I've said it so many times. As a defender there's nothing you can do to reliably stop him. For 20 years he absolutely terrorized every team. He played through 3 generations of defenders, each generation with a new skill-set and tactic to stop him. It didn't work. The best athlete there ever was.
A Real Madrid defender (Pepe, I think); said: "He always does the same coming from wing to center... You know he is. You anticipate, trying to stop him, even push him... He will do it anyway... And score" Twenty years he's been doing this. Life was easier for him with Xavi and Iniesta though
@@joguipoChelsea were playing Barcelona in the Champions league, and everyone was asking Ashley Cole how are u gonna mark Messi. He said “Well, hes gonna cut inside on his left foot”. Messi proceeded to give Ashley his worst defending performance of his career absolutely annihilated him for 90 mins. They then asked Messi after the match abt Ashely Coles previous comments and Messi responded “Its not if, its when”. Legendary
Messi is the real GOAT. You will hear other people claim for their guy but Messi at his peak is the best ever footballer of all time out of a million players. He is unreal.
Ronaldo is incredible - his ability to score at any moment is second to none. But Messi is a completely different level to him, everything he does is pure art, it's a level of mastery that nobody has achieved in any other sport
I think Messi's biggest strength is he can stop ( or change direction) and start so quickly, no player has ever been close to him on that skill. He stops and just as the defender has reacted to him, hes already off again, and left the defender like a statue or on there backside
@@WKogut Well yes from 2015 is he a more complete player but also not as clutch when his team struggle now he drops deep and try to create for others but 2010-2012 Messi that mtfck would clutch pretty much every single time a lot of people saying about CR7 being clutch are watching football after 2015 100% because 2010-2012 Messi amazing to watch so many clutch performance 4 against arsenal , 5 against Leverkusen , solo winning vs Real Madrid , that game in final vs United 2011 , against Stuttgart and that only KO games in CL also in laliga he was just unplayable so yea you could say after 2015 he is way more complete but still that clutch factor 2010-2012 + his dribbling and speed at prime was so fck good to watch
Yeah there is a story of a conversation with a teammate right after a game and his teammate asked him how he scored the goal that game and Messi said "I have no idea".
Ronaldo was incredible. Messi was otherworldly. Man Utd. Portuguese and Real Madrid fans (and maybe Juventus) will say Ronaldo. Everyone else (or nearly everyone else) will say Messi.
Messi es completo , increíble dominio del balón , inteligente , con una tremenda " visión de campo" , y muy generoso con sus compañeros ! , el mejor del mundo !
With Messi everything is instinct. Not the uncontrolled type of instinct though. His footballing IQ and knowledge about the game allows him to react in a split second which makes it ultra instinct in my opinion. He's playing a different game to them.
In terms of goals, in Messi's best year he scored 91 goals in one calendar year. For Ronaldo its 69 goals. But the insane thing about Messi is that he also has made more assists than anyone in history, on top of his insane goal scoring. The year I thought Messi played the best is probably the 2010-11 season.
At the speed Messi moves around and jukes people, he's playing on the highest level of instinct, there's no other explanation. I'm here fresh off the Argentina Australia game and he's still got it. Argentina Holland is going to be a massive game next week!
When you were saying "is that grass?" ... Basically in the UK/Europe at the high levels, Its grass with artificial fibres woven into it. Something like 70/30 grass/artificial. They have a big machine that "stitches" the fibres into it. Look up "hybird woven sportsfield". I dont really know but i think the fibres are lower in the turf so it holds together better and chunks dont ever come out of it. Looks just like grass on top.
I don't think that Messi has one season that you could say it's his best one. He has changed a lot since the early years of his career and adapted to his abilities really well. But seasons that stand out the most are 11/12 (73 goals in 60 games, and 50 goals + 20 assists in 37 matches in La Liga, that's almost 1,9 goal participations per game), 12/13 (specially the first part of the season which we saw him score 91 goals in a year) and 14/15 in a much more creative role (58 goals and 27 assists in 57 matches). Regarding the debate whether Messi is better than Ronaldo just a reminder that Messi is not a striker nor a pure goalscorer, he is a playmaker, so scoring goals would be much more difficult for him, yet he has a better ratio than Ronaldo.
Messi's best year, 2012, he scored 91 goals. A lot of top teams did not score that much that year. Ronaldo's best year, 2013, he scored 69 and he is a machine when it comes to goals. What is more unbelievable was that he was giving the best assists, was the best dribbler and was able to score for 19 straight games, never done before. He was also winning more trophies than anyone. Dani Alves has the record of 43 trophies. Messi has 42 trophies including the world cup. He will win ligue 1 and be tied for first, plus any extra trophy he gets to be alone at the top He is unbelievable. The undisputed GOAT🐐
As Barcelona fan, Messi dosent really have a bad season, he never had off season like some players, he has delivered almost same level off football from age 17 to 35. Reason he is the best ever, people only see his goals and shadowing his assist, because he is also the goat of assist.
What I (others might as well) love about Messi is that he could do the same skill move every time in a game and whether it’s the first or last minute, they wouldn’t know what to do. In the game against Poland on Wednesday, he did the same cut back and pass it to whoever was running up the left hand side at least 5 times and not a single one was intercepted. It’s crazy how easy he makes it look. I’d say men against boys, but that would suggest his team mates are even close to his level. Suarez, Neymar, Xavi, Iniesta, I love them, but they aren’t close to Leo.
Last Wednesday (1st of December 2022) against Poland Leo Messi played his 1000 nth game. He has scored 790 goals. He walks for about 85 percent of the time reading the flow of the game.
That commentator who goes crazy every time Messi does something brilliant is former English pro player and current Sirius Radio analyst Ray Hudson. I think he's a riot!
