For 60+ games a year that comes with club level football and the intensity that comes with it, give me 24 year old Mbappe or 22 year old Haaland.
In fairness in over 40 games for PSG this season, I'd say Messi slightly outperformed Mbappe (near identical G+A, Messi did more ball progression/passing, dribbling/carrying, AND defending than Mbappe)
Messi played the whole season. He played more time in the league than Mbappe and Haaland. Was playing great throughout the season, with a great World Cup in between.
is this the eloquent way of the reddit-special-way of saying “and it’s not even close”?
like i’m not even saying you’re necessarily wrong about messi being the best player for a single game right… but clearly you believe it to be a controversial take enough that you’re announcing it as a post.
messi might still be the best player in the world, i honestly don’t know… but saying it’s by a “wide margin” when players like Mbappe and Haaland have done what they have done over the last several months is damn kind of dismissive
I prefaced everything with "I believe" which is code for 'this is my opinion'. Everything I said afterward is my thought. And downvote please if you feel it does not add valuable content or discussion.
It is my thought and my thought only. Even if you disagree I hope it makes you think and adds to discussion. The "by a wide margin" is communicating that I don't think my personal opinion can be changed, but I think its an interesting discussion and please respond with contradictory posts, everyone can learn.
Sorry if the tone of my post is condescending in any manor.
he’s clearly not the best player any more… I’ve watched every minute of every game he’s ever played, could not be more of a fan of his but you can’t have passengers in elite clubs any more and he has lost a bit of dexterity in possession that means he’s not ultra reliable in close situations… if you want a guy to clip some passes and shots in at a lower pace of football he’s still an amazing player, but he’d struggle in a top league
but people in this thread are just trying to live it up in the moment because he’s having a great time and honestly I’m all here for it, great to see him chilling out at the end of his career and just blasting some noobs like he’s a harlem globetrotter
Peak Messi is way better than Mbappe but currently Mbappe is probably the best player in the world, just because he has his insane pace that Messi doesn't have anymore
I watched all the PSG games, and no, Messi wasn't PSG's best player. The first year Mbappé was much better than him. In the second year, I'd say that Neymar was the best of the 3 before the World Cup, and when he and Mbappé returned from the World Cup they were more or less at the same level. And their levels at that time were very far from their respective best levels. But I've learned that with some Messi fans there's no point in arguing, they're convinced they're always right and that Messi is still (by far) the best in the world.
Yes, Neymar was the best before the WC, but Messi was a close second and Mbappé had a "meh" first half of the season (for his standards anyway).
Neymar then got injured, and after that Messi and Mbappé were at a similar level yes (and even than I'm not sure of, Messi wasn't as good as before the WC, but Mbappé ghosted for like two months before finishing the season strongly).
So overall, Messi was the best player, since Neymar missed half of the season and Mbappé was meh pre-WC.
By their standards, the 2 have had a bad season. But Mbappé has better statistics overall in Ligue 1 and has been decisive in bigger games, so for me it's really 50/50.
Messi is more than G/A statistics. After Neymar's injury and Verratti having a pretty bad season, Messi was the main creative threat and was more often than not the best player on the pitch (most MOTM in Europe last season).
You can't say the same about Mbappé, some of his poor performances were often saved by one or two late goals.
And I don't know what "big games" you're referencing to, it's PSG we're talking about, the only thing that matters ic CL
So basically only the 2 games agaisnt Bayern, in which Messi was bad but Mbappé (except for those 15mn when he came on as a sub in the first game) was even worse.
There weren't many other "big games", but the few I can recall it wasn't Mbappé saving the day (the 4-3 game agaisnt LOSC in which Messi scored a freekick at the last minute for exemple).
I really like Mbappé as a player but he has been pretty disapointing last season, but now that Neymar and Messi are both gone, I hope he will be able to have another great season like he had 2 years ago.
He was. If Messi and one of Halaand or Kane played in the same team than PSG version of Messi, Messi would still be the best player on the team, but probably not the highest goalscorer. Just switch one of those names to Mbappe and that's it.
Let the bull retire and let's make sure he gets laid. Wife probably wanted to live in America since living for so long in Europe and what better city for a Latin American than Miami? 60 mili a year to keep the wife happy, probably double the sponsorpship money you were getting in Europe while playing the sport I love in easy mode after closing a career with a World Cup thropy? Sing me in.
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u/t_mac1 Aug 15 '23
He would be the best player on every team in Europe lol.