Topic: Lionel Messi

[PoetryInMotion]

Nonsense. What Ronaldo achieved at Madrid, winning 4 CL titles in 5 years and always taking them to the Semi finals is unrivaled by Messi. You can see what happened to Madrid as soon as Ronaldo left. Humiliated and out in the Round of 16 just like they every season before Ronaldo joined.

Messi is easier on the eye but Ronaldo is more effective on the biggest stage.

Yeah, you can just count trophies and say X player is better than Y player. That's how it all works.

[BobPaisley3]

Yeah, you can just count trophies and say X player is better than Y player. That's how it all works.

Course you can, Wes Brown has two European cups and five league titles.

[markmywords]

Nonsense. What Ronaldo achieved at Madrid, winning 4 CL titles in 5 years and always taking them to the Semi finals is unrivaled by Messi. You can see what happened to Madrid as soon as Ronaldo left. Humiliated and out in the Round of 16 just like they every season before Ronaldo joined.

Messi is easier on the eye but Ronaldo is more effective on the biggest stage.

Don't forget he "only" won 2 la liga titles in 9 yrs, but madrid won more titles in the 9 yrs before he joined

[killer-heels]

Messi is the greatest I have ever seen. He can do things that no one can. Like, even the way he controls the ball and passes the thing, whilst other footballers of high quality make that look more strenuous.

Its similar in Tennis. If Djokovic wins more majors people will say he is the greatest ever. In victories and stats he may be but there will and can be other Djokovic’s. There wont be another Federer. That ability and style cannot be taught.

[J_Kopite]

If you say Ronaldo is superior, you're just a contrarian.

[cissesbeard]

Messi is the greatest I have ever seen. He can do things that no one can. Like, even the way he controls the ball and passes the thing, whilst other footballers of high quality make that look more strenuous.

Its similar in Tennis. If Djokovic wins more majors people will say he is the greatest ever. In victories and stats he may be but there will and can be other Djokovic’s. There wont be another Federer. That ability and style cannot be taught.

thats always the way i think of it - ronaldo and novak are amazing but in a robotic way. messi and federer are artists

[jooneyisdagod]

Nonsense. What Ronaldo achieved at Madrid, winning 4 CL titles in 5 years and always taking them to the Semi finals is unrivaled by Messi. You can see what happened to Madrid as soon as Ronaldo left. Humiliated and out in the Round of 16 just like they every season before Ronaldo joined.

Messi is easier on the eye but Ronaldo is more effective on the biggest stage.

Lol. You should look at some of xG vs xA numbers for the two. No one comes close to Messi. Ronaldo is as good a goalscorer as Messi. Ronaldo is nowhere near the goal creator that Messi is. He is nowhere near the playmaker that Messi is. Now players that combine both i.e. those that create their own chances and then score them are extremely rare. Ronaldinho, Henry, Suarez, Ronaldo, Ibrahimovic etc are a few names off the immediate top of my head. But Messi is so good that he is head and shoulders above everyone else in these stakes.

[TheTeflonJohn]

If you say Ronaldo is superior, you're just a contrarian.

You say contrarian I say nobhead.

[Zlen]

Probably a major generational player I've watched least of all and would likely never watch a match just to see him play.
Not quite sure why, he's obviously a true outlier - possibly it's the fact he's playing out his days in that League and that unlikeable club.

I'll watch the highlight real once he retires.

[b_joseph]

Just watched the game...its ridiculous that he can still surprise you withnhis greatness. Making teams set out to stop him, look like school kids.
And doing it with such a joy, a freedom. Cant wait to see what he looks like against us in late april.

No reason to trash Ronaldo just because he hasthe audacity to not be as good as Messi. He is an all time great and his consistency is mindblowing, too.

[Vinay]

There's no way to stop him when he is on song absolutely no way... Just pray he has 2 off days if we meet them

Even if the probability of him having an off day is half, the probability of him having two off days is unfortunately still a quarter, which is not high enough....

[Barneylfc∗]

Nonsense. What Ronaldo achieved at Madrid, winning 4 CL titles in 5 years and always taking them to the Semi finals is unrivaled by Messi. You can see what happened to Madrid as soon as Ronaldo left. Humiliated and out in the Round of 16 just like they every season before Ronaldo joined.

Messi is easier on the eye but Ronaldo is more effective on the biggest stage.

Ramos won 4 Champions Leagues in 5 years. Is he also better than Messi?

[The North Bank]

Not bad for a player who is finished and on the way down.

