(06-26-2019 02:50 PM)VA49er Wrote:  

(06-26-2019 12:46 PM)Volkmar Wrote:  

(06-20-2019 07:57 AM)VA49er Wrote:  Been watching the Copa America. Feel sorry for Messi with how clueless that Argentina team looks with a temp coach hired by a terrible football association. Sometimes I wonder why he even keeps playing.

Anyway, VAMOS PERU! . One win and a draw puts them in second place in their group right behind Brazil. Peru plays Brazil Saturday afternoon.

I don't feel for Messi at all. He has $$$, the love and respect of not only everyone in his country, but fans worldwide, and a life of luxury for essentially being good at kicking a ball. I feel bad for the Argentinian fans because their association repeatedly hires clueless coaches to handle some of the finest talent in the world.

Messi definitely doesn't have the love and respect of everyone in his country, quite the opposite. I know it's hard to believe but he's always compared to Maradona, and constantly chastised for winning with Barca and not being able to replicate that with Argentina. The phrase "pecho frio" comes to mind. I feel bad for Messi and the Argentina fans due to the the clueless AFA. A part of me wishes he'd played for Spain. He could have but chose Argentina. He'd have a world cup and couple euros by now.

If that's the case, then I don't feel bad for the Argentinian fans either. He'll never be as beloved as Maradona was as a player. Even if Maradona is one of those clueless managers I spoke about, his fans will always just point to his playing days with the national team, and the title they won.

But you can't pin everything on Messi. At the top levels of the WC, winning is more about teamwork and how well your stars work together, versus the stars of your opponent on the other side of the field. It's more about quality coaching than any one player on the field. That said, Maradona is the outlier because he single-handedly carried his squad in 1986, though the 'Hand of God' goal also sticks out in people's minds about that tournament.

Messi isn't that type of player, and I've always felt that Ronaldo was the better between the two because while their stats with their respective clubs are comparable, Ronaldo does a better job of carrying Portugal than Messi does of carrying Argentina. But Messi shouldn't have to carry his team, with the talent they have. And not being able to also shouldn't mean that the people of Argentina should dislike him anyway, because it's still mostly the fault of their association and their choices for coach. So if many Argentinian fans can't understand that, and just wanna throw their premier player under the bus and blame everything on him, then screw them.