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Originally Posted by Trama
Messi's still far from a one man show.
Today's Barça is not quite Maradona's Napoli.
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I think that's where some other doubts about Messi come from, the fact that he's playing alongside some of the greatest players ever in Xavi and Iniesta. Taking nothing away from Messi but Maradona never had that.
And el symbols, yeah the defenders you mention are good but I wouldn't say any of them are especially great, either. Chiellini is probably my favourite right now, and Vidic (when he's fit) but I don't think Ramos, Piquet, etc represent any kind of golden era of defenders in the way that say Messi, Iniesta, CRonaldo, Zlatan, Falcao, etc, suggest a golden age for attackers. Catenaccio is now really unfashionable as everyone seems hell bent on trying to emulate Barca. That's great for people who just want to see silly goal tallies but I prefer a bit of balance and can really enjoy a good defensive display as a spectacle in itself. I do take your point about defensive midfielders though; I'm a big fan of Xabi-Alonso and think Busquets is one of the most undervalued players out there right now.