Messi (12 Viewers)

[ccfc92]

Messi for me, every time. Ronaldo is fantastic in the air, but Messi's awareness of tem-mates positions on the piitch puts him on another level imho (oh, and he's quite good at dribbling, too!)

Fair enough just my opinion.

I just think Ronaldo is a more exciting player to watch, whereas Messi seems to be quietly brilliant

Still, when TM signs Messi in the summer, I won't complain

 

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[SkyBlue_Bear83]

Messi is better than Ronaldo for me, not massively better but not really close either.

 

[drogba.pisa]

Best ten goals in this season

http://goo.gl/NpRk9x

 

[Terry Gibson's perm]

Much as I hate to admit it Messi is better than Ronaldo consistently, Ron has spells where he is the better player but they tend to be when Messi drops off a bit and Ron is at full whack.

But if I had to mark one it would be Messi as I could handle smaller players better than bigger more physical ones in my playing days.

who do people think is the third best in the world? As these are the top two

 

[Otis]

Much as I hate to admit it Messi is better than Ronaldo consistently, Ron has spells where he is the better player but they tend to be when Messi drops off a bit and Ron is at full whack.

But if I had to mark one it would be Messi as I could handle smaller players better than bigger more physical ones in my playing days.

who do people think is the third best in the world? As these are the top two

Carl Baker?

 

[Speedies_Chips]

Much as I hate to admit it Messi is better than Ronaldo consistently, Ron has spells where he is the better player but they tend to be when Messi drops off a bit and Ron is at full whack.

But if I had to mark one it would be Messi as I could handle smaller players better than bigger more physical ones in my playing days.

who do people think is the third best in the world? As these are the top two

Zlatan (although he thinks he is THE best).

 

[jimmyhillsfanclub]

Not even the best Argentinian of all time, Maradona took a mid table team in the toughest league in the world and made them champions and then carried the national team to a World cup win in a time when you could tackle, Messi has a lot of good players around him.

Maradona,Messi, Ronaldo for me not sure about Pele i think his legend may have improved with time and I never saw George Best

:claping hands::claping hands: 100% correct TGP.....Maradona was simply the best....head & shoulders above Messi & Ronaldo.....not bad considering hes only 5'5"....

Truly awesome player.....and a real character.....absolutely loved him...still do.

 

[procdoc]

Charlie Austin scored nearly 20 in a crap QPR team. Messi would only play for a top EPL team therefore would get far more chances and would score 40, minimum. This myth that the EPL is the best league in the world gets on my tits. Look at the performances in Europe the last couple of years from our top sides. Laughable.
Messi is the greatest ever and would easily adapt to our league. He probably will never play over here but those saying he'd only get 20-25 goals need their heads looking at.

 

[SkyBlueSid]

Can't agree about Maradona. Even ignoring the way he went off the rails later in his career, Messi has already eclipsed him at 27. After Messi's career is over, Maradona will be regarded as a great but Messi as the greatest. Ronaldo's limitations beyond goalscoring will ultimately mean he is remembered as one of the best of his era, nothing more on the all-time scale.

 

[Otis]

Charlie Austin scored nearly 20 in a crap QPR team. Messi would only play for a top EPL team therefore would get far more chances and would score 40, minimum. This myth that the EPL is the best league in the world gets on my tits. Look at the performances in Europe the last couple of years from our top sides. Laughable.
Messi is the greatest ever and would easily adapt to our league. He probably will never play over here but those saying he'd only get 20-25 goals need their heads looking at.

Thing is prodoc, not one single person on this thread has said he's only get 20-25 goals a season.

 

[jimmyhillsfanclub]

Can't agree about Maradona. Even ignoring the way he went off the rails later in his career, Messi has already eclipsed him at 27. After Messi's career is over, Maradona will be regarded as a great but Messi as the greatest. Ronaldo's limitations beyond goalscoring will ultimately mean he is remembered as one of the best of his era, nothing more on the all-time scale.

We'll have to agree to differ, but I can't understand how you can state Messi has eclipsed Maradonas achievements......He's scored more goals, sure.....but he's been spoiled by being surrounded by the worlds best players at one of the richest clubs in the world for his entire career....

Maradona has won silverware & titles in Argentina, Spain & Italy.....plus dragging his national side to back to back WC finals, winning one of them.

Messi is a great....Maradona is the greatest.

 

[Deleted member 5849]

Yep, Maradona's the only player I've ever seen who has virtually singlehandedly pulled a side up not just for one game, but time and time again.

86 world cup was his and his alone, and he did it with Napoli too. That's not belittling Messi, but as said Barcelona ain't bad as a unit, and he hasn't really lifted his side in a World Cup.

For me, Maradona stands peerless among players.

 

[Otis]

Yep, Maradona's the only player I've ever seen who has virtually singlehandedly pulled a side up not just for one game, but time and time again.

