'The Messiah' - Lionel Messi

Yeah, pretty much the same. Though a real 9 in front of him would probably mean a few more final passes (like there isnt enough now lol) and maybe less goalscoring chances.

But yeah, I am with you on your overall point. I dont think his game which change that much as he ages, only his mentality perhaps.

alexjanosik wrote:

The Franchise wrote:In 5 years he will be 29 right?

I think it depends on who we have in our squad, the coach, how he entire team is playing and so on.

If the midfield behind him is still the best in the world then I think he will still be where he is now.

That unless a new coach makes unforeseeable changes.

If the midfield behind him isnt the best, or not good enough, then I still dont see him in center midfield. Rather a true number 10 with a number 9 in front of him.

Interesting.A 10 in a 4-2-3-1 perhaps or a 10 in a 3-4-3 with a real number 9 in front of him.
For arguments sake,wouldnt you agree that in such scenario his role would pretty much be the same as it is now.
Granted he would have a true number 9 in front of him whereas now there is none.But the role wouldnt be much different.
Even now he spends 80% of the time in between the lines.His goal numbers should suggest he isnt a number 10 but strictly going by how he plays for us,I would say he is.
I hear all the time the comparison with Cruyff and the false 9 role.
But Cruyff didnt spend as much time in between the lines as Messi does.
Nowhere close.I would say messi is more of a 10 than Cruyff was.
And if asked the question,Is messi a 10 or a false 9 I would say he is a 10.
And before anyone asks how can he be a 10 when he has no one in front of him,i realize the conundrum too!!!!!!!!!!

He is a false 9
Fabregas’ positioning makes it even harder to deal with Messi’s false nine role. As soon as he drops into a deeper midfield area, there’s always a player, either Fabregas or Alexis Sanchez waiting to step into the central attacking berth.

Spooony wrote:

alexjanosik wrote:

The Franchise wrote:In 5 years he will be 29 right?

I think it depends on who we have in our squad, the coach, how he entire team is playing and so on.

If the midfield behind him is still the best in the world then I think he will still be where he is now.

That unless a new coach makes unforeseeable changes.

If the midfield behind him isnt the best, or not good enough, then I still dont see him in center midfield. Rather a true number 10 with a number 9 in front of him.

Interesting.A 10 in a 4-2-3-1 perhaps or a 10 in a 3-4-3 with a real number 9 in front of him.
For arguments sake,wouldnt you agree that in such scenario his role would pretty much be the same as it is now.
Granted he would have a true number 9 in front of him whereas now there is none.But the role wouldnt be much different.
Even now he spends 80% of the time in between the lines.His goal numbers should suggest he isnt a number 10 but strictly going by how he plays for us,I would say he is.
I hear all the time the comparison with Cruyff and the false 9 role.
But Cruyff didnt spend as much time in between the lines as Messi does.
Nowhere close.I would say messi is more of a 10 than Cruyff was.
And if asked the question,Is messi a 10 or a false 9 I would say he is a 10.
And before anyone asks how can he be a 10 when he has no one in front of him,i realize the conundrum too!!!!!!!!!!

He is a false 9
Fabregas’ positioning makes it even harder to deal with Messi’s false nine role. As soon as he drops into a deeper midfield area, there’s always a player, either Fabregas or Alexis Sanchez waiting to step into the central attacking berth.

He is more of a 10 than a false 9 imo.
A question to everybody.
How do you think he can improve his game even further?
What improvements will we see next season,as unfathomable as it may seem.

The areas i feel he can improve are dead ball situations and taking greater control of the game as a captain.

He is already improving the direct and indirect free-kicks. As for the latter part, i am talking about the ability to take control of the game from the middle of the pitch and dictate terms to the opposition by involving his team-mates in the picture. I want to see more of this when he is playing for Argentina.

kiranr wrote:
The areas i feel he can improve are dead ball situations and taking greater control of the game as a captain.

