ITT: LEO 'KING' MESSI

i love bullard as much as anyone, and i'm not wishing harm on him or anything, but most pics i see of the dude off pitch make it look like the guy has maybe 6 months left to live or something:

http://img.thesun.co.uk/multimedia/archive/00429/Jimmy_Bullard_682x4_429252a.jpg

the warmth of lj's maternal embrace is a beautiful way to welcome new football posters into the fold imo.

Awesome post darragh

I laughed

i'm ready for the bigtime

noticed&amused by casual choice of terms:
enjoying the increased thrills in lower-expectation lower-league football is catholic (thumbs down on you guys)
messi's lack of lols/generosity in exchange for focus and consistency is comparatively protestant (high five for him)

i think the 'catholic' was in reference to the poverty, substance abuse and wifebeating aspects iirc.

nobody will want to be my special friend when i praise the chutzpah of chillwave nomenclature as being almost as cool as the murder of abortion doctors

ah right, well i hate all xtians rly but being boring is worse than instituionalizing pederasty i suppose

that's the sort of perverted thinking you espouse when you hate on messi

messi >>>>>>> our maddie

candela in the windass

it always ends with slash

good wholesome muscly lower-league slash

I like LJ's large church w/ windass and messi sharing a hymn book

good wholesome muscly lower-league-humping-genius-into-submission ecclesiastical slash

we're getting dangerously close to catholic baiting again with the 'humping in church' thread

72 goals in 89 starts under guardiola

halfway to being barca's record goalscorer.

everyone stfu. leo 'KING' messi.

Okay. That middle stat is (if true) impressive for him, but really unimpressive for Barca - that makes the all-time record holder ever about the equivalent of Fowler at Liverpool, or a couple of years' Dixie Dean

well if my half hearing it while not concentrating on the telly from yerman from revista de la liga isn't good enough for you then i have no care to provide further proof.

Fowler = 183 in 369 appearances for Liverpool
Cesar Rodriguez = 235 in 351 for Barca

Messi is Barca's 10th top scorer with 114 in 199
Gerrard is Liverpool's with 129 in 517

Dunnon what that means other than Gerrard chips in a shitload considering how deep he plays. Messi not much better than Fowler's goals-per-game but he's 22 years old and getting better every year.

Dixie Dean = pre-war scoring for fun before Hitler spoiled it all.

Controversy on google answers:

1. Cesar Rodriguez 235
2. Ladislao Kubala 196
3. Samuel Eto'o 130
3. Rivaldo 130
5. Mariano Martin 124
6. Charles Rexach 122
6. Patrick Kluivert 122
8. Josep Escola 118
9. Hristo Stoitchkov 117
10. Estanislao Basora 112
Strawbail7

The highest was not Cesar Rodriguez. It was Paulino Alcántara with 357 goals in 357 appearances. He was of Filipino descent and still remains as the highest goal scorer in FC Barcelona History.
Guest

Missed out Ian Rush = 346 in 660

I imagine if Messi stays fit and stays with Barca for >600 games he'll surpass that.

It was Paulino Alcántara with 357 goals in 357 appearances.

215 goals in friendlies.

114/199 goal .57 goals per game.

129/517 .24 goals per game.

gerrard don't play that deep- a good lot of those goals have been while the team is set up around stevie me as second striker, in fact.

so Messi may well be third by end of the season aged 22 (fourth after Paulino Alcántara) - that is pretty bloody impressive

you'd certainly fancy him to be in 5th anyway.

600 x .57 goals per game is 342 goals for barcelona.

No, because if you include Alcántara and therefore friendlies a few other guys move up the table.

xpost

i've scored hundreds of goals in friendlies ffs

ok you're on the list Darragh 'King' Mac

they were for barca 'b' tho :(

Messi not much better than Fowler's goals-per-game but he's 22 years old... and a winger.

How come this guy played so many friendlies anyway?

the war? at a guess.

1911-1927

most games played in the catalunya league- not officially recognised maybe?

lol english managers- read his wiki page.

Not sure Robbie Fowler ever took more than a couple of touches before scoring, either.

yeah but that was his MO- took goalie by surprise with early strike. fowler was superawesome from 94-97 iirc.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2010/mar/27/lionel-messi-argentina

diego 'wanker' maradona

Who do they think he is, Owen Hargreaves?

to be fair to the Argentinians i don't think i've seen Messi do anything for the national team.

yeah he never scores beautiful important goals for argentina oh wait

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6IcOd8gdImg

obviously he still scores occasionally but i've seen him be totally anonymous a good few times.

Yeah kids do that, I think Maradona had one good game at the 1982 WC, aged 22. He wasn't anonymous though...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vefHf4Z2lnY

showing the speed of thought to go Souness two seconds after a high-foot incident

to go Souness

brilliantly phrased

According to Brazil's physical preparation specialists, at the time of that great Dutch side, players were running 5,000 metres per game. By the mid 90s this had doubled, and now some players are covering 13,000.

For all the talk of whether Messi can be considered one of the true greats, why is there never talk of whether pre-Cryuff players can? It must have been piss easy for Pele to play against defenders who never did anything. I mean louisAlan Hanson can talk about how 'easy' it is to play defences but would the current shiiiiite Burnley side whip the Brazil of the sixties because of phyiscal training alone?

(I'm not saying they would, or that the 60s Brazil weren't talented... it is just such a distance jump that for a player like Messi or Zidane to have such physical and technical ability as well as stamina and increased tactical ability to work so well when being tracked harder that they are technically doing double the work every match to say Garrincha or Eusebio...)

If those talented players of yesteryear had today's diet and training regimes wouldn't they still stand out?