I don’t want to hear any more discussion on it
An older article of mine discussed how I would not be going out of my way for a world cup match. I was travelling in Laos, the times were weird, and there weren’t really any convenient sports bars. Also, I had some mates I went and drank with at a sports bar in China, If I was there, I’d have likely gone more.
Still…I did watch the final. It started at 10pm Thailand time so was worthwhile. In a bar in Koh Chang, with a lot of French people.
Messi, after having very good teams throughout his career, and reaching a final already but losing to Germany, finally won the world cup. He stated that he would not retire right now, but this really was his last hurrah I expect, unless PSG get that elusive Champions league, very possible considering the three players who scored in the final all play for PSG!
I believed it before this final but now I am sure…Lionel Messi is the greatest footballer of all time.
It’s not recency bias. It’s not me exaggerating because he’s the best in my era. He’s the best to ever do it.
First, he has essentially completed football! He has won everything there is to win in the sport at club and national level. The only real downside if we are really trying to find gaps is that he hasn’t done it in the premier league.
Look at some top ten lists of all time, how many of them have played in the premier league? Not many, so it’s not necessary.
Besides his stint at PSG where domination of the league and cup systems is all but expected, he has been in one of the major leagues and has dealt with fierce competition from two Madrid teams.
40 goals in a season is an all-time season, forwards have won Balon d’ors for less. Some of the greatest forwards ever have never posted these many goals in a season.
Messi has ten.
Of them, four were 50 or more, and one was 60.
A solid return for a striker is a goal every two games. On career defining seasons for a world class striker will approach a goal a game, maybe even they will get a goal a game.
Messi, in five seasons of his career, averaged MORE than a goal a game.
His best of all was the season 2011–2012, when he scored an unbelievable 70 goals in 63 competitive games — including 50 of 37 league games.
I need to remind you at this stage that defenders he plays against are the very best at defending, they are paid insane sums of money to stop him. These numbers might make you forget this and think they are on his side.
What about playmaking?
In terms of creating goals, Messi does okay too. Let’s look at the all-time assist totals:
1. Lionel Messi — 386
2. Thomas Muller — 294
3. Luiz Suarez — 286
See where this is going?
He is way ahead of everybody. I knew he was a great playmaker and that his stats would support my argument…I was not expecting to see this.
There are many players in the history of the sport who were experts at playmaking and were on the pitch primarily for their ability to create goals for other players. Lionel Messi beats them all in this metric AND has the scoring stats we’ve discussed above.
In terms of accolades, it is again ridiculous that he achieved as much as he did in one career. Four champions leagues, a tonne of league and cup titles, everything. These are team awards however, and his Barcelona team under Pep Guardiola was arguably the best football team ever assembled, so let’s look at individual accolades.
The Balon d’or. The annual award given to the best player of the year, based on their individual performance. An award which many all-time great players will never achieve. Messi has seven.
I welcome disagreement in the comments, but I’m firm with my view.
There are people out there who didn’t think he was the best ever before this world cup. I wonder how many witnessed this and finally changed their minds.
