Messi was already an elite and one of the greatest playmaker of all time since 2008-09 season imo. I don’t understand why people say he became a better playmaker when he grew older. Dribbling and passing ability are two aspects of the game that are innate in players which cannot be improved with practice after certain age imo. Messi was also displaying this elite tier playmaking even when prior his 20s.
True. One interesting stat: Messi completed 23 through ball out of 38 through ball attempted in 2008/09 season. Crazy.
He was quite average vs Portugal. Henry dived so he could score a PK. He was great vs Brazil and good vs Spain though Vierra, Ribery, Thuram all were better.
I really don’t know what is Messi’s best season. 2011-12 is usually considered the best, but I don’t know. I would prefer to say that 2008-12 Messi is basically like a combination of Maradona’s ability, Pele’s prolific goalscoring prowess and Cruijff’s IQ.
They basically beat Barca in 2008 merely from a shot that was deflected by Zambrotta into his own net.
If you look at official senior level First team goals, he is 37 goals behind, having played 145 games less. CR7 has 767 goals in 1050 games. Messi has 729 goals in 905 games. The top 4 in official Senior Level, First team goals is CR7 - 767 Pele - 757 Messi - 729 Romario - 728
I think CR7 is 100% aware that he is the leader in all-time goals, and will try to retire after Messi to make sure he has the all-time goals record.
Not sure how far Messi is behind CR7 on all-time goals, but I suspect a couple of seasons for Messi in MLS would probably put Messi on top for good.