I think its time to bury the Messi debate and whether or not he's better than the limes of Maradona or Pele. Simple answer is no, he is not. Forget Pele, he doesn't stack up against Maradona. People keep quoting his Barcelona achievements, but you have to remember that at club level Maradona went to the very unfancied Napoli in a very strong Serie A and turned them into champions. At club level Messi has strolled it in a phenomenal Barcelona side. I think Messi won't reach another World Cup Final, and as such won't get close to Maradona or Pele. The tact that Messi had no influence on this Final says it all really. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
But then Maradona only had one great world cup, and even then he had to use his hand to drag Argentina through the quarter final. Found to be high on drugs in another. Once a cheat, always a cheat.
I think this is unfair to be honest. Messi has always struggled to produce it at the world cup but I would say he was still by far Argentina's best player. Germany dealt with him very well but he still made a fool of Hummels a few times which is no easy task. You also cannot just rule his club achievements out like that, no one comes close to what he has achieved and the guy has just got record after record next to his name. I don't care that it is in a great barcelona side, its a bit coincidental that they became the superpower of club football at the same time Messi became the greatest player in the world and I would say that they would not be anywhere near as good without him in that team. For me, Messi deserves his name alongside those two.
Speaking of how he has performed in the World Cup http://www1.skysports.com/FIFA-Worl...forward-lionel-messi-who-lost-in-final-in-rio As i said did quite well when comparing him against other players rather than your expectation on how he would perform but still not sure he deserved that.
Fair point Josh .. what I'm saying is he still can't be held alongside Maradona just yet .. but time will tell Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
Messi didn't deserve it, there were a fair few players consistently more impressive than him, a few of whom were in the final. That said, he certainly wasn't rubbish and by anyone elses standards had a good tournament, but this looks like a political decision. The thing is, that this is the greatest stage, the greats of the past have all stamped their mark on a tournament... And won player of the tournament...Pele, creuyff and maradona, and more recently, ronaldo and Zidane. There is a view that greats rise to the occasion and perform on the big stage, messi off his game his still good enough to be one of the better players at the tournament but by his own high standards he didn't quite deliver. Their are lots of marks in the positive column when discussing how great messi is, but this World Cup won't be one of them. The time to judge his all time standing is when his career is over.
He's a great player but no way did he deserve player of the tournament. Media love him of course and that helped
The handling of Messi by commentators / pundits is ridiculously unfair. If he doesn't touch the ball for a few minutes there's 'clearly something wrong' or 'he's off his game' or 'he needs to produce something special' it doesn't matter if Argentina are being completely outplayed in their own half at the time. Then he has one mazy run and it's 'he's just a spectacular player' or 'he has that extra edge' or 'do you think he'd say yes if I asked him out?'. So fickle. But no, he shouldn't have won player of the tournament because he has been reasonably quiet overall, but that is more to do with the team he is playing in rather than his own abilities which he has proven at Barcelona. Mascherano had much more right to take that award for me, but defensive minded players are rarely given the credit they deserve.
Neuer - Yes, deserved his award Messi - No, another poor WC for his standards. Mascherano - would not get tired of kicking that gobshite Davide Luis - Most over rated defender in the WC (Moriniho must be pissing himself at PSG) tbh pleased Germany won, most consistant side in the WC, and has proved that European football is the best, all we have to do in England is go back to basics and rebuild a team that can compete, and Hodgson is not the man to do that. Was pleased to see the presenting of the cup was unorganised and a complete disgrace, totally weighs up FIFA and the prick at the helm....Blatter
Germany will lose their World Champions title in Dortmund on 7th September, & I will be there to watch the mighty Scotland take their place at the top of the pile! You heard it here first!
I reckon Laurent Blanc is on the phone with Cellino asking how we got out of the Cameron Stewart deal so he can pull the same trick with David Luiz and get his £50m back
Accurate assessment Billy. Messi isn't black, & he isn't a cheating scumbag. So he isn't Pele & he isn't Maradona. Maybe if the Argies can re-build, he might have a better team to be part of, at which point we'll see how good he really on the world stage.
Strange one that... not like blanc wasn't a decent defender himself. Jockey's make the worst tipsters.
Only problem is LiD it isnt his money and these pricks here "Qatar Foundation" own PSG and money is no object
