What did this get anything to do with it? I had not seen nor heard no teams planning, worrying , preparing to STOP MESSI (like they did to Pele, Maradona, Zico, Ronaldo..) I give Messi credits to play and link up well with Barca fluidity - but he is no one man show like other mentioning at their peak
BAM!!! To answer your question on whats it got to do with anything lol Sorry I forgot to include the link. Heres what Roy Hudson said in the interview that confirms how teams hope to defeat barcelona by focusing on Messi. "Teams in La Liga and Europe knew that if you shut down Messi, you shut down Barcelona. I'm not saying that was the case – they still couldn't keep the greatest football player in the galaxy quiet. It was impossible." What do you say to that? http://soccernet.espn.go.com/blog/_/name/realmadrid/id/44?cc=5901 In case your wondering Ray Hudson is a color commentator for La Liga and watches every game, like some of us on here who can clearly see defenses strategizing around Messi. Its clear as day James.
Doing rainbow flicks and showing your whole arsenal of skill when its not necessary also lacks style. Its kind of tacky like an old woman wearing a gaudy wedding ring with golf ball sized gem on it
Messi & Neymar are defiantly the best dribblers today, how can anyone disagree... They are both better than eachother when in different posistions and situations, for example Messi will be better when sprinting at defence because of his close ball control and low centre of gravity which helps him, but Neymar is better 1on1 or in a standing posistion And Neymar does have very good close ball control but not as good as Messi, but Neymar is faster and more agile Remember Messi is 5 years older than Neymar, maybe Neymar will be scoring 90 goals a season too in 5 years time when hes in Europe.
He praises both Ronaldo and Messi- but the point im showing is not the praise but that he said that teams will focus defensive schemes based on stopping Messi, which isnt a subjective comment. Its there for people to see
that's just his opinion, not official from any particular teams, coach nor players .... but it's a valid opinion
we're getting down to opinions, and that's your opinion... But I've already realized that you have never seen Neymar play, so no need to argue further.
Sir Alex said after the 2011 CL final that his team never controlled Messi, but then not many teams can say that they did that. It should tell you something..... BTW, I don't remember any coach saying they had a plan for any particular player. There just wasn't that type of communication before between coaches and media.
When these teams park the bus against Spain because of their style of play as you say, do they stop Spain from playing their style? I think pretty much everyone can see that the difference between Spain and Barca is Messi.
I just want to highlight that teams are too concerned to face Barca as a whole team rather than Messi himself. Besides Sir Alex, at Copa11, Uruguay also claimed no plan on Messi (or in many UCL 2010) ... This did not by no means discredit his affection in the games, however this could mean a small advantage to his free playing role (compared to some great dribblers in the past). In other thread I specifically gave a link showing Bearzot had directed Gentille to man mark Maradona and Zico in WC82, also France NT plan for Ronaldo WC98 , or Germany NT with Berti Vogts on Cruijff WC74, or Portugal and Bulgaria directly chopped off Pele at WC66, as notably well known.
Man marking would probably be detrimental hence why they dont do it. Man marking makes it easier to beat the player and create open space, its a thing of the past. No one man marks in the NBA anymore either.
NBA they absolutely do it. When the Miami Heat needs somebody on the other team on lockdown, they put Lebron on them and that's it.. guy won't score. But most of the game they won't do it because it takes more energy to do it. Same goes for football, requires too much energy to run around after somebody all game long
This is a perfect example of how Messi dribbles. This is a highlight reel from Barry Sanders, watch at 0:33 that looks like a typical Messi run:
The difference between Barry and Messi... Barry did it at the NFL level on a bad team with top competitors playing against him. Messi becomes something far from what he is on a stacked Barca team when he plays for Argentina... Which is a lot better than Barry's crappy Lion's team
th the whole conversation that started with the Barry Sanders doesn't have anything to do with his dribbling style...
James and I were trying to come up with descriptions of different players dribbling styles and I said I would liken Messis dribbling to a runningback more than to any player from the past. So I posted the Barry Sanders video, which shows the similarities. Has nothing to do with trophies, its the style.
Ok i see. I agree with you that Messi's style is a power run style with tons of speed. But that's why I say he is 1 pelvic injury away from not being the best in the world.
yeah but anyone with a pelvic injury is obviously out of the running for worlds best player. Thats like saying he wont be as good if he has a broken leg
Pelvic injuries usually end the career of fast explosive players when they come back from it, if that's what they depended on during their careers. Like Michael Owens and Kaka. So if Messi has one, recovers, when he comes back will he adjust? Because he won't be able to run past people anymore.