He was only chosen as the best player in the last World Cup... edit: like two others already pointed out!
I'm not saying he is crap, I'm just saying that at international level he is a pale shadow of the Barcelona player. I didn't think he was outstanding at the last world cup, nor did I think Argentina were the second best team in the tournament. The Messi that plays for Argentina and the Messi that plays for Barcelona may as well be two different people. He won player of the tournament but a lot of people, including posters on here, thought the decision was wrong. Many people thought Rodriguez should have won it.
Messi is universally acclaimed as a truly great footballer. I never watch Spanish football so I can't judge but I'm happy to accept the general opinion. From what I've seen of him in World Cups though I find him pedestrian and fairly boring. I've seen Maradonas and Zicos and Peles etc and they could thrill you. Messi never seems to do anything to get you out of your seat. The Argentine side may not be a great unit but there's a lot of players in that team from very big clubs. They shouldn't be all that bad that they drag Messi down. Much as I dislike Ronaldo I'd say the players surrounding him are of a lesser calibre than Argentina's but he still seems to deliver.
But he did virtually nothing tonight and his attitude and body-language was in stark contrast to that of pretty much the whole Croatian side who never stopped closing down, harrying and looking for quick forward breaks. They knew what to expect and countered it. I thought that Messi was anonymous.
I think it's particularly harsh to judge Messi on his admittedly poor showing at this World Cup. This is possibly the worst Argentina side I've seen and his service is nothing like what it should be. World Cups may be the ultimate test of a player and certainly it's during these tournaments that true legends are made, but Lionel Messi has been astonishingly good and consistent for nearly 12 years at club and international level. Ronaldo is having a wonderful tournament, but he didn't do a lot for Portugal at major tournaments before 2016. So it's swings and roundabouts. If you have an interest in La Liga or have seen any of the many compilations of Messi's goals, he's a truly wondrous player, a magician. Ronaldo may currently be the most efficient modern player in the game, but Messi has a magical genius that is so seldom seen. We live in reactionary times, where judgements are formed on the basis of the most recent evidence. So many people are now hailing Ronaldo, quite rightly, but to not recognise Messi's unbelievable talent is surely a mistake. He is every bit as good as Ronaldo in my opinion. I'd actually place him higher. But look, let's just enjoy watching them. We're lucky we've got two all time legends playing at the same time. They're in the Pele, Maradona, Cruyff, Zidane, Brazilian Ronaldo bracket for me. Very different players but a joy to watch. To start another argument... the Brazilian Ronaldo was as good if not better than both for me... pre-injury. What might have been!
The only music I have ever heard is Shaddup You Face and the Peppa Pig theme-tune. I therefore respectfully conclude that all music is ****.
I think it's time to shut down this website. This is the peak of bonkers posts and it will never be topped
The point is he didn't have a bad world cup by any stretch of the imagination, as suggested in the post i was replying to. As fellow posters have explained, the difference in performance of them both on an international stage over the years has been marginal.
Complete agree, l think this finally puts to bed the Ronaldo v Messi argument, Messi is not in his league. Ronaldo has done it on so many stages for different clubs, l think if you took Messi out of his comfort zone of Barcelona he wouldn't pull up any trees, don't get me wrong he wouldn't be **** but he wouldn't be the best in the world. Probably the reason why Pep hasn't bid for him, lets be honest City's owners could buy Messi and the Nou Camp if they wanted to.
Messi only seems to perform consistently when he has a team who play the pressing and short passing game. He is very good at what he does but he isn't as versatile as Ronaldo. When I watch Ronaldo I see a player who could play in all 11 positions if called upon, Messi couldn't do that.
How many Argentina games have you watched then? Because his record for them is fantastic. You must have a very small sample size to reach this conclusion.