Lionel Messi

[SebastianBlue]

Yeah, it’s mad how the best player on the planet for the last 15+ years managed to find himself space against defenders who would struggle to get a game at Leyton Orient!! Haha!
Anyway, it’s not a big deal, mate. I’ve seen his goals and thought they were all above board. Not an issue if you believe otherwise.

Fair enough. I’ll wager I have a better idea of what the standard of defending should be versus what it is, though, but I am not going to convince you otherwise, it seems, so we’ll just have to agree to disagree.

Maybe Messi’s massive aura is causing most defenders to suddenly stop even attempting to mark him toward the latter part of matches.

Perhaps such a force field, he calls upon when his team is down after playing poorly, that is his real gift we never noticed during his prime years! ;-)

 

[Phil1]

Fair enough. I’ll wager I have a better idea of what the standard of defending should be versus what it is, though, but I am not going to convince you otherwise, it seems, so we’ll just have to agree to disagree.

If you genuinely think that Messi has been allowed to score his goals as some some sort of arrangement then yeah, we are unlikely to agree on this one mate.

 

[SebastianBlue]

If you genuinely think that Messi has been allowed to score his goals as some some sort of arrangement then yeah, we are unlikely to agree on this one mate.

I genuinely think it is a possibility, especially given the modus operandi of the MLS. As I said, they have previous for fixing things to accommodate their marquee players (important to remember that more than any other league in the world the MLS is run as an entertainment product, not a football league) and Messi is their marquee of marquees they’ve invested in heavily. They need to maximise his impact, and what better way than in a one-off, first edition tournament they have almost complete control over, where there isn’t much incentive for individual teams to win it.

Anyway, I’ll stop with my “conspiracy theories”.

He’ll get protection, either way, and I think you’d have to be ignorant or naive to believe otherwise. So we agree he’ll likely score plenty.

 

[Phil1]

I genuinely think it is a possibility, especially given the modus operandi of the MLS. As I said, they have previous for fixing things to accommodate their marquee players (important to remember that more than any other league in the world the MLS is run as an entertainment product, not a football league) and Messi is their marquee of marquees they’ve invested in heavily. They need to maximise his impact, and what better way than in a one-off, first edition tournament they have almost complete control over, where there isn’t much incentive for individual teams to win it:

It’s an interesting argument mate and of course I can’t be 100% either way but I suppose I just don’t want to believe that this is what the game I love has become.

 

[SebastianBlue]

It’s an interesting argument mate and of course I can’t be 100% either way but I suppose I just don’t want to believe that this is what the game I love has become.

It’s something I grapple with, especially as both the PL and UEFA work to adopt MLS-style policies and tournament formats.

 

[Iassel]

Best player of all time goes from dominating the World Cup to 6 months lager embarrassingly easy domination in a league Opta just ranked as matching the Saudi league and the conspiracy theories start….

Shouting at the moon levels of mental.

 

[Galvanoth]

Yeah, it’s mad how the best player on the planet for the last 15+ years managed to find himself space against defenders who would struggle to get a game at Leyton Orient!! Haha!
Anyway, it’s not a big deal, mate. I’ve seen his goals and thought they were all above board. Not an issue if you believe otherwise.

This is a 36 yo messi, he plays from a chair, he doesn't run and move as much as when he was at Barca. He can be stopped way easier that's why he barely did anything in the champions league in his last europe years.
I don't have anything to say about his 2 free kicks though, they were typical well took/placed Messi shots, but what better script to promote their new cup and keep the hype up than a Hollywood-like type comeback from the biggest footballer they ever had(come on those own goals looked ridiculous).

 

[SebastianBlue]

Best player of all time goes from dominating the World Cup to 6 months lager embarrassingly easy domination in a league Opta just ranked as matching the Saudi league and the conspiracy theories start….

Shouting at the moon levels of mental.

He hasn’t been playing in the MLS. He has been playing in a completely different competition with very different incentives and controls (both for the organisers and the teams participating).

But beyond that inaccuracy, perhaps it is just actually watching previous and current matches over the years, building an actual understanding of the level of play so as to be able to see when things look a bit dodgy, being a student of how the MLS operates, and employing analytical and critical thinking to determine possibilities (not certainties, mind).

 

[Phil1]

This is a 36 yo messi, he plays from a chair, he doesn't run and move as much as when he was at Barca. He can be stopped way easier that's why he barely did anything in the champions league in his last europe years.
I don't have anything to say about his 2 free kicks though, they were typical well took/placed Messi shots, but what better script to promote their new cup and keep the hype up than a Hollywood-like type comeback from the biggest footballer they ever had(come on those own goals looked ridiculous).

He won player of the tournament at the last World Cup only 7 months ago whilst lifting the trophy so I’m not sure your recollection is quite correct.
A player as good as Messi just changes his way of playing as he gets older but he doesn’t lose the quality.
I’d still sign him now.

 

[SebastianBlue]

He won player of the tournament at the last World Cup only 7 months ago whilst lifting the trophy so I’m not sure your recollection is quite correct.

I would say that award was given to him for the same reason I think he is likely to win the Ballon d’Or despite having a pretty middling season compared to previous years where he has lost out on it (and compared to half our squad): sentimentality.