Current Events > So is Messi now the GOAT in soccer?

(+) Yeah! (+)

He is going to get that 7th ballon de oro or whatever its called and has single handedly gotten argentina to several finals in major tournaments and won a few with the national team. Is he officially the greatest to ever do it?

One of the best, not sure about GOAT status.

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He is at least in the top 100 best players

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Ilishe posted...

One of the best, not sure about GOAT status.

I mean if it was not for ronaldo he'd have like 10 ballon d'or which is nuts. He is definitely better than ronaldo by a landslide, the strategy for argentina in 2014 where they got 2nd in the world cup was basically pass the ball to messi...i have never seen a strategy that revolves around a single player work so well. Same thing cannot be said about ronaldo, although one could argue argentinas national team overall is better than portugals.

Messi is an opportunity creator, Ronaldo is a lot bigger and that serves him well in other ways especially defensive and being able to drive offensively. They're both awesome.

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ShyOx posted...

Messi is an opportunity creator, Ronaldo is a lot bigger and that serves him well in other ways especially defensive and being able to drive offensively. They're both awesome.

I agree. I am from argentina so i am biased, i have just never seen someone play soccer like messi, does ronaldo get constantly marked by 3 guys like messi does? I feel like messi is more dangerous.

Neymar: Yesterday when I lost, I went and gave a hug to the greatest player in history. My brother MESSI, I told him "Filho da p***, you beat me". I'm incredibly sad for having lost. But this guy is the shit! I HATE TO LOSE!!! But enjoy your title, football was waiting for this moment!

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Better than Pele?

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TrollTrace posted...

I agree. I am from argentina so i am biased, i have just never seen someone play soccer like messi, does ronaldo get constantly marked by 3 guys like messi does? I feel like messi is more dangerous.

I mean his control over the ball is insane. It's going to go where he tells it to go, and his short passing is insanely accurate. His feet do magical shit. I think from an assist perspective he uses being marked to an advantage rather than a negative, like we saw in the last game. That attempt near the end with that beautiful little cross *mwah finger kiss*

HOWEVER

Ronaldo can bully people. For a football player he's huge, he's as tall as Ferdinand 'The Strong' lol. He can stand there and take anything, height for headers, really accurate crossing and he can just barrel through you. As a physical athlete he's superior.

HOWEVER

Messi has the finesse.

I think yall can feel very proud after that last game. Messi repp'ed the country very well :)
I mean it's a great team but without Messi? They're going to struggle against a lot of teams.

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Messi has been the GOAT for a while now.

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Middle hope posted...

Better than Pele?

Messi is a better footballer than Pele, yes.
but if we compare how great Pele was during his era vs Messi right now, Pele is still more iconic.
in average, modern football athletes are a lot better than 70's footballers.

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That's why you look at their achievements and accomplishments to decide which one is better.

Pele won 3 World Cups.

Messi won 0.


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ShyOx posted...

I mean his control over the ball is insane. It's going to go where he tells it to go, and his short passing is insanely accurate. His feet do magical shit. I think from an assist perspective he uses being marked to an advantage rather than a negative, like we saw in the last game. That attempt near the end with that beautiful little cross *mwah finger kiss*

HOWEVER

Ronaldo can bully people. For a football player he's huge, he's as tall as Ferdinand 'The Strong' lol. He can stand there and take anything, height for headers, really accurate crossing and he can just barrel through you. As a physical athlete he's superior.

HOWEVER

Messi has the finesse.

I think yall can feel very proud after that last game. Messi repp'ed the country very well :)
I mean it's a great team but without Messi? They're going to struggle against a lot of teams.

I think in soccer physicality is not that important, as you can see messi is a fraction the size of ronaldo but seems to be the superior soccer player when it comes to actually playing the game. Like, if you scaled messi to ronaldos size messi would murk everyone lol both guys are good, messi is op with the handles and i guess cristiano is op as a fantastic soccer athlete. I think cristiano is older so i dont think he is gonna get any more opportunities at the ballon d or whereas messi has a couple more years at the top with no real competition.

Ilishe posted...

That's why you look at their achievements and accomplishments to decide which one is better.