@@azaz4317 2019 Messi was something else. It wasn't his best year in terms of goalscoring and he wasn't quite as unstoppable as he was during his prime but good God 2019 Messi was the most complete version of a footballer I have ever seen.
@@dillonkrieger86 thats why i prefer 2019 Messi. That year he was creating most chance, assisting the most for barca and scoring more than anyone else. He is indeed one man army in attacking unit
@mcjibbin that goal you watched twice, where Messi went from beyond midfield on the right side & beat everyone to score- that goal was when Messi was 19 years old! Best year for Messi maybe 2012. He had 79 goals for Barca and 12 for Argentina for 91 total. That is three more goals than anyone, ever, has scored in a calendar year. As for Ronaldo / Messi- most people thought Messi was better BEFORE 2022 FIFA WC. So now it's tough to make a Ronaldo argument, especially with him heading off to the Mid-East.
Thierry Henry (great French player, who played for Arsenal and Barcelona, among other teams, who you should check out) said he planned the way ahead, how to go past each player. I've heard it said Messi scans, assesses and analyses the space... then goes on instinct. Somebody created a spatial awareness and decision making test. Andres Inniesta, former Barca teammate of Messi, was in the top 99th percentile on the test ... meaning better than more than 99 percent of people in seeing space and deciding what to do. dunno if Messi ever took the test but no prizes for guessing what his results would be.
If you watch him properly you see how often he lifts his head up, he knows where everybody is, teammates and opponents, so he knows when to slow things down and when to speed things up, where the space is and where it will be. A freak.
That's a difficult question because Messi constantly adapted his playing style. I'd say his goal scoring prime was in 2012, his playmaking prime in 2019 and his dribbling prime like from 2007-2010
Answers to your questions: 1) Yes, it is grass, not astroturf. This is the most expensive sport, and they will not put at risk the most expensive players by using fake grass. 2) How does the ball bend when hitting a free kick? By hitting the SIDE of the ball (usually with the inside or outside of the foot) in a brushing motion, the ball will spin sideways as it lifts off the ground, thus curving instead of going straight. Think TOP SPIN or SIDE SPIN in tennis, or hitting the ball on the side in billiards. 3) His defenders seem to be standing still. How? Messi's major advantage is his quickness. He's got this wonderful move of moving the ball to the side with one foot, and immediately moving it to the other side with the other foot. He does it so quickly that the combination allows him to go around a player, with the ball, before the player can make even one move to stop it. Knowing that he can do it at any moment, the other players have to respect it. Too many of them have stabbed at the ball with a foot, only the ball is no longer there, and neither is Messi. But because of this respect, they know in order to have a chance, they have to somehow match his quickness, i.e. move as quickly as he does. Unfortunately that move could be a fake, and all it takes for him is a twitch of the hips or the shoulders, and they have to respect it. This makes most defenders dead ducks. Too many times we see defenders try to do two moves as quick as Messi, trying to go with him one way, stop on a dime and change direction, and ending up on the ground. It's stunning really. 4) Messi's the best ever. Ronaldo is the second best ever. Statistically and every which way. To me Messi is clearly better than Ronaldo, in that he's the only player in history I've seen be able to frequently go through a whole team before scoring. Most superstars can beat a double, and sometimes triple team. Messi can beat quintuple teams, and has in many occasions. So he's far the best dribbler. He is the most prolific scorer (please react to Lionel Messi The Goat - you will see Messi's performance by year.). He is the best passer (greatest number of assists). Ronaldo's better at heading the ball, and is great at all the other aspects of the game, just less than Messi, but still head and shoulders above everyone else. But because he relies a lot on his speed, now that he's 37, he's already no longer as potent a force to be reckoned with...while Messi is still the heartbeat of every team he plays on.
The best version of Messi is difficult to conclude.. there's 5 seasons you could argue as his peak. 09/10 season. (peak dribbling) 10/11 season. (peak dribbling) 11/12 season. (peak scoring) 14/15 season. (his elegant best all-round) 1 of his most successful season's) 18/19 season. (peak passing/playmaking) 1 man on a mission nearly carried Barca to all 3 titles but his team collapsed towards the end.. still, at the time I remember thinking "this is the most complete I've ever seen Messi play.. he could do everything with ease. But I can't put 1 over the other because he's at his peak in 1 thing or another in each year that's what I've loved in watching him evolve over the years, he has reinvented himself a lot. Ronaldo's peak was 2013/14 but it's got nothing on the 5 Messi's above.
I don't think it's about "passing this one guy", but rather thinking in terms of space, he's not trying to pass a guy, he's moving into the spaces he has to play.
this always sounds fun to me, winning a trophy, doesn't make you a better football player. Messi is the best football player ever, winning or not doesn't change that fact. Also considering winning a world cup a "requirement" to be the GOAT is just nonsense, cause there are many countries in the world that would just not have the chance to win it, and it's an unfair comparison to people of those countries. It's by chance that the two greatest players ever were from Brazil and Argentina, two countries that have a good national team (even tho Messi's Argentina wasn't really good at all).