[Xabi Gerrard]

Even if the probability of him having an off day is half, the probability of him having two off days is unfortunately still a quarter, which is not high enough....

As has been mentioned already, Messi’s been knocked out of the tournament in 6 out of the last 7 seasons. We’re as good as or better than all those teams that knocked him out. Stop panicking!

[Gerry Attrick]

Not bad for a player who is finished and on the way down.

For once that’s a stupid quote that I’m pretty sure isn’t mine

[mikey_LFC]

There are certain questions in life that are great for being able to quickly find out whether a person's opinion is worth listening to or not.

The Ronaldo v Messi question is one of the best for this. Oh you think Ronaldo is better than Messi, I can now walk away from you knowing any conversation with you is pointless anyway. It is a fantastic time saving tool.

Others like this include:

Is Mourinho funny or just a knobhead (more people have come round on this, but was great from 2005-2015)
Do you watch Love Island?
Do you read the Sun?
Do you like Ed Sheeran?
Do you drink skimmed milk?


I'm sure there are loads more on top of this.

[Crosby Nick]

I remember us applauding teams off when they had a good game against us. I think that stopped around the late 90s, early 2000s, though? Not sure about individual players, except what goes down in folklore (Best, Moore, etc).

On another note, I'm glad I got to see Messi play in the flesh. Along with Thierry Henry, just watching him warm-up was a treat. Just seeing the class in how they worked with the ball without the pressure of a game, or defenders. Different gravy, as they say.

We’ve applauded the odd goal against us, rather than a player’s genius I think. Unless the Kop saw a lot more in Alan Thompson during his Bolton day’s than the rest of the footballing world did.

[The North Bank]

For once that’s a stupid quote that I’m pretty sure isn’t mine

Its mine actually 

[Hazell]

There are certain questions in life that are great for being able to quickly find out whether a person's opinion is worth listening to or not.

The Ronaldo v Messi question is one of the best for this. Oh you think Ronaldo is better than Messi, I can now walk away from you knowing any conversation with you is pointless anyway. It is a fantastic time saving tool.

Others like this include:

Is Mourinho funny or just a knobhead (more people have come round on this, but was great from 2005-2015)
Do you watch Love Island?
Do you read the Sun?
Do you like Ed Sheeran?
Do you drink skimmed milk?


I'm sure there are loads more on top of this.

Not that I listen to his music or know much about him but Ed Sheeran seems to get a lot hate. Is it because he's terrible but extremely popular and a bit of a dick, kind of like James Corden? (sorry Nick)

[Hazell]

We’ve applauded the odd goal against us, rather than a player’s genius I think. Unless the Kop saw a lot more in Alan Thompson during his Bolton day’s than the rest of the footballing world did.

Was a great goal though.

[lionel_messias]

Messi is the greatest I have ever seen. He can do things that no one can. Like, even the way he controls the ball and passes the thing, whilst other footballers of high quality make that look more strenuous.

Its similar in Tennis. If Djokovic wins more majors people will say he is the greatest ever. In victories and stats he may be but there will and can be other Djokovic’s. There wont be another Federer. That ability and style cannot be taught.

Yes I can't say it better than this. Messi has that Federer-like indefinable quality of creating magic and executing moments other players wouldn't even think
of.

The eternal debate is really boring. Ronaldo has sculpted his body like a machine, he's now probably the best offensive header of a ball in the World. His career is insanely good.
But when you remove logic and numbers, just look at the way Messi treats a football and how it doesn't really matter if defenders are on the pitch or not around him.

Messi does what he wants, he's the God's Eye Fifa player for the ages.

Let's hope he stays fit and plays on till 36/37, with plenty of rest.

[sinnermichael]

He's no Sadio Mane.

[harleydanger]

Imagine being Suarez and not being the best player at the two clubs you spent most your career

[Geezer08]

Watch Luke Shaw keep him out now!!

[BigAl24]

Absolutely insane. Watched the game last night and just I have no more words for him.

[lionel_messias]

Watch Luke Shaw keep him out now!!

Better start a GoFundMe appeal for Luke Shaw, that boys blood, ancestry and whole being will
be twisted in both legs against Lionel!

[Clayton Bigsby]

The reason why Messi is the GOAT is because he is better at the one thing that they like to credit Ronaldo with, i.e goals. He scored 93 in one year for fucks sake.

