Is Messi the laziest player in football history?

It's incredible watching this guy. One of PSG's CBs literally jogged with the ball past Messi and Messi just watched. He does this every week. How in the hell is Pique shouting at Griezmann when Messi is covering less ground than Ter Stegen? PSG had a free reign to Barcas mf and Barca were outnumbered every single time.

I honestly can't think of a lazier player in the modern era.

Nope. I am the laziest player in football history.

Pogba has done the same thing plenty of times. And he doesn't have the talent to compensate for it.

Yaaaaas queen

Thimmy wrote:Pogba has done the same thing plenty of times. And he doesn't have the talent to compensate for it.

Pogba has never been as bad as Messi. Messi literally watches defenders walk past him with the ball. None of the top teams have any passengers. Even Neymar and Mbappe were working their socks off in the cl last season.

jibers wrote:

Thimmy wrote:Pogba has done the same thing plenty of times. And he doesn't have the talent to compensate for it.

literally watches defenders walk past him with the ball.

Pogba has certainly done that as well, but he's held accountable for those performances to some degree. Messi gets away with it every single time, which effectively allows him to continue doing it for as long as he pleases. One is untouchable, the other is a World Cup winner and Juventus prodigy

Clutch wrote:I think pogba looks lazier than he really he is. The way he walks and jogs looks lazy plus he has long legs so he looks slower even though hes covering the same amount of ground as someone shorter. Messi is unbelievable lazy, if he doesnt have the ball at his feet hes not doing shit

That doesn't explain why he walks more than anyone else in the league. The boldened part applies to both players to a greater extent than the majority, only much, much more frequently in Messi's case since he doesn't seem to be held accountable for it.

Name a more bitter rivalry than Thimmy vs Paul Pogba

Perucho21 wrote:Name a more bitter rivalry than Thimmy vs Paul Pogba

Timmy VS Marcus Rashford

Perucho21 wrote:Name a more bitter rivalry than Thimmy vs Paul Pogba

Thimmy vs me back in the golden age of GL

Lex wrote:

Perucho21 wrote:Name a more bitter rivalry than Thimmy vs Paul Pogba

Thimmy vs me back in the golden age of GL

Haha. I'd almost forgotten about that, to be honest Those were good times, though!


Pogba is probably the most frustrating player I've seen play for a team that I don't support. I have noticed him stepping up his effort since his most recent return from injury, but his entire spell at United can be summed up by describing him as a man for the few occasions. I recognize his talent, but I don't understand his hype after so many years of not being a consistent difference-maker. Consistency matters more to me than flashes of brilliance, and Pogba has made matters even worse by being an outright liability so many times that I would be embarrassed if it was me. To me, he's a luxury player, or a casual fan's idea of world class.

Definitely not the most in football history lol, just watch football in the 80s. But he is by far the most of the modern era, this is nothing new. There was a stat back in 2013 or something of him walking less than Pinto in a CL game. Never stopped him from being the GOAT.

He is the laziest.
He is also the greatest.

Like the great Javier Zanetti once said, those who were blessed with more talent than him, worked less hard than he did. And that is the nature of this world.

El Gunner wrote:walking around the pitch is an art and tactic in football tbh - knowing when to take a breather and recuperate and when to sneak up on opposition and make darting runs.

Yeah, Lionel doesn't do that either as he actually has become quite lazy. Still though, it's Messi.

The bigger concern is Pique shouting at Griezmann as Pique is the last man to be scolding anyone these days.

Doc wrote:The bigger concern is Pique shouting at Griezmann as Pique is the last man to be scolding anyone these days.

Nah this team needs leaders. Too many pussies who keep quiet when going gets tough. Pique is the only one left with balls, even ter Stegen regressed in terms of commanding the box. This team's mentality is all wrong

Also its gud time for a throwback:

https://goallegacy.forumotion.com/t12746-obesenel-mehssi-was-decieved-by-burger-king

Cruijf wrote:Definitely not the most in football history lol, just watch football in the 80s. But he is by far the most of the modern era, this is nothing new. There was a stat back in 2013 or something of him walking less than Pinto in a CL game. Never stopped him from being the GOAT.

danyjr wrote:He is the laziest.
He is also the greatest.

