Messi and the best of all times debate

Another incredible performance by the Argentinian genius and we still counting. Messi’s display against Bayern Leverkusen was yet another one for his collection of memorable matches. Perhaps what makes this one stand out are the five goals he scored, which is something no player had done in the Champions League under the current format.

It is so often that we see these displays of talent by the Argentinian that sometimes we forget that he’s not the rule but the exception. Stop for a second and think this: Messi is less than 10 goals away from becoming Barcelona’s top scorer ever. Before you digest that think about this as well: he’s only 24 years old.

There have been great players over the years. Players that make you fall in love with football and with their game regardless of the team they belong. For example, Pele, Maradona, Di Stefano, Cruyff, Kubala, Zidane or Ronaldo Nazario to mention a few. So the question comes up: is Who is the best of all time?

This is a tough question that I think it’s unfair and impossible to answer. Instead of a ranking, I rather think of a football Olympus where only memorable players can enter. Why can’t we rank them? Because every contender for “best of all time” has some handicap that makes it almost impossible to do so.

Pele had the world cups but he never proved himself in European competitions. On the other hand, Cruyff, Kubala, and Di Stefano had the European performances and cups but they couldn’t win a single world cup. Perhaps for this reason Maradona may have a slight lead as he proved both at the European level and the World Cup as well. However, he didn’t win the Champions League.

So it all comes to a point where you have to decide how to compensate, is a world cup more impressive than 5 champions league titles? Is winning every club tournament not as good as winning a world cup? Is a Europa cup with a small team more valuable than a champions league trophy? And what about goal count and individual awards. It’s just too much to makes these comparisons and it change from player to player.

Going back to that ‘Football Olympus’, Messi is already a member of that elite group without a doubt. He’s a player that has a whole generation talking about his game. I do believe that a world cup victory will consolidate him even further as the face of football for generations to come; but what he has achieved at his young age is almost unheard.

With 24 years and 3 champions league, 5 league titles, 1 King’s Cup, 5 Spanish super cup, 2 European Super Cups, 2 Clubs World Cups, an Olympic Golden Medal with Argentine, 3 Ballon d’Or, and many other individual titles, the sky is the limit for this player. He hasn’t let success get to his head and he keeps playing with the same hunger of a kid that wants to prove himself.

So, is Messi the best in history? We may never answer that but he’s definitely, without a doubt, the best at this time in history.

And so Ibrahimovic is the chosen one

Curve Ball: when it looked like an Ibrahimovic – Eto’o trade was almost impossible, and that Villa was just a matter of hours before he could sign for Barça, and that Forlan was the “Plan B” Joan Laporta throws us a curve ball and ends up solving two of the biggest problems for Pep Guardiola. He got rid of Eto’o who, despite his incredible professionalism and amazing goal record in Barça, was not in the coach list for next season. On the other hand, Guardiola has the first striker he had in mind for Eto’o replacement. After all the spending and new faces that the rival [Real Madrid] had done over the past weeks the crowd was starting to get very nervous; but Laporta and Txiki Beriguistain made an impact with this signing; the Maxwell effect was present this time as well and Valencia let the opportunity of adding some needed money to their accounts with the sale of Villa go. Now, only time will tell if in the long term the trade was such a good idea but in the mean time the impact has been done. Ibrahimovic comes to Barça with a thirst for titles; he has won it all in Holland and Italy but now it’s time to aim not only for the local trophies but also the Champions League. This thirst is what the team needs to keep in a positive dynamic after winning all last season. Sandro Rossell, ex-vice-president of Barça, said that he would have sold Ronaldinho after the victory of the champions league in 2006 and everybody thought he was nuts but time proved him right. Guardiola thinks that the team needed some new faces and that some players [I.E Eto’o] have finished their cycle in Camp Nou.

Two Styles, One Goal: Ibrahimovic said in his first press conference as a Barcelona player that he didn’t come to replace Eto’o and that they were totally different players. The Swedish player is right, he’s not Eto’o and he can’t be compared to the Cameroonian but unfortunately that’s a shadow he will always have for bad or for good. Eto’o is a striker whose best quality is his ability to shot on goal; when he shot it was a goal; or at least a very serious chance of goal; whenever he opened the score Barça would be in the route of victory. However, the Cameroonian lacked of some skills that would have made him the best striker in the world; Eto’o is not a good header, he couldn’t play well unless he was facing the area; and he is not very secure when taking a penalty shot. However, he compensates for that by scoring the goals that matter the most and the ones that give your team title wins. Ibrahimovic on the other hand offers a lot of skills and good passing; he’s a good header and deadly when taking penalty shots. He’s missing big games’ goals but now it is time to prove it. In Barça he will benefit a lot from Xavi and Iniesta’s game and his team mates will benefit from his skills as well. Both Eto’o and Ibrahimovic are world apart but the goal is something they will always have in common.

