Topic: Lionel Messi

[elpistolero7]

Ha ha. Fucking hell, talk about begrudgery

Don't get me wrong, I've done quite a fair bit of fishing on here over the years - particularly when it comes to the Messi vs Ronaldo debate. Watching people lose their shit at the mention of Ronaldo being better than Messi is one of my guilty pleasures. I think the vast majority of football fans the world over would agree that Messi is the greatest player to ever lace up a pair of boots. In terms of all round ability, Messi is undoubtedly ahead of Ronaldo

That being said, Ronaldo deserves his Ballon d'Or's. All of them. Including 2017.

It was the one he deserved the least. He was crap until the last 2-3 months of the season, he was not the best player over the season. He had these performances that he's having now at the start of last season too, just people forgot about them during the tap-in fest against Bayern.

[Billy The Kid]

It was the one he deserved the least. He was crap until the last 2-3 months of the season, he was not the best player over the season. He had these performances that he's having now at the start of last season too, just people forgot about them during the tap-in fest against Bayern.

Madrid played 60 games in the 2016/2017 season en route to winning 4 trophies. One of the most successful seasons in their history

Genuine question, how many of those 60 games did you actually watch?

Be honest now. Outside of the tap-in fest against Bayern, and the CL final, how many other games did you look at?

I'm not suggesting that you're not entitled to your opinion, I'm just curious how much you actually watched to conclude that Ronaldo was crap until the last 2 months of the season

[elpistolero7]

Madrid played 60 games in the 2016/2017 season en route to winning 4 trophies. One of the most successful seasons in their history

Genuine question, how many of those 60 games did you actually watch?

Be honest now. Outside of the tap-in fest against Bayern, and the CL final, how many other games did you look at?

I'm not suggesting that you're not entitled to your opinion, I'm just curious how much you actually watched to conclude that Ronaldo was crap until the last 2 months of the season

12-15 to be honest. He didn't impress me overall in many, though he was clincial in a fair few. Great goalscorer, not great player.

The earlier part of the season, he was really, really average.

Like Salah scores a lot, but he's been devastating with his dribbling, and has been great in general play. Ronaldo was nowhere near that in the first half of last season. Just some solid tap ins and penalites, with a couple of quality goals thrown in.

[Billy The Kid]

12-15 to be honest. He didn't impress me overall in many, though he was clincial in a fair few. Great goalscorer, not great player.

The earlier part of the season, he was really, really average.

Like Salah scores a lot, but he's been devastating with his dribbling, and has been great in general play. Ronaldo was nowhere near that in the first half of last season. Just some solid tap ins and penalites, with a couple of quality goals thrown in.

12 to 15 games? That's less than a quarter of the games they played all season.

That's hardly enough to conclude with certainty that he was crap until the last 2 months of the season, wouldn't you agree?

One last genuine question if I may:

Assuming Ronaldo had been injured all of last season, do you still think Madrid would have won 4 trophies?

[DangerScouse]

You could apply to that to 4 or 5 Madrid players.

[elpistolero7]

12 to 15 games? That's less than a quarter of the games they played all season.

That's hardly enough to conclude with certainty that he was crap until the last 2 months of the season, wouldn't you agree?

One last genuine question if I may:

Assuming Ronaldo had been injured all of last season, do you still think Madrid would have won 4 trophies?

Nope, not 4. Same could be said of Modric or Kroos I guess.

[Billy The Kid]

You could apply to that to 4 or 5 Madrid players.

You probably could.

That being said, 42 goals in 46 appearances is quite a high return, wouldn't you agree?

I understand goal stats alone can be somewhat misleading at times, but Ronaldo's numbers aren't those of your typical player

Even if you combined Benzema's and Morata's goals last season (39), Ronaldo still outscored their combined total

When you factor in that Madrid won their domestic league, the Champions league, and the World club championships, I find it hard to buy into the notion that Ronaldo didn't deserve his Ballon d'Or

He did.

[Billy The Kid]

Nope, not 4. Same could be said of Modric or Kroos I guess.

Can't say I agree.

[elpistolero7]

You probably could.

That being said, 42 goals in 46 appearances is quite a high return, wouldn't you agree?