He is already improving the direct and indirect free-kicks. As for the latter part, i am talking about the ability to take control of the game from the middle of the pitch and dictate terms to the opposition by involving his team-mates in the picture. I want to see more of this when he is playing for Argentina.

For the taking control bit,3 examples.Madrid,Madrid and Madrid.
Go back over the past 3 Clasico's.
In the 3-1 Clasico,we are struggling when Messi takes the game by the scruff of the neck and drags us back.
In the second again he proves the gamebreaker with a delightful ball to Abidal.
Third game,again we are struggling only for Messi to set up Pedro with a moment of magic.

Regarding Argentina,I really think he should play CM for them.They have a terrific forward line but their midfield sucks.
He is by far the best CM they have if they play him as one.
Play a Banega-Masch-Messi midfield and line up with Aguero-Higuain-Di Maria upfront.

Dead balls and penalties for me.

His takes control over games for us constantly, more than any player I can recall.

Argentina is a whole other story, but if we walk to talk about the here and now. The last what, 5 games or more for Argentina he was been generally superb.

alexjanosik wrote:
Regarding Argentina,I really think he should play CM for them.They have a terrific forward line but their midfield sucks.
He is by far the best CM they have if they play him as one.
Play a Banega-Masch-Messi midfield and line up with Aguero-Higuain-Di Maria upfront.

I would have to disagree here, Maradona, Batista were probably the coaches who kept Messi's role as a CM /AMF (free ofc) Basile was and now Sabella (apart from The Nigeria friendly and a few other periods) is giving Messi the attacking freedom all others should have, ofc it all depends on having great playmakers to replace some of the quality Messi would have given, Requelme was perfect for this, Veron has always been good as well, and out of the current batch, Pastore could get groomed for this role perfectly, with the aid of Di Maria and Banega slightly behind. For Some reason, Di Maria and Pastore almost never fielded the pitch at the same time, but time will tell.

All this is to gain Leo Messi as a Shadow striker, right under Aguero or / and Higuain's noses, The kid can create and pass, but if he's not used to his full potential "Goal Machina" it would be a waste.. even Messi himself hints here and there that he enjoys and feels more comfortable playing up front, most recently when stating that since Pep took over he understood him and freed his position ultimately enhanced his scoring sort of speak. (could be some positive feed back for the "Pep, Please Stay" campaign) but yeah he seems to enjoy being there more.. we shouldnt blame him, ripping the place apart while growing each year in form and stats.

As The Franchise said, Messi has been pretty good and consistently for the passed recent run internationally , i must say his form looked close to the same (which was pretty darn great) but people just want to see goals..simply

Hamdyman wrote:

alexjanosik wrote:
Regarding Argentina,I really think he should play CM for them.They have a terrific forward line but their midfield sucks.
He is by far the best CM they have if they play him as one.
Play a Banega-Masch-Messi midfield and line up with Aguero-Higuain-Di Maria upfront.

I would have to disagree here, Maradona, Batista were probably the coaches who kept Messi's role as a CM /AMF (free ofc) Basile was and now Sabella is giving Messi the attacking freedom all others should have, ofc it all depends on having great playmakers to replace some of the quality Messi would have given, Requelme was perfect for this, Veron has always been good as well, and out of the current batch, Pastore could get groomed for this role perfectly, with the aid of Di Maria and Banega slightly behind. For Some reason, Di Maria and Pastore almost never fielded the pitch at the same time, but time will tell.

All this is to gain Leo Messi as a Shadow striker, right under Aguero or / and Higuain's noses, The kid can create and pass, but if he's not used to his full potential "Goal Machina" it would be a waste.. even Messi himself hints here and there that he enjoys and feels more comfortable playing up front, most recently when stating that since Pep took over he understood him and freed his position ultimately enhanced his scoring sort of speak. (could be some positive feed back for the "Pep, Please Stay" campaign) but yeah he seems to enjoy being there more.. we shouldnt blame him, ripping the place apart while growing each year in form and stats.