@@luigimanzelli3786agreed, Messi never needed the World Cup, it’s about his individual brilliance and how much more complete he is compared to anyone else in history, by a lot of these guys logic Messi wouldn’t be in the debate if he was from Peru
I'm a Real Madrid fan, but I prefer Messi a hundred times over Ronaldo. He's not just a great player, but it never feels like he's mocking the opponent. He comes across as graceful and humble. Ronaldo has this more "I'm the best" persona that it's palpable sometimes during the games (I say persona because I don't know how much of that is just put upon, maybe he's a real nice guy irl). But it's hard to say one is better over the other, it depends on which style of game you like. Some people love Ronaldo's attitude. Ronaldo is more physical, so I guess you could say he's better are long-range kicks, direct confrontation with defenders, winning the ball with great jumps, athletic stuff like bicycle kicks, and being good at kicking with both feet. Messi relies more in his agility and great passing ability, he just flows and the game flows with him, it's beautiful to watch. Both styles are effective. And I always shy on saying who's best based on titles won and records because much of that depends on the team. Football is not played just by one player. Messi had the support of players like Iniesta to win all those titles, he didn't win them alone. That Barça was a great team, as much as it pains me to admit it.
From personal experience, there are reactions, but also there's a lot of planning. All players with good vision are aware of everyone's position on the field, even when you don't have the ball. This gives you an opportunity to develop a plan for when you do get the ball. Obviously, you have to be able to react, and adapt your plan when things change on-the-fly.
The best players are always two steps ahead of anyone else, a lot of players knew what they are going to do before they have the ball, that is what Zidane said in a interview. The great players have a picture what average players dont have.
Most high level pitches are now grass with artificial fibres. Desso Grassmaster is one brand you find in stadiums like the Nou Camp, San Siro, Parc des Princes, Anfield, Millennium Stadium, Lansdowne Road etc.
I would say there are two possible season you could pick as messis prim. First of all 2011/12, in terms of just stats this is by far the best individual season in football history with over 70 league goals. The best goalscorer ever, great passer and insane dribbling. Sadly he didnt win any big trophies that year. The second season that comes to mind is 2014/15. Here the stats are a little less impressive, but if you just look at his play with the eyetest he seems an overall better player. Insane goalscorer, passer and dribbler, but also a lot more patient basically always making the best desicion in every play. Thats why i personally would say 2014/15 was better.
To me there is no contest between Cristiano and Messi. Messi is several steps ahead in terms of raw talent. And Messi's peak was 92 goals in 1 year (2012), which broke a 40 year old record of 85 goals in 1 year that year. Cristiano's best year is 69 goals. People say Cristiano is a better goal scorer than Messi, but not when you talk about their peaks. Messi's actual role is as a playmaker. He has the record for most assists in history (385) and his ball-carrying and passing is out of this world. So yeah, Messi's best time was when Guardiola was manager (2008-2012), though Messi has insane standards and has had near peak level his entire career, with a couple of slumps in 2013 and 2020.
There are things about Messi that very few highlight videos ever capture. The first is his consistency. Players like Ronaldinho were amazing, but had a much shorter period when they were at the top of their game. Secondly, unless you specifically look for videos on tiki-taka (a term originating in Spain for a style of play characterised by rapid exchanges of short passes), you will rarely get an idea of just how good Messi is at passing the ball. The third point comes from comparing Messi highlights to just about any other top player - he can operate in tighter spaces than anyone, a product of his incredible control, agility and short stature (meaning shorter strides and therefore more frequent touches on the ball, allowing the ball to be redirected more quickly). This third point is really important at high levels of play, where defences are organised and a lot of teams play an aggressive pressing game to turn over possession. It is these less obvious qualities that make him really head and shoulders above other great players like Ronaldo. Well, also he is less of a sulking bellend than Ronaldo.
About the question of which year was Messi's best year, you have to keep in mind that in football (soccer, if you will) you play in a club on a National league, then you play with the same club against the champions of the other respective leagues (Europe, South America, etc.) then you play some Intercontinental cup (as in between the winners of the South American and European Champions Leagues). That is at team level. Then you have the National team, which plays within their respective confederations, (Europa league, Copa América), the Olympics and also de the World Cup against other National teams from all over the world who have to classify by matches between their respective geographical associations... So It is hard to define the best year of a player, but by winning this World Cpp with Argentina, Messi has accomplished eEVERYTHONG by this year (top scorer in his respective teams and the National team, record of 91 goals in one season,, Team national cups, European Championship League, Copa America, Copa Intercontinental, an now the World Cup). That is pretty impressive for a player 35 yo, just for Team accomplishments, so it's about career more than his best season.
Most football is played on grass (except for in icy locations) but at the elite level, it's often played on hybrid grass. Most elite pitches are 95% sand and comprise of millions of polyethylene fibres stitched into the base, which make up 4-5% of the playing surface.
He was unplayable about 10 years ago. The year he made the record of 90+ goals for a calendar year was likely the best version of him. But his standards are so high, he should have won about 12 ballon dors if it wasnt political at some extent. There isnt really a debate who is best, or is Ronaldo better. People who fancy Ronaldo dont really know anything about football or just wanna troll for fun. Messi is so much better than anyone else, it's pretty unreal considering how competitive the sport is. And he is a good guy also, humble and good sport.
Messi has a natural talent, he knows how to play as a team, he assists, he executes free kick, he dribbles, he sees things in the game that no one sees. Cristiano is a more individualistic player, and he works very, very, very hard to improve himself. I consider that he is slightly below Messi
For people that don’t properly understand football, there is a debate between Ronaldo and Messi. For those that understand football, there is no doubt- Messi is head and shoulders above
Messis best year was 2012. He scored 91 goals in that year for comparison Ronaldos best year is 69 goals I think similar to lewandowski. Messi is better at every aspect of the game but heading because of his hight. There shouldn’t be a debate about it it’s clear.
