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Messi


Bjornebye
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But for injuries, this lad would’ve been the greatest ever. 
Even with crippling injuries, his numbers are ridiculous. 
343 club games, 247 goals. 
98 international games, 62 goals. 

 

Here are some of his Inter highlights. 


I’m sure City would’ve tried to buy him. 

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4 hours ago, 3 Stacks said:

Ronaldo doesn't elevate anything, he's the supreme finisher. The service and the team he had around him at Madrid was second to none. He may have been the difference between winning and not winning a couple big trophies, but the amount he's had on his shoulders pales in comparison to Messi. Messi has had to do everything for Barcelona in the last 5 years. Be the best playmaker and finisher. He's succeeded in doing this partly, but even for him it's too much to ask. 

 

And as for Portugal, they won the Euros playing on the counter, with a low block. It was a managerial masterclass mixed with lots of luck and grit. 

Elevated in the sense that his will to win transferred to his team mates,  he pushed them on to perform higher. Before he went there they were consistently under performing in the CL, and have done so again since he left. In his time at Madrid, Messi was playing in a far better team in Barca, yet Ronaldo managed to win 4 CLs in his last 5 years. During that time Barcelona won the league almost every season, which indicates they were consistently the better side. 

 

Under Zidane, RM were a less cohesive side than Barca and heavily reliant on Ronaldo.

 

Messi carrying the team the last 5 seasons is a myth too. Suarez has pretty much been banging in 30 goals a season, but is being scapegoats by their fans. The reality is Messi is a big part of their decline in that he just walks about expecting everyone else to do the running for him.

 

You can get away doing that in la liga and in the CL group stages, but against the better teams in the latter stages I'm afraid that's just not possible. 

 

To compare both Messi and Ronaldo to anyone in the past is not reasonable....you only have to breathe on them to concede a free kick. 

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7 minutes ago, ManéMan said:

Elevated in the sense that his will to win transferred to his team mates,  he pushed them on to perform higher. Before he went there they were consistently under performing in the CL, and have done so again since he left. In his time at Madrid, Messi was playing in a far better team in Barca, yet Ronaldo managed to win 4 CLs in his last 5 years. During that time Barcelona won the league almost every season, which indicates they were consistently the better side. 

 

Under Zidane, RM were a less cohesive side than Barca and heavily reliant on Ronaldo.

 

Messi carrying the team the last 5 seasons is a myth too. Suarez has pretty much been banging in 30 goals a season, but is being scapegoats by their fans. The reality is Messi is a big part of their decline in that he just walks about expecting everyone else to do the running for him.

 

You can get away doing that in la liga and in the CL group stages, but against the better teams in the latter stages I'm afraid that's just not possible. 

 

To compare both Messi and Ronaldo to anyone in the past is not reasonable....you only have to breathe on them to concede a free kick. 

I'll agree with Messi walking being a problem but it's just not true that Barca were better or more cohesive than Madrid. They've been a mess after Pep left, managed by the likes of Tata Martino and Valverde and Enrique who weren't anything special. Madrid had a starting 11 that everyone knew and stayed stable, Messi had to deal with Neymar being stolen away by PSG and Suarez aside, needing to play with attacking flops left and right. 

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18 hours ago, Lario said:

But for injuries, this lad would’ve been the greatest ever. 
Even with crippling injuries, his numbers are ridiculous. 
343 club games, 247 goals. 
98 international games, 62 goals. 

 

Here are some of his Inter highlights. 


I’m sure City would’ve tried to buy him. 

 

Thanks for posting that.  They surely would and he'd be amazing.  But he'd also be desperate to come here and we'd monitor and be like he's too old.

 

Also I can't imagine trying to tackle him.  Looks like I'd give up a penalty every single time I went near him.

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I think Ronaldo's injury problems were always kind of inevitable given his attitude off the pitch. He was a notoriously bad trainer, and struggled to keep his weight under control when he wasn't playing. In terms of pure talent, though, I'd have him slightly above Messi, I think. He could basically do everything Messi can, but was faster and stronger with it. A genuine force of nature in his prime.

