Is Lionel Messi Really That Good?

As most Spanish football followers would acknowledge, Lionel Messi is a special player, a very, very, very special player. Some would even baptize him as El Diego II, as this columnist has done in the past, and they wouldn’t be too wrong really.

Every single attack-minded player in Argentina is measured against the benchmark set by Diego Armando Maradona but Messi has, so far, been the best bet to replace Maradona in the king's throne. He can dribble as well as Maradona could, can get past an entire opposite with the grace of a ballerina and- this gets even better- he is essentially a left footed player.

Perhaps Lionel Messi is the most talented Argentine football since Maradona and he is certainly the most talented chap in world football at the moment. All of this at just 21 years of age.

Messi scored the best goal anywhere in Europe in April 2007 against Getafe when he copied that goal by Maradona against England. Inside days he had done the Mardonaa trick again, this time copying El Diego's Hand of God goal against Espanyol.

This season Messi has been the best and most consistent player in Europe, scoring 36 goals in 48 matches in all competitions. More than the goals, it's been his style that’s been the talking point as commentators have happily groaned how Messi ties the ball to his feet and dribbles all day long, how Messi is a "joy to watch".

Yet the sceptics remain unconvinced. After all, it’s easier to score in La Liga than in most major leagues in Europe, although this is essentially down to the Spanish footballing culture that focuses on making football more an art than a science and playing with an attacking philosophy. Which is why you find the likes of Sporting Gijon going on the attack even when they are 6-1 down and Real Betis playing a brand of football that would make you wonder whether they are really scrapping for survival.

Those sceptics would have raised their Messi-doubts again after the two controversy-littered matches between Barcelona and Chelsea in the UEFA Champions League. Messi, as some English football writers would make you believe, was a flop in those matches, unable to do anything against a top Premier League opposition.

As much as you would be tempted to disagree with them, you have to accede that they have a point. Against Chelsea in the two matches he has not really been that prominent. Okay, he has been to a certain extent and gave the pass to Iniesta for his last minute thunderbolt at Stamford Bridge but he was under par in the both those legs.

In the first-leg, all evening, like most of his teammates, he couldn't do much against a Chelsea side that behaved more Italian than Italians themselves, parking ten men and the team bus in front of Petr Cech’s goal. And he was consistently marked by Jose Bosingwa and was frequently brought down by the Chelsea players.

In the second leg, which was a more open game, and football purists must laud Chelsea for playing football at Stamford Bridge this Wednesday rather than stopping football like they did at Camp Nou last week, Messi had a decent game overall and more importantly provided the all important assist.

Yet for large periods of the game he was unable to do much as he was hounded by three or four Chelsea players whenever he had the ball at his feet, an act that was an exhibition of how desperately short of creativity and ideas Chelsea were and how much faith- or the lack of it- they had in themselves. Ashley Cole, the best England left back and the 'best in the world' made a mockery of himself by asking for help from his teammates to combat this 21-year old Argentine lad as he was easily hoodwinked by Messi’s tricks and burst of pace on the ball.

Yet it was clear that Messi did find it annoying against a Premier League opposition that were physical, cynical, perhaps hypocritical but strong, pragmatic and, in the second leg, tactically astute. His magical runs seemed to be La Liga stuff and nothing more as a more aware and physical and less romantic Chelsea side didn’t allow him the space or the time on the ball. Barcelona’s short quick defense-splitting passes suddenly became more square than ever.

Goal.com's Amoy Ghoshal points out that Messi hasn’t scored a goal against Premier League opposition in 10 attempts, which is not a bad point to make given that Messi, who is used to a perfect 4-3-3 formation for Barcelona, has been a regular goalscorer for the Catalan giants for the past two seasons and it must be acknowledged and perhaps appreciated that the Premier League makes it difficult to score goals.

So is Messi a big game flop? Nada. The Argentine has a hat-trick to his name in a clasico, ran Chelsea ragged when Barcelona confronted them in 2005-2006, has been a consistent performer against the bigger sides in Spain and was marvelous against both Lyon and Bayern Munich in the Champions League this season. And as far as trophies are concerned, at 21 he has won the Liga twice, the UEFA Champions League once and the FIFA U-20 World Cup in 2005.

But being the best is one thing, being great is quite another. The likes of Maradona, Zinedine Zidane and Ronaldinho were the best in their generations and what made them special is their ability to compete not with the rest of the world but with themselves. Greatness is achieved only you compete against yourself.

Which Messi will do in due time. He is, to remind you once again, only 21.

Subhankar Mondal