Both do amazing things, both have incredible skills and both their skills can be done by an average football. HOWEVER the difference is how they execute them because for each skills these two people can add an once of creativity and perfection to it so it looks like a new skill. No other players can reach them except themselves as we have seen. NOW the difference in between them is the level of difficulty of their skill is as compared the how successful it is, here I mean for example the number of times a particular skill leads to a goal and it happens that Messi ability or skill on the ball is just so difficulty no player has managed to do it that consistent because it very difficult because it requires keeping the ball for more time which risks a lot for the team yet he is the only one able to pull it off day in day out and because of his carrying of the ball so well it gives a spectator about a minute or 2 of brilliance and focus on one person even before he gets the goal... Ronaldo is also able to do a bit of what Messi does but he does not get to near as consistent as Messi.. Messi is like... Think about a child being born 10am and given a ball at 10:01am, it feels like the ball is an extension of one of his limbs, he could close his eyes and that ball would never leave his feet once. HES THAT GOOD. Ronaldo comes close because he really pushes has to keep up but we know nurture cannot beat nature ....MESSI IS A NATURAL
Btw the grass is real. They have rules and regulations on pitch they play on. Turf is not used in Europe mostly cause it is more injury prone than natural grass.
It’s a forced debate. It’s not even close. Just as how you’ve appreciated his ability with your hands under your chin and smiled, that’s exactly how we feel watching him. You ask yourself the question, how on earth did he do that.
When i played only in the weekend leages but scored a lot of goals bending the ball im right footed so the ball would go out to the right and curl in to the left if you strike the ball slightly off center it makes the ball spin in the air so it makes it curve were only talking about an inch of the center of the ball here try it out yourself
My friend 91 goal in on season no debate. All titles you can take in any age in all levels. More goal than all more assists than all more dribbles than all. If I have to compare him with someone is only Jordan
In terms of goals 2012 was his best year, with 91 goals for club and country combined. If you add all his other great football qualities on top it's harder to pin down a year.
messi scored 91 goals in 2012 - that is the most goals any player has ever scored in a calendar year. Messi also has the most goals + assists by one player in a season about 9 times. in contrast Christiano has only achieved this once.
"in his prime" dude's just won the World Cup at 35 with 7 goles in 7 matches (2 of them in the final) and scoring on every stage. Also, he won for the second time the golden ball, which nobody else has done. I'd say he's still in his prime 😂
Another important thing to remenber when you watch Messi is he just makes these guys look like children, they are the best of the best at their respective clubs, they're all making big money to be the best athletes but he just emasulates all of them. We call him the GOAT for good reason.
Honestly, there has never been debate, specially with CR comparisson, he's one of the best, don't get me wrong, but they have always been compared by goals, which is a complete mistake, Ronaldo is a striker during most of his career, but Messi has either been a false 9 or a creative winger/midfielder. If Messi wasn't that good at scoring he would still be one of the best in the world, key passes, dribbling, stupidly good decision making, ffs he has more motm than games he doesn't get it. That's a complete different level
Ronaldo can do everything better than any other player, Messi can do things no other player could… that’s the best description I’ve heard
Yeah. Ronaldo made you watch in appreciation. Messi made you laugh. It was laughable what he did to opponents. Different level.
Ronaldo is the best human player, Messi is an alien
Y’all are overestimating Ronaldo 🤣
He’s great but he’s not the greatest at anything.
That makes no sense.
Literally the childishiest description I've ever read lol
Messi is a level above any player before him unbelievable. The undisputed goat
Yes, the king is Messi no doubt
Liverpool stopped him and battered Barca 4-0. Don’t talk rubbish.
@@dannjp75ynwa bro
@@dannjp75 Based on that logic Pele must have been rubbish cause New York Cosmos got beat 5-1 against Tampa Bay and Pele didn't score.
@@dannjp75 you can find a game in any players career where they didn’t score/assist and lost like what’s your point
I've said it so many times. As a defender there's nothing you can do to reliably stop him. For 20 years he absolutely terrorized every team. He played through 3 generations of defenders, each generation with a new skill-set and tactic to stop him. It didn't work. The best athlete there ever was.
A God of the game. The God of the game.
A Real Madrid defender (Pepe, I think); said: "He always does the same coming from wing to center... You know he is. You anticipate, trying to stop him, even push him... He will do it anyway... And score"
Twenty years he's been doing this.
Life was easier for him with Xavi and Iniesta though
@@joguipoChelsea were playing Barcelona in the Champions league, and everyone was asking Ashley Cole how are u gonna mark Messi. He said “Well, hes gonna cut inside on his left foot”. Messi proceeded to give Ashley his worst defending performance of his career absolutely annihilated him for 90 mins. They then asked Messi after the match abt Ashely Coles previous comments and Messi responded “Its not if, its when”. Legendary
Messi is the real GOAT. You will hear other people claim for their guy but Messi at his peak is the best ever footballer of all time out of a million players. He is unreal.
Ronaldo is incredible - his ability to score at any moment is second to none. But Messi is a completely different level to him, everything he does is pure art, it's a level of mastery that nobody has achieved in any other sport
For me Roger Federer playing tennis is in the same league just seemingly effortlessly brilliant.
I think Messi's biggest strength is he can stop ( or change direction) and start so quickly, no player has ever been close to him on that skill. He stops and just as the defender has reacted to him, hes already off again, and left the defender like a statue or on there backside
I'd say 2010-2012, he was unstoppable, literally.
I'd disagree, since like 2015 he became much more well-rounded with free kicks and all that
@@tycosyco I'm a Liverpool fan and I did, every game just to see Messi and Co.
@@DodgyD101 I’m not a Barca fan but I want Ed them and Argentina to get as far as possible in every comp just so I could watch more Messi.
