Player of the season nominees – Lionel Messi

With the season having ended, Sportskeeda decided to let its viewers rate the 30 best players of the season.

We will be shortlisting 30 of the best performers this term, and let you pick your winner.

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Variants of the phrase ‘never did so many need to look up to speak to one so short’ have been oft used to describe those whose excellent achievements in their chosen fields have surpassed those of their peers. Such statements are normally used to describe them when the grey is visible around their temples, or are normally included as speeches in eulogies.

In Lionel Messi‘s case, he is fully deserving of such praise at the age of 26. With the best years of his career still ahead of him, there is little doubt that he will become one of the greatest players the beautiful game has ever seen.

But last season, the legend that is Lionel Messi was shown to be human on more than one worrying occasion. Nevertheless, his magnificent performances for Barcelona which saw them clinch their fourth La Liga title in five years, breaking multiple records en route.

The world’s best?

Lionel Messi has three Ballons d’Or titles to his name, which, is only the tip of the iceberg into how prolific a player he actually is. In fact, so clinical is he when it comes to finishing that David Villa, who is Barcelona’s only natural striker, was fielded out wide because of the deadly finishing and dribbling skills that Messi possesses.

Messi is a player who is nigh impossible to mark against on his day. Which just happens to be every time he steps onto the football pitch (well, nearly every time).

It’s not just that Messi is giving it his all out there. It is that he was born with the awesome ball control skills seen on display at the some of the world’s most famous footballing venues. He’s been a sought after kid ever since European scouts came to know of his immense talent. It wasn’t just Barcelona, but Internazionale Milano and Real Madrid (yes, Real Madrid) who came quite close to signing him.

But right from the start, Messi and his father Jorge had their hearts set on him joining Barcelona and once they gave him the opportunity to shine, he made sure he repaid them by showcasing his dazzling form week in, week out.

Messi scored a whopping 46 goals from 32 league games last season, comfortably picking up the gong for the Liga’s top scorer (the Pichichi) with Cristiano Ronaldo a distant second with 34. Shockingly enough, Messi scored 40 goals with his left boot alone, more than any other player in the league did with feet and head (or any other body part) combined.

In all competitions, he scored 60 goals and assisted a further sixteen.

2012 – a record breaking year

Last calendar year, Messi broke a dozen or so long-standing records to only underline just how skilled a player he is.

On the second of May, he scored his 68th goal of the season to beat Gerd Muller’s record of 67 goals in a domestic season, making him the best goalscorer in Europe.

On the 11th of November, he scored goal number 76 of 2012, surpassing Pele’s record of 75 goals in one year. He then went one further and broke another record held by Der Bomber when he scored his 86th goal of the year (surpassing Muller’s 85) to notch the highest number of goals in a single year.

At the end of 2012, Messi had scored a staggering 91 times.

He also became the first player to score five goals in a Champions League game during Barcelona’s 7-1 mauling of Bayer Leverkusen in March of last year.

But it isn’t just with his club that he has achieved sporting excellence. On the 14th of June, 2013, Messi scored three in Argentina’s 4-0 defeat of Guatemala. His troika in that game saw him surpass Diego Maradona in third place on the list of Argentina’s all-time top scorer list. He is now tied second with Hernan Crespo and will most certainly surpass Gabriel Batistuta’s record of 56 goals.

He’s already equalled one record of Batigol. Last year, he found the back of the net 12 times for his country, the same number of goals Batistuta scored in 1998.

Messi has averaged a goal for club and country once every 63 minutes.

Barcelona minus Messi

As John Burridge once said on the air, “what would Barcelona do without Messi?”

That question has escaped a lot more lips since Barcelona were humbled 3-1 in their own backyard in the King’s Cup and were defeated 2-1 by Real Madrid at the Santiago Bernabeu.

But the number of people who put question marks over Barcelona’s ability to perform without Messi in the side increased exponentially when a half-fit Messi and the rest of his team mates were walloped 4-0 at the Fussball Arena Munchen and then humiliated 3-0 at the Camp Nou by Bayern.

Without his pace, Messi was as human as any other footballer and without his extraordinary skills, Barcelona’s defensive frailties were cruelly exposed as Bayern slaughtered them 4-0. At the Camp Nou, Messi’s hamstring injury kept him out of the game and Barcelona looked lost without him.

That they are so dependent on him was only highlighted when they needed him when still not fully fit to turn the game around against Paris Saint-Germain after fellow Argentine Javier Pastore had given the French side the lead in Catalonia. Messi’s presence on the pitch lends confidence and belief to the rest of the team, which shows how psychologically dependant they are on him to raise their game.

That was only underlined when Real Madrid beat them twice in the league (2-1) and in the cup (3-1). On both occasions, Messi was tightly marked and not given space to run into. Should other teams pick up on this, it could be very worrying for Barcelona, which is probably why they have bought Neymar.

What next?

Barcelona need to learn to play without Messi. While he is one of the world’s best, having him out of the equation can make him a liability. While those occasions are very rare, it means that it can bite Barcelona when it matters most.

You cannot ask Messi to lower his level to suit the rest of the Barcelona team. What Barcelona need to do, however, is divide the burden of scoring goals between Messi and someone who is equally talented, if such a person exists.

Well, there is. And his name is Neymar.

Click here to view the rest of the Player of the Season nominees