The Lionel Messi Appreciation Thread

[Highbury Hillbilly]

He is a coward.

Always taking the easy way out.

He will need to show me that he can what Maradona did with Napoli for me to even consider ranking him above Maradona.

But he will never take that challenge.

He won't because he doesn't live in the '80s. Maradona had the career he had with all the limitations of that time: football was not as lucrative or global, nutrition and training methods were different, scouting methods were rougher. Had his career been in the 2000s like Messi's, it wouldn't have been the same, because the circumstances would be different.

You don't see anybody saying "Maradona's a cokehead, he'd never have Ronaldo's longevity", do you? No, because Maradona has his own legacy and is judged by the standards of the time that he played in.

[Power n Glory]

He is a coward.

Always taking the easy way out.

He will need to show me that he can what Maradona did with Napoli for me to even consider ranking him above Maradona.

But he will never take that challenge.

He won't because he doesn't live in the '80s. Maradona had the career he had with all the limitations of that time: football was not as lucrative or global, nutrition and training methods were different, scouting methods were rougher. Had his career been in the 2000s like Messi's, it wouldn't have been the same, because the circumstances would be different.

You don't see anybody saying "Maradona's a cokehead, he'd never have Ronaldo's longevity", do you? No, because Maradona has his own legacy and is judged by the standards of the time that he played in.

I think the Maradona comparisons have to stop. Nobody sets the bar that high when talking of any other modern day footballer.

As for the Napoli / Maradona thing, in all the years I have watched football, I have never seen a superstar player move to a bottom of the table team and turn them into champions. Never.

[VCC]

He is a coward.

Always taking the easy way out.

He will need to show me that he can what Maradona did with Napoli for me to even consider ranking him above Maradona.

But he will never take that challenge.

Agree 100%

[Angelito]

That was emotional.

Ah well.

[Hulkibulk]

He is a coward.

Always taking the easy way out.

He will need to show me that he can what Maradona did with Napoli for me to even consider ranking him above Maradona.

But he will never take that challenge.

He won't because he doesn't live in the '80s. Maradona had the career he had with all the limitations of that time: football was not as lucrative or global, nutrition and training methods were different, scouting methods were rougher. Had his career been in the 2000s like Messi's, it wouldn't have been the same, because the circumstances would be different.

You don't see anybody saying "Maradona's a cokehead, he'd never have Ronaldo's longevity", do you? No, because Maradona has his own legacy and is judged by the standards of the time that he played in.

I think the Maradona comparisons have to stop. Nobody sets the bar that high when talking of any other modern day footballer.

As for the Napoli / Maradona thing, in all the years I have watched football, I have never seen a superstar player move to a bottom of the table team and turn them into champions. Never.

Kante signed for Leicester in summer 2015

[Ach]

The tears of Messi.

Has there ever been a better sight?

[Goonerred]

Everyone has to blubber these days.

[Ach]

It'll be a meme by now already

[Angelito]

It feels so surreal man.

Like that press conference was a dream; these past few days about Messi have been feverish phantasy.

[Phil71]

He is so disappointed to be leaving. I don't think his next club will get 100% out of him.

[jayramfootball]

He is a coward.

Always taking the easy way out.

He will need to show me that he can what Maradona did with Napoli for me to even consider ranking him above Maradona.

But he will never take that challenge.

He won't because he doesn't live in the '80s. Maradona had the career he had with all the limitations of that time: football was not as lucrative or global, nutrition and training methods were different, scouting methods were rougher. Had his career been in the 2000s like Messi's, it wouldn't have been the same, because the circumstances would be different.

You don't see anybody saying "Maradona's a cokehead, he'd never have Ronaldo's longevity", do you? No, because Maradona has his own legacy and is judged by the standards of the time that he played in.

I think the Maradona comparisons have to stop. Nobody sets the bar that high when talking of any other modern day footballer.

As for the Napoli / Maradona thing, in all the years I have watched football, I have never seen a superstar player move to a bottom of the table team and turn them into champions. Never.

There is a tendency to overrate the current generation of players.
Messi is utterly fantastic, but I have still never seen anyone as good as Maradona in terms of impact and I have never seen any player live as good as Bergkamp in 97/98.
Different generations so hard to compare, but you are right in that Maradona is the closest to a player that was the sole reason for a teams success.

[jayramfootball]

He is so disappointed to be leaving. I don't think his next club will get 100% out of him.

Yup - going to be hard for his next club to make him feel at home.

[Angelito]

The prince turned King.

Lionel's first day at Barcelona. Leo's last day at Barcelona.


Btw:

[RW_0]

He's blaming la liga for the exit. He had ALL YEAR to get a deal done but he kept refusing a new contract.

[swipe right]

He is a coward.

Always taking the easy way out.

He will need to show me that he can what Maradona did with Napoli for me to even consider ranking him above Maradona.

But he will never take that challenge.

He won't because he doesn't live in the '80s. Maradona had the career he had with all the limitations of that time: football was not as lucrative or global, nutrition and training methods were different, scouting methods were rougher. Had his career been in the 2000s like Messi's, it wouldn't have been the same, because the circumstances would be different.

You don't see anybody saying "Maradona's a cokehead, he'd never have Ronaldo's longevity", do you? No, because Maradona has his own legacy and is judged by the standards of the time that he played in.

I think the Maradona comparisons have to stop. Nobody sets the bar that high when talking of any other modern day footballer.

As for the Napoli / Maradona thing, in all the years I have watched football, I have never seen a superstar player move to a bottom of the table team and turn them into champions. Never.

There is a tendency to overrate the current generation of players.
Messi is utterly fantastic, but I have still never seen anyone as good as Maradona in terms of impact and I have never seen any player live as good as Bergkamp in 97/98.
Different generations so hard to compare, but you are right in that Maradona is the closest to a player that was the sole reason for a teams success.

Maradona was shit cause he didn’t play in England. You can’t consider a player great if he only played in Argentina, Spain and Italy.