'The Messiah' - Lionel Messi

Donuts wrote:In the 19 league games we have already played, Messi has scored two goals in 12 of those games (and 1 hat trick).
The only games he failed to scored a goal was Sevilla + Granada + Celta de Vigo + Valencia
And games he scored only 1 goal was against Real Valladolid, Espaynyol and Malaga (counting only La Liga games not Copa de Rey)
He is currently well on his way of equaling Ronaldo's scoring 1 goal against each La Liga team should he score against these teams on the return match, if anything Messi has the chance to achieve scoring two goals against each team.

This concludes the first half of La Liga now for the return matches.
Also scoring against Real Sciedad tonight increases his tally on the return matches to three goals vs them.

Messi has scored 10 consecutive La Liga games, equals the all time record he holds with two other players, he has scored 14 consecutive starts, he has more away goals in the league than any other team and he has scored 250 goals in the last 250 games.

Pretty good.

First picture of his kid, looks just like him

And Antonella just gets hotter and hotter.

Antonella > Irina Shaik.

No game without Messi records.

- First one to score 11 consecutive games in La Liga.
- Youngest one to score 200 goals (202) in La Liga.

Just to give his 202 goals some dimension, Totti has 222 league goals in a career twice as long and is considered a legend of the game. Messi will likely surpass him before the end of the season.

Thanks for sharing man. Great vids to watch with morning cafe. You put a smile on my morning grumpy face

I would say Top 10 of Messi's passes this season.

Also the goal was his 50th this season for club and country, in 40 games, 24-30 games still left.

Last season at the same time 38 goals in 41 games, ended 82 goals in 69 games.

That's two absolutely unstoppable penalties in a row. He's definitely improved in that department, as using power and accuracy to shoot penalty in a random corner is the correct way, and better than waiting the goalie to commit.

UPDATE:
In the 24 La Liga games Messi has
Scored : 37 goals
Brace :12
Hat trick : 1
4+ : 1
Free kicks : 2? (correct me if I'm wrong please, counting only La Liga)
Penalties : 4

Sevilla and Celta de Vigo were the only teams to escape Messi's wrath
But he will meet them again in :
Sevilla : February 23rd (Camp Nou)
Celta de Vigo : March 31st (Estadio Balaídos)

This season is one of Messi's worst in terms of scoring hat tricks but he is well on his way of breaking his 50 goal record in La Liga being very consistent rather then scoring hat tricks and not scoring at all in the next game (like last season in away games)

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/eticket/story?page=Lionel-Messi

Some gems:

cross the ocean, Messi and his Barcelona teammates were kicking off. The game was being broadcast all over the world, but not in Messi's own bar.

I asked him what part of Messi's life he wouldn't want. He laughed. "As I just said to him, the only thing I wouldn't want is his face."

"Is Messi always Messi?" I asked.

"He is always Barcelona," Leguizamon said, smiling, "and he makes himself the captain."

On mentioning Ronaldo - "Don't say that, that's a bad word around here"

Off the ball movement was absolutely awful yesterday.I am talking about when we had the ball,he needs to stop just standing there and try and find space.Play on the last man a bit more.

This false 9 malarkey has been sussed out by other teams,hope we buy a real striker like Falcao or Cavani who can play on the last box and offer a threat in the box by heading in crosses.

Either move Messi back to the wing or play a 4 - 2 - 3 - 1 with Messi behind the striker,that way Messi can focus more on creating and he will get more space as the Centre Backs can't just concentrate on crowding him out.

He only ran 7.3 km last night,that is poor.

Messi was pretty bad last night BUT he, like the rest of the team, had to face 3-4 defenders whenever they got the ball. EVERYONE would have suffered in those conditions..

True but I expect him to put 100% effort into big games like this and I don't think he did.

Yeah, I myself am starting to get annoyed by that aswell. But than again some people are saying that its an instruction by managers to not run as much..

False 9 has not been "sussed out" thats a load of rubbish.

False 9, and Messi would have been perfect if others would step up once in a while [looking at Pedro, Alexis and misplaced Iniesta, which is not his fault by the way]

Without being insulting, only noobs think false 9 cant work.

Is has worked in every generation since the 50's...and now im supposed to believe it cant work?

No, think logically.

If it aint working, think why instead of giving up.

You say giving up like we have to play with a false 9.Like it's some kind of obligation to use a false 9.Well we didn't before 2010 and look at how much we achieved and how much more balanced and dynamic as a team we were.

The only reason people think we must play with a false 9 is because of Messi.In 2010/2011 it worked because teams weren't used to it,but now they have figured it out.That's why Messi is nearly anonymous against Madrid nowadays.

If a team play like Milan does yesterday then a false 9 can't work.Period.

He will just get crowded out by the midfield and CB's,and even if we had both Villa and Pedro in 10/11 form it wouldn't help enough,because Milan played deep so through balls to them would be nearly impossible because for one it would be too hard for Messi or midfielder to find space to play the through ball and because there isn't enough space for Villa or Pedro to run into.

