Reply With QuoteHe certainly is. That was a joy to watch.Originally Posted by 5freddys
against Leverkusen in Champions League game. Seriously? :shock:
The guy is amazing.
All he needs is world cup medal and he really will be the greatest
Absolutely different class. Brilliant, brilliant player. One thing I like about him is that he doesn't look like a superstar. He looks like the bloke who turns up to fix your photocopier.
5?!?!?! wish i watched it now
In a 7-1 win. Tello scored the other 2.
Spot on. :thumbleft:
Messi is utterly incredible. By far the greatest player in the world.
He doesn't even look like he has broken sweat come the end of a game. It just seems so effortless for him. Outstanding natural talent.
I wish Messi and Ronaldo were in the PL so we could see them every week.
That would be incredible, Top.
Imagine both on...................... Wigan. :lol:
Would they compete? :?:
And I thought, the damn United had this "Ronaldo" in his squad. So it was all fake? :blackeye: So, dear god, send ´em to Preston North End and I send you a little prayer each day!
Messi is a hell of a player, if you let him. But he´s a crop wearing blue and white stripes.
For once, I watched a whole game of football. Barcelona have a unique style and Messi is, well, stunning.
the best player in the world by a distance.
i thought zidane was the best player i had seen after maradona but messi may be better than both
That chip past the keeper was just sublime :D as others have said, I think we witnessed something really special last night. I've had the pleasure of seeing a few greats, Best, Maradona, Gascoigne, Moore etc but Messi is in a different league. :)
I would wanna see like Barcelona vs Stoke (H) or something though, wanna see how they fare with PL tackles etc
Messi show yesterday,amazing player indeed! 8)
they would run rings around stoke, stoke could try their up and at em tactics all they want and as Barca showed United at wembley - pretty much home turf for united, they will simply make them chase shadows and end up with half of them on yellow cards for being over zealous in the tackles, you also forget players like Cesc,Puyol,Alves,Pique,Abidal, Mascherano can all give as good as they recieve they just dont have to most of the time :lol:
Messi gets lumps kicked out of him every game but still comes out on top he and that Barca team would walk all over the majority of the premier league.
It wasn´t just Messi it was the whole team, the way they moved on and off the ball was out of this world. I don´t think one of them broke sweat last night, it was almost embarassing to watch, a sublime example of how football should be played.
I always thought Maradona was the best footballer ever, christ he won a world cup almost on his own when defenders were allowed to kick lumps out of anything that moved. I have to say though Messi at 23 even surpasses Maradona and lay claim to being the greatest footballer the world has ever seen.
There's something about the left footers which puts them on a different level technically.
Shame we'll never see get to see him play in the Premier league. :(
He's alright, can't see him getting in the current spurs side mind..... :blackeye:
Never bought into that line of arguing, though you hear it a lot. There's nothing he can do about the quality of team around him at national level, just the luck of the draw. De Stefano, Puskas and Cruyff never won the World Cup and they're usually up there with Pele and Maradona in many people's list of the top 5 of all time. If Messi can continue at this level for 2-3 more years then he'll have a good a claim as anyone to the top spot IMO.
Agree entirely with that.Never bought into that line of arguing, though you hear it a lot. There's nothing he can do about the quality of team around him at national level, just the luck of the draw. De Stefano, Puskas and Cruyff never won the World Cup and they're usually up there with Pele and Maradona in many people's list of the top 5 of all time. If Messi can continue at this level for 2-3 more years then he'll have a good a claim as anyone to the top spot IMO.
I hear what your saying m8 but was Maradona really playing in a 'great' Argentina side in 86, i don't think so but he basically won the world cup for them, you cannot get away from all this at a time when defenders were allowed to kick him 15-20 times in a game before picking up a booking.Never bought into that line of arguing, though you hear it a lot. There's nothing he can do about the quality of team around him at national level, just the luck of the draw. De Stefano, Puskas and Cruyff never won the World Cup and they're usually up there with Pele and Maradona in many people's list of the top 5 of all time. If Messi can continue at this level for 2-3 more years then he'll have a good a claim as anyone to the top spot IMO.
When ever he played against Italy in world cups, the italians would take turns to kick him, madness.
Just my thoughts but if anyone ever gets a chance to see videos or footage of Maradona played for Napoli then its a joy to behold, he also won them their first serie A title in 86-87, again with not a great team around him against the might of Juve and AC.