Thank You Samuel: Samuel Eto’o will be always remembered in Camp Nou for his character, his passion for winning, his way of always saying what was on his mind which sometime gets him a bad reputation, but above all Samuel will always be remembered for his goals. Two hundred games he played for Barcelona and he scored 130 goals to become the third best striker in the club history. Of all goals there are two that will be the bests in for him, for the club and for our memories; the first one in Paris against Arsenal in the final of the champions league 2006. That goal opened the victory road for a more than deserving second title. Then he repeated the routine last May 27 against Manchester United to get us the third champion league title. I would have loved to see Samuel leave Barcelona with a press conference at Camp Nou before heading to Inter Milan; but perhaps this is the best way to say goodbye. I’m sure that Eto’o will come back to Camp Nou to face Barça in the coming years; when that happens he will receive a well deserve standing ovation.

The Was, Is, and Will be Stars

Futbol is one of the most unpredictable sports. It only takes one game to go from the best to the worst; from a winning streak and calculations of when to celebrate the title to a losing streak in which every hope is lost. This is the nature of this sport and what makes it so beautiful. Barcelona is no different than any other club in this aspect; in fact, the so-demanding crowd is always on top of everything and can go from love to hate in a matter or weeks. If you don’t believe this look at Samuel Eto’o who was booed at home in the last gamer of last year’s season, and now is acclaimed in every game. Every few years Barca crowns a new star and forgets about the previous one; the bests, most of the time, wear the Catalan jersey; for example, Kubala, Cruyff, Romario, Maradona, Ronaldo, Rivaldo among others.

The Was. Ronaldinho Gaucho was less than 14 month ago still the king of Barca. He was a player that with his smile and skills brought faith back to the a team that hadn’t won a title for over five years. In his first year he would do a new trick every week and would make a mediocre team look like a million bucks. In his second year, Rijkaard designed a team around the Brazilian. Eto’o would be the man that would transform every pass from Ronaldinho into a goal; Deco was the man that covered his back; and the scheme was changed to a 4-3-3 where the left wing would be the main weapon of the team with Ronaldinho being unstoppable on the 1 on 1. However, if the rise of Ronaldinho was fast so was his fall. After a dream season in which he conquered the league title and champions league and even getting applauded in the Santiago Bernabeu stadium (something that had never happened) Ronaldinho experienced that the challenge is not getting to the top but staying. Now in Milan he is still a mere shadow of what he was. He no longer creates danger and is very easy to stop in the one on one. Nearly 8 month after his departure it is easy to see that both Txiki and Guardiola were right in excluding the Brazilian from the team.

The Is. When one is gone another comes; with that mentality Barcelona found his new king and they didn’t have to expend millions in this one. Lionel Messi was brought from the junior team at the end of 2004 and as soon as he had his first change he showed Barcelona what he was capable of; the next year he even took the place of veteran Giuly who had to sit down and watch how a 19 year old boy outplayed him. Now, with Ronaldinho gone Messi has become the new king; and not because Barca needed to fill that position but because he has earned it. Right now Messi is the best player in the world. He is like a formula one car that goes directly to the end line to win. It only takes him seconds to plan a play that will end at least on a change of scoring. His weak point has been the constant muscular injuries but Guardiola, up until now, has managed him well to avoid this injuries. Messi needs to learn from Ronalinho and realize that the challenge was not getting there but staying. Only time will tell how long will this king last.

The Will Be. It is impossible to predict the future and what will happen. It is impossible to know what will happen with Messi. However, Barcelona has learnt the lesson with Ronaldinho and will probably manage better the Argentinean. Regardless, there is somebody that will headline the news in the very near future along or without Messi. That is, Bojan. Krkic. The young half Spanish and half Serbian striker breaths goal; he’s the kind of striker that doesn’t need to shine too much to show his talent and can appear in a game in just seconds. He has something different from Eto’o ; Bojan is an area predator he knows where he has to be. Last year he was given a responsibility bigger than his chances when he had to carry a team that was in the process of decomposition. This year he’s been managed more accordingly with his age and experience. Barcelona has found out their future number 9. Give him 2 years.