What we need in situations like yesterday is an actual striker to play in the box like Cavani or Falcao,two wide players and overlapping fullbacks to get in behind the defense and get the ball in the box.When we get to the byline to square the ball into the box,guess what? We actually need someone in the box to pick out,a striker who will always run into the box,too often when we get in crossing positions there is nobody there.Messi will be at the edge of the box,that would fine if we had a striker in front of him.Also having a proper striker will give the CB's someone to worry them running in behind them,thus Messi will get more space.The only reason why this mightn't work is because of Messis poor work rate which could leave us exposed defensively.But if he isn't willing to put a shift in anymore he can be subbed or sold.Messi is physically capable of working hard,if he is tired at some point in the season then rest him for a game or two.

No one is important as the team,I am a Barca fan unlike some Messi fans.

No tactic works forever,we are becoming stuck in the past,failing to evolve.We are now dependent on Messi for everything.

worms wrote:You say giving up like we have to play with a false 9.Like it's some kind of obligation to use a false 9.Well we didn't before 2010 and look at how much we achieved and how much more balanced and dynamic as a team we were.

The only reason people think we must play with a false 9 is because of Messi.In 2010/2011 it worked because teams weren't used to it,but now they have figured it out.That's why Messi is nearly anonymous against Madrid nowadays.

If a team play like Milan does yesterday then a false 9 can't work.Period.

He will just get crowded out by the midfield and CB's,and even if we had both Villa and Pedro in 10/11 form it wouldn't help enough,because Milan played deep so through balls to them would be nearly impossible because for one it would be too hard for Messi or midfielder to find space to play the through ball and because there isn't enough space for Villa or Pedro to run into.

What we need in situations like yesterday is an actual striker to play in the box like Cavani or Falcao,two wide players and overlapping fullbacks to get in behind the defense and get the ball in the box.When we get to the byline to square the ball into the box,guess what? We actually need someone in the box to pick out,a striker who will always run into the box,too often when we get in crossing positions there is nobody there.Messi will be at the edge of the box,that would fine if we had a striker in front of him.Also having a proper striker will give the CB's someone to worry them running in behind them,thus Messi will get more space.The only reason why this mightn't work is because of Messis poor work rate which could leave us exposed defensively.But if he isn't willing to put a shift in anymore he can be subbed or sold.Messi is physically capable of working hard,if he is tired at some point in the season then rest him for a game or two.

No one is important as the team,I am a Barca fan unlike some Messi fans.

No tactic works forever,we are becoming stuck in the past,failing to evolve.We are now dependent on Messi for everything.

No, I am saying giving up because your basing your opinion on result, rather than what is actually happening.

We can easily play and win using the false 9 against any team...any team..we have proven that already.

If we dont win, dont point at the thing which is alien..point at what actually went wrong.

Do you know what Falcao would of done yesturday?

Probably nothing...maybe something.

But I could say the same thing had Villa played, had Tello played...if any forward played.

Your speaking nonesense. You need to get to reality..Messi plays his position, he aint moving. Your wasting everyones time with the notion anything different will happen or even should happen.

Taking the best goalscorer in history most probably and moving him from a goalscoring position is frankly stupid.

If it doesnt work for 1 game here or there, look at why... because there was noone making any runs..

You didn't even come up with any counter arguments.Please explain to me how playing with a false 9 can work against a team who defended like Milan yesterday.

"Messi plays his position, he aint moving."

Why is it his position?This is Barcelona FC....not Messi FC.Why should we fail to evolve just to satisfy him?Isn't he good or humble enough to adapt?I don't care how many goals he scores,he can keep on scoring hat tricks against minnows all year but hasn't done it against the best teams since 10 - 11.

"Taking the best goalscorer in history most probably and moving him from a goalscoring position is frankly stupid"

He's best when playing as a number 10,as he does for Argentina.For the last year he has been rather dull and when he plays against the best teams he is average nowadays.

It's not just 1 game were he has been snuffed out,virtually every time we play Madrid he is invisible.Mourinho knows how to stop the false 9 and isn't the only one.

We are nowhere near as dominant as we used to be,and one reason is that teams have the false 9 figured out.If they play deep and pack the middle,we don't have anyone in the box,thus we will be a blunt attacking force.Simple logic really.

"Do you know what Falcao would of done yesturday?"

Yes.He would have freed up space for Messi and provided a focal point in the box when Milan played deep for us to cross to and for us to use as a pivot,pass the ball to Falcao and his strength can allow him to hold the ball up and lay it off to Messi or someone,so Messi could recieve the ball facing goal for a change(remember that?It's been a long time hasn't it?)also Falcao would be a threat in behind their defense when they pushed up the pitch.Yesterday we had no one on their last man.Last but not least Falcao is one more player on the team who can actually put the ball in the net!!!People are forgetting that's the main objective of the game and when we only have one player who can do it obviously be easy to stop.