Exactly this. I'm not looking to go the vulgar route, ie City and Chelsea. But more your .... I don't really know, theres not a lot inbetween actually. You have your Arsenals , Liverpool, Man U, ( Establihed quality sides.) City and Chelsea and then not a lot else. Villa and Everton are boring models to follow. So other than the relegation fodder that leaves Spurs? Btw way, I know Zesh Rehman, I used to play with him as he tried to make the grade. What a lovely bloke. A really nice guy.
Wouldn't it be great if we could beat Spurs,Liverpool or Arsenal in a real thriller,where all the great players on show performed.Adel has a scorcher and we win 4-3,of course i wouldn't turn my nose up at a boring 1-0 victory!
Didn't mean to have a go at him nines,just never rated him personally.Sure he's a top bloke though,just like our current captain!!!
Messi is just incredible. Very difficult to say where he stands in relation to Pele or Maradonna. Different era, etc etc. IMO you can't compare players from different generations. It's impossible. What is clear however, is that he is by far and away the best player on the planet at the moment. He must at least now be considered as one of the best players ever and his best years are still ahead of him!!
Just shows you what **** owners, executives and managers we have/had. Why the f*** didn't we buy Messi? (Just thought I'd get that in before some other knobhead did.)
I also watched the Barca game and they really do make it look easy. Messi was outstanding and that chip for the third left me speechless! Superb team to watch. Oh, and they have been at HQ in recent years - when they played Arsenal in the CL they used Loftus Road to train at the day before! Twice in a year I remember!
Good for Barcelona, spotting him as a kid, paying for his medical treatment (he's not big now but was tiny and needed hormone deficiency treatment even to reach current size - neither his family nor his club in Argentina could afford it, Barca saw the talent and took a risk), they are getting their reward. Still has to do it for Argentina in thevWorld Cup finals to make it to true legend status, but nearly there, already in the George Best league for me.
He probably wouldn't have made it if he'd been in one of our academies! He's have been released for being too small!!
Messi is absolutely fantastic and long way ahead of any other footballer in the world. Still he is not quite Maradona or Pele yet because the lack of international succes. Pele was not playing in europe during his days but over 1000 goals with Santos says something and three world champions is too much for Messi too.. Maradona was fantastic with Argentina as he was with Napoli. Messi is still only 24 yrs old(25 yrs in juni) so what he could still achieved during his career. One thing is different with Messi if you compared him with Pele, Maradona or any other top player in the world and that is his legs. Yes those legs have to made of steel because he is almost never injured even he gets tough and foul tackles towards him in every match. How is this possible?
I watched the game last night and to be fair, i though BL played fairly well in the 1st half and 2-nil kind of flattered Barca. Then in the 2nd half they weren't bad but Barca and Messi decided to turn upo and up the game. they just never lost the ball and did exactly what they wanted. It could have been 10-nil bythe end, but i do think BL's goal was a great finish ( bit like Tarbs one last year!). Messi is just getting beter and better and i just cant see how you can play against a team like that. thats what makes Jose Mouriniho's feat of winning the league even more outstanding. Although i will say, i dont like his style if football at any club he's ever managed. Barca for me, are in a world of thier own, and I'd love to see them play teams like Arsenal, Tottenham, Man Utd(on a good day), Lyon (and QPR of course)etc..teams that play with the ball on the floor and are comfortable in possesion. Like others have said, I love seeing the greats (giggs, scholes, Lamps, Gerrard?, etc) play and it makes it even better that i can see them play at my our ground. Not so sure i like the final scores but as a "football fan" or fan of football more aptly, sometimes you just HAVE TO put your hands up and applaud the sheer skill of these guys...even if you dont like them !...I'm praying we stay up just so i can see more of them on my visits back to the Uk next season. Come on MH..nows the time to turn it round and become and "instant legend" like Colin (sorry!) did.. UUUUURRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR'SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS
There is no doubt that Messi is the best player of the current era but there are several contributing factors that still leave him short of the Maradona/Pele class. Firstly, he is playing in a team that is light years ahead of anything we've seen before. They have so many talented and dangerous players that teams who look to man-mark or double-up on Messi simply leave gaps for Iniesta/Xavi/Fabregas etc to exploit and even doubling up doesn't stop him. Add to that the fact that in the current era tackling is becoming something of a dying art in comparison to previous eras, so much so that it is almost becoming a non-contact sport. Those of you who remember the 1966 World Cup will remember Pele being targeted by Bulgaria and injured missing the 2nd game and then being literally kicked out of the tournament by Portugal in their last match. Personally, I think Maradona between 84-90 was the best we've ever seen. He chose to play in the World's toughest league, something Pele never did, and chose Napoli, a club that had never been fashionable or won the Scudetto. They won it twice, were runners-up twice, Italien Cup winners as well as the UEFA Cup solely on his brilliant performances in a good, not great, side. At this time he then virtually single-handedly took an average Argy side to World Cup glory. Until Messi has success away from Barca and leads the Argies to World Cup glory he will never be considered at that same level.
Think thats a little unfair as he doesn't /hasn't dictated Barca's buying and playing strategy over the last few years. I think he is an incredably gifted player that no-one can work out. Other managers think they have him sused and he does something diffrent...I doubt his own manager know what he is going to do but alows him the freedom of the park. As for the rough tackling..habe you not been watching?..have you not seen how many players have "tried" to put him out and he has simply ridden the takcles.....his spacial awareness is second to no other footballler ever and yes..you are correct when you say you cannot compare footballers of diffrent era's Messi is playing in the fastest most technical era ever..never before were players so fit, managers so tactically astute and rewards so important. Fact is : Its never been harder than now to score a goal..most prem defenders would walk into a league 1 side as a good forward..Dion Dublin proved that theory... Thats right..he hasnt done it at Int level yet, but lets be honest, the argie side of the 90's would still smash england now & the game is so far advanced that a special player ala C Ronaldo - Rooney & Messi aint going to make the impact tht the media kid supporters about..! In short..I personally would love to see him earing a Hoops top....If only for a photo shoot !!
