BertieWoostersDonsClub wrote:
Slight segue, but it was mentioned before that Messi has nothing to prove. I just wonder if the fact that he has only done it at one club would be significant if it had been Ronaldo who had only done that and Messi had won the Ballon d'or playing in England like Ronaldo has. He also did that, scoring 42 goals, as a right-winger, before switching to left wing and then centre forward while at Real Madrid. This all round attacking game: height, strength, pace, trickery, two-footedness, makes him world class both in the air and on the ground, and is the reason why he has led three different teams - Man United, Madrid, and Portugal - to major honours. Whereas Messi, being small and all left foot, while a genius in the Barcelona / Guardiola style, but may not be so flexible and work in as many different ways as Ronaldo. For instance, Argentina have won 14 Copa America's and 2 world cups pre-Messi, but he has so far won no trophies during his dozen years with them; while Portugal had never been to a final pre-Ronaldo and have reached two with him, winning one.
There's no doubt they are both outstanding, and two of the greatest ever players, but I think it would have been interesting to see if Messi would have reached the same levels away from Barcelona or Guardiola and therefore having to adjust his game.
The current Barcelona team under Ernesto Valverde is very 'un-Guardiola' like. They play a compact 4-4-2 and are pretty happy to go spells without the ball... and Messi continues to be a genius.
Also, it's disingenuous to say Ronaldo 'led' Portugal to a major honour. He had a decent - but not amazing - tournament and barely played in the final.