Ronaldo has the record for most goals in a la liga season but Messi has Barca in the Champions League Final and winning the la liga season. Who do you think will get it this year?
Xavi. He is the only irreplaceable part at Barca. Messi they could replace. So if the argument is trophies, Xavi is king. If the argument is scoring, Ronaldo tops Messi; so many of Messi's goals are actually goals by Xavi or Iniesta that Messi gets credit for. Ronaldo usually has to work his own goals.
Messi could be replaced? Did you see the yesterday match against Real Madrid? Messi is from another galaxy!
When he's with Barca (and Xavi) he's from another galaxy. With Argentina not so much. Put Ronaldo in his place, or even Tevez, and Barca could still get all those trophies imho. Personally I think fat Ronaldo in his prime was better than Messi is right now.
Yep, he plays quite strange when he plays with Argentina.. but he not only scores as Ronaldo does, he also assists very well (he made an incredible assistance yesterday to Iniesta). Anyway, Messi deserves a lot more the Fifa World Player than Ronaldo.
No doubt. I'm pimping for Xavi who I think should have two ballon d'ors by now. Xavi might be the best player I've ever seen, when you consider that football is a game of 11 v 11.
Not even debatable anymore. This will be one of the more lopsided WPOTY or Ballon d'Or wins ever. Who is the second-best player in 2011 is a more interesting question. I think it is Ronaldo, but I have a hunch the voting will go to some bizarre option like Neymar.
I am a die hard Xavi fan. He gets a lot of recognition, but I feel like he is constantly overlooked because he is not flashy nor does he score a huge amount of goals like Messi or Ronaldo. I personally (my personal opinion) feel that Xavi and the rest of the barca midfield help his performance. An example would be that he does not have the same impact on his national team. Ronaldo is also in the same predicament (sometimes). Messi is the puppet and Xavi is the puppet master (you can tell i am a bit biased).
The problem with that often-repeated logic is that EVERY player on the Argentine NT plays worse for country than for club. Obviously Xavi is a very good player. But I also think it is odd that he is peaking now - at age 31/32. If Xavi is the engine of the Barca machine, then why didn't he look this amazing with Barca before he started playing with Messi and Iniesta regularly?
It goes back to the goals. Goals are what bring the attention and not the solid play in the midfield. The only reason he seems to be peaking is because they have someone that is scoring a lot of goals from the possession hence why people assume that he is peaking.
this is not true at all and It's often repeated. Just watch Ronaldo's goals this season and see how many he actually did it himself compared to Messi's , its pretty balanced. I'd even say Messi does more individual goals than Ronaldo with his trademark runs inside and shooting. btw I think xavi, messi and iniesta are irreplaceble parts in barca.
That is based geographically on who you ask. between those years (04-08) Xavi actually played in and started more games than Deco. His firs year with Barca is what you are probably talking about, cause he had about 7 goals that year. after that first year he started to slowly disappear before he was sent to the bench and eventually to Chelsea. I follow Barca religiously not just jump on the pop band wagon of whats cool.
Yes, that's why I wrote "5-7 years ago". I was talking about his first 2 seasons at Barca (when both Xavi and Deco were in their prime). After that, Deco of course started to decline. You could probably say he was a liability to the team in his final season at Barca. But he was older than Xavi, thus any comparison to Xavi beyond 2006 is a bit unfair to Deco. Anyway, my point still stands. Nobody rated Deco because of his goal-scoring. He scored only 4 goals the year he became famous.
I hope Messi. I dont like Ronaldo since he moved to real, but few days ago I watched documentary about Ronaldo on Discovery, they were testing him, and I must admit it was impresive. One guy was passing the ball to ronaldo with high kick, but when he kicked the ball they shut dow the light so was complete darknes, and he was still able to hit the goal-amazing. But I think in game Messi is better.
Messi! He's a talented soccer player and sportsmen, great guy with amazing personality and a handsome and hot guy! Ronaldo is just a cry baby on comparing to Messi! Avi to MP4
Anyone see El Clásico yesterday? I think the answer is obvious... Ronaldo is good for scoring giligoles against equipillos de pacotilla like Granada, Racing, Rayo Vallecano etc. but when it comes to the big games, he is always absent. Iniesta should be up for the award over Ronaldo.
Messi hands down. I'd say that Ronaldo will never win another Ballon D'or as long as Messi is playing. Until Ronaldo wins Champions League or Euro or Semi-Finals of World Cup, he'll never cement himself of another title of the best player in the world.