As a Barcelona supporter, it was great to see Lionel Messi put a hat trick on Atletico Madrid in the 1st leg of their Round of 16 Copa Del Rey tie at the Vicente Calderon.
It was a performance that the Spanish & Catalan media were gushing over especially since it was against a Champions League side and neither Eto’o or Henry played. While Messi was great, it is premature to crown him as the next great player.
Right now, Messi is Barca’s 4th or 5th most valuable player behind Puyol, Xavi, Eto’o and Iniesta which is more a tribute to Barcelona’s system of player development and acqusition than Messi’s talent. His success at Barca is no doubt a product of his talent and the supreme talents of his teammates.
Certainly his team is good but Messi has his moments like the hat trick vs. Real Madrid in 2007 and the Maradona-like Golazo of the Decade against Getafe in the 1st leg of the 2007 Copa Del Rey semifinal.
How about the most recent performance versus Los Colchoneros in which he got that hat trick. It was skillful finishing on Messi’s part but 2 of his goals were more a function of excellent vision & passing by his teammates, Dani Alves & Andres Iniesta. As for the penalty he did what he was supposed to do.
For Los Albicelestes, his senior side performances are still erratic as evidenced by Argentina’s struggles in CONMEBOL World Cup qualifying where La Pulga is not in the Top 10 in goal scoring not to mention his disappearance in the Copa America final vs. Brazil. On the positive end, Messi set up the gold medal winning goal for Argentina against Nigeria in the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
He is certainly not to blame for Argentina’s problems in qualifying but the truly great ones can raise teams above the drama.
Diego A. Maradona has already named Messi as his “successor” which hopefully means Lionel will follow Maradona’s positive on the pitch exploits and not the negative off the pitch ones.
The big question is can he carry a team for an extended period of time & be the face of a team, that has yet to be seen. That ability to carry a team is what separates Maradona from Messi, great from excellent. Diego carried Napoli & Argentina to trophies while Messi has been a contributor to trophies. There is a big difference.
Obviously at 21, He still has a lot to learn so let’s not crown him with greatness yet. For Argentina & Barcelona fans, the hope is that Messi doesn’t believe all the hype and his head doesn’t swell. If his head does get too big the crown of greatness will not fit and then his vast potential will be wasted.
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whoever wrotte this article i tell him to go and fuck himself.he doesnt know what he is talking about.another cr7 fan
Horrible article
haha ok man, i think your being pretty tough on the best player on the planet. the best players in the world were recognised as such because of the amount they stood out from the other players of the era. messi is standing out as much as maradona ever did. he in fact did carry his national team during the olympics by the way. just about every goal by argentina in that tournament was by him or assisted by him. also he does manage to stand out in barcelona, which is shocking considering the caliber of players there such as those you mentioned. hes not at the best player ever level yet, but give him time, not many if any of the greats has done what hes done by his age.
I look at Lionel Messi being the best player in the world in various other aspects. He never stabbed his club back unlike what Ronaldo has been doing all summer long. Unlike Ronaldo, he never speaks highly of himself and always gives his gratitude towards his teammate.
While Ronaldo may have success at club level he was nowhere for the national team. Messi has always been a major figure for both club and country. His Olympic gold is also another testament of his greatness on the pitch.
http://mundoalbiceleste.blogspot.com/2009/01/me…
Jesus the writer of this article is so repulsive his mirror should get a restraining order!!!5th most valuable player??..jesus are you paid to write this drivel!!travesty considering the world is in economic recession!! By that logic barca should be trumpeting home with constant wins..yet they have been trophyless last two seasons..when they won the champions league messi played a huge part single handedly destroyin chelsea in the first leg!!Even this season they look considerably weaker without him..proof of that is the draw against getafe where he did not play!!dont post such nonsense on the internet..it is better to remain silent and be thought a fool then to open your mouth and remove all doubt!!!
It is certainly true that undeserved 'hype' could prove to be detrimental to any young talent. However, in the case of Messi and the reactions he has thus far received from the world at large, the use of the word 'hype' to describe these reactions is, I believe, entirely inappropriate. Unfortunately, the author of this article has chosen to use such a word.
