simple question, who's more prodigious and why?

Messi What else was I going to say?

In all fairness, Messi has some amazing attributes. Sheer acceleration, low gravity to dribble through people, creative and has a lot of flair. He can afford to be lighterweight than Fabregas in the position he plays.

As you know mate, I am critical of Fabregas, maybe because of his size, and maybe because Arsenal fans consider him a greater talent than Wayne Rooney. I didn't see your game the other night but apparently he played really really well and I admire that. But he needs to get stronger playing in the centre of the park IMO.

messi for me, and no offense to fabregas, but i think it's a good margin. messi is ridiculously talented, he's got everything he needs now already at this young age, a wonderful left foot, massive amounts of pace, awesome touches and skill, and has decent strength. he's such a hard worker, and has proved himself time and time again, in almost every single match he's played in. he made the best of players look feeble, including the likes of vieira.

fabregas on the other hand, has aspects on his game he still needs to work on. he's also an immense talent, no doubt, incredible passing and constantly improving vision, but he's stoppable, whereas messi feels almost unstoppable. fabregas has had disappointing games, but all in all, he's fairly consistant, and brings an ease to the midfield, but has a weak shot and sometimes goes for the safer option rather than picking out a more risky pass. his dribbling is ok, he keeps the ball quite well, but is not yet a dominant figure in the midfield. rarely does he properly take control. messi almost always rules his territory, the right wing. no, i haven't forgotten about cesc's awesome performance against real, but they were weakened, and are a team that allow their opposition to play football, something we rarely get in the premiership, and what better place than the central of midfield to stop a team playing their football. bolton, liverpool, chelsea have done it, real haven't, and have showed what fabregas can do when given the space. once he works on creating the space for himself, dealing with the likes of essien, gerrard, true tough midfielders that will close you down in no time, we will see the best of him, but it hasn't happened yet.

messi, he's already at such a high standard, and will only get better, honestly...i see him being better than henry, ronaldo, ronaldinho, etc. to be that amazing at this age really amazes me. props to both of them, it's great to have such great talent emerging.

Messi and Rooney are another class from Fabregas. Fabregas couldn't win a match on his own, at least not now.

i agree 100% wif dutchMasta and his post point out the points on why messi will most proparly get 100% off this poll

no comparison , fabregas is a Center midfielder , messi is a Foward , Fabregas got everything to be rememberd as one of the best center midfielders of all time , Messi got everything to be one of the best fowards ever.

Imo u cant compare them

^^^^^^^^ i agree, you can't compare to players in differant positions.

my question was prodigious, how many people have been first team regulars at 17?
messi & rooney another class? that would be a huge exaggeration, exactly what has messi done more than fabregas?
fabregas has probably been the most consistent player for us along with the robin

It is a tougher choice then you guys think. I am a Barcelona fan and I love both players. I wish we could have Cesc because he is going to be the next best midfielder in the world. But it is hard to compare because they play different positions. But Messi IS going to be a legend no doubt.

So Messi, but just barely.

Forward, are you kidding me, MESSI, he can be the top 5 players, ever, to play the game



You can.

I would also say Messi but i dont think he is vastly superior. Fabregas has potential to become one of the best mindfield players in the world, he does not to all the dribbling and fancy stuff which is probably why Messi is winning this poll by such a large margin. Cesc is a good tackler for his size, has fantastic composure, great vision and passing and is the type of player every team needs to help the team click and has shown all these attruibutes years beyond his age.

creative midfielders like Fabregas develop slower. Players like Zidane, Nedved and even Veron, Pires etc all looked great into their twenties. It is very rare to see a teenage central mid in that mould look good so young.

At the moment, there is no comparison, Messi is more spectacular and effective, but his position favours that. Messi is better.

In a few years time however, Fabregas may well be the most important player in the team. (either club or international level).

^really? i thought fabregas has made more impact than messi so far, maybe im wrong

They play diffrent positions, that makes them hard to compare. My choice would be Messi by luck.

Messi, Fabregas is very good but he just doesn't have certain qualities that make him a gamebreaker, he is a fantastic short passer but Arsenal play to that style so it helps him, it would probably be more difficult for him on another team. He has a lot more work ahead of him in comparison to Messi, he also needs to work on his temperment. I remember he tried to get in Alan Shearer's face.......lets just say its a good thing someone pulled Fabregas back

Messi, he has just been really good and impressive.

messi, so great in technique

You cant really compare them.

