[Serie A] JUVENTUS 2-0 Calciopoli Directors [28th Feb, 2016] (4 Viewers)
- Thread starter Marc
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And Messi was missing for the knockout round.
Argentina got through through the knockouts because of defense and Di Maria.
He was MOM in the goalless draw against the netherlands. He was MOM against Switzerland (the goal di maria scored was his assist). The only game he was not the MOM and didnt score or assist in (but still had a high rating for a good performance) was against Belgium where higuain surprisingly scored and hit the bar. The group stage was all messi. This world cup was Messi + the defensive players. Di Maria's contribution comes nowhere close. The guy scored or assisted every single goal but 1 in the entire competition.
He was a joke in the knockouts. He destroyed an incredibly easy group and then disappeared. Sorry. For a guy who scores the way he does, to have 1 assist in 4 knockout games is laughably underperforming. He went missing, missed a large number of easy chances, and created nowhere near the number of chances he should have with the forwards he had playing.
Calling him MOtM agains Netherlands and Switzerland.
Both Mascherano and Romero >>>>> Messi in every single knockout game. Defense and excellent goalkeeping got them through the knockouts. Not Messi's 1 assist in the slightest. Absurd how much people overrate Messi's shit performances.
Just because he's the best player in the world for the last several years and had an excellent group stage (against minnows) doesn't mean you have to entirely overlook when he underperforms. And underperform massively is exactly what he did for 4 straight knockout games; his inability to score or create goals eventually led to Argentina's demise in the final. FFS, a team with Messi, Aguero, Higuain, Di Maria, Lavezzi, etc scored 2 goals in 4 knockout games. And Messi's mediocre play was a huge part of that. Goes from scoring more than 1 goal/per game for Barcelona to not scoring a single goal in 4 knockout matches for Argentina and you call him Argentina's MOtM in 3 of the 4. Seriously, you're ridiculous here. You're Messi fanboy stuff is off the charts.
He was a joke in the knockouts. He destroyed an incredibly easy group and then disappeared. Sorry. For a guy who scores the way he does, to have 1 assist in 4 knockout games is laughably underperforming. He went missing, missed a large number of easy chances, and created nowhere near the number of chances he should have with the forwards he had playing.
Calling him MOtM agains Netherlands and Switzerland.
Both Mascherano and Romero >>>>> Messi in every single knockout game. Defense and excellent goalkeeping got them through the knockouts. Not Messi's 1 assist in the slightest. Absurd how much people overrate Messi's $#@! performances.
Just because he's the best player in the world for the last several years and had an excellent group stage (against minnows) doesn't mean you have to entirely overlook when he underperforms. And underperform massively is exactly what he did for 4 straight knockout games; his inability to score or create goals eventually led to Argentina's demise in the final. FFS, a team with Messi, Aguero, Higuain, Di Maria, Lavezzi, etc scored 2 goals in 4 knockout games. And Messi's mediocre play was a huge part of that. Goes from scoring more than 1 goal/per game for Barcelona to not scoring a single goal in 4 knockout matches for Argentina and you call him Argentina's MOtM in 3 of the 4. Seriously, you're ridiculous here. You're Messi fanboy stuff is off the charts.
Messi obviously does better in Barca than in Argentine. I never disputed that or suggested otherwise so I don't know why you are making this comparison. If he was the same for argentina, then there would be no dispute about who is the best player in the history of the game including in non-club football. That does not mean that he did poorly. Your boy di maria and aguero both of which are world class players did not contribute half as much as he did at any stage in the WC. Messi is the only argentinian forward that really showed up in the competition. Di maria is a distant second. The rest might as well have stayed at home.
About not creating chances you are totally off. Not only did Messi complete more dribbles than any other player at the tournament (46), he also created more chances than anyone else (23) which goes to show how wasteful Aguero and Co were. Messi did more than his fair share for his team and you have to keep in mind that he gets marked more than anyone else in the world. Again he scored or assisted every goal that they scored apart from Higuain's. Your suggestion that Di maria was better is ludicrous. The rest of the supposedly world class players failed to show up. I don't really member the many horrible misses by the guy.
Mascherano was great I don't disagree with that.
Whoscored is a joke with their ratings system, as are most of those ratings systems.
Messi had 1 assist in 4 knockout games. That's all that needs to be said about his performance. All else is fluff. For a guy who had been scoring at a goal a game clip during group stage and qualifiers to go scoreless in 4 straight knockout games is massively under performing. It really cannot be looked at any other way. He's been terrible in big matches for Argentina. His job is to score and assist and he just hasn't done it.
