Soundoff: Did Leo Messi Disappoint at World Cup 2010?

I could say Messi disappointed, but not because he couldn't or didn't score. He had all the freedoms he needed to have. No defensive tasks. What disappointed me was that he barely ever fell back, demanding the ball.

Messi has to leave this World Cup disappointed with Argentina's failure, but with his head held high. Maradona and his assistants came up with a system that got the best out of Messi, but didn't have a plan against teams that would mark him out of the game. Sure he failed to score, but he showed what he was capable of (and let Argentineans dream for 2014).

With a better coach, along with a defensive system and better selections he would bring, he would have brought more success to Argentina.

See you in 2014, Messi…

I don't think Messi disappointed, but a lot of the shine is off him for sure. In a number of games (the Germany one most obviously, but others as well) it seemed like he took his role as national savior way too seriously, holding onto the ball for way too long or taking low-percentage shots when he could've made an easy pass to a better placed teammate. At times it seemed like he was aiming for the spectacular rather than just digging down and getting the result.

In a way, I think this sort of adversity might be good for Messi in the long run. He's still incredibly young and probably the most skilled player on the planet at the moment, but he's not yet ready to enter the all-time legends pantheon, no matter what the press has been saying about him. Here he got to see what it was like playing with lesser teammates than his Barca compatriots, and against tougher competition than he sees in La Lega — things that came easy to him there were a lot tougher here. A little humility will do him well, and I expect him to be a monster come 2014.

What I noticed most was how far back he was coming back for the ball with frequency, particularly with Veron out.

Messi definitely DID NOT disappoint. Argentina did. Not Messi alone. Besides, he played in a position that made him less proficient in front of goal.

He was often found deep in the midfield searching for balls and trying to distribute passes. Like a maestro/playmaker. That isn't the role we are used to seeing him play with Barca.

We should also take into consideration that he (more or less) created 70% of the 10 goals scored by the Albiceleste. Messi is great. He will be back even stronger in 2014. :)

Yes he did. This “Well, he did good considering” stuff is just making excuses for him. The way he was played didn't help, but everyone expected him to be in the running for the golden boot and producing highlight reel runs. He was influential, but not spectacular. Tevez and Higuain did as much or more for the Argentina side. Based on what was expected, he was unarguably a disappointment.

I would have liked to see Veron enter the game as a veteran presence would have grounded the team. I felt Messi had a brilliant tournament if judging his own play. As a team the Argentines lacked depth in the backend but all 3 forwards did a great job. The midfield lacked a defensive mindset which was crucial as Messi was playing in a midfiled position with an attacking mindset so having Maxi Rodriguez was a mistake. I also though Di Maria had a great tournament…Messi has already proven himself with countless trophies and awards and hopefully he will have the same passion as he did this year. I do not see this as a bad tournament, simply a single poor game.

No ofcourse… we weren’t disappointed… we have enjoyed watching him.. He did play well and he was the reason for most of Argentina’s gaols… in all cases, hard luck this time… but trust me, Worldcup has lost you and you didn’t lose, whats left is just boring …. We will miss watching your skills … AND AGAIN, if they opened the votes for the world’s best soccer player… it will be YOU, YOU and ONLY YOU….

He did not disappoint. He played well until the Germany game and he was unlucky no to score. Besides, he's not a striker. Just because everyone expected him to run for the golden boot, doesn't mean he had to.

look pal scoring isn it all.. who started the plays which made argentina score look at the games everything went thru messi i say messi led argentina to the quarter finals which is pretty far for me. if not u should go and lead argentina to the final

i think u were watching some other games because he always came bak

Nobody remembers a loser

He didn't disappoint me. It just turned out that he wasn't 1986 Maradona kind of good. Then again, at his age Maradona was 1982 Maradona, who wasn't that kind of good either. I'm looking forward to seeing him in 2014, that's the WC where he brings home the cup or he misses his shot at the pantheon.

Did he disappoint? Based on everyone's expectations, which were that Messi was going to take this World Cup by storm, he disappointed. He did not score any goals, and did not *directly* lead his team to victories.

That said, was he still useful to Argentina? Hell YEAH.
a) psychological factor: every time, Argentina's opponents had to tell themselves “fu** we're playing against Lionel Messi”.
b) marking: through every one of his dribbles & runs, Messi drew at least 2-3 defenders towards him, thus liberating space for his teammates somewhere else on the pitch.
c) assists: they weren't many, but they still indicate contribution.