@@WKogut Well yes from 2015 is he a more complete player but also not as clutch when his team struggle now he drops deep and try to create for others but 2010-2012 Messi that mtfck would clutch pretty much every single time a lot of people saying about CR7 being clutch are watching football after 2015 100% because 2010-2012 Messi amazing to watch so many clutch performance 4 against arsenal , 5 against Leverkusen , solo winning vs Real Madrid , that game in final vs United 2011 , against Stuttgart and that only KO games in CL also in laliga he was just unplayable so yea you could say after 2015 he is way more complete but still that clutch factor 2010-2012 + his dribbling and speed at prime was so fck good to watch
2023 - Messi Champion of the world. Messi no tiene techo.
Prime Messi at Barca - No one can steal his ball.
He won World cup 2022 with Player of tournament at age 35 is unbelievable
4:00 he talked about it. Messi said that he never actually thinks what he'll do, it's just instincts at the moment
Yeah there is a story of a conversation with a teammate right after a game and his teammate asked him how he scored the goal that game and Messi said "I have no idea".
Ronaldo was incredible. Messi was otherworldly. Man Utd. Portuguese and Real Madrid fans (and maybe Juventus) will say Ronaldo. Everyone else (or nearly everyone else) will say Messi.
Messi es completo , increíble dominio del balón , inteligente , con una tremenda " visión de campo" , y muy generoso con sus compañeros ! , el mejor del mundo !
With Messi everything is instinct. Not the uncontrolled type of instinct though. His footballing IQ and knowledge about the game allows him to react in a split second which makes it ultra instinct in my opinion. He's playing a different game to them.
In terms of goals, in Messi's best year he scored 91 goals in one calendar year. For Ronaldo its 69 goals.
But the insane thing about Messi is that he also has made more assists than anyone in history, on top of his insane goal scoring.
The year I thought Messi played the best is probably the 2010-11 season.
At the speed Messi moves around and jukes people, he's playing on the highest level of instinct, there's no other explanation. I'm here fresh off the Argentina Australia game and he's still got it. Argentina Holland is going to be a massive game next week!
Oh boy… he delivered, didn’t he?
When you were saying "is that grass?" ... Basically in the UK/Europe at the high levels, Its grass with artificial fibres woven into it. Something like 70/30 grass/artificial. They have a big machine that "stitches" the fibres into it. Look up "hybird woven sportsfield". I dont really know but i think the fibres are lower in the turf so it holds together better and chunks dont ever come out of it. Looks just like grass on top.
Just checked, the one in Camp Nou (FC Barcelona stadium) is 5% synthetic fibers and 95% natural grass.
ok this is why I love the football community
Passing through many players!!..Shooting from narrow angles!!...Speechless..Only GOAT can do it!!!..👍👍👍
I don't think that Messi has one season that you could say it's his best one. He has changed a lot since the early years of his career and adapted to his abilities really well. But seasons that stand out the most are 11/12 (73 goals in 60 games, and 50 goals + 20 assists in 37 matches in La Liga, that's almost 1,9 goal participations per game), 12/13 (specially the first part of the season which we saw him score 91 goals in a year) and 14/15 in a much more creative role (58 goals and 27 assists in 57 matches).
Regarding the debate whether Messi is better than Ronaldo just a reminder that Messi is not a striker nor a pure goalscorer, he is a playmaker, so scoring goals would be much more difficult for him, yet he has a better ratio than Ronaldo.
The Greatest Ever GOAT 👑🐐
MESSI 👽 SUPERHUMAN ⚽
Remember this for Ever ,,
Messi's best year, 2012, he scored 91 goals. A lot of top teams did not score that much that year.
Ronaldo's best year, 2013, he scored 69 and he is a machine when it comes to goals.
What is more unbelievable was that he was giving the best assists, was the best dribbler and was able to score for 19 straight games, never done before.
He was also winning more trophies than anyone.
Dani Alves has the record of 43 trophies. Messi has 42 trophies including the world cup.
He will win ligue 1 and be tied for first, plus any extra trophy he gets to be alone at the top
He is unbelievable.
The undisputed GOAT🐐
Best in his career probably 2012, when he scored 91 goals. But 2022 was huge too :)
As Barcelona fan, Messi dosent really have a bad season, he never had off season like some players, he has delivered almost same level off football from age 17 to 35. Reason he is the best ever, people only see his goals and shadowing his assist, because he is also the goat of assist.
An underrated season would be 17/18 season, towards the end when he scored his 100th UCL goal vs Chelsea, maybe my favourite version of him.
What I (others might as well) love about Messi is that he could do the same skill move every time in a game and whether it’s the first or last minute, they wouldn’t know what to do. In the game against Poland on Wednesday, he did the same cut back and pass it to whoever was running up the left hand side at least 5 times and not a single one was intercepted. It’s crazy how easy he makes it look. I’d say men against boys, but that would suggest his team mates are even close to his level. Suarez, Neymar, Xavi, Iniesta, I love them, but they aren’t close to Leo.
Same tactics yet no interjection now that's what you call genius or magic lol
He said it many times that he doesnt think what is he gonna do he just do it. Thats something hou cant train, this guy was born with a gift
The best year of messi scoring 91 goals and no one even close to him
Last Wednesday (1st of December 2022) against Poland Leo Messi played his 1000 nth game. He has scored 790 goals. He walks for about 85 percent of the time reading the flow of the game.
That commentator who goes crazy every time Messi does something brilliant is former English pro player and current Sirius Radio analyst Ray Hudson. I think he's a riot!
His prime was 2009-2012 winning 4 Ballon D’ors in a row
The best version of Messi was either 2011/12 , 2014/15 or 2010/11
I prefer 2019 Messi he was a beast that year. Single handedly carrying that barca squad
@@azaz4317 2019 Messi was something else. It wasn't his best year in terms of goalscoring and he wasn't quite as unstoppable as he was during his prime but good God 2019 Messi was the most complete version of a footballer I have ever seen.