Messi had 1 assist in 4 knockout games. That's all that needs to be said about his performance. All else is fluff. For a guy who had been scoring at a goal a game clip during group stage and qualifiers to go scoreless in 4 straight knockout games is massively under performing. It really cannot be looked at any other way. He's been terrible in big matches for Argentina. His job is to score and assist and he just hasn't done it.
the guy couldnt score againt Switzerland or Belgium even ffs
Seriously. WTF is wrong with his fanboys. They can't even admit when he has bad performances. 0 goals - 1 assist in 4 matches, and they try to argue he performed well. Even Higuain scored in the knockouts.
Pathetic. And so defensive.
Switzerland. Messi highlights. He assisted the winning goal. Earlier in the match, he put 1 cross in on a free kick that gave Argentina a great header that could be construed as a chance created. A game in which Di Maria was Argentina's best attacker, and most dangerous attacker all game long. Messi created nothing in open play, and the assist he got required a stunning finish by Di Maria. He didn't give him a tap-in or put him through on goal.
Or watch one of the many Messi vs. Belgium videos on youtube that show his contributions in that match. He didn't create a single chance.
His highlights were multiple dribbles of players to only lose the ball right after, make a poor pass, waste a shot, etc. He wasted an absolutely prime free kick on the edge of the area, put it wide. He had the ball with defender to beat, tried to cut across him and shoot and instead had his shot blocked. He was put clean through on goal with 2 minutes left in injury time in a 1-0 game and choked massively, shot straight at Courtois.
SO that's the WC quarterfinal.
How about creating maybe 1 chance against both Netherlands and Germany?
Scratch that. Just watched a Messi vs Germany that shows all his touches on the ball. Did not create a single chance for his teammates. In fact selfishly didn't pass multiple times where he could have set teammates up for great chances, including one for a tap-in. Both Higuain and Palacio's bad misses against Germany were created by other players (Higuain's by a German player heading the ball back and setting him 1 v 1 with keeper, and Palacio's by a beautiful Rojo cross).
Need I go on, how about his appalling miss against Germany in the final, that could have won Argentina the match. Takes a poor control touch on a lovely through ball which puts him at a less-than perfect angle, and then misses the net on a chance he scores 9/10 times for Barca.
Those chance creation stats, are almost entirely from the group stage, and they include half-chances like free kicks sent in that Argentina players got heads on.
Messi was terrible after the group stage. Successful dribbles mean nothing when they don't lead to anything. Those teams were perfectly fine with Messi dribbling around midfield and then taking the ball away once Argentina got closer to the penalty area.
Regardless. 1 assist in 4 matches speaks louder than anything for a player who is supposed to be an unstoppable goalscorer and assist machine. He is 1 of the biggest reasons Argentina only scored 2 goals in 4 knockout games.
Switzerland. Messi highlights. He assisted the winning goal. Earlier in the match, he put 1 cross in on a free kick that gave Argentina a great header that could be construed as a chance created. A game in which Di Maria was Argentina's best attacker, and most dangerous attacker all game long. Messi created nothing in open play, and the assist he got required a stunning finish by Di Maria. He didn't give him a tap-in or put him through on goal.
Or watch one of the many Messi vs. Belgium videos on youtube that show his contributions in that match. He didn't create a single chance.
His highlights were multiple dribbles of players to only lose the ball right after, make a poor pass, waste a shot, etc. He wasted an absolutely prime free kick on the edge of the area, put it wide. He had the ball with defender to beat, tried to cut across him and shoot and instead had his shot blocked. He was put clean through on goal with 2 minutes left in injury time in a 1-0 game and choked massively, shot straight at Courtois.
SO that's the WC quarterfinal.
How about creating maybe 1 chance against both Netherlands and Germany?
Scratch that. Just watched a Messi vs Germany that shows all his touches on the ball. Did not create a single chance for his teammates. In fact selfishly didn't pass multiple times where he could have set teammates up for great chances, including one for a tap-in. Both Higuain and Palacio's bad misses against Germany were created by other players (Higuain's by a German player heading the ball back and setting him 1 v 1 with keeper, and Palacio's by a beautiful Rojo cross).
Need I go on, how about his appalling miss against Germany in the final, that could have won Argentina the match. Takes a poor control touch on a lovely through ball which puts him at a less-than perfect angle, and then misses the net on a chance he scores 9/10 times for Barca.
Those chance creation stats, are almost entirely from the group stage, and they include half-chances like free kicks sent in that Argentina players got heads on.
Messi was terrible after the group stage. Successful dribbles mean nothing when they don't lead to anything. Those teams were perfectly fine with Messi dribbling around midfield and then taking the ball away once Argentina got closer to the penalty area.
Regardless. 1 assist in 4 matches speaks louder than anything for a player who is supposed to be an unstoppable goalscorer and assist machine. He is 1 of the biggest reasons Argentina only scored 2 goals in 4 knockout games.