Summer Mercato 2011

[reza]

Same old stuff, please keep non mercato talk to separate threads....having said that, come on guys Messi is one of the best all time, to me it doesn't matter if he is 10th all time or 20th all time or whatever because I don't think it's fair to rank a 24 year old any way.

[LebRN]

lol lol

funny stuff today

And why would I? For 50 millions we can get two world class players for positions where we actually lack quality.

well for one, you could buy for 50 & sell him to Man City for 150

that's mercato discussion reza
by the way, i totally agree with you...and not just because you are the admin

[russo-neri]

well for one, you could buy for 50 & sell him to Man City for 150

Funny stuff

But Messi would then say no to ManCity and we'd be forced to sell him to Madrid for only 75

[Dha Brain]

Messi is not the same playing out of barca's system , & without xavi & iniesta , this midfield even made javier saviola , edgar gudjohnsson seem like extrodinary strikers , real players shine with they're national team since south africa messi has 0 gols in international compitions thats proof hes not as effective in other systems , even cristiano ronaldo , has scored with a inferrior portugal squad who barely lost 1 - 0 to spain ,

[Jay Crisp]

Has it come to us just discussing Messi.Let's stay on topic even if it's a bit quiet for us ATM.

[Aficio]

Argentina don't have a playmaker, they play like crap.

Milan didn't have a playmaker in Feb, we lost to Tottenham.

[Gabriel426]

Its really funny how people wants to play down how great Messi is by putting him down when he is not playing well.

Whether you like to admit or not, Messi is currently the best player in football by miles. Is he the greatest of them all, that will always be up for argument. But pls stop using he can't lead Argentina to International glory as a reason he is not among the greatest. Madlini is arguably the best defender of all time, but according this WC/International Glory logic he was not better than R. Carlos and Breheme as a LB and Canna, Thuram, Blanc, Pugol, and Nesta as CB. We always say we should not judge a player by an Int'l tournament yet, most of you kept doing it when it comes to Messi. True that Messi has more than one Int'l tournament to judge from, but how can you discredit what he had done so far in his career. He got 4 or 5 Liga titles, 1 or 2 World Clubs title, and 3 CLs(going to count the one Dinho won while he was injured) and he is only 24. At this rate, he will rightfully take the title of Mr. 4 time CL winner from Slowdorf in a year or two.

Lastly, don't say Messi is only great b/c of Xavi and Iniesta. IF thats the case, someone in Spain should be scoring goals like Messi in Barca during International tournament, yet they are the lowest scoring WC winners of all time, with currently one of the best finisher in Villa playing upfront.

Not once have I read Messi coming out and say he is the best there ever will be and miles ahead of Pele, Curiff, Maradona, Baggio or others. Not once have he comes out and disrespect his opponents or his teammates. Now I am not saying he is a saint but at least none of his on and off the field behaviors are negative to the point where we as fans can say he is an a-hole or he got issues.

Just enjoy Messi as he is someone we can tell our grand children stories about b/c I doubt anyone of us will tell them about how Boateng and Gattuso runs around the pitch while Slowdorf walks. As it has been a long time since there is someone as exciting as Messi.

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Argentina don't have a playmaker, they play like crap.

Milan didn't have a playmaker in Feb, we lost to Tottenham.

I always wonder how come Messi can't cut it in Argentina and I think the reason is that Argentina does not have a creative midfielder on the team and the Argentinian Coach is instructing Messi to be that creative force, a role where he can't excel in.

[ACMILAN1983]

Dev, understand your points.

The thing is, if Hamsik is going to play that Robin role for Ganso, I think Honda is still better suited, as he has proved he can play at the highest level with Japan in WC and Asian Cup, while also played a huge role in his team CL run. Hamsik had not done well during big games.

Although Hamsik has the potential to be great, he also could be another Amauri or Gila. Even though I am a fan of Hamsik, I still think Honda is a better signing if another playmaker like Ganso is sign or just him. Since he showed that he can play in big games. Now I am not saying he will have impact like Hernanes did with Lazio but at the very least his work rate, understanding of the game and he willingness to do all the little things on the pitch will have a huge impact for Milan. As someone said, Honda is Boateng with better skills on and off the ball along with a cannon shot.

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I think your arguments are fair, but I think while Honda's already shown pretty much what he's capable of, Hamsik still has plenty of room to grow and overall greater potential imo. I'm unconcerned about what's often said about Hamsik's big game mentality, because Napoli in general failed in their big games. I don't know why, but I just don't think Honda has as much room to grow as Hamsik, as to me he's lacking something I can't put my finger on to take him to the top. I guess I'm just going off intuition rather than logic in this argument, but I don't ever see Honda being considered amongst the best in Europe.

Boateng's a very difficult player to judge. He's often considered fairly average in ability, but some of the things he showed during the season really impressed me, although I agree Honda at the moment is the more complete player. His character is definitely his strongest attribute though, and this is really what I think could take him to the top (a bit like Rino).

[Ryo]

Whether you like to admit or not, Messi is currently the best player in football by miles. Is he the greatest of them all, that will always be up for argument. But pls stop using he can't lead Argentina to International glory as a reason he is not among the greatest. Madlini is arguably the best defender of all time, but according this WC/International Glory logic he was not better than R. Carlos and Breheme as a LB and Canna, Thuram, Blanc, Pugol, and Nesta as CB. We always say we should not judge a player by an Int'l tournament yet, most of you kept doing it when it comes to Messi. True that Messi has more than one Int'l tournament to judge from, but how can you discredit what he had done so far in his career. He got 4 or 5 Liga titles, 1 or 2 World Clubs title, and 3 CLs(going to count the one Dinho won while he was injured) and he is only 24. At this rate, he will rightfully take the title of Mr. 4 time CL winner from Slowdorf in a year or two.

Lastly, don't say Messi is only great b/c of Xavi and Iniesta. IF thats the case, someone in Spain should be scoring goals like Messi in Barca during International tournament, yet they are the lowest scoring WC winners of all time, with currently one of the best finisher in Villa playing upfront.

You know for a fact that its impossible to match Slowdorf's feat.
He won 4 with three different clubs, playing in 3 different systems, from 3 different countries (Netherlands, Spain and Italy).
As much as we choose to disrespect him because he's now old and walks on the pitch more often than not, and because he runs like he's wearing Birkenstock sandals all the time, he is and always will have the title of Mr. Adaptability.

If you want to make the comparisons that way, take Messi, drop him into two other teams in two other countries and let him win the CL there before doing it.

The two player's experiences are vastly different, its impossible to compare a Journeyman with a Bandiera.
The one who you can compare to though, should be Maldini, and given whats been won, Maldini wins

[will4li]

Overall physical attributes(combination of strenth,speed,endurance,ability to maintain intensity....) is the unsurmountable barrier for japanese footballer to reach very top.

I'm not a racist,but you got to admit that yellow skin athletes are somewhat inferior.that's why NBA scouts describe some best athlectic prospects potential 'only sky is the limit' or 'you can't teach height'.

So,before japanes player reach substantial skill and tactical-wise advantage, I'd rather choose hamsik,even boateng over honda anytime.