Although Fabregas has made a much bigger impact playing week in week out for Arsenal at 17 last season.

Messi, he has made a far greater impact IMO because he fought for a place in a quality Barca side. Fabregas pretty much walked into the team especially after Vieira left, and all the injuries etc etc, not taking credit away from him but Arsenal's center midfielders hardly give him much competition.

What? Wenger placed his faith in him and didn't get another CM, that says how much he believes in his talents and if someone knows anything about potential it's Wenger. They'll both be huge, Fabregas just plays in a league which doesn't suit his size. He looks like the next Xavi, IMO he'd be running riot if he played in Spain.

Yeah, but then again, how many people have said that that could be one of Wenger's biggest mistakes, it's our worst season ever under him by quite a clear margin so far. Everyone wanted a Vieira replacement, someone who's more dominant, but he didn't get one, and we have never really dominated the midfield since. Sky does make a good point there, Messi broke through the ranks, ranking above Giuly (who I rate highly), whereas Cesc is our best midfielder because his midfield competition is not all that great.

u cant really compare these 2..there like 2 different players..

Its like comparing Xavi to someone like Rooney they just cannot be compared its as simple as that.

Messi... even though i love arsenal, i know enough about Messi to know he is in another class by himself...

They should be shining on the same team but unfortunately Fabregas 'moved on'. They're two completely different players but both of them play well beyond their years. Our youth academy really does produce some excellent quality; I wish Cesc had stayed. I think they'll both have great careers but Messi is simply from another planet.

some arsenal fans dont realise that right now fabregas is playing better than vieira was at his last season, you just dont realise how good fabregas is, somw of his passing is judt sublime, especially those acute angle passes, he gets a very high success rate with them

fabregas has had a bigger impact i say

Some opposing fans dont either. Its not true. He is an Attacking Midfielder.

He will never make as many tackles or interceptions as Vieira did.

ffs vieira was an attacking midfielder too! (it's a myth that he was a DM)
no i watched most of the matches of last season and vieira was very inconsistent, and overall fabregas this season has been better than vieira last season

They are incomparable.

Messi, easily

Sorry i do believe that baggio played a creati mifield role and he was top notch player at 18 dont u remember
thats my age now i wish i was as good as he was at this age ...



Sorry i do believe that baggio played a creati mifield role and he was top notch player at 18 dont u remember
thats my age now i wish i was as good as he was at this age ... Click to view attachment

I'm sorry but that is quite an outrageous comment. Arsenal sold Vieira and have had their worst season in the Wenger era. His sale quite simply created a void which was beyond repair. The only reason vieira wasn't as effective as before, was because Fabregas was not experienced enough to cope and Gilberto was out for a long time.

If Arsenal sold Fabregas last season, it would not make any remotely compareable impact. It may be something to be seen in a few years, but if you remove fabregas from the Arsenal squad, the effect is not a profound one.

Come on man, I've read unbelievable comments here, but Fabregas now is NOTHING compared to Vieira last season. Vieira carried him for God's sake and the midfield was weaker because of Fabregas last season.

If that fails, then just look at the bloody league position and performances this season. It's beyond common sense.





My earliest memory of Baggio was when he dispossessed Peter Shilton in the 3rd/4th place playoff in italia 90 and either scored the goal or passed it to someone and scored (italy finished 3rd). I don't know how old he was then, but he went on to become one of the best players of the past decade (edit, upon checking he was 23, which fits the theory as I think he was a substitute during that tournament, but don't quote me on that ). I'm also pretty sure that he was alot more useful in his twenties. Same with Zidane, Nedved, Hagi and pretty much every other creative force over the last few years. You do get exceptions, and Gascoigne was exceptional when he was younger but again generally for midfield especially creative midfielders, your experience almost goes hand in hand with the vision required.

Look how good Ballack is now for instance. Ballack a few years ago wasn't really regarded as a phenom. Fabregas needs the experience and with that and some physical development, then it's a fair comparison.

Many players have dribbling skills. Look at joe cole. He is a phenomenal dribbler and can do all the tricks and I've followed him since he was 15 or so. He's only just developing the skills required to be a creative midfield force in his 20s. In fact, talent-wise, he has amongst the most natural talent I've seen in a footballer for a long time but to be a creative force who can do the key passes and boss a midfield needs time.