86 world cup was his and his alone, and he did it with Napoli too. That's not belittling Messi, but as said Barcelona ain't bad as a unit, and he hasn't really lifted his side in a World Cup.

For me, Maradona stands peerless among players.

Messi's already little enough without you belittling him further.

 

[stupot07]

Yep, Maradona's the only player I've ever seen who has virtually singlehandedly pulled a side up not just for one game, but time and time again.

86 world cup was his and his alone, and he did it with Napoli too. That's not belittling Messi, but as said Barcelona ain't bad as a unit, and he hasn't really lifted his side in a World Cup.

For me, Maradona stands peerless among players.

Agreed. .


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[Otis]

Agreed. .


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It is true that he almost single-handedly won games for was at times a rather average Argentinian national team..

 

[Terry Gibson's perm]

I look forward to seeing the ultimate player in a few years time Maradona's grandson who is the son of Sergio Aguero

 

[SkyBlueSid]

It is true that he almost single-handedly won games for was at times a rather average Argentinian national team..

True, but Messi did get a less-than-brilliant Argentina team to the World Cup Final. I think a big factor here is that international football in Maradona's day was the pinnacle of the game, whereas it is club football now. Nevertheless, Messi's record at international level still compares favourably to Maradona.

In a way it is superfluous to compare today's players to those of the past as there can never be agreement. I regret that I never saw Maradona play live as I saw just about every other 'great' in my lifetime of watching football, quite a few of them at Highfield Road. I doubt we shall ever see Messi at the Ricoh!

 

[Otis]

True, but Messi did get a less-than-brilliant Argentina team to the World Cup Final. I think a big factor here is that international football in Maradona's day was the pinnacle of the game, whereas it is club football now. Nevertheless, Messi's record at international level still compares favourably to Maradona.

In a way it is superfluous to compare today's players to those of the past as there can never be agreement. I regret that I never saw Maradona play live as I saw just about every other 'great' in my lifetime of watching football, quite a few of them at Highfield Road. I doubt we shall ever see Messi at the Ricoh!

We may do if he switches codes and fancies himself as a scrum half.

 

[stupot07]

True, but Messi did get a less-than-brilliant Argentina team to the World Cup Final. I think a big factor here is that international football in Maradona's day was the pinnacle of the game, whereas it is club football now. Nevertheless, Messi's record at international level still compares favourably to Maradona.

In a way it is superfluous to compare today's players to those of the past as there can never be agreement. I regret that I never saw Maradona play live as I saw just about every other 'great' in my lifetime of watching football, quite a few of them at Highfield Road. I doubt we shall ever see Messi at the Ricoh!

Less than brilliant? Mascharano, Higuin, messi, Di Maria, zabaletta, tevez, aguero, etc? About half their squad playing at champions league clubs.


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[SkyBlue_Bear83]

Much as I hate to admit it Messi is better than Ronaldo consistently, Ron has spells where he is the better player but they tend to be when Messi drops off a bit and Ron is at full whack.

But if I had to mark one it would be Messi as I could handle smaller players better than bigger more physical ones in my playing days.

who do people think is the third best in the world? As these are the top two

Tough question, you could make a good case for all of Suarez, Robben, Ibra and maybe Neymar and 12 months ago Bale would have been up there as well.

 

[Terry Gibson's perm]

Tough question, you could make a good case for all of Suarez, Robben, Ibra and maybe Neymar and 12 months ago Bale would have been up there as well.

The top two are outstanding but you could take the next best from a large amount of players Manuel Neuer, Muller,Hazard and Websterplus all the ones you have noted

 

[SkyBlue_Bear83]

The top two are outstanding but you could take the next best from a large amount of players Manuel Neuer, Muller,Hazard and Websterplus all the ones you have noted

Stephen Pressley likes this comment

 

[Juggernaut]

Alright guys, sorry to intrude and have a slight rant on my first ever post on this site, but jesus I've read through some absolute guff on here. Everybody says Maradona won the world cup in 86 on his own right? Well how come Jorge Valdano scored 5 goals at that World Cup? The next top scorer after Messi last year in 2014 was Higuain with 2, maybe if Aguero, Lavezzi or Di Maria chipped in Messi might have been lifting the World Cup. He wasn't at his best last summer, and I personally think that general performance wise he had a better tournament in 2010, he didn't score in that World Cup so automatically the naive nature of this country labelled him a failure in 2010, when infact he was one of the better players. Last summer in Brazil he produced the stats without the performances, all on the back of a season filled with injuries and off the field turmoil. He scored or assisted every goal Argentina scored at the World Cup last year. Those saying he doesn't do it for Argentina are just plain wrong, at the age of 23 he was already Argentina's second highest scorer ever, and don't forget he will have another crack at the World Cup during 2018 in Russia.

