Gotta say, Messi bores me out of my mind most of the time. I have the utmost respect for his talent but he's just as machine-like as Ronaldo to me; it's just that he's twice the player. I'd rather watch someone like Ronaldinho or Original Ronaldo any day.

Same here. Neymar is where entertainment's at.

Yeah, Neymar's easily the most entertaining out of the new generation of players. Football would be so much poorer without guys like him.

Klaus wrote:

Gotta say, Messi bores me out of my mind most of the time. I have the utmost respect for his talent but he's just as machine-like as Ronaldo to me; it's just that he's twice the player. I'd rather watch someone like Ronaldinho or Original Ronaldo any day.

I see where you're coming from but I love watching guys like Messi and Kaka. Everything they do looks so silky, effortless and simple and yet requires incredible skill. Messi putting Boateng on his backside before chipping the keeper was magic. 

I think Kaka was a lot more entertaining than Messi too, at least for a few years in his prime.

Imo there aren't any players out there as entertaining to watch as Messi. Is there anything people like to see Özil do that Messi can't do as well?

I can see why Messi might be boring to watch in that he hardly ever fails. If he's through on goal, he scores. If he wants to beat a man, he will. In some respects, his narrative with the national team makes more compelling viewing because it's the only time when the odds are against him.

I can't see how Messi doesn't inspire anyone watching though - the things he does is supernatural. And even in the biggest of games he does something insane - were you bored when Messi chipped Neuer? Or dribbled past the entire Bilbao team in the Copa Del Final? Or nutmeg half the Man City team? I wasn't. He's got a sense of occasion like few others while simultaneously being one of the best goal scorers and creative midfielders at the same time.

The biggest compliment I can give is that I can't stand Barcelona but I try to catch them or watch their highlights just to see what Messi does. Which I can't say I've done for many other players - apart from Ronaldinho.

I do find it understandable if anyone finds Messi boring due to the sheer efficiency of his game.

Sport, and football specifically are best when there is unpredictability, suspense, drama. We're not just watching to appreciate the ability on show, we demand entertainment, theatre, spectacle.

Someone like Neymar goes out of his way to produce the audacious, the flamboyant. The rainbow flick the other day, the flick, turn, and volley a few months ago. It's an important part of what makes football so much better than any other sport.

If you were showing a footballing novice a player to try and get them into the game, you'd go for a Zidane, a Ronaldinho, a Neymar, for sure.

Messi does still have moments of flair, and moments where he goes out of his way to entertain, but he's not one of the all time performers.

Messi is amazing. Head and shoulders above anyone who has ever played the game bar Maradona

Shady wrote:

If you were showing a footballing novice a player to try and get them into the game, you'd go for a Zidane, a Ronaldinho, a Neymar, for sure.

But if you were showing a novice a goal, you'd probably show him some long range effort from Stevie G or overhead kick rather than Dennis Bergkamp's goal against Argentina or Newcastle because they wouldn't necessarily appreciate the technique or excellence that's required. I'm not sure accessibility to new fans is a good indication of the skill that's on display. And after watching football for more than a decade, skill is what is hard to come by, not flair.

It's the same sort of criticism (?) directed at the likes of Federer at times which I never understood. And while sport is about drama, it's also in equal parts about skill otherwise we'd all be watching the lower leagues. I still maintain though, whenever there's a script to be written, it's usually Messi that writes it and I find it inconceivable that anyone would rather watch a game featuring Kaka than Messi.

What Mirth said.

Quincy raises a good point too. Aside from the goalscoring and dribbling stuff Messi does what Özil does to a much higher level, if you can't enjoy Messi doing that then it would make little sense to enjoy Özil's game either. I can understand the reasoning behind saying it gets boring how he's just so blatantly better than everyone else but as a football fan there is no way I'll ever get bored watching the guy play.

Think I've posted it in the past but since we're hijacking poor Cristiano's thread anyway (the clip has English subtitles):

It's not just his talent that sets him apart from everyone else, it's his mentality of always playing on. If you don't know the video you should watch it, it makes you appreciate the guy more who, as Casciari puts it, doesn't really seem to understand the game.

Epitome of entertainment for me, nobody past or present comes even close.

I think Messi has found new motivation since Suarez came into the team, and his position changed. For a few years prior to that I often got the vibe that he didn't even enjoy playing. Very machine like, but frighteningly efficient of course. For the past 18 months or so he looks to have found that love and enjoyment again and, to me, he is again much more entertaining to watch. Penalty the other day is a case in point; can any of you imagine Messi trying that 2 years ago? I can't.

That was a great vid jones, can't normally sit through entire compilations but saw all of that one.

I've seen that video before but it still brought a tear to my eye and i don't even support Barcelona.
My biggest regret, watching it was not understanding Spanish and having to miss the action reading the subtitles.
The commentary was beautiful.
Emotional and from the heart (total opposite of CRonaldo).
Unfortunately age has robbed us of that Messi and it will remain a regret for me, for ever, that i hated Barcelona at the time and only watched them when forced, depriving myself of incredible memories. I blame Eboue.
BTW CRonaldo scoring that fantastic goal yesterday certainly shut up those reporters who were going on about his away goal record.
It's only mid-season and the man is doing ok.

It must be a great feeling being a Barcelona fan, season ticket holder, having been in your 20s or 30s when Messi got into the team at 18 or whatever he was. The absolute privilege it must feel like to have been fortunate enough to first hand see this guy throughout his career, playing for the team you love.

Bold Tone wrote:

BTW CRonaldo scoring that fantastic goal yesterday certainly shut up those reporters who were going on about his away goal record.
It's only mid-season and the man is doing ok.

Was it not a deflection?

Vintage Ronaldo chop though.

😆 That, is a quality piece.

60' Szczesny facing a lot of pressure at the moment. Still looking like a boss. albeint an anxious boss, like one with their quarterly review coming up with the board...