Messi best in the world.....again

**voLcanasm** · 01-10-12, 12:20 AM

Messi won his third player of the year aka ballon d'or. Any soccer fan comments?

Personally I love it. I grew up playing soccer, Messi has been my idol because he is short like me. Makes me wish I had gone to college for soccer!

**DuDDy** · 01-10-12, 12:56 AM

this is more like a "duh ya think" award for him.

**voLcanasm** · 01-10-12, 01:06 AM

I dunno man. He is a great player and all, but he is on one of the best if not the best team in soccer right now. It's hard to say whether Barcelona is so good because of him or he is so good because of Barcelona. The Ballon d'Or comes down to that.

**DuDDy** · 01-10-12, 01:12 AM

its a mix of both. barca is fucking amazing, and messi is just unbelievable. 2 rights equal total awesomeness.

**voLcanasm** · 01-10-12, 01:16 AM

Agreed. Barcelona has been my team since I was little. To see them be such a dream team now is incredible, but no matter what, Messi is their lead man right now, and has been for the last three years.

I still just love to see the soccer world praise a man for so long.

**salty99** · 01-10-12, 01:19 AM

Rooney is and has always been my main man, but If I had to pick somebody else to get the award I'd take messi over most others. Ronaldo is talented but I hate his guts and will not concede that he is best in the world.

I'm still bitter about Barca taking the CL trophy from us

but they are definitely a top notch club. I would say their performance and Messi's performance compliment each-other rather than being dependent on each-other. Messi has had terrible matches where the rest of the team picks up his slack but he is still a huge asset. I think he could play on most clubs in la liga and do well.

I think he'd get torn to pieces if he ever played in the EPL though; he can take a hit but the English midfield would throw off his play style.

**voLcanasm** · 01-10-12, 01:25 AM

Hmmm. To be honest, I like Rooney's power forward style, but past that I think he doesn't have shit. I love that he has always been a threat on any defensive line just by running through a player, but I don't think that is the future of soccer/football.

I think finesse is the future of football. It always has been a huge aspect. England changed that in the 60's, but I think the EPL will give in to the finesse of Spanish style soccer.

**salty99** · 01-10-12, 01:40 AM

Originally Posted by voLcanasm

Hmmm. To be honest, I like Rooney's power forward style, but past that I think he doesn't have shit. I love that he has always been a threat on any defensive line just by running through a player, but I don't think that is the future of soccer/football.

I think finesse is the future of football. It always has been a huge aspect. England changed that in the 60's, but I think the EPL will give in to the finesse of Spanish style soccer.

hmmm I get what you are saying and I would hate to admit it, finesse football is where most clubs are heading. English soccer (the top clubs anyway) seem to be looking to adapt with alot of Spanish trends these past few seasons. Barca straight up embarrassed us in the Champion's League.

I think English soccer may take on more finess in the coming seasons but there is a difference I don't see happening and that's the slow possession style that the Spanish national team is so famous for. They have their moments of glory but most of the game is spent keeping the ball safe and looking for openings/exploiting them with brief moments of speed. Messi is great at this style and one of the reasons he fits so well with Barca. I think the English will continue to play more of a long ball style. Just my opinion though, alot of changes happening in the EPL latley and I'm sure there'll be plenty of suprising when the transfer window opens back up

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**voLcanasm** · 01-10-12, 01:55 AM

I agree completely. I honestly think possession of the ball is one of Barcelonas weak points. Everyone obsesses over Barca's posession, but one mistake and it's thrown in their face.

I think the best combination for football is possession with the look for the long ball. I want Barca to do the long ball all the time. The difference is the 4-3-3 vs. the 4-4-2. The 4-3-3 has no outside midfielders for the long diagonal. Which I personally despise. It's exciting to see the long through ball, but the 4-5-3 takes some of the excitement away.

Edit: Accidentally put 4-5-3 o.O

**Red_Lizard2** · 01-10-12, 11:26 PM

The problem England is going to have in adjusting to a more finesse is the need to reform the whole way they train and teach youth. I'll have to find it again, but their is a great article about how Ajax runs its youth academy (and why they get some great finesse players). England right now is still mostly about the "biggest and/or fastest," which gets the next Aaron Lennon or Theo Walcott found, but not some of the guys who are slower but at least have the ability to be a great talent (basically a Cattermole or Huddlestone, but with real talent =P).

There has been some work on a tactic to quell the 4-2-3-1 lately, but of course I can't find the dang article now xD. With Barcelona, while I like that style of play (somewhat), I do find it annoying how often it seems to be short pass/side pass back and forth. Oh it works no doubt, but I like something that has that same type of set-up, with some shots taken down the field now and then. Not to say that I don't like seeing an organized defense now and then though (as long as it doesn't turn the game into a snore fest xD)