I would say according to “Messi standards”, Lionel Messi could have (and perhaps should have) done better. And Argentina could have definitely have used one of his “magic moment” vs. Germany…

If people say that Messi disappointed in relation to the expectations, than one has to confess that these expectations were too high. In the end he's just a young man in his early 20s who had to carry a damn heavy load during this tournament… the load of a whole football-fanatic nation that loaded up all their expectations on his shoulders. Taking this into consideration, I think that he performed really respectable. Well, he didn't score, but he directly assisted four goals and he even took the responsibility against Germany and tried to turn the game after the early leeway. So to me he wasn't disappointing at all.

he definitely did NOT dissapoint….and i was lukin 4 ppl wid d same view point. A guy cn't play 4 da whole team ryt?? i thought he was one of d only few ppl who ACTUALLY played in dt match nd it was heart-breaking 2 see him so disappointed. He took up d midfield as well as the striking area and u sud remember dt he actually created nearly all d goals 4 argentina so far even though he was marked thruout all d matches. Ppl say he plays well in d FC Barca jersey but not in d Argentinean…well, in Barca he has GR8 midfielders like Iniesta who r supporting him, argentina didn't have ANY player u cud a refer to as their midfield…Lionel messi is d best but he's still human, ryt? He can do only so much….And it wasn't as if he didn't try…he worked rlly RLLY hard but didn't reap any benefits….He's so selfless too, cares more about d team dn personal glory….dt's why he'll be counted as a gr8….And no need 2 worry, he has more world cups ahead of him and i'm sure he's gonna do WONDERS!!!!!

If there were more players like Lionel Messi, I would be a fan of soccer. As an American and casual soccer fan, I have to say I enjoyed watching him in this world cup. I will be the first one to admit, I don't know anything about this sport. But even a soccer-illiterate like me could see how talented this little young man is and why he is adored by many. Thank God for Leo Messi!

he wasn't a loser. plz do not form such a harsh opinion about him. He deserves all d praise and respect..he's a selfless peron team comes before personal glory. He expects us to understand and appreciate that. He does not expect ppl like YOU to comment so harshly about him…try 2 understand…

It was disappointing to see him not score, but to say that he's lost his game or past his peak would be ridiculous. He played an instrumental role in many of Argentina's finer goals, and showed us his sparkle time and time again.

People who bash him for not being able to find the net need to grow a few braincells. While it's true he took more shots than anyone else, it's also true that NOT ONCE did he get a clear-cut chance (ie one-on-one with the goalie). Higuain scored three against S. Korea, and they were ALL from within yards of the goal. Messi's chances were self-created, and much harder to score from.

Think about it. If Messi's shot against Greece hit the target instead of the woodwork, it would've been billed as one of the best goals of the world cup. It deserves to be remembered, despite it not being a goal.

That's a tough one.
Still, we have to take into account that the man didn't play where he is used to. He is a second striker or a right winger, not a playmaker. Now, if you put him in a playmaker role and then tell him to dribble his way through 4-5 opponents you can expect two things: he'll be fouled or he'll lose the ball. If you can make him pass the ball after one or two dribbles to the ones in front of him, you'll have an excellent provider (not a goal scorer).
Sure, he could score one or two against sides like South Korea or Mexico (because the central americans have a poor defense), dribbling his way from the centerfield towards the goal, but that's it.
So, in my opinion, Messi didn't dissapoint. Maradona did.

He did the best he could given the circumstances. They barely gave him enough room to breathe let alone work the ball. They knew he could be a threat and then they boxed him in. To say that he disappointed would be wrong.

I like and like this blog. I was a closeted football fan for a long time, I came out this year. It has been worth watching the players, and Messi was great. And I guess the Germans had one goal in their mind, to pitch themselves against him like a swarm of black bees (if at all the black bees exist).

Based on the magic he has shown while playing for Barcelona Gordon, I would say the standards everyone set for Messi were entirely fair.

Sid

Messi i my opinion is the best player in the world but he did not play his best at the worlds. Great players overcome obstacles to perform–Messi did not do this.

I think that messi did not disappoint anyone of all. it's clearly unfair to put on him so much pressure and hope. ok he plAyed well at barcelona so what? it didn't matter at all. it's true that he did so none will disagree but u can't expect a person to be good all the time. sometimes they make mistake And I think the people who said that he is not worth a place in argen nation team is such so ridicules and so does the people expects so much on sth

Spot On!

I grit my teeth in frustration every time i hear a stupid commentators adding Messi's name into their disappointing players list. He was the only player who looked capable of controlling the ball in the albiceleste shirt. Players to blame are Maxi, Veron, Gutierrez, Otamendi, Demichelis, Di Maria and even Tevez. Ohh and almost forgot….. Maradona.

Messi had an average World Cup as a player – but given the standards of Lionel Messi – he did not fulfill this. As any player, he did not disappoint – but as Lionel Messi, he did.

Messi was good this World cup, not brilliant, but good. What he did he did well. We saw flashes of the devastating Leo Messi we know from Barca, but he was kept relatively quiet by concerted opposition efforts.

In fairness he was slightly unlucky, he was denied a couple of times by some super saves. Also, it's not that easy to set the world alight when you're swamped by 3 defenders every time you touch the ball.

Forget about Messi, he didn't flop. . . Rather focus on the true let-downs Messrs. Rooney, Torres (so far), Gerrard, Ronaldo, Drogba!