Ronaldo for me brings with him the same individual brilliance that Messi brings but with more of a bang. By that I mean that the brilliance can come from nowhere whereas with Messi you can see the attack. In most cases it is no less effective but Ronaldo has the ‘goal out of nothing’ about him. Also, he is better in the air and I would imagine quicker(?).

I was not fortunate enough to see Maradona on the international stage, highlights yes but not a full game. He played in a number of tournaments for Argentina but only won one World Cup. No matter how good the individual player is he needs a team around him and a good coach. I have written about what I think needs to happen to the Argentinean system to accommodate Messi. Playing him centrally does not work; he needs the space and angle to attack. The petulance of Messi is frustration born out of a coach that is stifling the best player Argentina have had since him. Also, the Messiah turned his back when he failed a drug test.

Just thought of what a psychologist would make of Maradona’s actions…maybe trying to show the world that either Messi couldn’t do it so he is the best, or that if they do it, it was without Messi, so he is still the best.

The number of people you speak to who say do you remember watching him at the World Cup in Germany or for Barcelona is frightening. His talent was such that his reputation preceded his rapid ascent to the upper echelons of footballing society, and as such he has done fantastically well to have remained grounded and kept up his work ethic.

He is still very young however, I think Argentina miss a player in midfield who retains possession and brings others into play, a la Riquelme say. Spain is the template at the moment, they don’t look to a star, they play as one, and even without a single player in their starting line up would be a formidable side. That Fabregas, Alonso, Mata, Navas, Joaquin, Arteta, Negredo, Bojan, Riera, Raul etc aren’t automatic first choice speaks volumes of their quality.

http://www.goal.com/en/news/12/spain/2009/10/13/1558038/lionel-messi-cannot-orchestrate-for-argentina-cesar-menotti

He only needs to look at Maradona as an example of a player who had to ‘grow-up’ a bit on the international stage. Diego let his frustrations get the better of him at the ’82 World Cup and ended up with a red card against Brazil. Four years later he had a different attitude and the rest is history.

I think there’s too much pressure on Messi like there has been on Kaka recently but he has 2 more world cups after this one, one in South America to prove himself.