Real Football Man All of the Football, All of the time
With the turn of the year, it’s now time for the first guest article of 2017.
That honour falls to Shantanu who is the owner of the website FOOTIE CENTRAL (if you have a couple of minutes please check his site out) and he has been kind enough to take the time to create the piece on the upcoming ‘FIFA Best Award’
So it’s over to you Shantanu….
For a second successive year, the International Federation of Football History & Statistics (IFFHS), an organisation that chronicles the history and records in football, has named Lionel Messi the best playmaker in the world.
Let that sink in.
For most casual watchers of the beautiful game Messi is a forward. And many would quite rightly call him the world’s best goalscorer. But what makes Messi better than any footballer in the world is the fact that he is so much more than just a prolific forward.
Last season, he amassed a phenomenal tally of 41 goals in 49 games across all competitions, a haul that included 26 strikes in the league, six in the Champions League and another five in the Copa del Rey. Significantly, he also helped his teammates score with 26 assists in all competitions. His forward play enabled Barcelona to win a second successive domestic double.
The goal tallies of both his strike partners, Neymar and Luis Suarez, have gone through the roof since they have joined the Catalan outfit and it has a lot to do with the playmaking ability of their diminutive teammate from Argentina. Messi doesn’t just help them with sumptuous through and cross-field balls but he almost tries even harder to make a decisive pass than to score a goal himself. And this has been seen by all comers with his willingness to give the ball either to the Brazilian or the Uruguayan for a spot kick.
In the past summer, Messi was with the Argentina national team at the special edition of the Copa America held in the United States. His inspired performances helped La Albiceleste to a third successive major final after their runners-up finishes in the 2014 World Cup in Brazil and the 2015 Copa America in Chile. But just like those last two finals, the Argentines came up short and had to settle for silver medals instead of the coveted winners’ medals.
But that is no blemish on Messi who did it all within his means to drag his national team to the cusp of glory but was ultimately let down by wasteful teammates in front of the opposition goal. Granted Messi could have converted his spot kick in the final shootout but that is no guarantee that his teammates would have sealed the deal. After all, they did let him down in the 2015 final even though he put his spot kick past Claudio Bravo.
This season, too, Messi has started imperiously having scored a remarkable 23 goals from 20 games in all competitions. His assist tally reads eight thus far.
The Best FIFA Men’s Player being an individual honour should only focus on the achievements of an individual player without taking into account the achievements of an entire team. They must refrain from making the mistake of the Ballon d’Or voters who chose Cristiano Ronaldo presumably for Portugal’s Euro 2016 win which was only sealed by an Eder goal while the Real Madrid striker had departed the pitch after only the halfway stage of the first half. Don’t get me wrong, I believe and have the reasons to believe that Cristiano Ronaldo is already the greatest European-born football player of all-time but Messi’s been better on an individual level last year.
So, FIFA should set a precedent by awarding its first gong of the newly-minted honour to the player who isn’t just the best forward in the world but also the best playmaker, and by a long distance. Even the most ardent Espanyol and Real Madrid supporters should cherish every moment of Messi’s remaining playing career as we won’t possibly see someone similar in our lifetime.
Thanks Shantanu for your article, hopefully Shantanu will provide some more insights in the future. Do you agree with Shantanu – please feel free to leave your comments below
If you would like to have any content posted on here then please feel free to contact me at realfootballmanwordpress@gmail.com and hopefully we can get something of yours up as well.
