10 - Lionel Messi - v3

[SocalBarcaFan]

The Gamper can't come soon enough. I want to get back to talking about Messi hattricks. Not how big his ears are or how weird his hair is.

 

[Darko]

The Gamper can't come soon enough. I want to get back to talking about Messi hattricks. Not how big his ears are or how weird his hair is.

this

 

[Jaykob]

His lack of injuries for so long, on the other hand, could have been facilitated by the growth hormone treatment in his teens. There's not enough research done to determine whether even correcting deficent growth hormone levels leads to increased injury resistance. Messi was only treated to get his growth hormone levels to 'normal' but 'normal' is different for different people. It's not inconceivable that he got an advantage from his treatment. On the other hand, the treatment might also be causing problems as some current research suggests that it reduces exercise capacity.

His face currently looks bigger because he went for an ugly, ultra-short haircut that doesn't suit him. Any guy who gets a hair-cut can figure that out.

Nice theory except that he was more injured when he was younger and presumable still on HGH

 

[Gnidrologist]

People's faces get bigger with age. Just like the overall body frame. Are most of you guys teens here?

 

[DonAndres]

Interesting video but even more interesting debate. There's pretty much no rational competition between Messi and CR for dribbling (or most things for that matter), but these 3 are of a similar level of brilliance and innate talent as Leo in maneuvering the ball. Thoughts?

 

[dakt]

Messi - best ever (who ever think otherwise is ugly and stupid)
Ronaldinho - most enjoyable to watch (good spirit of Barca)
Ronaldo - the best of his generation
Maradona - very good Messi approximation.

 

[serghei]

Interesting video but even more interesting debate. There's pretty much no rational competition between Messi and CR for dribbling (or most things for that matter), but these 3 are of a similar level of brilliance and innate talent as Leo in maneuvering the ball. Thoughts?

In terms of dribbling, for me the equation is Messi = Maradona > Ronaldinho > Ronaldo. Maradona is basically a version of Messi that played in the 80s in terms of style.

 

[DonAndres]

In terms of dribbling, it's Messi = Maradona > Ronaldinho > Ronaldo.

I'd probably agree with that but I find it very difficult to distinctly put one on top of the other.

It's straightforward and easy to equate Messi with Maradona bar some slight-moderate differences (i.e Messi has the better close control, Maradona has the better turns). Dinho is probably the most aesthetic and "wowing" for most people. I think Ronaldo is very close to Ronaldinho though, to the point where it gets debatable. The reason I say this is because Ronaldo is by far the most two-footed dribbler out of all of them. His footwork is very smooth and balanced and he's constantly maneuvering with and in between both feet which is incredibly difficult to do and to defend against at pace. Most dribblers generally run at defenders on one side of their body (a la Robben for the most obvious stereotypical example) but R9 is constantly switching and using both in his skill moves or maneuvers. I find that to be a very underrated though relatively unnoticed ability.

 

[Jadentheman]

In my opinion Messi and R10's dribble styles can't be compared because they are so different. I guess you could compare the efficiency, but R10's would probably be last on the list of efficiency compared to the other three.

 

[serghei]

I can't make a distinction between Maradona and Messi, because every play Maradona made I can picture Messi doing it too, and viceversa. Ronaldo's dribbling is underrated, and the fact that he could do it with both feet made him an absolute nightmare for every defender. But Ronaldinho takes it for me with his unparalleled imagination. He did things with the ball that made your jaw drop. Even though his way of playing wasn't sustainable for more than 2-3 years at the highest level, in his prime he has THE DEFINITION of the brazilian joga bonito term. Hell, when he did that elastico dribble for the first time, I bet the next days many kids around the world tried it too. Other great players did those tricks mostly in friendly games or against very poor opposition. Dinho made them in CL semifinals against teams like Milan.

It's kind of childish to rank players in this way, but for me, it's Messi - Maradona, Ronaldinho and Ronaldo in that order. Such a shame that Ronaldinho's career took a dive after 2007. That really hurt his legacy. But between 2004 and 2007 he was unreal.

By the way, we should take some pride from the fact that all 4 played for us at some point.

 

[Sumlit]

It's really hard. I think about it and come up with a combination for 1 through 4, but as I type it I think "Hold on, this guy can't be 4th, he is too good" But when I change it, the new lower guy seems like he also does not belong at 4th. It's an impossible task.

I place a higher premium on efficiency as opposed to flashiness, so for me Messi is always going to be number 1. The least flashy of the lot but the most brutally efficient dribbler there's ever been. 2-4 is when things get complicated and I get stuck. I'm going to go with Maradona-Ronaldo-Ronaldinho base on efficiency vs flashiness only, but it leaves me with a sour taste to have Ronaldinho 4th.

 

[linetty]

 

[Egert]

Whenever he scores a hat-trick we almost always win

 

[Sumlit]

The only non-win was that great 3-3 Clasico draw in 07.

BTW, notice first and last hat-trick are both vs Real Madrid. How cool is that.

 

[Povikas]

It's a cycle. So next will be against Atleti