Messi and the Magnetic Spectrum of Genius

Absolute genius again from Messi!! They try to kick him. They try to plough him into the ground with Sergio Ramos. And what did you do then? You tried to put fire out with gasoline. Lionel Messi again rises to the surface the way only he can. Don’t look at him in the X’s and O’s. He doesn’t live there. He doesn’t live in the tactical world, or the technical world, he lives in the magnetic spectrum of genius. – Ray Hudson on Lionel Messi(4/10/2010).

Hristo Stoichkov says only a machine gun can stop him. Pele says he has to score 1,000 goals before anyone can fairly compare Messi to him. (Side note: most people get lots more praise right after they die than while they lived. But for Pele, I think it would be hard for that to happen because A. he is praised so often already and B. when Pele dies, it will be hard to replace his own production when it comes to talking about the greatness of Pele.)

When Ray Hudson was asked by Phil (who has a last name, but I feel as though Phil the character Ray Hudson uses as a foil and the actual human being doing the commentary on Goltv are two separate people; I think it does more dignity to the man to pretend that Phil who has to listen to Ray Hudson tell him “don’t be sexist, Phil, broads hate that” is not the same man who goes home to his family) ”is he better than Maradona?” Ray’s reply was classically condescending and triumphant at the same time. “Who cares?” Ray’s message: Messi’s football is a gift for us all to enjoy. Stop trying to compare him and just take in the spectacle. After all, how many players can truly say they reside in the “magnetic spectrum of genius?”

Fair enough, but it’s not very fun to just leave it at that when one can partake in the joys of appreciating both through argument.

Lionel Messi is 22. He is a three time Primera Champion (so far); a two time Champions League winner (so far), a FIFA World Champion; a U-20 World Cup Winner; an Olympic Gold Medalist; and a Copa America Finalist.

And those are just his team accomplishments.

He scored in the World Cup at 18 (in fairness, I put two past Serbia that day as well) and he was top scorer in the U-20 World Cup and top scorer in the Champions League in 08-09. Unless Olic, Pjanic, or Ibrahimovic score five in the final three match days, he’s already the top scorer for this year’s Champions League. Recent accomplishments include a massive, game-winning goal at the Santiago Bernabau and putting four past Arsenal in Champions League semi-finals.

Let’s say, for the sake of argument, that Argentina has a poor World Cup run. Inevitably, people will point to Maradona carrying Argentina on his hand back and claim this as a crucial difference between the two legends. But in terms of this debate it is worth asking the following question about the World Cup: who cares? Given the abilities of the squads in both La Liga and the Champions League, why does Messi need a good World Cup to prove anything? Maradona only has two Serie A titles and a Europa Cup to his European career, yet this never seems to come up when the two are compared. I think it would be hard to say that as a professional football player, Messi has not already done more than Maradona.

True, given the realities of the time the World Cup was a more important stage back then, but the Champions League’s final 32 is certainly more demanding than the World Cup today. Even if we compare strength to strength, I feel like Messi is in with a shout already.

It’s an even trickier proposition than that. What if he were to win the Champions League, La Liga, and the World Cup in the coming months? The great stories of who is the greatest often, like the man himself, turn quickly in an instant. One bad injury or one poor decision by a teammate, and even the greatest players can have their stage taken from them. On the other hand, the signs look good for a man who can take the ball on for himself and literally start a match with commentators debating if he is the best right now and 90 minutes later those same commentators are debating if he is the best ever.

Don’t worry, Ray. I’ll enjoy his football while it lasts… but I’ll also enjoy wondering if I’m watching the best there’s ever been at the same time.

Written By Steven Maloney (80 Posts)

Steven Maloney is a regular contributor for Glorious Football. You can follow him on Twitter @stevenmaloney. Like Albert Camus, he fancies himself as having learned his morals "on the football pitch and in the theater." His football writing interests are in the institutional structures and strategies of world football, as well as the ways in which contemporary politics enters into the world of football and vice-versa. His most cherished memories of the game are of being in Holland for Euro 2000. In the interests of full disclosure, he supports Arsenal, the United States and DC United.