As The Franchise said, Messi has been pretty good and consistently for the passed recent run internationally , i must say his form looked close to the same (which was pretty darn great) but people just want to see goals..simply

He played as a 10 with no structure.Tried to be the sole creative force and score at the same time and ended up taking too much burden on himself.
If he plays SS,he wont see the ball and it will be easy for teams to shut him out.
I am not talking the role he played under Maradona.
I am talking something else.I am talking him playing CM.Their midfield sucks.
So play him in midfield with Banega and Masch.Entrust him with the job purely to circulate possession and playmake from the middle.
Since they refuse to play a counter attacking setup based around Messi, the next best option is to play him in midfield.
Else they are going to fail again.

alexjanosik wrote:

Spooony wrote:

alexjanosik wrote:

The Franchise wrote:In 5 years he will be 29 right?

I think it depends on who we have in our squad, the coach, how he entire team is playing and so on.

If the midfield behind him is still the best in the world then I think he will still be where he is now.

That unless a new coach makes unforeseeable changes.

If the midfield behind him isnt the best, or not good enough, then I still dont see him in center midfield. Rather a true number 10 with a number 9 in front of him.

Interesting.A 10 in a 4-2-3-1 perhaps or a 10 in a 3-4-3 with a real number 9 in front of him.
For arguments sake,wouldnt you agree that in such scenario his role would pretty much be the same as it is now.
Granted he would have a true number 9 in front of him whereas now there is none.But the role wouldnt be much different.
Even now he spends 80% of the time in between the lines.His goal numbers should suggest he isnt a number 10 but strictly going by how he plays for us,I would say he is.
I hear all the time the comparison with Cruyff and the false 9 role.
But Cruyff didnt spend as much time in between the lines as Messi does.
Nowhere close.I would say messi is more of a 10 than Cruyff was.
And if asked the question,Is messi a 10 or a false 9 I would say he is a 10.
And before anyone asks how can he be a 10 when he has no one in front of him,i realize the conundrum too!!!!!!!!!!

He is a false 9
Fabregas’ positioning makes it even harder to deal with Messi’s false nine role. As soon as he drops into a deeper midfield area, there’s always a player, either Fabregas or Alexis Sanchez waiting to step into the central attacking berth.

He is more of a 10 than a false 9 imo.
A question to everybody.
How do you think he can improve his game even further?
What improvements will we see next season,as unfathomable as it may seem.

Messi is a forward dropping deep into midfield. He does not stay deep or loaf behind a front 2. Europe has largely moved away from the use of a No 10 behind the forwards. Messi and Wayne Rooney would surely have been deployed as a 10 had they started their career a decade earlier. Move with the times mate the 10 is as dead as Juan Riquelme career

B. NEWS

Messi only needs ONE MORE GOAL to get to Cesar's record.
They did some kind of validation study and found that they had to revise his final total to 232. Messi has 231 goals.

SOURCE: Official website

Messi to destroy the record tomorrow :dance: :dance: :dance:

Lio

Spooony wrote:

alexjanosik wrote:

Spooony wrote:

alexjanosik wrote:

The Franchise wrote:In 5 years he will be 29 right?

I think it depends on who we have in our squad, the coach, how he entire team is playing and so on.

If the midfield behind him is still the best in the world then I think he will still be where he is now.

That unless a new coach makes unforeseeable changes.

If the midfield behind him isnt the best, or not good enough, then I still dont see him in center midfield. Rather a true number 10 with a number 9 in front of him.

Interesting.A 10 in a 4-2-3-1 perhaps or a 10 in a 3-4-3 with a real number 9 in front of him.
For arguments sake,wouldnt you agree that in such scenario his role would pretty much be the same as it is now.
Granted he would have a true number 9 in front of him whereas now there is none.But the role wouldnt be much different.
Even now he spends 80% of the time in between the lines.His goal numbers should suggest he isnt a number 10 but strictly going by how he plays for us,I would say he is.
I hear all the time the comparison with Cruyff and the false 9 role.
But Cruyff didnt spend as much time in between the lines as Messi does.
Nowhere close.I would say messi is more of a 10 than Cruyff was.
And if asked the question,Is messi a 10 or a false 9 I would say he is a 10.
And before anyone asks how can he be a 10 when he has no one in front of him,i realize the conundrum too!!!!!!!!!!