Like the great Javier Zanetti once said, those who were blessed with more talent than him, worked less hard than he did. And that is the nature of this world.

You two make him seem like he’s always been like that. From what I recall, he only turned into this lazy version of himself a few years ago. He may have walked less than Pinto in one CL match, for all I know, but I remember him having a more than sufficient enough work rate during those days.

Thimmy wrote:

You two make him seem like he’s always been like that. From what I recall, he only turned into this lazy version of himself a few years ago. He may have walked less than Pinto in one CL match, for all I know, but I remember him having a more than sufficient enough work rate during those days.

Messi has been like this as far back as I remember, albeit with some fluctuations year to year and usually with more running in the big games. But if anything he actually seems to be running more this year, both offensively and defensively. It has become quite tedious over the years tbh to see everyone go through the same cycle of overlooking his laziness when things are going well and then obsessing over it when things aren't. Everyone suddenly thinks Messi's workrate is a problem when Barca loses, yet those same people weren't saying anything when he was strolling around and Barca were winning.

To be honest, I think the whole narrative is quite oversimplified. Yes, if you were to keep everything that makes Messi good the same and just add off the ball movement to it you would get a much better player. But would Messi have been able to maintain such a high level for so many years, playing so many games, getting kicked so often, and with such abnormally infrequent injuries, if he ran as much as a normal player? I'm not so sure. I'm not saying Messi is the best player he can be, and I'm not going to pull that naive line about how he's secretly a genius who runs exactly as much as he needs to. I think the sweet spot is certainly at a point with more running than what he does now. But I think it's quite oversimplified and not very insightful to say "If only Messi ran more he wouldn't have lost X game/trophy". Some of the greatest teams of the modern era have had a lazy Messi at their core. No one seemed to care then.

Modern era for sure. Not sure if all time though. I'm sure there were lazier 10s in the 80s lol.

Cruijf wrote:

Thimmy wrote:

You two make him seem like he’s always been like that. From what I recall, he only turned into this lazy version of himself a few years ago. He may have walked less than Pinto in one CL match, for all I know, but I remember him having a more than sufficient enough work rate during those days.

Messi has been like this as far back as I remember, albeit with some fluctuations year to year and usually with more running in the big games. But if anything he actually seems to be running more this year, both offensively and defensively. It has become quite tedious over the years tbh to see everyone go through the same cycle of overlooking his laziness when things are going well and then obsessing over it when things aren't. Everyone suddenly thinks Messi's workrate is a problem when Barca loses, yet those same people weren't saying anything when he was strolling around and Barca were winning.

To be honest, I think the whole narrative is quite oversimplified. Yes, if you were to keep everything that makes Messi good the same and just add off the ball movement to it you would get a much better player. But would Messi have been able to maintain such a high level for so many years, playing so many games, getting kicked so often, and with such abnormally infrequent injuries, if he ran as much as a normal player? I'm not so sure. I'm not saying Messi is the best player he can be, and I'm not going to pull that naive line about how he's secretly a genius who runs exactly as much as he needs to. I think the sweet spot is certainly at a point with more running than what he does now. But I think it's quite oversimplified and not very insightful to say "If only Messi ran more he wouldn't have lost X game/trophy". Some of the greatest teams of the modern era have had a lazy Messi at their core. No one seemed to care then.

Good post. I was prepared for a «imagine what he could’ve become if he ran more» discussion on here. I hate to bring CR7 into a Messi discussion, but we also criticised him frequently throughout his career with Real Madrid for not moving much off the ball or doing much sustained, defensive work.

Like you point out, there’s a sweet spot between wasting too much energy in one match, and doing just enough to make an impact. Younger players tend to not be very good at conserving their energy between matches. I imagine it’s similar to how, when people start drinking alcohol, they typically overestimate how much they can consume before they get drunk.

You mean the most intelligent player in football history? Stupid players run when they don't have to, also stupid people don't understand this. Literally every player walks at some point of the game should give an idea to comprehend this.

By being 'lazy' is how he's able to sustain himself at the top for so long. Never had the elite athleticism so uses his energy only when required.