@@dillonkrieger86 thats why i prefer 2019 Messi. That year he was creating most chance, assisting the most for barca and scoring more than anyone else. He is indeed one man army in attacking unit
@mcjibbin that goal you watched twice, where Messi went from beyond midfield on the right side & beat everyone to score- that goal was when Messi was 19 years old! Best year for Messi maybe 2012. He had 79 goals for Barca and 12 for Argentina for 91 total. That is three more goals than anyone, ever, has scored in a calendar year. As for Ronaldo / Messi- most people thought Messi was better BEFORE 2022 FIFA WC. So now it's tough to make a Ronaldo argument, especially with him heading off to the Mid-East.
there's a video called "how to play football, explained by messi" that answers a lot of your questions, explained by him
Thierry Henry (great French player, who played for Arsenal and Barcelona, among other teams, who you should check out) said he planned the way ahead, how to go past each player. I've heard it said Messi scans, assesses and analyses the space... then goes on instinct. Somebody created a spatial awareness and decision making test. Andres Inniesta, former Barca teammate of Messi, was in the top 99th percentile on the test ... meaning better than more than 99 percent of people in seeing space and deciding what to do. dunno if Messi ever took the test but no prizes for guessing what his results would be.
Of all the reaction videos I have seen, this guy is watching it with a revelation of pure awe! Nice one and one more Messi Fan!
Messi is the heritage of football ❤️🙌
If you watch him properly you see how often he lifts his head up, he knows where everybody is, teammates and opponents, so he knows when to slow things down and when to speed things up, where the space is and where it will be. A freak.
That's a difficult question because Messi constantly adapted his playing style. I'd say his goal scoring prime was in 2012, his playmaking prime in 2019 and his dribbling prime like from 2007-2010
Answers to your questions:
1) Yes, it is grass, not astroturf. This is the most expensive sport, and they will not put at risk the most expensive players by using fake grass.
2) How does the ball bend when hitting a free kick? By hitting the SIDE of the ball (usually with the inside or outside of the foot) in a brushing motion, the ball will spin sideways as it lifts off the ground, thus curving instead of going straight. Think TOP SPIN or SIDE SPIN in tennis, or hitting the ball on the side in billiards.
3) His defenders seem to be standing still. How? Messi's major advantage is his quickness. He's got this wonderful move of moving the ball to the side with one foot, and immediately moving it to the other side with the other foot. He does it so quickly that the combination allows him to go around a player, with the ball, before the player can make even one move to stop it. Knowing that he can do it at any moment, the other players have to respect it. Too many of them have stabbed at the ball with a foot, only the ball is no longer there, and neither is Messi. But because of this respect, they know in order to have a chance, they have to somehow match his quickness, i.e. move as quickly as he does. Unfortunately that move could be a fake, and all it takes for him is a twitch of the hips or the shoulders, and they have to respect it. This makes most defenders dead ducks. Too many times we see defenders try to do two moves as quick as Messi, trying to go with him one way, stop on a dime and change direction, and ending up on the ground. It's stunning really.
4) Messi's the best ever. Ronaldo is the second best ever. Statistically and every which way. To me Messi is clearly better than Ronaldo, in that he's the only player in history I've seen be able to frequently go through a whole team before scoring. Most superstars can beat a double, and sometimes triple team. Messi can beat quintuple teams, and has in many occasions. So he's far the best dribbler. He is the most prolific scorer (please react to Lionel Messi The Goat - you will see Messi's performance by year.). He is the best passer (greatest number of assists). Ronaldo's better at heading the ball, and is great at all the other aspects of the game, just less than Messi, but still head and shoulders above everyone else. But because he relies a lot on his speed, now that he's 37, he's already no longer as potent a force to be reckoned with...while Messi is still the heartbeat of every team he plays on.
The best version of Messi is difficult to conclude.. there's 5 seasons you could argue as his peak.
09/10 season. (peak dribbling)
10/11 season. (peak dribbling)
11/12 season. (peak scoring)
14/15 season. (his elegant best all-round) 1 of his most successful season's)
18/19 season. (peak passing/playmaking) 1 man on a mission nearly carried Barca to all 3 titles but his team collapsed towards the end.. still, at the time I remember thinking "this is the most complete I've ever seen Messi play.. he could do everything with ease. But I can't put 1 over the other because he's at his peak in 1 thing or another in each year that's what I've loved in watching him evolve over the years, he has reinvented himself a lot. Ronaldo's peak was 2013/14 but it's got nothing on the 5 Messi's above.
I don't think it's about "passing this one guy", but rather thinking in terms of space, he's not trying to pass a guy, he's moving into the spaces he has to play.
Best Messi year: 2012
Messi - Ronaldo debate: I believe we can consider it over since Dec. 18th 2022
this always sounds fun to me, winning a trophy, doesn't make you a better football player. Messi is the best football player ever, winning or not doesn't change that fact.
Also considering winning a world cup a "requirement" to be the GOAT is just nonsense, cause there are many countries in the world that would just not have the chance to win it, and it's an unfair comparison to people of those countries.
It's by chance that the two greatest players ever were from Brazil and Argentina, two countries that have a good national team (even tho Messi's Argentina wasn't really good at all).
@@luigimanzelli3786agreed, Messi never needed the World Cup, it’s about his individual brilliance and how much more complete he is compared to anyone else in history, by a lot of these guys logic Messi wouldn’t be in the debate if he was from Peru
I'm a Real Madrid fan, but I prefer Messi a hundred times over Ronaldo. He's not just a great player, but it never feels like he's mocking the opponent. He comes across as graceful and humble. Ronaldo has this more "I'm the best" persona that it's palpable sometimes during the games (I say persona because I don't know how much of that is just put upon, maybe he's a real nice guy irl). But it's hard to say one is better over the other, it depends on which style of game you like. Some people love Ronaldo's attitude.
