Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Perhaps when you were younger you were like me, you dreamt of playing for your favourite team and leading them to glory, winning everything on offer. Loyalty in football for me is perhaps the biggest and best attribute a person can have and therefore, in my mind, there is no doubt who the greatest player of all time is.

Or perhaps you dreamt of a career like Ronaldo’s? Playing for both Barcelona and Real Madrid, AC and Inter Milan, travelling to experience different leagues, cultures and fans which of course there is so much merit in doing and brings an abundance of challenges. I always prefer the likes of Ryan Giggs, Paolo Maldini and Francesco Totti to players who move club for new challenges or perhaps against their wishes, but as already stated ‘beauty is in the eye of the beholder’ and these opinions are what makes football discussion so rich and thought provoking.

To say Messi must leave Barcelona to be considered the greatest player of all time, for me is just nonsense, and here is why.

FC Barcelona has not had the same players for the past 15 years. There has been times when they have been far from the best team in Europe and Messi stays, displays loyalty and works hard to improve himself and the team. Many people feel he must move to prove himself but have little recognition that he is doing just that by staying. Perhaps you can think of players who have left teams when times have gotten hard and I think times would have gotten a lot harder for Barcelona had he left the club. He isn’t reliant on the team, the team is often reliant on him.

The opposition have also not had the same players for the past 15 years. To say you must travel to play against different players just isn’t the case. An array of talent comes in and out of Spain during every transfer window and Messi plays against just as many top class players in Spain as he would in any other league, and frequently plays the best players from around the world via competitions such as the Champions League. To say, ‘he needs to prove himself in England or Italy or France or Germany’ is likely only to satisfy your desire to see him play in what you perceive to be the ‘best league in the world’ and if he were to move to PSG, for example, you would still have fans in Iceland, Ghana, England, Scotland, Australia, USA, saying… ‘yes but could he do it here?’. You’ll never please everyone, so you may as well please the team that gave you your first opportunity in professional football.

Also consider this; your ability determines what team you are actually good enough to play for. Messi is good enough to play for Barcelona (where he wants to be) and be a regular for 15 years and counting. That’s incredible. ‘Yes, but he has team mates like Iniesta, Suarez and Neymar?’. Correct, but unlike Iniesta, Suarez and Neymar, it is Messi breaking all the records in regards to assist and goals. Many players have achieved the phenomenal achievement of playing for Barcelona: Cruyff, Ronaldinho, Maradona, Romario, Rivaldo, Stoichkov, Henry, Figo, Lineker, Larsson… but not even these greats could Break into arguably the best team in the world at 16 years old and be irreplaceable since.

Loyalty is of course just one of the great qualities Messi possesses. In regards to his ability on the field, I simply watch him filled with anticipation, joy and amazement in equal measure. In my lifetime (in regards to players that I have watched extensively) only two players come anywhere near Messi in regards to their ability and only when playing at their absolute peak – Ronaldinho and Cristiano Ronaldo. With the latter being the only player who has also matched the sustained consistency of Messi over a 15 year period. Cristiano Ronaldo is such an amazing player that the title of, ‘best player in the world’ has fluctuated season to season and sometimes game to game between him and Messi. I can say with some certainty though that Messi has held the title for considerably longer over that period. It was likely over 10 years ago now that you would frequently see messages on social media prompting football fans to ‘stop comparing these two players’ and ‘just enjoy them while you can.’ That is exactly what I have done, I have followed the careers of Cristiano Ronaldo and Messi in amazement for a long time and I can say with confidence Messi is a considerably better footballer. Have you watched these players throughout their careers? If so, please get in touch! Despite the viral announcement to watch and enjoy them both while you can I rarely find someone to have an informed debate about these two players having watched them week in and week out and therefore can understand my points of reference when I mention a certain game or situation.

Lionel Messi is hot on the heels of two incredible records.

 

  • Pele holds the record for most goals with a single club, having scored 643 for Santos. Messi has scored 629 for Barcelona. 

 

  • Ryan Giggs holds the record for most titles with a single club, having won 36 with Manchester United. Messi has won 34 with Barcelona. 

 

For me, Messi unquestionably has the drive and ability to break these records and if that is the case these will be two huge achievements. This display of loyal leadership is inspirational to every youngster hoping to break into a professional academy, every hot prospect in a professional academy hoping to play for the first team, every first team player hoping to drive their team to sustained success. To summarise, I don’t see Messi’s loyalty as his biggest weakness, for me it is his most endearing quality.

Thank you