Lionel "The Greatest of All Time" Messi

[fergus90]

When we have to keep referencing Dembele’s performance in the DFB Pokal vs Bayern as a signal of his talent, you know we are scraping the barrel.

 

[Laplacian]

Dembele had higher ceiling

Look at him in the game he destroyed bayern.

Di maria was average at benfica and rosario

Dembele had higher ceiling

Look at him in the game he destroyed bayern.

Di maria was average at benfica and rosario

Dembele's PR is amazing. You meant this game?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ozRZEGRLt3A

Just because a player had more career success at a younger age doesn't mean his ceiling is higher. Look at the way Dembele treats the ball; how it's never glued to his feat, how his touches into space are never well thought out, how his body moves during his stride, how stiff his body is when he attempts to change direction, it's no wonder he struggles to dribble when he's not sprinting or when he's in tight spaces. The guy doesn't know how to consistently use his body by dropping his shoulder and changing his stances at the level required for top wingers. He's not composed with the ball at all.

The only thing that impresses me is that he truly has no weak foot and uses either of them equally, and his remarkable change of pace. Technically everything else is quite subpar. I'm actually astonished people have convinced themselves Dembele was "ruined" by his injuries, the same Dembele I'm seeing in this video is the same Dembele i see today. You'll notice that early on in Dembele's thread everyone noticed his inconsistent technique, it's just that almost everyone assumed it'd be "corrected" at Barcelona.

Now compare Dembele's movement with the ball to Di Maria; the way Di Maria drops his shoulders and knees when he attempts to change direction, his treatment of the ball when in stride; the small little touches he consistently takes to move into and manipulate space, the quality first and subsequent touches; the outside the foot passes that bend around an entire backline to land as a through pass...and so on.

Di Maria looks and plays like a proficient *technical* footballer. To me Dembele looks like a talented sprinter that has been thrown into a football pitch for the first time every single time I watch him play.

 

[serghei]

When we have to keep referencing Dembele’s performance in the DFB Pokal vs Bayern as a signal of his talent, you know we are scraping the barrel.

Yea, that and a friendly vs England when he outshone Mbappe .

 

[BBZ8800]

When we have to keep referencing Dembele’s performance in the DFB Pokal vs Bayern as a signal of his talent, you know we are scraping the barrel.

Roberto played good vs PSG and vs Betis as a midfielder.
Samper played good vs Apoel and in a friendly vs Chelsea in Usa.
Malcom played well in Copa del Rey vs Real.
Arthur dominated vs Tottenham.

Every player has a good period or a few good games.
But people shouldn't look at player's peak and at his best game of a career but at player's AVERAGE matches. That's who he is. Not a guy from his best match of a career.

Is Neymar a guy from 2016 or a guy from 2013-2022 with tons of average displays?
Is Arthur that guy who played well for 2 Months at Barca or an average player in the last 5 years?

 

[serghei]

Roberto played good vs PSG and vs Betis as a midfielder.
Samper played good vs Apoel and in a friendly vs Chelsea in Usa.
Malcom played well in Copa del Rey vs Real.
Arthur dominated vs Tottenham.

Every player has a good period or a few good games.
But people shouldn't look at player's peak and at his best game of a career but at player's AVERAGE matches. That's who he is. Not a guy from his best match of a career.

Is Neymar a guy from 2016 or a guy from 2013-2022 with tons of average displays?
Is Arthur that guy who played well for 2 Months at Barca or an average player in the last 5 years?

Yeah, it's always a danger to look at a player on youtube, or in 2-3 games and think he's the real deal. Andre Gomes was bought based on basically 2-3 games vs Barca and Madrid. All in a period of 6 months.

 

[Laplacian]

Roberto played good vs PSG and vs Betis as a midfielder.
Samper played good vs Apoel and in a friendly vs Chelsea in Usa.
Malcom played well in Copa del Rey vs Real.
Arthur dominated vs Tottenham.

Every player has a good period or a few good games.
But people shouldn't look at player's peak and at his best game of a career but at player's AVERAGE matches. That's who he is. Not a guy from his best match of a career.

Is Neymar a guy from 2016 or a guy from 2013-2022 with tons of average displays?
Is Arthur that guy who played well for 2 Months at Barca or an average player in the last 5 years?

For once we're on the same side here, but uh for your Neymar argument don't you realize what you're doing. Just like Neymar, Ronaldinho's peak was from 2002 to 2007 at best. Should we judge Ronaldinho as the guy from 2002 to 2007 or as the guy from 1998 to 2013? My point is with Neymar, people calling him a great player based on 5 years or so of quality football is perfectly fine with me, as it is the case with Ronaldinho.

 

[Fati_Future_BallonDor]

Funny prank from Luiz to di maria:

 

[Laplacian]

Funny prank from Luiz to di maria:

I love how Spanish speakers are completely incapable of speaking Portuguese and vice versa. Di Maria here is just mixing between the two and yet it sounds completely understandable.

 

[ajnotkeith]

As we've witnessed in the past few years, any half-wit can put up great numbers in Bundesliga whilst playing for a 2nd or 3rd place team. Just look at Havertz, Sancho, Jovic, and Werner complete duds in new leagues despite putting up great numbers in Germany.

The point is, even during Dembele's peak in Dortmund his technique wasn't even half as good as Di Maria's. DonAK brilliantly explained that Dembele's inherent limitations would always restrict him from reaching the levels Di Maria reached even if he had remained injury free. A guy that struggles to trap a ball is not going to involve into some player capable of gliding throughout the entire pitch with the ball glued to his left foot. It's just not happening.

If you're going to do a "what if" scenario, perhaps pick a player with similar base attributes. Picking Di Maria just shows that you're vastly overestimating Dembele's supposed potential.

Werner and Havertz were starters for a CL winning team in their first season in England. Hardly duds, despite not scoring a ton of goals.

 

[Laplacian]

Werner and Havertz were starters for a CL winning team in their first season in England. Hardly duds, despite not scoring a ton of goals.

Are you seriously basing their performances based on "they started games"...?

They have been completely awful so far. Especially Havertz. They start because Chelsea's entire forward line is frankly quite shit.

 

[Rassvet]

Not sure what's going on in the Messi thread but Dumbele and Di Maria Di Maria was top 3 in the world at his peak and literally unplayable. Obviously he hasn't been on that level consistently but he was devastating with his pace and technique. Dumbele is a brainless player who is only in the conversation because our team is this shit and he'd be valuable when fit.

Di Maria was never near top 3 in the world. He had like two months at the end of 13-14 where he was great. Apart from that short period, he was at best barely a top 20 player.

 

[KingLeo10]

Di Maria was never near top 3 in the world. He had like two months at the end of 13-14 where he was great. Apart from that short period, he was at best barely a top 20 player.

Dembele over the last 5 years has not even been top 200 player in the world.

 

[Morten]

Di Maria was never near top 3 in the world. He had like two months at the end of 13-14 where he was great. Apart from that short period, he was at best barely a top 20 player.

How can you be the player with 2nd most assist the last decade, but just be "barely a top 20 player"?

 

[Rassvet]

How can you be the player with 2nd most assist the last decade, but just be "barely a top 20 player"?

Ozil has similar numbers yet was only a top 20 player for 1-2 seasons and probably wouldn't make a top 20 players of the last decade list.

 

[Morten]

Ozil has similar numbers yet was only a top 20 player for 1-2 seasons and probably wouldn't make a top 20 players of the last decade list.

Ozil fell off the last few years of the decade, while Di Maria is still performing, he takes it on longevity, scored more clutch goals than Ozil too.