Ronaldo is more decisive in the knockouts of the CL. Also, he has the 3 leagues proven, champions league top scorer and assister so he is a worthy adversary

Without him Messi would have all the infinity stones, he is still clearly better

[PIPA23]

Football = Messi.

[IgorBobbins]

It still continues to absolutely baffle me that anyone with even the slightest interest in football would seriously say that Ronaldo is even close to being comparable to Messi.

Have people just looked at a spreadsheet and seen the number of goals both have scored? Or have they been seduced by Ronaldo's "looks" and marketability?  Because they sure as hell couldn't have watched both of them play for the 15 years and arrived at the conclusion that Ronaldo is better, or even the second GOAT.

Ronaldo has worked incredibly hard to maximize the talent he's been given, and there's no denying his incredible goal scoring exploits.  But Messi is in another stratosphere, as far as I'm concerned.  Just look at his dribbling, his passing, his free kicks, his assists, his goals.  He's arguably the best that's ever been in every single one of those categories.  Ronaldo is a great goalscorer - that's it.  Most of his freekicks, preceded by his preening trademarked stance, are either smashed into the wall or fly over the bar.

And that's not even discussing the way each of them act on the pitch. 

[wampa1]

If you say Ronaldo is superior, you're just a contrarian.

Probably, but him and Messi being around at the same time is just ridiculous.

[MancEunuchian]

Imagine being Suarez and not being the best player at the two clubs you spent most your career

How was Suarez not the best player at Liverpool during his spell there?

[IgorBobbins]

How was Suarez not the best player at Liverpool during his spell there?

Erm......hello?

[Cu Chulainn]

How was Suarez not the best player at Liverpool during his spell there?

He was, by some distance, no idea how anyone could think otherwise.

[Cu Chulainn]

It still continues to absolutely baffle me that anyone with even the slightest interest in football would seriously say that Ronaldo is even close to being comparable to Messi.

Most people know it's Messi. Those who are adamant Ronaldo is better are usually Portuguese, Madridistas, or United fans - and that goes for professional players and managers, too.

Almost everyone else knows Messi is considerably better.

[Barneylfc∗]

It still continues to absolutely baffle me that anyone with even the slightest interest in football would seriously say that Ronaldo is even close to being comparable to Messi.

Have people just looked at a spreadsheet and seen the number of goals both have scored? Or have they been seduced by Ronaldo's "looks" and marketability?  Because they sure as hell couldn't have watched both of them play for the 15 years and arrived at the conclusion that Ronaldo is better, or even the second GOAT.

Ronaldo has worked incredibly hard to maximize the talent he's been given, and there's no denying his incredible goal scoring exploits.  But Messi is in another stratosphere, as far as I'm concerned.  Just look at his dribbling, his passing, his free kicks, his assists, his goals.  He's arguably the best that's ever been in every single one of those categories.  Ronaldo is a great goalscorer - that's it.  Most of his freekicks, preceded by his preening trademarked stance, are either smashed into the wall or fly over the bar.

And that's not even discussing the way each of them act on the pitch.

It's generally just Mancs and wums that claim Ronaldo is better, or even on level par with Messi. Literally the only thing they can use in their argument is goals. You'll never see them produce any other shred of evidence to back themselves up apart from goals.

[Clayton Bigsby]

He was, by some distance, no idea how anyone could think otherwise.

Yep

I think  they might mean Gerrard in a a historical way but Suarez definy sat on the throne when he was here

[mikey_LFC]

He was, by some distance, no idea how anyone could think otherwise.

Isn't he saying best player ever at those clubs? Otherwise that makes no sense.

[sinnermichael]

The main argument I've heard for Ronaldo is the "he's done it in different leagues" argument which is nonsense. It's like saying Alonso was better than Gerrard for the same reason. Staying in one league or at one club your whole career has no bearing on how good you are as a footballer.

[tubby]

It's not just that Ronaldo has done it in different leagues, it's that he delivers on the big stage too.  He's got way more goals than Messi in CL knock-out games, way more.  Messi is the better player but Ronaldo is more likely to score the goals you need in high pressure knock-out ties.

[LFC when it suits]

Don't forget he "only" won 2 la liga titles in 9 yrs, but madrid won more titles in the 9 yrs before he joined

League titles are secondary to the CL. CL is the biggest trophy in the game.

Yeah, you can just count trophies and say X player is better than Y player. That's how it all works.

When one player continuously carries his team to the biggest trophy in football and performs on the biggest stage, then that is how it works. Otherwise, anyone could just say Ronaldinho was better than Messi as he was easier on the eye.