Ronaldo is more physical, so I guess you could say he's better are long-range kicks, direct confrontation with defenders, winning the ball with great jumps, athletic stuff like bicycle kicks, and being good at kicking with both feet. Messi relies more in his agility and great passing ability, he just flows and the game flows with him, it's beautiful to watch. Both styles are effective. And I always shy on saying who's best based on titles won and records because much of that depends on the team. Football is not played just by one player. Messi had the support of players like Iniesta to win all those titles, he didn't win them alone. That Barça was a great team, as much as it pains me to admit it.
I love the way that he could stop talking until he got speechless
From personal experience, there are reactions, but also there's a lot of planning. All players with good vision are aware of everyone's position on the field, even when you don't have the ball. This gives you an opportunity to develop a plan for when you do get the ball. Obviously, you have to be able to react, and adapt your plan when things change on-the-fly.
2012 Messi was unplayable, and 2019 Messi was a complete player.
The best players are always two steps ahead of anyone else, a lot of players knew what they are going to do before they have the ball, that is what Zidane said in a interview. The great players have a picture what average players dont have.
Just enjoy the real magic of MESSI
The GOAT of all time and forget other players
Most high level pitches are now grass with artificial fibres. Desso Grassmaster is one brand you find in stadiums like the Nou Camp, San Siro, Parc des Princes, Anfield, Millennium Stadium, Lansdowne Road etc.
Pelé (King) and Messi are the Most Fantastic Football Players of All Times!!!
10:54… I have ADD and I like grass. 😂😂😂😂😂. We all like it!
Fax 😂
Spectators of opposite team applauded and gave him a standing oviation many times!!!! Why
I would say there are two possible season you could pick as messis prim. First of all 2011/12, in terms of just stats this is by far the best individual season in football history with over 70 league goals. The best goalscorer ever, great passer and insane dribbling. Sadly he didnt win any big trophies that year. The second season that comes to mind is 2014/15. Here the stats are a little less impressive, but if you just look at his play with the eyetest he seems an overall better player. Insane goalscorer, passer and dribbler, but also a lot more patient basically always making the best desicion in every play. Thats why i personally would say 2014/15 was better.
Since last 20 years messi is best .
To me there is no contest between Cristiano and Messi. Messi is several steps ahead in terms of raw talent. And Messi's peak was 92 goals in 1 year (2012), which broke a 40 year old record of 85 goals in 1 year that year. Cristiano's best year is 69 goals. People say Cristiano is a better goal scorer than Messi, but not when you talk about their peaks. Messi's actual role is as a playmaker. He has the record for most assists in history (385) and his ball-carrying and passing is out of this world.
So yeah, Messi's best time was when Guardiola was manager (2008-2012), though Messi has insane standards and has had near peak level his entire career, with a couple of slumps in 2013 and 2020.
For people who knows ball knows Messi is by far the greatest player ever to touch the ball and it's not even an opinion it's a fact! 🤷🏼♂🐐
The best in the World !! 👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏
Bro I’m high and shi rn and almost died crying of laughter when you went back to talk about how nice the grass was 😂😂😂😂
There are things about Messi that very few highlight videos ever capture. The first is his consistency. Players like Ronaldinho were amazing, but had a much shorter period when they were at the top of their game. Secondly, unless you specifically look for videos on tiki-taka (a term originating in Spain for a style of play characterised by rapid exchanges of short passes), you will rarely get an idea of just how good Messi is at passing the ball. The third point comes from comparing Messi highlights to just about any other top player - he can operate in tighter spaces than anyone, a product of his incredible control, agility and short stature (meaning shorter strides and therefore more frequent touches on the ball, allowing the ball to be redirected more quickly). This third point is really important at high levels of play, where defences are organised and a lot of teams play an aggressive pressing game to turn over possession. It is these less obvious qualities that make him really head and shoulders above other great players like Ronaldo. Well, also he is less of a sulking bellend than Ronaldo.
About the question of which year was Messi's best year, you have to keep in mind that in football (soccer, if you will) you play in a club on a National league, then you play with the same club against the champions of the other respective leagues (Europe, South America, etc.) then you play some Intercontinental cup (as in between the winners of the South American and European Champions Leagues). That is at team level. Then you have the National team, which plays within their respective confederations, (Europa league, Copa América), the Olympics and also de the World Cup against other National teams from all over the world who have to classify by matches between their respective geographical associations... So It is hard to define the best year of a player, but by winning this World Cpp with Argentina, Messi has accomplished eEVERYTHONG by this year (top scorer in his respective teams and the National team, record of 91 goals in one season,, Team national cups, European Championship League, Copa America, Copa Intercontinental, an now the World Cup). That is pretty impressive for a player 35 yo, just for Team accomplishments, so it's about career more than his best season.
"I have ADD and a I just love grass" best quote.
Most football is played on grass (except for in icy locations) but at the elite level, it's often played on hybrid grass. Most elite pitches are 95% sand and comprise of millions of polyethylene fibres stitched into the base, which make up 4-5% of the playing surface.
He was unplayable about 10 years ago. The year he made the record of 90+ goals for a calendar year was likely the best version of him. But his standards are so high, he should have won about 12 ballon dors if it wasnt political at some extent.
There isnt really a debate who is best, or is Ronaldo better. People who fancy Ronaldo dont really know anything about football or just wanna troll for fun. Messi is so much better than anyone else, it's pretty unreal considering how competitive the sport is.
And he is a good guy also, humble and good sport.
