Lionel Messi - v7

[Fati_Future_BallonDor]

That dummy for Griezmann's goal...whew!

Something close to genius tonight.

 

[Luftstalag14]

We should sell Griezmann and get Higuain.

 

[soul24rage]

MOTM. Changed the game.

 

[Kul_z]

My captain. Fuck out of here judas

 

[henias]

Thats why I dont buy the hes finished comments. We have suffered the most because of his bad finishing. But finishing is not something you lose with decline, its more of a mental thing. Dementia kicked in?

Never believed in the finished comments too. It's just that he's frustrated being the carry of the team and is sick of it, evident from his body language which contributes to the mental block and restricts his confidence. Also, a little rest once in a while can allow him to take a breather and explode on the field afterwards.

Some say he would kick a fuss if rested but never seen that of him either. He would most likely just be happy seeing his teammate do well on the field. And he believes in young talents like Fati and Dembele. Prolly doesnt fancy Griezmann who chokes alot.

 

[Horatio]

He needs two things, not just to be sharp in front of goal. First, he needs to appear in shooting positions often, meaning he needs to make runs because he can't pick up the ball deep, dribble 2-3 guys then score as he did in his prime. Today he did both. In other games this season he did neither.

You are partially right. He has gotten in scoring positions plenyty of times(but granted could possibly have been more if he doesnt drop deep and makes more runs). You cant be wasteful in front of goal a lot and rarely get into shooting positions at the same time.

 

[Richard.H]

As crazy as it sounds, he might be more dangerous coming in 2nd half and catching the opposition offguard. He provided much needed energy and looked more hungry to me. Also to claim, "lol our team is shit without him, look at first half" is not a strong argument. We created plenty of chances in the first half. Had Brathwaite had the amount of chances that Griezz did in that first half, he would've scored two.

 

[Horatio]

^
Who are the plebs saying we were @(#* first half? We were great. A lot of movement, pressing and chances created. Defense is whack but that has nothing to do with Messi.

 

[Richard.H]

^
Who are the plebs saying we were @(#* first half? We were great. A lot of movement, pressing and chances created. Defense is whack but that has nothing to do with Messi.

I'm not gonna bother looking at the previous pages but I'm almost certain the messi boys will be posting that. First half was great, Koeman cant do much about Griez being horrible. Defense is irredeemable, Lenglet is a mid-table defender.

 

[Ritchie]

Some aspects in his game haven't declined as much as his dribbling in acceleration. For example, he can still shoot well, and he can still spot a great pass, and he can still play excellent one-touch football, he can still execute set-pieces. So he can still be effective if he does these adjustments to consider his obvious decline in some areas. And this decline is especially his dribbling in crowded areas because his burst of pace is not even half of what it was. It was once unbeatable in the first few meters.

He needs to ease off on the dribbling, as he's easily knocked off the ball now. Ronaldo made this adjustment in his game years ago, as he changed his game to goal hanger.

How many players are still good at dribbling and taking players on at 33? Robben was, but it's not common.

It's also a waste of his limited energy. He needs to concentrate his running on getting into good positions. He can learn a lot from Ronaldo on how he changed his game as he got old.

 

[serghei]

He needs to ease off on the dribbling, as he's easily knocked off the ball now. Ronaldo made this adjustment in his game years ago, as he changed his game to goal hanger.

How many players are still good at dribbling and taking players on at 33? Robben was, but it's not common.

It's also a waste of his limited energy. He needs to concentrate his running on getting into good positions. He can learn a lot from Ronaldo on how he changed his game as he got old.

Exactly right. His dribbling has to be done as a pre-shot tool now, he has to dribble to make room for a shot, or to put the ball on his left, or something like that. Can't use it to burst past players frequently because he is not fast enough. Only to make room for either a pass or a shot.

You are partially right. He has gotten in scoring positions plenyty of times(but granted could possibly have been more if he doesnt drop deep and makes more runs). You cant be wasteful in front of goal a lot and rarely get into shooting positions at the same time.

There are games where he spent far too much time deeper, and this cost us a good presence up front. The bolded part is why I consider the games where Messi takes many shots on goal as good ones for him. Same story with Griezmann. If you take shots, in the long run talent will prevail and goals will come. It's far worse to walk around out of the game for long spells. Much better to be active, move well, and miss the mark a bit.

 

[Richard.H]

He needs to ease off on the dribbling, as he's easily knocked off the ball now. Ronaldo made this adjustment in his game years ago, as he changed his game to goal hanger.

How many players are still good at dribbling and taking players on at 33? Robben was, but it's not common.

It's also a waste of his limited energy. He needs to concentrate his running on getting into good positions. He can learn a lot from Ronaldo on how he changed his game as he got old.

Telling Messi to dribble less would be like telling BBZ to keep his posts shorter than a paragraph. Messi has built his career around dribbling and fooling defenders. It was easy for CR7 to change his game because he's tall and still very fast, therefore getting in good positions and scoring tap ins or headers is easier. Messi can still focus more on getting into good positions and finishing, but it won't be as easy of a transition as it was for CR7

 

[Daniele]

dribbling to jump the man and create numerical superiority.
This is the first aim of dribbling and this will be what Messi will do until he treads a playing field

 

[malvolio]

I'm not gonna bother looking at the previous pages but I'm almost certain the messi boys will be posting that. First half was great, Koeman cant do much about Griez being horrible. Defense is irredeemable, Lenglet is a mid-table defender.

We were just as shit as the second. Opposition run riot through the midfield and then easily fools our sub-par defenders ti create chances. Betis had the same number of dangerous chances as us, in the first half.
In fact, Betis was shit all match in defense. That's why we had a "good" game. Not all teams are that stupid.

Both Messi and Griezmann had acres of space to run into. Only difference was finishing quality.

 

[serghei]

Telling Messi to dribble less would be like telling BBZ to keep his posts shorter than a paragraph. Messi has built his career around dribbling and fooling defenders. It was easy for CR7 to change his game because he's tall and still very fast, therefore getting in good positions and scoring tap ins or headers is easier. Messi can still focus more on getting into good positions and finishing, but it won't be as easy of a transition as it was for CR7

It's not like his dribbling will disappear completely, it would just be refined a bit to suit his purpose better. He forces it far too much in games, even though he sees that it's not working and is losing many balls.