The reactions directed at Messi have been, for the most part, sensible. Our focus, as reasonable football fans, should be on those accolades that are more or less accurate. Messi's performance against Atletico Madrid, for instance, can be aptly characterized as 'fantastic.' And yet, the word 'fantastic' does not itself constitute an exaggeration. But it would be an exaggeration to state that Messi could not become as great as Maradona for the sole reason that he is not like him now. Messi has plenty of time to improve on his already impressive array of qualities. But it would be a terrible shame if we did not allow ourselves the opportunity to celebrate Messi's current flashes of genius for fear that we may be contributing to some silly notion of 'hype.'
Seiously i doubt that u are a barcelona fan your views on Messi is simpy unacceptable, you dont like Messi and want to degrade him by saying he is the 4th or 5th valuable player Every one in this world know Messi is the best your childish statements doest make him the 4th or 5th
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haha this is awful. Barcelona is a shell without Messi.
Argentina didn't beat Brazil to win the gold medal dumbass. And Messi didn't score the winning goal.
Congratulations.
George, you sound like a real madrid/manchester united/non brasilian brasil fan. I am glad that people commenting here can see through your little game. You are trying to diminish Messi great performances in order to do what? We, real football fans know that he is the best player in the world and he has been for the past two years along with Kaka. Keep these bias commentary to yourself or go publish it on a real madrid forum. Your article is not changing anyone's mind. Nike can keep buying awards for his hyped players all it wants, but true football fans will keep cherishing Messi like we did with the real Ronaldo, Zidane,Van Basten, Romario, Weah, Pele, Garrincha, Cruiff and Diego.
Wait a second. Metellus is not a Madrid fan… did you see his picture? His writing is not about being a fan or not, Fandom depends on us… not him. He is the one that has to be able to compliment and criticize when needed. He's the one that has to give us the bad news… even if we don't want to hear it.
The article was good. Right now there are players that are doing great for Barca. It is not all about Messi. There are guys like Xavi, Eto'o, Iniesta, Puyol, Yaya that need to get credit for their season. If he thinks that there are people that are better than him, well we can agree to disagree. One thing is for sure is that if he doesn't have a Xavi passing the ball to him, he ain's scoring. If Dani Alves weren't around… he's getting marked even more than he is now. If Samuel Eto'o and Henry weren't around ten defenders would pummel him instead of five. Without Yaya, there is no midfield and possession. Without Puyol and Marquez… Barcelona would be getting killed in the backline. Let's remember Barcelona is a team and this is what makes him great. He is growing because there is a great deal of trust within the team. Metellus is talking about the team concept. Messi is going to be great, just give him time. But you know what… I would take one Messi over two Cristano Ronaldos.
first of all how many players do you know by the name messi,but as you have named barcelona you must be messing with the worlds top player in this century.what i want to say is are you insane,i mean may be you have some difficulties in your eyes to see the genius of the youngster but shame on you.you shouldn't be posting such articles rather you should have been watching his genius works resting your ass.so next time you post some thiing like this i look forward to see some improvement on your football perception be positive mennnnnnnnn.
You sound so pretentious and don't really sound like a fan of Messi, you sound like someone that is supposed to say he is good. At this point Messi is the best player in the world and a genius. You can read that in most articles and hear it on television from the announcers. For me he is the best but arguably in the top two or three in the world. You are saying there are 4 or 5 guys better than him just in barcelona, so you are not putting him even in the top 5 in the world. I have been reading about soccer for years and this is the first time I have read an article that I had to respond to because it was bad on so many levels,
Hey u piece of shit !!!!!!!!u said messi is d 4th or 5th best player in Barcelona………OMG do u know anything abt football????????cant u see what he did in deportivo match????/i think u r a madrid fan or a CR7 fanatic………u r a born looser & MF!!!!!!!dont mess wid d messiah………..
I love you sooooooooo much Messi. Your a cutie with Killer skills. How cool is that!!
Lionel Messi is the best ever!!! Anyone who knows football could tell you that.
Christiano Ronaldo CAN NOT compare to Lionel Messi in any way because he is so lame and unskillful compare to Messi!!! Christiano Ronaldo SUCKS!!!
***LIONEL MESSI ROCKS!!!***
del piero e’ una merda
Good stuff.