Pele won 3 World Cups.

Messi won 0.

You could argue messi could have 2 WC right now 2014 was crazy close and 2018 france vs argentina was crazy close too, i feel like we got the final match way earlier in 2018 as france and argentina were the best teams.

Messi also got 2nd place at the last copa america, which was close as heck too.

TrollTrace posted...

I think in soccer physicality is not that important, as you can see messi is a fraction the size of ronaldo but seems to be the superior soccer player when it comes to actually playing the game. Like, if you scaled messi to ronaldos size messi would murk everyone lol both guys are good, messi is op with the handles and i guess cristiano is op as a fantastic soccer athlete. I think cristiano is older so i dont think he is gonna get any more opportunities at the ballon d or whereas messi has a couple more years at the top with no real competition.

He's only two years older though. Having a big man who's as fast and capable as Ronaldo is huge, generally bigger is slower/tires faster/less eloquent with the ball. But Ronaldo doesn't have that issues, and if you can bull your way through people and stop them with size it's a big big deal. As a physical specimen, Ronaldo takes it. Because football is such a finesse sport, Messi has this huge leap up because he has that extra layer of finesse and has a really great mind for the game.

We're talking degrees here though; these are thin layers and what makes them different is approach to the game. You can't doubt Ronaldo because when he's on a team it completely changes them, same as Messi. Ronaldo relies more on his ability to bull people than foot finesse to steal for example, but their reflexes are probably pretty damn close, their eye is pretty close, their accuracy is near spot on.

Messi seems a more like a thinker and Ronaldo is more instinct. That's what I get from watching them play, at least and I don't watch a ton. Messi takes advantage of openings and circumstance, while Ronaldo creates them because he can bull people over, tall af for the sport so can nab headers and would make a great defender etc. It's a different style.
Messi is more a master of the art, but it's a sport and inherently physical and Ronaldo is the better specimen. The results speak for themselves.

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Ilishe posted...

That's why you look at their achievements and accomplishments to decide which one is better.

Pele won 3 World Cups.

Messi won 0.

Pele played football in a time when athletes had a pack of cigarette a day and a few pints down the local habit

He was amazing but things are considerably higher stake now

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ShyOx posted...

He's only two years older though. Having a big man who's as fast and capable as Ronaldo is huge, generally bigger is slower/tires faster/less eloquent with the ball. But Ronaldo doesn't have that issues, and if you can bull your way through people and stop them with size it's a big big deal. As a physical specimen, Ronaldo takes it. Because football is such a finesse sport, Messi has this huge leap up because he has that extra layer of finesse and has a really great mind for the game.

We're talking degrees here though; these are thin layers and what makes them different is approach to the game. You can't doubt Ronaldo because when he's on a team it completely changes them, same as Messi. Ronaldo relies more on his ability to bull people than foot finesse to steal for example, but their reflexes are probably pretty damn close, their eye is pretty close, their accuracy is near spot on.

Messi seems a more like a thinker and Ronaldo is more instinct. That's what I get from watching them play, at least and I don't watch a ton. Messi takes advantage of openings and circumstance, while Ronaldo creates them because he can bull people over, tall af for the sport so can nab headers and would make a great defender etc. It's a different style.
Messi is more a master of the art, but it's a sport and inherently physical and Ronaldo is the better specimen. The results speak for themselves.

It is an interesting comparison indeed. It is pretty cool that this era of soccer has 2 of the greatest players to ever do it, speaks volumes about one another. If one did not exist the other would surely be the goat by a landslide. It makes the discussion very interesting.

Messi was officially GOAT as soon as he won da copa america, all da time you'd hear "Herp derp he can't be goat because he hasn't won anything significant with da national team" but now dat he has dey can all shut da fuck up and admit messi is literally da GOAT

Also lmao at comparing messi with Cronaldo, Cronaldo is a great striker but Messi is a great player, he can do everything. Dere is a reason why Messi has always been compared to pele and Maradona and Cronaldo has never been compared to dose other goat contenders
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Not only Messi scores goals but he assists a crazy amount.

I don't think Ronaldo can carry a crap team like Argentina to victory.

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