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2 hours ago, Duff Man said:

I think Ronaldo's injury problems were always kind of inevitable given his attitude off the pitch. He was a notoriously bad trainer, and struggled to keep his weight under control when he wasn't playing. In terms of pure talent, though, I'd have him slightly above Messi, I think. He could basically do everything Messi can, but was faster and stronger with it. A genuine force of nature in his prime.

He is easily the greatest number 9 of all time. They are different players though. 

 

Maradona over Messi though. Messi too is a force of nature. Same as C Ronaldo, Zidane, Scott Brown. Unplayable on their day. 

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4 hours ago, an tha said:

Been reading that the cheats will give Messi 2% shares in City Football Group and he will get value of that as a payment when his contract ends.

 

How murky will that be...but they are fireproof now aren't they.

 

 

 

Yep, thats whats its all about. Creating ways round a dead FFP. Cant see our owners sticking around without it in effect. They'll give him 2% of shares,pay him 200k a week at city and loads when he moves to New York to make up the balance and probably buy back the shares at a over inflated price a few years later which will probably save him uk taxes

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34 minutes ago, Lee909 said:

Yep, thats whats its all about. Creating ways round a dead FFP. Cant see our owners sticking around without it in effect. They'll give him 2% of shares,pay him 200k a week at city and loads when he moves to New York to make up the balance and probably buy back the shares at a over inflated price a few years later which will probably save him uk taxes

Impossible to compete with and totally bent.

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11 hours ago, an tha said:

Been reading that the cheats will give Messi 2% shares in City Football Group and he will get value of that as a payment when his contract ends.

 

How murky will that be...but they are fireproof now aren't they.

 

 

 


Does this mean we can register LeBron an play him up front?

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9 hours ago, Bjornebye said:

He is easily the greatest number 9 of all time. They are different players though. 

 

Maradona over Messi though. Messi too is a force of nature. Same as C Ronaldo, Zidane, Scott Brown. Unplayable on their day. 

Outrageous that this thread had got to 10 pages before someone mentioned Scott Brown. Easily one of the goats.

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Glad to see OG Ronaldo mentioned here.

 

I still think if you compare players peak-to-peak (so take Messi's best season vs. C Ronaldo's best season vs. Original Ronaldo's best season, etc) that O Fenomeno comes out on top.

 

Injuries prevented him from the length of career that Messi has had, which makes Messi the GOAT, but if you compare peak to peak it's the original Ronaldo on top.

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Zidane will always be the best for me. Tested himself in three leagues, inspired France to the world Cup, helped bring his country together.

 

Messi has had the cushiest attacking gig in footy his whole career, should be in clink by rights for his tax affairs and just comes across as a fucking brat.

 

 

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The tax laws in Spain for footballers and managers seem to be:

 

Earn whatever you want for 5 years and dont pay anything. Let your dodgy accountant funnel off loads of cash here there and everywhere.

 

The tax department will pick you out at random asking for proof of earnings for the last 5 years, when you can't do it at the drop of a hat you get taken to court, given a fine that is far less than the tax you should have paid.

 

You then get given a suspended sentence that everyone knows you will never serve. 

 

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30 minutes ago, Section_31 said:

Zidane will always be the best for me. Tested himself in three leagues, inspired France to the world Cup, helped bring his country together.

 

Messi has had the cushiest attacking gig in footy his whole career, should be in clink by rights for his tax affairs and just comes across as a fucking brat.

 

 

Ah ha, Dave U won’t like that. Terrific player, decisive in big games as WC or CL Finals, but not as good as Messi though.

 

Different player as Zidane was a playmaker and put the team first.

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42 minutes ago, Arnaud said:

Ah ha, Dave U won’t like that. Terrific player, decisive in big games as WC or CL Finals, but not as good as Messi though.

 

Different player as Zidane was a playmaker and put the team first.

Didn't put the team first when he head butted Materazzi in a World Cup final.

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Just looking at this shit that City will give him 2% ownership of City group as part of the deal. That's supposedly worth 60ml on paper with the group somehow valued at 3 billion. How is that not flagged as paying him off the books and probably avoidence of taxes. He will end up selling them shares back to the owners or some Chinese investment form in 5 years and collecting the offset wages at a mark up. 

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