11:04 you look so worried that you like grass that much 😂😂😂 great vid
2012 he scored the most, but he progressed into even biger monster around 2016.
All Ronaldo fans are crying right now.
It’s pure skill
Messi has a natural talent, he knows how to play as a team, he assists, he executes free kick, he dribbles, he sees things in the game that no one sees.
Cristiano is a more individualistic player, and he works very, very, very hard to improve himself.
I consider that he is slightly below Messi
For people that don’t properly understand football, there is a debate between Ronaldo and Messi. For those that understand football, there is no doubt- Messi is head and shoulders above
Messis best year was 2012. He scored 91 goals in that year for comparison Ronaldos best year is 69 goals I think similar to lewandowski. Messi is better at every aspect of the game but heading because of his hight. There shouldn’t be a debate about it it’s clear.
Good video but very short, greetings from Colombia
2010 was his prime but this is my opinion hard to say cuz he was consistent from 2008 to 2012.
Best year 2009-2013 sky top years
Messi is the God of football ⚽👑❤️🥳
Ronaldo: 2008/2014/2016/2017
(2018 top 2)
Messi:2009/2011/2012/2015/2019
(2010 and 2021 top 2)
his best years for me
There's no contest between Messi and Ronaldo the goat is the one who has a world cup to their name
Messi goat
He is just under 5 foot 7 at 169 cm the heigth of the average man from 1875. Average height in Argentina is 5 ft 8 and a half or 174,5 cm 👍🏻😁
U MUST WATCH "THE MESSI ERA" FROM MAGICAL MESSI
GOAT
Both do amazing things, both have incredible skills and both their skills can be done by an average football. HOWEVER the difference is how they execute them because for each skills these two people can add an once of creativity and perfection to it so it looks like a new skill. No other players can reach them except themselves as we have seen.
NOW the difference in between them is the level of difficulty of their skill is as compared the how successful it is, here I mean for example the number of times a particular skill leads to a goal and it happens that Messi ability or skill on the ball is just so difficulty no player has managed to do it that consistent because it very difficult because it requires keeping the ball for more time which risks a lot for the team yet he is the only one able to pull it off day in day out and because of his carrying of the ball so well it gives a spectator about a minute or 2 of brilliance and focus on one person even before he gets the goal... Ronaldo is also able to do a bit of what Messi does but he does not get to near as consistent as Messi.. Messi is like... Think about a child being born 10am and given a ball at 10:01am, it feels like the ball is an extension of one of his limbs, he could close his eyes and that ball would never leave his feet once. HES THAT GOOD. Ronaldo comes close because he really pushes has to keep up but we know nurture cannot beat nature ....MESSI IS A NATURAL
Btw the grass is real. They have rules and regulations on pitch they play on. Turf is not used in Europe mostly cause it is more injury prone than natural grass.
It’s a forced debate. It’s not even close.
Just as how you’ve appreciated his ability with your hands under your chin and smiled, that’s exactly how we feel watching him. You ask yourself the question, how on earth did he do that.
When i played only in the weekend leages but scored a lot of goals bending the ball im right footed so the ball would go out to the right and curl in to the left if you strike the ball slightly off center it makes the ball spin in the air so it makes it curve were only talking about an inch of the center of the ball here try it out yourself
He has that low center of gravity that you also see below average basketball players use to their advantage :)
Cristiano is a magnificent striker. Messi is God.
My friend 91 goal in on season no debate. All titles you can take in any age in all levels. More goal than all more assists than all more dribbles than all. If I have to compare him with someone is only Jordan
Ronaldinho was a showman. But Messi produced the goods with a consistency Ronaldinho never came near.
In terms of goals 2012 was his best year, with 91 goals for club and country combined.
If you add all his other great football qualities on top it's harder to pin down a year.
Adding everything in total, I would say his best year would be 2015 closely followed by 2019
React to Lionel Messi scaning, you Will see how he know's where Every Player is. And What is football😉
messi scored 91 goals in 2012 - that is the most goals any player has ever scored in a calendar year. Messi also has the most goals + assists by one player in a season about 9 times. in contrast Christiano has only achieved this once.
"in his prime" dude's just won the World Cup at 35 with 7 goles in 7 matches (2 of them in the final) and scoring on every stage. Also, he won for the second time the golden ball, which nobody else has done. I'd say he's still in his prime 😂
Commentator Syd widdel did the darts
I think most say his best year was 2012 he was about 25 by then
The universe has been restored back to normal, Connor has finally commented on some grass again. Was beginning to get worried.
10:54 "I have ADHD and I like grass" 😂
Another important thing to remenber when you watch Messi is he just makes these guys look like children, they are the best of the best at their respective clubs, they're all making big money to be the best athletes but he just emasulates all of them. We call him the GOAT for good reason.
He makes them look human. Only human.
i think 14/15 was best Messi. 91 goals in a calendar year is just nonsense. No one could keep him off the scoresheet that season
Properly made grass football ⚽️ pitch
It’s grass, in Europe only some junior level and small clubs play on turfs
some American never watching football but said Ronaldo better than Messi
Check out Barcelona Vs Real Madrid classics passed 15y and it will explaine Messi Vs Ronaldo! Also Chech out the documentary " Messi the "GOT"
Best messi =2012
Honestly, there has never been debate, specially with CR comparisson, he's one of the best, don't get me wrong, but they have always been compared by goals, which is a complete mistake, Ronaldo is a striker during most of his career, but Messi has either been a false 9 or a creative winger/midfielder. If Messi wasn't that good at scoring he would still be one of the best in the world, key passes, dribbling, stupidly good decision making, ffs he has more motm than games he doesn't get it. That's a complete different level