Lionel Messi has turned his nose up to teams that solely play for the purpose of victory. The Argentinian forward believes that football should only be about the fun of it and not winning. But surely football is about winning? Why do teams sign the best players and fight for the title every season if they’re just playing for the fun of it? Take Manchester City winning the Premier League title over Manchester United last season, that last day, no one could have ever imagined what happened prior that day, but it turned out to be one of the best Premier League seasons of all time because of the competition involved. Is that not why people play competitive sports? To win? Or have I got it all wrong?
The iconic 24 year old has remarked that “Football is a game, I’m trying to have fun on the pitch, always just to play.” Arguably the best footballer in the world has uttered those words all football fans dread to hear ‘Football is just a game’. In a literal sense, yes football is just a game but mentally football is much more than just a game. Its a business and to some fans football is their biggest passion. We weep, risk relationships, forge lifelong relationships and walk around feeling 10ft tall all because of 22 sweating men. It’s difficult to understand how a world class player like Messi considers football as just a game after being named 2012’s highest paid footballer with massive earnings this year of a whopping £27.5m. It is understandable that he plays football for the fun of it, but surely he can’t consider it as just a game?
Messi tried to reiterate that he would rather play well than to win, and that winning is not everything in football. Okay it’s not everything, but is still a huge aspect of the game. “For them, it’s more important to win than to play well” but in competitive football, winning a game is the most important isn’t it? Thats how you become the best. Why do we have various competitions throughout the game if it’s not about winning? The FA Cup, The Carling Cup, Johnstone’s Paint Trophy, Champions League and Europa League are all examples of external competitions that teams compete in to win a trophy prize not to mention international competitions. Messi must not have cared or worried when he missed that penalty for Barcelona in last year’s Champions League semi-final against Chelsea, because at least he was having fun.
Winning does matter in football, it’s the whole reason why it is a competitive sport. Teams win to win titles and promotion and teams win to avoid relegation it works both ways. But maybe when you are the best player in the world playing for one of the best teams in the world you don’t have to worry about winning. Because Messi is naturally talented and Barcelona have a squad of quality players so it’s natural for them to win and when they don’t, it hardly plays an effect on their position.
