I think it's safe to say that Messi's nerves just don't hold up when the big potato is on the line.
Whenever we talk about Messi vs. Ronaldo we look at the technical aspect and their pure talents and while I think Messi has the slight edge, I just think Ronaldo is mentally far superior than Messi which is weird when you watch both of them play.
One appears to have a very emotion laden expression on his face when things are on the line and starts to "complain" and just yap a lot (CR) and the other just appears to be very calm and collected on the surface without many gestures (Messi). But the reality seems to be that Ronaldo just uses this outlet to stay focused while Messi just seems to lose focus and just blows up internally.
Today's game was a prime example when you could watch Messi's play deteriorate with every second closer to the final whistle.
I'm clearly biased because I'm a Real fan, but I truly wish Messi would get it all together and win a world cup to just cement his legacy. If he doesn't win it it won't completely diminish his achievements but he will probably be on a level with Cruyff rather than be Maradona's heir apparent.
It’s crazy how every post of yours can somehow relate back to Germany, lol.
Portugal embarrassingly drew with Iceland and Ronaldo captained them to winning the tournament.
Your turn, Messi.
How Iceland should play in your opinion? Its a very little nation with a population around 300000.
Its their only chance to get good results. Its a huge performence to even be at WC with a population similar to Bufallo.
The weakness is not Iceland. Its the Fifa who wants to much Teams at WC.
Don't know about anyone else but I thought it was a good game. Besides, what else are they going to do? They're not going to take Argentina on man-to-man so make it difficult for them. They got a draw against Portugal, beat England and now drew against Argentina doing it so it cleary works.
You're right - there are meaningless games in a knockout tournament.Half of which, the matches that really mattered, was from the sidelines.
You're right - there are meaningless games in a knockout tournament.
*shrug* it's only because your only football-posts are about a guy who's germany's b**** ;-)
Not at all, I have commented in each match thread. Yesterday people talked about De Gea’s howler, you brought up Neuer. The game finished, your observation was that neither team poses a threat to Germany. In this one, it’s about somehow avoiding Germany last tournament. Somebody says Ronaldo is best poacher ever, you talk about Gerd. It’s okay dude, you’re a hardcore German fan and I respect that, but you don’t need to inject it in literally every single thread and post.
This is one of the most uninformed posts I've seen.
You clearly do not watch Messi with any sort of regularity much less know his history as a player. The number of times he's come up big in his career is more than any other current active player, including Ronaldo. CL Finals, multiple Clasicos including head-to-head vs Ronaldo, Copa Finals, big league matches, etc. FFS, just look at how Argentina got into this tournament.
Messi blows up internally? He didn't do that in this match. He also didn't deteriorate with every second closer to the final whistle. He had a fantastic effort in the second half that was almost on target. And to compare this match to Portugal - Spain, which you haven't done but someone like @RoyIsALegend did, is just stupid.
So Messi has to win a World Cup to cement his legacy but Ronaldo doesn't? I love Cruyff, but Messi is better than him. He's also been better than Maradona. World Cup wins in terms of a "cementing a player's legacy" are overblown. They're also ridiculously used as some sort of measuring stick when it comes to Messi despite everything he's accomplished.
Do yourself a favor. Watch Messi play more than the odd World Cup match and do some homework on his career. He's consistently been a big match player his entire career.
I think it's safe to say that Messi's nerves just don't hold up when the big potato is on the line.
Whenever we talk about Messi vs. Ronaldo we look at the technical aspect and their pure talents and while I think Messi has the slight edge, I just think Ronaldo is mentally far superior than Messi which is weird when you watch both of them play.
One appears to have a very emotion laden expression on his face when things are on the line and starts to "complain" and just yap a lot (CR) and the other just appears to be very calm and collected on the surface without many gestures (Messi). But the reality seems to be that Ronaldo just uses this outlet to stay focused while Messi just seems to lose focus and just blows up internally.
Today's game was a prime example when you could watch Messi's play deteriorate with every second closer to the final whistle.