I understand goal stats alone can be somewhat misleading at times, but Ronaldo's numbers aren't those of your typical player

Even if you combined Benzema's and Morata's goals last season (39), Ronaldo still outscored their combined total

When you factor in that Madrid won their domestic league, the Champions league, and the World club championships, I find it hard to buy into the notion that Ronaldo didn't deserve his Ballon d'Or

He did.

Its not the who scored the most goals for the team which won trophies award. That's a terrible way of judging the best player in the world. I never denied that his goalscoring return is great - he's a great poacher of goals. Like RVN was.

Morata and Benzema both play in the same position...one played instead of the other, and they rarely played together, that is a very misleading use of stats.

No denying Ronaldo is a phenomenal goalscorer.

 Fact is Messi scored just as many in the last 5 years, has assisted more, and Ronaldo has not been 'better' than him for 4 of those years. That was my argument.

[elpistolero7]

Can't say I agree.

A big part of Madrid's struggle is their failure to dominate from midfield - Kroos and Modric aren't playing to last years standards.

Unlike Messi, Ronaldo can't go deep and take charge of a game from there. He's been a highlights reel player for 3-4 years now, great poacher, nothing more.

[Vinay]

Can someone give an anatomy and autopsy of that free kick against R Sociedad? It looked like it was floating and lobbed. Yet the 'keeper did not move. Was it poor keeping? Messi did not seem to blast the all; so what was it that made it a goal?

[Phil M]

Can someone give an anatomy and autopsy of that free kick against R Sociedad? It looked like it was floating and lobbed. Yet the 'keeper did not move. Was it poor keeping? Messi did not seem to blast the all; so what was it that made it a goal?

<a href="https://www.youtube.com/v/oV-Q_6UjaQg" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" class="bbc_link bbc_flash_disabled new_win">https://www.youtube.com/v/oV-Q_6UjaQg</a>

[Xabi Gerrard]

Can someone give an anatomy and autopsy of that free kick against R Sociedad? It looked like it was floating and lobbed. Yet the 'keeper did not move. Was it poor keeping? Messi did not seem to blast the all; so what was it that made it a goal?

Had a lot of dip on it so was quite deceptive but it's terrible keeping. I'd be fuming if our keeper didn't anticipate the dip and just watched it sail in.

[SMASHerano]

Had a lot of dip on it so was quite deceptive but it's terrible keeping. I'd be fuming if our keeper didn't anticipate the dip and just watched it sail in.

What a surprise

[Xabi Gerrard]

Shut it Lionel SMASHerano 

Jokes aside, wouldn't you want more from the keeper in that situation?

[SMASHerano]

Shut it Lionel SMASHerano 

Jokes aside, wouldn't you want more from the keeper in that situation?

I definitely would, but I wouldn't call it terrible keeping The ball was very tricky.

[Xxavi]

Most of the goals are somebody's mistake. Left back, right back, goalie etc. Rarely, if ever, there is a goal and there is nobody to blame for it.

I'd say this, most players would hit the target from that distance with that pace. Some hit and hope, a la Roberto Carlos, some just decide to cross.

[Xabi Gerrard]

Most of the goals are somebody's mistake. Left back, right back, goalie etc. Rarely, if ever, there is a goal and there is nobody to blame for it.

I'd say this, most players would hit the target from that distance with that pace. Some hit and hope, a la Roberto Carlos, some just decide to cross.

Nah. cRonaldo would pick his spot, hit it and score. Against a faultless Neuer. In a CL knockout.

Spoiler

Just pulling your chain lads

[close]

[RedSince86]

He's pretty crap at penalties ain't he.

[elpistolero7]

3/6 penalties.

Give it Luiseh tll end of the season.

[Gerry Attrick]

He's pretty crap at penalties ain't he.

He should ask if he can take them from 30 yards away 

[owens_2k]

It would be interesting to know how many penalties Messi has given to a fellow team member when on the pitch, compared to how many times Ronaldo has done the same.

[Xabi Gerrard]

It would be interesting to know how many penalties Messi has given to a fellow team member when on the pitch, compared to how many times Ronaldo has done the same.

