stop messi and you can stop Barca. You really think having messi in the team brings problems? Seriously though if Messi didn't play for Barca, they wouldn't be the force they are, same goes for Ronaldo and Madrid

mojojojo101:

Secondly Messi is both the focus for Barcelona and the opponent, with Barca giving him the ball a lot and opponents marking him tightly with more than 1 player, thats going to result in him being tackled a lot.

Problem is, he still causes a huge amount of problems, dispite the extra attention he recieves.

Do teams concentrate too much on how to stop Messi? Leaving too much space for Barca's other talented players?

Do they not put enough pressure on Messi consistantly?

Also, if its a case of JUST giving the ball to Messi, how come he is nowhere near as effective for Argentina? To the point that the he cant help them to beat teams such as Venezuela & Bolivia.

Messi has 19 goals in 66 appearances for Argentina - Goal every 3.5 games

Messi has 216 goals in 304 games for Barcelona - Goal every 1.4 games.

adam9876:

He also has an average of 73.7 passes per game. 31 starts so a total of 2284.7 passes this season so he is basically averaging around 90% success rate for his passing. Not that bad eh?

Looking at the La Liga itself, Messi only has a pass accuracy of 84.8% and averages 66.3 passes per game.

mojojojo101:

Lastly the total number of times he's given the ball away is a some what useless stat, the number of games need to be taken into account at the very least an ideally you'd want to take into account touches of the ball, no. of passes/shots and thier succes rate and his role within the team before coming to any sort of conclusions.

I agree. A % of times he loses the ball would be a much clearer indication.

Is it easy though to jump to the conclusion that the other 4 players that i listed are careless in possession?

Tbh it's not that suprising, he plays nearly every game and is, with the exception of Pedro and Sanchez, Barcelona's most direct player. Messi has played far more games than either of them so it's not suprising he's lost the ball more than them.

Secondly Messi is both the focus for Barcelona and the opponent, with Barca giving him the ball a lot and opponents marking him tightly with more than 1 player, thats going to result in him being tackled a lot.

Lastly the total number of times he's given the ball away is a some what useless stat, the number of games need to be taken into account at the very least an ideally you'd want to take into account touches of the ball, no. of passes/shots and thier succes rate and his role within the team before coming to any sort of conclusions.

IamConnor17:

He is a forward player who plays all around the pitch, the focus of play is always on him, the focus of the other team is to stop him, he has the ball more than any other player ofcourse he is going to be top/near the top for players who have lost the ball... If there was a stat for completed dribbles he would probably be top of that also.

I think your right, but are we able to write-off the other players that i listed as bad players and careless with the ball becuase of their stats?

adam9876:

He also has an average of 73.7 passes per game. 31 starts so a total of 2284.7 passes this season so he is basically averaging around 90% success rate for his passing. Not that bad eh?

Doesnt quite workout like that, as him losing the ball doesnt just mean a loose pass.

But your right, he is "not that bad".

Champions07-08-09:

however i bet he beats more players than anybody else in the league!

Im sure he probably does.

Manchester1989Utd:

Argentina just don't have the players that Barcelona do. Yes they have got talent in abundance but its mainly in the forward position, with a couple of good defensive midfield players thrown in. Barcelona have much more creative talent, thats what Messi really thrives on, having Xavi, Iniesta and Cesc behind him, rather than Cambiasso, Mascherano etc.

Do Argentina rely on Messi too much then?

Or do they play more of a team game? Choosing not to rely on Messi as much?

Maeka Aj:

Also note that Messi plays loads of games and is usually given special treatment by the opposition (double marked etc).

Though he still manages to score and assist consistantly.

Do teams pay TOO much attention to him? Leaving too much space for others?

Should teams put more pressure on him?

Is it possible to win the ball off him in more dangerous areas to enable counter attacks?

He is a forward player who plays all around the pitch, the focus of play is always on him, the focus of the other team is to stop him, he has the ball more than any other player ofcourse he is going to be top/near the top for players who have lost the ball... If there was a stat for completed dribbles he would probably be top of that also.

He also has an average of 73.7 passes per game. 31 starts so a total of 2284.7 passes this season so he is basically averaging around 90% success rate for his passing. Not that bad eh?

Moyesy:

Leo Messi has lost possession of the ball more times than any other player in La Liga this season.

Messi - 261 / Verdu - 239 / Didac - 234 / Valero - 227 / Navas - 209

Is he not actually that good? Does he have the ball more, therefore likely to lose the ball more? Do Barca set up specifically for Messi? Could this be a factor why Messi is much more effective for Barca than he is for Argentina?

Any interpretation of these stats welcome...

the thing is he runs at players more than anybody else and he's not massively strong so he is bound to lose the ball sometimes. however i bet he beats more players than anybody else in the league!

Rea isnt built around ronaldo, neither do they depend on him like how barca do with messi

My opinion, Messi and Ronaldo are only the best players in the world because their clubs built their team around them. You dont try to do that here at United.