He is a false 9
Fabregas’ positioning makes it even harder to deal with Messi’s false nine role. As soon as he drops into a deeper midfield area, there’s always a player, either Fabregas or Alexis Sanchez waiting to step into the central attacking berth.

He is more of a 10 than a false 9 imo.
A question to everybody.
How do you think he can improve his game even further?
What improvements will we see next season,as unfathomable as it may seem.

Messi is a forward dropping deep into midfield. He does not stay deep or loaf behind a front 2. Europe has largely moved away from the use of a No 10 behind the forwards. Messi and Wayne Rooney would surely have been deployed as a 10 had they started their career a decade earlier. Move with the times mate the 10 is as dead as Juan Riquelme career

He plays in between the lines.
Doesnt mattter if there is no one in front of him or not.
Go look at all the false nines through history.Tell me if any of them dropped remotely as deep as Messi.

Masche has not played DM for 2 years now, he can no longer play there for Argentina. He needs to play as a CB.

I liked how after Vap accused Messi of not scoring chips anymore he goes ahead and scores 3 in the past month and a half

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4KnjZB_vjSU heres a similar video of maradona for comparison ..

i never saw maradona live..but have been youtubing him for past few days and i dont think any current player posseses the vast array of skills this man possesed..a true genius if there was one who steeped foot on the football ground....but messi might be very close to him

234 GOALS!!!!

CONGRATULATIONS MESSI!

Thank you for everything. Thanks for existing. Thanks for being a barça fan!

Is Messi the best lobber in history?

this thread should not just be about messi. this must be general history thread because messi breakes all history records

Messi scored his 234th goal for barcelona and this season he has 54 goals 22 assists in 45 games
His records this season

Barca all time top scorer - 232 goals - done
Most goal in a season from a la liga player - 53 goals - done
Most goals in a season by a barca player - 53 goals - done
Most goals in a season in CL - 12 goals - ???
Most piccici goals by a barca player - 34 goals - ???
Most piccici goals overall - 40 goals - ???
All time european top scorer - 63 goals - ???

nobody in history did it at 24 :shisha:

Rosario huh ?!?... Mars, Pluto at least the moon, i dont buy Rosario..

That second chip took my breath away... How on earth did he stop the ball dead, then lob him by putting it up about 4m and bringing it down within about 4m at speed? When he did it I just presumed it wasn't in, nobody can be that audacious and that good... Then it went.

Leo Messi, El Extraterrestre

BarcaKizz wrote:That second chip took my breath away... How on earth did he stop the ball dead, then lob him by putting it up about 4m and bringing it down within about 4m at speed? When he did it I just presumed it wasn't in, nobody can be that audacious and that good... Then it went.

Leo Messi, El Extraterrestre

This, how did it go so high in such little distance?!

He is not human, he is a goat

Congratulations Messi! I would say he was a tad bit too greedy today, but nevertheless he can afford it. That second chip was quite amazing.

Next record on his mind: Batistuta's

You guys are lucky to have such a player, I don't even have a word for him, amazing, unreal, majestic, I don't know. GOAT at 24

BarrileteCosmico wrote:Congratulations Messi! I would say he was a tad bit too greedy today, but nevertheless he can afford it. That second chip was quite amazing.

Next record on his mind: Batistuta's

Batigol is untouchable. Messi has to step up his game for Albicelestes if he wants to beat his record.

He's 24, even if he doesn't really step up his game, he'll beat it pretty easily. With a decent coach and hopefully improving personnel though, he will undoubtedly score more.

Well if the whole team plays like they did in World Cup or even Copa América, it won't be easy for him to beat Batigol's record.