You could say there is more intelligence involved as well, which again needs time in a footballing education. It's more complex than wing play.

im sorry but that's just your opinion, i think if not for fabregas our season would be much worse, you relly need to see a soell of games with fabregas out (not that i wish it ever happens) to see how valuable he has been this season, and no vieira did not carry fabregas last season

also i am impressed that cesc (who apparently cant compete physically) played well agasint ivory coast (a very physical team) and was MOTM on his national team debut - that said messi did score yesterday

I would not take MrArsenals opinion seriously in this topic it is clear from other threads that he shows his disliking for Fabregas.

Calling him wordslike "poff"

Fabregas

LOL, I´m sure you would not vote for any Barca player ever, no mather who are they compared to.
For me it`s Messi for sure, he is the new sensation.

As good as Fabregas is, Messi is better imo. Even though he is an Argentinian born Cule, I still have a lot of respect for him, he is imo the best young player in the world, it's scary to think what he will be in a few years time. Fabregas is great as well though, he's so damn classy

Was he officially MOTM or is it your opinion??

Hear, hear. If ron burgundy says it, it's the truth.

I'm not sure why you are getting personal about my own opinion, but either way you clearly are incapable of coming up with a response.

Some members of soccerpulse are sadly wastes of spaces, and there is no need to clog up threads with shit like you just posted. Either contribute to the thread or piss off.

^^

I tend to agree, keep it on topic gents and nothing personal either.

Totally agree. Top post.

To put it a bit more simply - right now you can compare Messi with every top class striker in the world and say he's on each one of their levels, if not, a level above. Fabregas on the other hand, when compared to other central midfielders around the world isn't near the best players in that position. He has the potential and he will get there. Messi has just excelled to the top level already and doesn't look like he's going to stop there.

I think itsMessi,but by a bit,people tend to forget what fabregas has achieved at 18,he is the youngest ever goal scorer in the league,cup and champions league for arsenal,he was voted along side rooney and nilmar as the best under 19 in last seasons champions league and this season despite all the pressure and hard times he has arguably been arsenals best and most consistent player(at 18)+not to talk of the fact that he is among the best passers in this league with quite a number of assists and even his style of play is classical and appealing to watch and call world class just like we experienced in the Benerbeu.I think Cesc is very underated by many,"he needs time to mature" thats all they keep saying but do you really see Wenger buying a midfielder to replace him soon????????the answer my sp ppl is NO,the boss knows what gem we are dealing with here thats why he has so much confidence in him and is always trying to help him grow.
As i have said before,messi is undoubtedly a great talent(he is already been dubbed new maradonna)that says alot,but the fledging barcelona team makes it much easier for him to come in and show case himself under less pressure+we all know the spanish league aint as physically tasking as the EPL.


Still Messi but i wanna see more ppl acknowledging the classy national midfield debutant(Cesc)

well one of the arguments used by people was that CMs develop slower than wingers, which is why i say fabregas is more prodigious than messi (remember the meaning of prodigious - early developing), this aint about who is actually the better player

and also i cant remember as prodigies at CM as those at winger position

i feel that although messi is a better player at the moment, Fabregas will become one of the best CM of all time. hes still younger than messi (i beleive) and is developing under the tutorlage of Arsene Wenger at an amazing rate! messi has all of the skill within and its just a matter of time to bring out that skill where as Fabregas has less skill but more of a determination (also pressure) to make the CM position of Arsenal his own, followin in thw footsteps of Veira (spelling?) is a big task for anyone especially a 17/18 yr old and i feel that he's doing himself proud and should be able to make that postion his own more than Veira did within the nxt season or two.

I find the Messi lovefest a little sickening, particularly since I am a big Fabregas fan. I think it is a matter of position, the forward position always trumps the other positions because they are the gamewinners, there is a natural bias towards any forward player.

Is there any other central midfielder equal to Fabregas' talent at eighteen today? If so, I haven't seen him. All Fabregas needs to add to his game is goals and he will become the among the world's best.

No problem today

If he can do 10 goals a season he'll definitely be a world beater

well said,a world beater,

I completely agree with you. I think Messi is overrated and cheats. Also Fabregas has more experience, and doesnt have Etoo and Ronaldinho to bail him out. So my vote goes to Fabregas