Messi's teammates and coaches are the reason for his woes in the CL as of late, the truth it Leo himself is as much of the culprit as anyone. You talk about him being a legal cheat code, hope we see that version of Messi come February at Stamford Bridge.

Man, don't let the media or some die hard Messi fans on this site that worship him beyond all logic tell you otherwise. The team has won the CL in the years they performed to the best of their abilities consistently, and by the team I mean every player almost.

If the defense sucks and Stegen is in an awful day, and the players are just not motivated enough, you can have the peakest of peaks Messi and still go out in CL against a top motivated hungry side full of quality players.

The power of Messi is that he is an extra edge you have if your team works, in the sense that among many teams sharing the same quality and dedication, and competence and will to win, the one team that has a genius in their ranks has an advantage, because he can decide some moments (not games) on his own. That advantage is never to be mistaken with the whole foundation of what makes a football team competitive.

 

[Andresito]

This is casual clothing for a GOAT.