For those saying he wouldn't be as good or score as many in England are wrong, the PL is a lot more open and end to end than the Spanish League. I watch more Spanish football than English, and let me tell you the sides over there are set up MUCH better tactically than over here. Over here there are spaces all over the pitch which Messi would thrive on, in Spain he has to create these gaps through his sheer genius, in England he would find them naturally (look what he done to City over two legs).

The Ronaldo/Messi debate is just a non starter, look past the stats and watch it with the naked eye, it's literally as clear as night and day who is better. Ronaldo is a goalscoring machine, but that's his only real contribution. Messi is three world class players rolled into one, he's a World Class penalty box striker, a World class winger who can go round players like they're not there and a world class playmaker, as someone has pointed out already, he's probably the best passer of the ball I've ever seen. Some of the passes he plays are ridiculous to even attempt, let alone complete. He is the complete player and in my opinion by an absolute mile the best I've seen.

People use the Maradona/World cup win against Messi, you can flip that round and say Maradona never won his club side a European club title, which is exactly what Messi done in 2011, and should they win Saturday and Messi shines, he will do again. The CL is as good as a standard as the World Cup, if not better. People marvelled at that goal Saturday vs Bilbao in the final, I've seen him do that on numerous occasions.

 

[Juggernaut]

I'm telling you now he wouldn't get 40 goals in England. I think he would get a shock playing in premier. Not because of quality but space on the ball, tight pitches and how aggressive out game is. If you reckon he would your entitled to, but your merely looking at stats and stats alone. In my opinion La Liga is a 3 team league is actually shite.


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Please can you explain how it's only a 3 team league?

Chelsea were knocked out by PSG in the CL, PSG had 10 men. Chelsea have this season lost just 3 games in the Premier League, how on earth is the Premier League stronger than La Liga. La Liga is literally miles infront of English football, the proof is in the Champions League the past 7/8 yeas.

 

[Gint11]

Please can you explain how it's only a 3 team league?

Chelsea were knocked out by PSG in the CL, PSG had 10 men. Chelsea have this season lost just 3 games in the Premier League, how on earth is the Premier League stronger than La Liga. La Liga is literally miles infront of English football, the proof is in the Champions League the past 7/8 yeas.

Because of Real Madrid, Barca and Athletico. The rest have their day and fade out. In the same sense that England has the top 4 and then some fade in and out. Generally speaking in La Liga, there's definitely only 2 that will win it apart from the odd year like last year.

Comparing Spanish teams to English teams in Europe is understandable but not always accurate. Sometimes teams are perfectly tactically made for European games but might actually be a poorer team overall. Take Chelsea for example when they won it. Certain managers suit Europe. Point being, some Spanish teams are excellent in Europe but are they better than some English teams week in week out? Maybe maybe not.


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[Juggernaut]

In the last 15 years there have been 5 different winners of the Spanish league (Deportivo, Valencia, Atletico, Real, Barca)

Only 4 different winners in the same era in England (Man U, Chelsea, Arsenal, City)

The Spanish league is just as competitive as the BPL. It's a complete myth to suggest otherwise.

 

[Gint11]

In the last 15 years there have been 5 different winners of the Spanish league (Deportivo, Valencia, Atletico, Real, Barca)

Only 4 different winners in the same era in England (Man U, Chelsea, Arsenal, City)

The Spanish league is just as competitive as the BPL. It's a complete myth to suggest otherwise.

I never said it was and that wasn't my point. In the last 5 year La Liga has been labelled the strongest league in Europe according to UEFA's league coefficient. In 84 season Barca and Real have a combined 55 titles and and Athletico 10, confirms my point that generally, year in year out, 2/3 teams will always win that title.


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[Juggernaut]

I never said it was and that wasn't my point. In the last 5 year La Liga has been labelled the strongest league in Europe according to UEFA's league coefficient. In 84 season Barca and Real have a combined 55 titles and and Athletico 10, confirms my point that generally, year in year out, 2/3 teams will always win that title.


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And exactly the same applies for the Premier League. The stats back that up.

 

[Juggernaut]

In terms of quality of player and quality of team I don't think it can be argued, The Premier League is well behind and has been for a good 5 years now.

 

[Gint11]

In terms of quality of player and quality of team I don't think it can be argued, The Premier League is well behind and has been for a good 5 years now.

Again I disagree. This didn't have anything to do with my OP but it's come this way. Other factors in why players opt for Spain and not England such as climate and way of life. It isn't black and white.


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[Gint11]

If you were foreign and had either rainy wet cold Manchester or sunny Madrid?


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[Terry Gibson's perm]

If you were foreign and had either rainy wet cold Manchester or sunny Madrid?


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Tax benefits as well

 

[Juggernaut]

Oh yes, because the Premier League struggles to attract foreigners....

 

[Gint11]

I think anybody interested by Barca or Real would go there anyway because of the clubs, outside of them 2 I think they would more thank likely come to the premier. Again, several factors involved. Money talks the most.


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