I'm clearly biased because I'm a Real fan, but I truly wish Messi would get it all together and win a world cup to just cement his legacy. If he doesn't win it it won't completely diminish his achievements but he will probably be on a level with Cruyff rather than be Maradona's heir apparent.
Sorry, but what you said was about as safe as entering a minefield. How many matches a year you watch -- five?
Huge part of the reason Cristiano looked so good yesterday was the fact that, unlike Iceland, Spain did not stay on their own half in ten men almost all the time.
Did you see how Iceland marked Messi? He could only dream of the space Ronaldo had yesterday. Yeah, he blew the penalty, but that's about as much as we can say. Iceland plays the way Greece played in 2004. It will be a tough nut to crack for anyone. The moment they scored the equalizer, I knew the score was likely to remain at 1:1, simply because Iceland would only destroy from then on.
You are veeeeeeery upset.
I remember now why I don't frequent this board as often, there is always that one wannabe analyst that believes to know more than the people who have actually played the game their whole life and were also rather successful in doing so.
How dare you question an oberliga legend?!
You are veeeeeeery upset.
Must have hit a nerve there hm?
As a Spaniard who's played soccer for 20+ in Germany I'll continue to be confident in my evaluations of the game itself and the players.
The fact that you didn't pick up on Messi's deteriorating play in the last 10 minutes against Iceland tells me all I need to know about your expertise on this topic. Which in turn just makes me shrug my shoulders when you tell people they are uninformed.
I remember now why I don't frequent this board as often, there is always that one wannabe analyst that believes to know more than the people who have actually played the game their whole life and were also rather successful in doing so.
In the meantime continue polishing those "Clasico Trophies", I've heard they are beautiful.
*sigh* a shame more people haven't watched Gerd
You just described all the newbies that come here for the WC and teach us all we need to know about the sport.I remember now why I don't frequent this board as often, there is always that one wannabe analyst that believes to know more than the people who have actually played the game their whole life and were also rather successful in doing so.
Sorry, but what you said was about as safe as entering a minefield. How many matches a year you watch -- five?
Huge part of the reason Cristiano looked so good yesterday was the fact that, unlike Iceland, Spain did not stay on their own half in ten men almost all the time.
Did you see how Iceland marked Messi? He could only dream of the space Ronaldo had yesterday. Yeah, he blew the penalty, but that's about as much as we can say. Iceland plays the way Greece played in 2004. It will be a tough nut to crack for anyone. The moment they scored the equalizer, I knew the score was likely to remain at 1:1, simply because Iceland would only destroy from then on.
Sorry, but what you said was about as safe as entering a minefield. How many matches a year you watch -- five?
Huge part of the reason Cristiano looked so good yesterday was the fact that, unlike Iceland, Spain did not stay on their own half in ten men almost all the time.
Did you see how Iceland marked Messi? He could only dream of the space Ronaldo had yesterday. Yeah, he blew the penalty, but that's about as much as we can say. Iceland plays the way Greece played in 2004. It will be a tough nut to crack for anyone. The moment they scored the equalizer, I knew the score was likely to remain at 1:1, simply because Iceland would only destroy from then on.
It’s not absolute that any percentage of provoke who did in fact watch both would lean toward one or the other.
Marked? We might have differing definitions of being marked, but Messi wasn't marked. Iceland stood solid in their own half, and sure they were "mixing cement" but the supposedly "best player in the world" couldn't find his way through their defense.
There is a difference between man-to-man and zone defense, you guys know that, right?
I watch ONE game a year, today I fulfilled my quota just to piss off a bunch of guys on a hockey board *****ing and moaning about my uninformed opinion on the history's best player in the world... ever,.. like full on elite!
I'm gonna go play FIFA 12 now and slide tackle the **** out of Messi and then score own goals with Barcelona while using my second controller to score own goals with Argentina too.
So many experts, I'll ring up Beckenbauer. He can learn a thing or two from reading all this.
Anyone who claims to be an expert and thinks Maradona is some kind of semi-god is lying. He's not an expert.