This probably wont surprise you, but I think hell be able to adapt. Look at his last performance, hes a lot more cerebral now, gives the ball off and drifts into open space, not as much explosiveness as before. Either way what are the odds of him getting a pelvic injury?
pelvic injuries are mostly due to over extending play time(fatigue) and repeated actions such as taking shots, he's been playing a lot of games.
Pichi Alonso: - "I played with Maradona, and Messi is a lot better: scores more, more a team player, physically stronger..." Now you can stop spewing nonsense.
You can get quotes from players going every direction.. come on man.. footballers are not the smartest people in the world. Player quotes means as much as the next question being asked. The reality is, Fifa does a much better job protecting their players now, if you disagree with that, you're the one spewing nonsense. Players in the late 80s and before that did get fouled a whole lot more, and because of serious injuries the laws of the game had to be changed. Hell.. in the 60s there was not even substitutions, and red cards were given for actual fist fights, slide tackles from behind were not automatic reds until late 90s... early 90s they were not even yellow cards. Fifa only started their fair play award in the late 80s, and nobody considered it serious until late 90s How old are you? 20 or less? not to remember those things
Messi is the best dribbler of our time and one of the best of all time. He goes through any defender the way he wants.
Messi has a fantastic ball control, a good technique and a lot of speed to run your dribbling. Like Maradona, the only way to stop Messi is putting several defenders to stop him. For me, Messi is a player extremely objective and aims only goal. It is important to note that because hardly see Messi standing on a corner of the field doing tricks and whatnot. His game is objective, no need to do that. It's the way he was stoned. That's the difference for players like Ronaldo (original) and Ronaldinho. Ronaldo was a player like Messi destroyer, but was tricks on the bottom line. Already Ronaldinho was a Magic Ball, one of my favorite players, despite playing for Flamengo in 2011. What he did with the ball was absurd. I think all three are on the same level in dribble question. Messi is what controls the ball better and has a more refined technique, Ronaldinho is the most creative player in history and Ronaldo had a bit of each.
Ronaldinho was an extraordinary player, but he, even during his prime years of 2004-2006, was never on current Messi's level. Messi just is truly amazing, and carries enough directness and firepower for the whole team of Barcelona, which stops them from becoming Spain. Messi may not have the flash of Ronaldinho or the mesmerizing qualities of Ronaldo 9, but he is more effective, IMO, than both of them in terms of dribbling and getting past players and keeping possession of the ball.
Ronaldinho in his prime was probably the best of the last decade in overall package. Reminder There are also vids showing how he was double and triple teamed against Espanyol and Atletico Madrid. Dribbling was to my eye also more natural and elegant (Thierry Henry was btw also a fine dribbler with his long legs but prone to losing control unfortunately). Yes, he was not as effective but to what extent is Messi the source of this effectiveness. An often underrated dribbler is Luis Figo. You could see how good he was in dribbling when he was 35+ years old with not the explosiveness, agility or speed he had at his 20s. That was real control.
I would agree on Figo; he was a real good dribbler even when he started to lose his legs. Also Ronaldinho was a winger-playmaker at Barça, while Messi is a false nine. Doesn't lend itself to comparison. What about Francesco Totti in his prime? Any takers for him being one of the best of the decade?
I think people are getting confused, this is a dribbling contest, not a complete player contest, what the player does with the ball after he dribbles is irrelevant, if a player dribbles more towards the middle of the pitch or just to showboat is irrelevant. The player with the most tricks up his sleeve and can get past a player and make the crowd go wild, is the relevant part here.
I know how important is done the dribble and in what area of the field because there are differences. You can not say that Ronaldinho, Messi and Ronaldo dribble in the same industry and the same way, for example. What I mean is that the way they dribble seeing the style of their game from boy: Messi was ''created'' in a way, seeking the goal, so it's hard to see him do tricks standing in a corner of the field. His dribbling is quick, he is a destroyer, as Ronaldo. While Ronaldinho also passed by the markers, but always sought the tricks and stuff, like Neymar.
More than James I think? Well, are you still gonna keep repeating the nonsense that Maradona was faster, and stronger, when players who actually played with him say otherwise? I mean it's pretty obvious that it's other way around, if you actually have followed the players enough.
In terms of technique, I'd say Iniesta is, by a hair, a better dribbler than Messi. Iniesta usually dribbles in the most uncompromising situation in the field far more often than Messi. I don't remember which league game it was but Iniesta dribbled past two players who had closed in on him in the far corner of the opposing field where there wasn't much space. I've seen iniesta do those type of dribbles in various games. I'm not saying Messi is not capable of this but he doesn't display those type of runs too often. Messi has developed his dribbling to be relatively risk free when he attempts them. By that I mean is that he sets up his runs in a way that facilitates an open pass when the opponent has closed in on him. I get the impression that Iniesta has more tricks up his sleeve(in terms of dribbling) to get out of tough situations whereas Messi relies more on passing it to the open man and calculated runs. You could even say, Iniesta has more spontaneity to his dribbles as opposed to the calculated runs Messi displays. I don't know if most of u get what i mean
I understand and agree in part. Messi is not really so spontaneous in dribbles like Ronaldinho and some others. It could be more.. But like I said, he is able to be more creative and spontaneous, i think. It is because of how Messi created his game from boy - I explained this earlier. He is a very objective. Capacity it has. Still, he does wonderful things, like move that posted here vs Drenthe. Iniesta MAGIC
You are pretty way off, Iniesta's dribbling is only more aesthetic, and even that is subjective. For who don't follow them that much, Iniesta could seem to be at same level, but who has followed their careers closely, it's pretty obvious that Messi is in a completely different league, in dribbling. Messi is actually better in every situation, tight spaces, wide spaces, against any number of opponents, slow speed, high speed. Not only that but he is more direct, and a lot, a lot more effective, which actually comes from the perfect technique, and which actually are the main flaws in Iniesta's dribbling. In many cases Iniesta might do couple of sweet elastico's against couple of players, which then usually leads to a back pass or something unproductive, where as Messi usually creates something concrete with his dribbling. You can actually see a great example of the ineffectiveness post above.
I wouldn't call it ineffective per se but Iniesta's runs facilitate the open spaces for his teammates to thrive on. Believe it or not, those "unproductive" runs make up a huge part of the set up plays that allow Barcelona to score goals. Here's an example. "Iniesta dribbles past two, turns around, passes it to Xavi. Xavi sends a killer pass to Alves on the far right, Alves crosses it, Messi scores." You see that more often than not. It may look unproductive but it actually contributes even if it doesn't fit in a statistical sense.
Yeah I didn't mean Iniesta as awfully ineffective dribbler, just that he's ineffective dribbler compared to Messi, which he definitely is. And as you described the effective creativity of dribbling, Messi does that also, but it usually leads directly to a chance, rather than just building the attack.
It's even more none sense to have used a player who was actually ON BENCH because of Maradona arrival = BITTER (he only watched Maradona from stance ... For your info) And last he NEVER played with Messi to know them both. NONE SENSE I have watched both almost every weekend ...