Lionel Messi - v7

[Rassvet]

Why am I beimg called out for wanting EV sacked after Anfield lol.

Emotions were high after that game and it made me depressed. With hindsight and time to reflect, it's clear EV wasn't at fault for that game.

Forum de amigos brainwashed us into thinking that we had the best squad but EV was holding them back. Time has been proven them wrong and revealed the true extent of EV's achievements at Barcelona.

 

[KingLeo10]

Messi had amazing physical attributes in his prime.

Top notch acceleration.

Top notch sense of balance.

And very strong (against challenges).

That's why his 14/15 is my favorite season because he still had all of these physical gifts + the goalscoring prowess from 10/11 + wing play like his early days

 

[Rassvet]

I'm not sure what old posts are supposed to prove. I admit that I was once manipulated into believing that EV was responsible for our woes. All these posts show is the power of groupthink.

 

[KingLeo10]

I'm not sure what old posts are supposed to prove. I admit that I was once manipulated into believing that EV was responsible for our woes. All these posts show is the power of groupthink.

Yet you love to look into my old posts to fish for a small L (if Araujo can even be counted) while you out here catching them sizzling ones.

 

[bismp]

Messi had amazing physical attributes in his prime.

Top notch acceleration.

Top notch sense of balance.

And very strong (against challenges).

That's why his 14/15 is my favorite season because he still had all of these physical gifts + the goalscoring prowess from 10/11 + wing play like his early days

For me 10/11-12/13 will always be my favorite,probably the best 3-peak in the history of football

 

[te amo barca]

This thread is a cesspool. What happened here?

 

[Fati_Future_BallonDor]

Yet you love to look into my old posts to fish for a small L (if Araujo can even be counted) while you out here catching them sizzling ones.

And dont forget how rassvet has searched for hours posts from me of 4 years ago on juventuz to put me in bad light and now he is acting like old posts prove nothing

 

[Fati_Future_BallonDor]

For me 10/11-12/13 will always be my favorite,probably the best 3-peak in the history of football

Yeaaah for me too but imo he was better in 14-15 than in 12-13 in which he has scored a lot of goals but he hasnt dribbled much and his passing was also way better in 14-15.

 

[Rassvet]

And dont forget how rassvet has searched for hours posts from me of 4 years ago on juventuz to put me in bad light and now he is acting like old posts prove nothing

Im not saying old posts dont matter in general but in that context given that I admitted to not rating EV highly during much of his time here and only really started to appreciate him once he left and it became clear how unfairly we scapegoated him. Your posts on Tuz were also 1-1.5 years ago rather than 4 it should be noted.

 

[Fati_Future_BallonDor]

Im not saying old posts dont matter in general but in that context given that I admitted to not rating EV highly during much of his time here and only really started to appreciate him once he left and it became clear how unfairly we scapegoated him. Your posts on Tuz were also 1-1.5 years ago rather than 4 it should be noted.

What has changed your mind suddenly about valverde after he left ??

 

[Fati_Future_BallonDor]

That's why his 14/15 is my favorite season because he still had all of these physical gifts + the goalscoring prowess from 10/11 + wing play like his early days

Agree, also the way how has exploded back after his worst season of career was impressive. I remember the first match against Elche when we won 3-0 and people said 'Wow this is the Messi we have waiting for two years'.

 

[JohnN]

Is the BarcaOG rant over yet? Are we gonna repeat that every time Messi has a good game, because that would be unbearable..

 

[iniestaGOAT]

Messi is still the best player and we probably would be below Sevilla without him but still in the top 4 and not fighting for the title.

But this season is the biggest decline he has had in his career. Last season he could still dribble and finish like a boss.

 

[serghei]

Curious to see how you divide the 4 stages of Leo?s career.

Personally,according to his career narrative, I would say:

2005-2008
2009-2013
2014-2017
2018-2020
2021-...

Based on his playing style:

2005-2009(dribbling god winger)
2010-2014(false 9,goat scorer)
2015-2018(MS(N) era)
2019-2021 and onwards(physically declined but with excellent IQ and understanding of the game,paired with improvement of his long shots)

Thing is that his dribbling explosiveness goes beyond his initial pure winger stage (in Wembley for example, he was killing United on nearly every dribbling run, United just couldn't cope with that combination of elite skill, footwork and speed). So, if we don't count the fact that he was playing on a different position for much under Pep (false 9 stuff crept in as soon as 2009 which made the Ibra transfer so dumb – since Eto'o was brilliant at moving wide to make room for Messi's center activity, check the Rome header from exactly the "9" space), the 2005-2012 Messi is the lethal dribbler in the last 3rd Messi. Also helped by the fact that 2008-12 was basically the peak Xaviesta era, where we basically OWNED the midfield battle, no matter the opponent. So Messi had very little reason to try and drop in midfield. He still did that, but it was much better timed, and those set-ups were basically synchronized to perfection by Guardiola.

You have highlights from 2011 where his speed and dribbling seem to me just as explosive as in 2007 (where he seemed to embarrass the most players).

Then, after Pep, the team lost basically its architect, so managers who were not as good started to use Messi as a sort of do-it-all joker player. So we started to look less cohesive with each season. Tito made everything about Messi really in midfield and in the last third basically. Played a part in the reason why he basically snubbed Thiago that season.

Then Lucho came in and we assembled the trio, and Messi got back to what was always his best role in big games. The winger-false 9 position (more winger than false 9 since Suarez was never quite as mobile as Eto'o and Lucho was a way more conservative manager compared with fluid-total-football Pep), with quite a lot of time during games spent on the right flank. This Messi was very similar to 2009 Messi.

Then with 2016, he started to be more of a playmaker and less of a winger, remember being very pissed back then that Messi just couldn't stick to that RW role more that season. MSN started to be unbalanced in the big games.

And with Valverde he kind of drifted into a role I didn't like very much, but which was inevitable with age. He started to take over the AM role, but with not quite the work rate needed to shine in the big games consistently and make us dominate the midfield (that was basically why Messi could never be a Xavi type, he walks too much whereas Xavi never stood still, was always on the move impossible to mark out). He still had those big-game performances, but also quite a few performances where he didn't deliver as expected and was rather underwhelming.

The Koeman Messi is similar to EV Messi, but a bit more advanced on the field, which is better. But is older, so that's obviously a problem.

 

[Bobo32]

.

I think you are mostly spot on here, but I have a slightly different view of him under Valverde. I think Valverde was very Messi-focused, made the team play in the perfect way to let Messi shine. I think Valverde didn't want to dominate midfield in the same way as could be done with Xavi, but instead tried get the ball to Messi quickly with some space as often as possible, and make sure there were some runners around that he could find (Suarez, Alba, often one midfielder like Paulinho/Vidal)

So I think Messi was given a "free role", and he wasn't supposed to make the team dominate, but decide games, which he did better than anyone could.