True, but the top teams were less dominating back then so a striker at a big club would have fewer chances to score. Now we have teams scoring 100 or 110 goals in a 38-match league season. Its almost inevitable that such a team would have one 30-goal scorer. If not a 30-goal scorer, then probably two 20-goal scorers (which is still more than 0.5 goals-per-game)
I am in Portugal right now on a scouting trip. My contacts are hearing from associates in Spain that Messi May very well leave Barcelona at the end of the season. I understand that Trincao is viewed as Messi’s successor.
If Barca gets Neymar back Messi stays for sure . His price will be 170m set by FIFA so this board won’t be able to make excuses . If not , he could leave .
To be honest, some of the saves on his shots have been top class. But yes, it seems like everything he is hitting - the ball is not going in.
In first quarter of this season, his finishing is still superb as usual, scores some llong range and FK aswell. Probably minor injury which not reported or he's trying not to be bother by it. We already struggling all over the place , so perhaps he doesnt want the team to lose even more games. Footballer can have toenail problem aswell although it would be reported as another issue which sounds cooler lol
Might be a bit of a task but in recent years there have been a few genuine futbol publications that have listed their all-time greatest footballers with Messi topping a few of the lists. I was wondering if anyone can provide links to these lists, or even just list the all-time top 10 players of lists along with the name of the publication. For example, I believe the Dutch magazine Voetbal International published such a list about 2-4 years ago. No idea how many players were included but I'm just looking for top 5 or top 10. Just doing a little personal project. I'll even take for recent all-time lists that do not have Messi top of the list. Appreciate any help offered.
FourFourTwo . 2017 I think. https://www.fourfourtwo.com/features/fourfourtwos-100-greatest-footballers-ever 1 - Maradona 2 - Messi 3 - Pele 4 - Cryuff 5 - Cronaldo 6 - Di Stefano 7 - Beckenbauer 8 - Zidane 9 - Puskas 10 - Ronaldo
Assist for Lenglet tonight was Messi's 300th career assist for Barcelona. Also 7th assist hat-trick, and just the second assist for Busquets. 300 career assists for Barcelona For 45 Suarez 24 Pedro 21 Neymar 15 Eto'o 13 Iniesta 13 Villa 12 Pique 11 Sanchez 10 Fabregas 9 Henry Against 22 Sevilla 21 Levante 15 Espanyol 15 Getafe 14 Real Madrid 13 Valencia 11 Bilbao 11 Villarreal 10 Celta Vigo 10 Betis Competition 209 La Liga 42 Uefa Champions League 39 Copa Del Rey 6 Supercopa 3 Uefa Super Cup 1 Fifa Club World Cup Season 36 11-12 33 14-15 28 10-11 26 15-16 26 18-19 23 17-18 22 16-17 18 12-13 17 08-09 16 07-08 16 13-14 16 19-20 14 09-10 5 05-06 4 06-07
Yeah official games. 7 assist hat-tricks for Barcelona: Betis away Liga 19-20 Getafe home Liga 15-16 Bilbao away Liga 14-15 Granada home Liga 14-15 Levante away CDR 13-14 Rayo away Liga 11-12 Espanyol away Liga 10-11 First assist for Ronaldinho, last for Lenglet, for 50 different players: 300 assists for Barcelona (official games) 45 Suarez 24 Pedro 23 Neymar 15 Eto'o 13 Iniesta 13 Villa 12 Pique 11 Sanchez 10 Fabregas 9 Henry 9 Rakitic 9 Xavi 8 Alba 8 Bojan 8 Dembele 8 Tello 7 Keita 4 Alves 4 Ibrahimovic 4 Munir 4 Paulinho 4 Thiago 3 Alcacer 3 Coutinho 3 Own Goal 3 Puyol 2 Abidal 2 Bartra 2 Busquests 2 D.Suarez 2 Fati 2 Giovani 2 Griezmann 2 Lenglet 2 Roberto 2 Ronaldinho 2 Sandro 2 Vidal 1 Adriano 1 Alena 1 Arthur 1 Clerc 1 De Jong 1 Deco 1 Digne 1 Mathieu 1 Rafinha 1 Song 1 Turan 1 Umtiti
Bing tracks things differently than others. If Messi's shot on goal hits the post and Suarez puts in the rebound, Messi is not officially credited with an assist. But Bing will credit Messi an assist. Or something along those lines.
There's no official assists, because they're not officially defined. I use the method that was first introduced in the World Cup, or wide rules, and which better portray involvement in goal scoring, which is the function of the assist. - direct pass leading to a goal - rebound, goalie, post, opponent leading to a goal - penalty awarded, that team mate scores I'll throw Messi WC10 as an example, which better portray performance, 1 or 4 assists?
As long as you're consistent and apply this criteria to ALL players (Cristiano included) and not just Messi when posting your rankings/charts/comparisons then fair enough.
I don't collect data on other players, major nt-tournamets excluded. Transfermarkt.de is one of the places that uses the same criteria.
Well Messi's struggles are relative to his own godly self. He still has pretty good numbers. Since Dec 14 when his struggles started he's played 11 matches and in those managed 5 goals and 7 assists. That's a still more than a goal a game contribution.
As for assists, I see them not as any action that leads to a goal but a pass that leads to a goal. As such I don't think rebounds off the post, saves by the goal keeper, own goals, penalties drawn should count as assists if a teammate ends up scoring afterwards. That's just my opinion.
Overall Messi has 351 career assists in official games. I wonder if that's most ever, never heard bigger number myself.
I certainly think those things never counted in official stats, otherwise Messi would have had 4-5 assists in 2010 WC alone and would have had more assists in total than Maradona. His shot against Greece and S Korea directly led into the goal after saved by goalie and hit the post ...also his freekicks against S Korea and Bosnia led into own goal. However, the freekick against S Korea actually counted as direct assist cause its deflected directly from his shot, the same with his shot against France. His freekick against Bosnia I think it touched one of Argentina's defender before the Bosnian player.
I'm just wondering... if Messi's shot hits the post and the ball rebounds directly back to Messi who shoots and scores, does Bing credit Messi with both a goal AND an assist?