10 - Lionel Messi - v5

[Neymessi]

Argentina has been a shit team for ages but messi starts performing lesser and lesser as the better teams comes as he progresses to the semis and finals.

 

[Neeraj]

You wonder how not qualifying will affect him. Particularly with his contract unsigned. It might make him want to try something different rather than having to carry club and country on his back every week.

I'm quite worried honestly. After everything, retirement and back - imagine his state of mind if Argentina don't qualify for the WC. I can't imagine what would go through his mind in this case.

 

[Ripsta]

So you expect Messi to dribble the entire midfield and defence in a professional match and score on his own. The expectations that come with being Lionel Messi are quite frankly ridiculous.

Argentina’s problem is that they have no midfield whatsoever and as a consequence Messi and Mascherano are picking up the slack. In the second half against Peru, Mascherano was basically playing as a hook because for some reason nobody else wanted to step up.

The expectations on Messi are ridiculous, and no one expects him to dribble entire teams, but he DOES need to start leading by example.

His entire demeanor on the pitch screams lazy. He's constantly walking or wondering off behind a marker when the midfield do have the ball, it almost feels like he knows how poor the current side side are, so has already conceded defeat before the whistle's even blown.

What separates the greats from the mere mortals is the ones that can grab a game by the scruff of the neck. Messi has shown it at Club level, think what he did Vs Real Madrid last season (in fact most the season), he was all over the place, far too often for Argentina he seems a bit too content to do the bare minimal, particularly in his effort off the ball.

Only has himself to blame if they don't qualify IMO. If he wants to be mentioned up there with the likes of Maradona and Pele, he's got no greater platform than mid-week. All eyes will be on the best player in the world to do something, if a chance he creates isn't being burried, then perhaps he ought to stop passing and try peppering the goal himself like Ronaldo does...

 

[JamDav1982]

The expectations on Messi are ridiculous, and no one expects him to dribble entire teams, but he DOES need to start leading by example.

His entire demeanor on the pitch screams lazy. He's constantly walking or wondering off behind a marker when the midfield do have the ball, it almost feels like he knows how poor the current side side are, so has already conceded defeat before the whistle's even blown.

What separates the greats from the mere mortals is the ones that can grab a game by the scruff of the neck. Messi has shown it at Club level, think what he did Vs Real Madrid last season (in fact most the season), he was all over the place, far too often for Argentina he seems a bit too content to do the bare minimal, particularly in his effort off the ball.

Only has himself to blame if they don't qualify IMO. If he wants to be mentioned up there with the likes of Maradona and Pele, he's got no greater platform than mid-week. All eyes will be on the best player in the world to do something, if a chance he creates isn't being burried, then perhaps he ought to stop passing and try peppering the goal himself like Ronaldo does...

You act as if he wasnt trying to score.

He could have had three goals on another day and had a number of other shots blocked.

Messi did more than anyone and was one of the few that never hid and tried to take responsibility.

Did you even watch the game?

 

[mia7007]

Messi did everything in last Argentina match to make Argentina win by 3-4 goals at least. But unfortunately they have striker like Benedetto who wasted 3 real goals and winger like Gomez

 

[ini4ever]

Nah i don't think he did, people like to use old cliches whenever they get a chance to do. Messi doesn't succeed because he's not a good leader as simple as that.

 

[JamDav1982]

Nah i don't think he did, people like to use old cliches whenever they get a chance to do. Messi doesn't succeed because he's not a good leader as simple as that.

'Not a good leader' is about the only lazy cliche that has been used.

Suppose Maradona was a great leader was he?

The drug addict who picked and chose when to train etc and used PEDs.

 

[MessiCam]

You act as if he wasnt trying to score.

He could have had three goals on another day and had a number of other shots blocked.

Messi did more than anyone and was one of the few that never hid and tried to take responsibility.

Did you even watch the game?

It’s becoming perfectly clear that he in fact didn’t. Messi ran himself to the bone and at times dropped so deep in an effort to get something going that you’d be excused for thinking he was a defensive midfielder. He did try and take the game by the scruff of the neck but it becomes virtually impossible when you’re expected to drop deep, make runs into the box, create chances that are fluffed and score all in the same game...

Right now Messi doesn’t have a clearly defined role in the Argentina squad by Sampaoli’s own admission. When playing for Barcelona he has a clearly defined False 9 or Inverted Wing/Striker hybrid role.

I have continuously asked for Argentina to play in a 4-3-1-2 or 3-4-1-2 formation, depending on where you want your width to come from, with Messi as a number 10 and Dybala as the striker on the RCF. Dybala and Messi can then switch roles as they see fit like Dembélé and Messi did against Juventus. It causes defences all sorts of confusion.

Playing with the 3 at the back and 4 in midfield would allow Mascherano to play in a defensive midfield role too as well as make space for Di Maria on the right wing but the football world has gone bonkers with this 4-2-3-1 and 4-3-2-1 formations. Sure it works when you have a ton of creative players but it just doesn’t work with the current Argentina national team.

 

[DonAK]

Maradona is in a way a lucky man.

His legacy is built on a goal he cheated on and should have been sent off on.

 

[Mitchell1978]

Against Peru Messi was trying all the time, probably worked harder then in most of the games he played for barça.

The problems with Argentina are always the same, he constantly has to drop too deep and unlike at barça he doesn't really have anybody to combine with, hardly ever gets the ball back in a good position.
Barça players know how to look for the high % option (which is often Messi) while a lot of Argentinian players are purely individualists.

 

[MessiCam]

Maradona is in a way a lucky man.

His legacy is built on a goal he cheated on and should have been sent off on.

Maradona was a genius. A flawed genius but a genius nonetheless. The only other player I’ve seen that can do the stuff The Golden Boy did is Messi. I haven’t watched enough of Pele apart from some clips but I believe he was of the same mold.

 

[JamDav1982]

Maradona was a genius. A flawed genius but a genius nonetheless. The only other player I’ve seen that can do the stuff The Golden Boy did is Messi. I haven’t watched enough of Pele apart from some clips but I believe he was of the same mold.

Yeah he was a genius but there is a lot of shit spoken about him as a leader and what he achieved with Napoli and Argentina.

 

[Hardy]

On the pitch he was a leader and it's not even need to debate that.

 

[raskolnikov]

I feel Messi lacks something that very few players have. That is that the player playing lifts up the morale of the whole team and they play collectively much better than when he is not there.
Think Messi when he was subbed on vs Psg a few years ago.
Maradkna had that, Zidane as well. Argentina is just lazy and looks for Messi to do everything.

 

[DonAK]

Moises Llorens works for AS, but is IMO more reliable than most MD and Sport journalists as he's independent and not working on the back of what the board is instructing him to write.

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