I wouldn't disagree. Argentina in '86 were nothing special and he single-handedly got them through the 1/4 and 1/2 finals, although he was kept pretty quiet in the final. Those two earlier performances though were perhaps the two best I've ever seen. And as you say, he did a similar job with Napoli in the late 80s.I hear what your saying m8 but was Maradona really playing in a 'great' Argentina side in 86, i don't think so but he basically won the world cup for them, you cannot get away from all this at a time when defenders were allowed to kick him 15-20 times in a game before picking up a booking.Never bought into that line of arguing, though you hear it a lot. There's nothing he can do about the quality of team around him at national level, just the luck of the draw. De Stefano, Puskas and Cruyff never won the World Cup and they're usually up there with Pele and Maradona in many people's list of the top 5 of all time. If Messi can continue at this level for 2-3 more years then he'll have a good a claim as anyone to the top spot IMO.
When ever he played against Italy in world cups, the italians would take turns to kick him, madness.
Just my thoughts but if anyone ever gets a chance to see videos or footage of Maradona played for Napoli then its a joy to behold, he also won them their first serie A title in 86-87, again with not a great team around him against the might of Juve and AC.
I think Messi and Maradona have different skill sets so judgement as to relative merit will always depend on the criteria applied. I don't think Messi could carry a team as Maradona did but I doubt if Maradona could cause quite the same damage Messi does around the penalty box.
To take George Best as an example, though, I don't feel his place in the pantheon should be affected by his World Cup record. I appreciate that, for many though, it is, even if they recognise it wasn't his fault. IMO, if Messi fails to provide outstanding performances in his remaining World Cups then that certainly would raise a question about his final status but I personally wouldn't make winning the whole thing mandatory. At some point, though, he will need to deliver outside the exceptionally favourable environment he has at Barca.
Oh I don't know, a handily placed brown paper bag under Arrys chair and the jobs a good un.
Just managed to watch the highlights, utterly mesmorising, Messi is a football genius!
Cheers
Rory
Well said m8, some good points.I wouldn't disagree. Argentina in '86 were nothing special and he single-handedly got them through the 1/4 and 1/2 finals, although he was kept pretty quiet in the final. Those two earlier performances though were perhaps the two best I've ever seen. And as you say, he did a similar job with Napoli in the late 80s.I hear what your saying m8 but was Maradona really playing in a 'great' Argentina side in 86, i don't think so but he basically won the world cup for them, you cannot get away from all this at a time when defenders were allowed to kick him 15-20 times in a game before picking up a booking.Never bought into that line of arguing, though you hear it a lot. There's nothing he can do about the quality of team around him at national level, just the luck of the draw. De Stefano, Puskas and Cruyff never won the World Cup and they're usually up there with Pele and Maradona in many people's list of the top 5 of all time. If Messi can continue at this level for 2-3 more years then he'll have a good a claim as anyone to the top spot IMO.
When ever he played against Italy in world cups, the italians would take turns to kick him, madness.
Just my thoughts but if anyone ever gets a chance to see videos or footage of Maradona played for Napoli then its a joy to behold, he also won them their first serie A title in 86-87, again with not a great team around him against the might of Juve and AC.
I think Messi and Maradona have different skill sets so judgement as to relative merit will always depend on the criteria applied. I don't think Messi could carry a team as Maradona did but I doubt if Maradona could cause quite the same damage Messi does around the penalty box.
To take George Best as an example, though, I don't feel his place in the pantheon should be affected by his World Cup record. I appreciate that, for many though, it is, even if they recognise it wasn't his fault. IMO, if Messi fails to provide outstanding performances in his remaining World Cups then that certainly would raise a question about his final status but I personally wouldn't make winning the whole thing mandatory. At some point, though, he will need to deliver outside the exceptionally favourable environment he has at Barca.
James.
The German team were gutless though, they did not even try to compete.
Barcelona equals tippy tappy midget football, therefore teams need to physically impose themselves on them as both Chelsea and Inter Milan have done.
Meet Mr size 11 and a good bit of shoulder to shoulder, get them to start diving all over the place and get on to the referee about the cheating/simulation.
Messi is still behind Maradona for me.
Ronaldo is also a more complete player.
Ronaldo more complete at what?! I agree re Maradonna, Messi needs to inspire Argentina to win 2 world cups to best him. But Ronaldo? Tell me one aspect of the game he is better at.
Pace and power, heading, free-kicks, crossing.
Messi has not yet had the opportunity to play/prove himself in the Premier League, lets see if he could get 40 goals in a season in the Premier League.
Lets see how he plays in the wet, cold and muddy against opposition players that are allowed to tackle.
Messi has led a very cosseted existence at Barcelona with a whole team playing for him and overly protected by fawning referees.
Lol, yeah ok, Messi doesn't need to head the ball as he gets it into his feet and when he does he can jump as high as anyone I've ever seen. Zidane was a complete player, Ronaldo isn't, he's too one footed to be classed in their league.
Hilarious. :lol:
Earth to certain English chaps... Messi IS the best player in the world. Period.End of discussion.
As for playing against a hard tackling team "like Stoke", Messi would score 6 goals, instead of 5.
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