Give it to Xavi if there's justice (18 Viewers)
- Thread starter Azzurri7
- Start date
Man, that is a touchy one in Africa.
Iniesta shouldnt be there, but Xavi (joke to think Snejder had better season, when he wasnt even best Inter player last season, would pick Milito and Maicon over him, with their two CBs and JC being as important) and Messi are obvious, especially the latter.
I would be happy if Xavi got the recognition simply because I dont think he will get the chance again. But IMO there is only one just winner. Besides watching him in person, here's some tidbits of Messi's really insanely unrivalled year:
Only reason he wouldnt get it is WC, and that can only be for spanish players, and only one who has enough vital contribution there to even remotely rival his overall year is Xavi, no one else.
I would be happy if Xavi got the recognition simply because I dont think he will get the chance again. But IMO there is only one just winner. Besides watching him in person, here's some tidbits of Messi's really insanely unrivalled year:
- January 16th, 2010: Lionel Messi scores 2 of Barça's 4 goals in their match against Sevilla. The first one marks his 100th goal for Barça. Messi is the 16th player in Barça's history to accomplish this, but he is the youngest one so far. At that moment he was 22 years and 6 months old.
- April 6th, 2010: Barça destroys Arsenal 4 - 1. Messi scores 4 times which means he sets 2 personal records: he increases his goal tally for the 2009/10 season to 39 goals in 43 matches. That's one more than the entire previous season, he scored 38 goals in 51 official matches. It's also the first time in his carreer he scores 4 times in 1 match.
- May 16th, 2010: Messi scores twice in Barça's 4 - 0 victory over Real Valladolid, a victory that gets Barça it's 20th league title. Those goals mean he has scored 47 times in 53 official matches during that season. Which is just as much as Ronald scored in 1996/97, the difference is that the Brazilian needed 49 matches to achieve it.
- During that match, Messi improves a record set by Ronaldo: only counting Primera División matches, Ronaldo scored 34 goals in 37 matches. Messi needed only 34 matches.
- November 2nd, 2010: With his goal against Copenhagen, Messi breaks another club record. It's his 32nd goal in international matches, one more than Rivaldo scored between 1997 en 2002. It's his 30th goal in the CL, he scored twice in the CWC.
- November 13th, 2010: Messi scores twice against Villareal (3 - 1 win). It's his 7th consecutive match with a goal and it means he's broken his personal record from 2007. He manages to extend that run to 9 matches.
- November 20th, 2010: Messi scores 3 times against UD Almería (8-0 win). It's his 99th, 100th and 101st goals in the Primera División. He's only the 4th player in Barça's history to achieve this. Samuel Eto'o (107), Ladislao Kubala (131) and César Rodriguez (195) were his predecessors.
- Against Almería, Messi scores his 5th hattrick for Barça in the Primera División. He did it before against Real Madrid (2007), Tenerife, Valencia and Real Zaragoza (all in 2010). It means he's scored 22 times in 17 matches. It's the 3rd year in a row where he manages to score at least 20 times for Barça.
- November 24th, 2010: Messi scores once against Panathinaikos (3-0 win) which means he's already reached his 150th goal for Barça ever. He needed 232 official matches to reach that number. Since his first match for Barça in the 2004/04 season, he's scored 101 goals in the Primera División, 11 in the Copa del Rey, 31 in European matches, 5 for the Spanish Super Cup and 2 for the CWC. Messi is the 5th player in Barça's history to score 150 times.
- December 21st, 2010: Messi doesn't manage to score against Athletic de Bilbao but he ends 2010 with 2 records: he's scored 42 times in 36 league matches in 2010, more than any other player in the league's history. Including national and international cup matches, Messi scores 58 times in 53 matches. A unique achievement in Spanish football. Never before did a player score so many goals for a Spanish club.
Only reason he wouldnt get it is WC, and that can only be for spanish players, and only one who has enough vital contribution there to even remotely rival his overall year is Xavi, no one else.
10 other players lost against Inter with him, his two collegues in the top 3 for this award included. He was still one of the best players in CL (best for Barca) despite losing to a better team in Inter.
Argies were a joke as a team in WC, Messi was one of the best players in the group stage despite the fail, but despite just being half a year ago, I'm guessing its already forgotten because he didnt score.
He has had one THE most ridicolous season I ever seen a player have, only comparable to Ronaldo's one of 96-97. It would be funny if he wouldnt win it because of a WC where there not much of standout players (usually great spain NT were rather boring, Xavi the midfield maestro, but only player that really stood out for me in WC was forlan). And lose it to a teammate who he is undoubtly superior to, despite that teammate being the best midfielder in the world.
Argies were a joke as a team in WC, Messi was one of the best players in the group stage despite the fail, but despite just being half a year ago, I'm guessing its already forgotten because he didnt score.
He has had one THE most ridicolous season I ever seen a player have, only comparable to Ronaldo's one of 96-97. It would be funny if he wouldnt win it because of a WC where there not much of standout players (usually great spain NT were rather boring, Xavi the midfield maestro, but only player that really stood out for me in WC was forlan). And lose it to a teammate who he is undoubtly superior to, despite that teammate being the best midfielder in the world.
Him >>>>>> Iniesta (and anyone else too). IMO they judge too much on CL and WC (every 4 years), individually in a long season, they had amazing seasons (Ronaldo's case despite 2-3 months injuries), but apparently the team effort of winning a title trumps the individuals are vastly or clearly superior too often.
