Let us start by saying that we at soccersweep never thought that there would ever be another player to match Diego Maradona.
Great players came and went before and after the magical Argentine but we never saw an individual who was quite as good at beating a whole team on his own. More than anything it was Maradona’s ability with the ball at his feet which made him so thrilling to watch. He was the master of the dribble.
Then came Messi, four World Player of the Year awards and a decade in which we regularly mistook real football for a computer game or cartoon. So majestic and consistent was Messi that it was almost impossible to believe what you were seeing on weekly basis.
Messi’s innumerable goals of incredible quality, picking up the ball in his own half and single handedly (save for the odd one-two) laying waste to the opposition, eventually made us revisit our original views.
Today we are wholeheartedly behind the notion that Lionel Messi is the greatest player ever to walk the earth. But what separated him from the rest was, once more, that ability to dribble. His electric pace, twinned with that unbelievable ball control, gave you the feeling that every time he took possession he could, if he so desired, waltz through the entire opposition midfield and defence before rounding the keeper or hitting an unstoppable net-bulger.
Even in defeat Messi showed against PSG that none of his ball control has deserted him. But, to our eternal sadness, we do feel that the classic Messi, the ‘Teenwolf’ style Messi, has gone forever.
At 27, with around 559 competitive games behind him for club and country – plus several niggling injuires – we wonder whether we are seeing the end of the player who could beat a whole team on his own. While he is still a wonderful, and very dangerous player, he seems of have lost the pace and explosiveness to get past defenders on a regular basis.
Messi has adapted his game and can still be one of the best number 10s in the world for the next 4-5 years. But, while Cristiano Ronaldo retains the dynamism to beat his man Messi’s powers seem to be waning in this respect.
It began last season and continued at The World Cup. Unless Messi is carrying an injury then perhaps we will have to look at re-runs if we want to witness him at his bewitching best.
Barcelona fans: is Messi as good as ever or has he lost the pace that made him peerless?
homaKP
Oct 1, 2014 at 8:00 pm
I don’t get your point. you re-start an argument (which has already been dismissed), you gotta offer some insights. you need to base your opinions on something. saying them kindly like “to our eternal sadness” and “still a wonderful, and very dangerous player” is so appreciated, yet not worthy of an individual topic.
aston V
Oct 4, 2014 at 9:30 pm
I agree completely with you that the great Lionel Messi is nt at his best form,if you can remember vividly well,Messi was totally out of form last season but we are begining to see some sort of brilliance from him this season. I sure hope we will see the Lionel Messi you used to know.
Robbie MacInnes
Jan 27, 2015 at 10:32 pm
I agree, I think he suffered a similar hamstring injury to that of Michael Owen and (tbc) Fernando Torres. He hasnt been the same player and while still dangerous, he now looks mortal in comparison to the first 8 or 9 years of his career. The tragedy is that we never got to see him at his peak, his injury limited his effectiveness at the point where he should have been maximising his potential. I still love watching the wee man, but there is a little bit of sadness there now.