Must.....not......mention.....the......fact......that....Ronaldo.....has.......a........better.....penalty......scoring.....ratio.......than......Messi.......so.......there's.........more........reason.......for.........Messi.........to.......let.....someone.........else........take......penalties..........I.......better........not........say.......anything.......though........because..........the........obsessed.........lunatics.........in........here.........will.......have......a........breakdown........

[Corkboy]

Must.....not......mention.....the......fact......that....Ronaldo.....has.......a........better.....penalty......scoring.....ratio.......than......Messi.......so.......there's.........more........reason.......for.........Messi.........to.......let.....someone.........else........take......penalties..........I.......better........not........say.......anything.......though........because..........the........obsessed.........lunatics.........in........here.........will.......have......a........breakdown........

So you want to bring up Cronaldo on a Messi thread, again, but other people are obsessed lunatics?

[Xabi Gerrard]

So you want to bring up Cronaldo on a Messi thread, again, but other people are obsessed lunatics?

I didn't bring him up mate

[Suareznumber7]

It would be interesting to know how many penalties Messi has given to a fellow team member when on the pitch, compared to how many times Ronaldo has done the same.

He used to let Neymar take them quite a bit.  Suarez would also take them if he was on a hat trick or hadn't scored in a while. 

[Xxavi]

Must.....not......mention.....the......fact......that....Ronaldo.....has.......a........better.....penalty......scoring.....ratio.......than......Messi.......so.......there's.........more........reason.......for.........Messi.........to.......let.....someone.........else........take......penalties..........I.......better........not........say.......anything.......though........because..........the........obsessed.........lunatics.........in........here.........will.......have......a........breakdown........

He is named Penaldo for a reason.

And the reason isn't solely because he dives a lot, though that contributes to it.

[oojason]

Got his 600th goal for club and country - vs Atletico Madrid today...

Not a bad one either... https://streamable.com/iig5u & https://streamable.com/eoabw & https://streamable.com/zjtg9



According to https://twitter.com/FCBarcelona/status/970324755327963136

539 for Barcelona
61 for Argentina

and

https://twitter.com/Sportive_23/status/970324697530413057




also...



^ from https://www.reddit.com/r/soccer/comments/81yr8j/all_of_messis_goals_visualized/

[Ravishing Rick Dude]

Not against Liverpool...

[rscanderlech]

A trophy just under every 25 games. Not bad.

[elpistolero7]

After 27 games, Messi leads La Liga in

Goals
Assists
Passes before the assist
Shots on goal
Completed dribbles
Chances created

But grease boy will score 2 penalties against PSG and two tap ins in the quarters to secure his 6th Ballon D'or.

[puroresu_kid]

After 27 games, Messi leads La Liga in

Goals
Assists
Passes before the assist
Shots on goal
Completed dribbles
Chances created

But grease boy will score 2 penalties against PSG and two tap ins in the quarters to secure his 6th Ballon D'or.

The Goat

[J_Kopite]

The Goat

I know he's really good at footy but I'm quite sure he's still human

[RedSince86]

He's the greatest ever.

And he still has another 5-6 years left.

When do we expect when the time comes and his legs go and his scoring rate goes down and he becomes a pure playmaker in a deeper role in the Iniesta/Zidane/Totti/Riquelme mold.

I know he has ambitions of playing for Newells,but i expect him to be bossing  it still at Barca until  he's 37-38 years old.

[dalarr]

Not against Liverpool...

Exactly. Overrated..

[oojason]

Not against Liverpool...

Messi got Arbeloa'd if I remember correctly

[SMASHerano]

He's the greatest ever.

And he still has another 5-6 years left.

When do we expect when the time comes and his legs go and his scoring rate goes down and he becomes a pure playmaker in a deeper role in the Iniesta/Zidane/Totti/Riquelme mold.

I know he has ambitions of playing for Newells,but i expect him to be bossing  it still at Barca until  he's 37-38 years old.

I think he's the best playmaker in the world already.

[Vinay]

He is the best footballer I have seen in my life.
(Ronaldinho was more exciting though! Sorry to bring that up).

[FCukBarca Haw-Haw]

Leo is pure joy, I could never tire of watching him

[Geppvindh's]

He's always been a great free kick taker but he's now upped it a notch. 25 meters out, it's like awarding him a penalty.