Lionel Messi: 3 Reasons to Think the Modern Legend Has Yet to Reach His Peak

Depending on who you ask, Lionel Messi is either the greatest player of his time or still fighting Cristiano Ronaldo for that honor.

Of course, many already talk about him as perhaps the greatest player of all time, and while I disagree with that idea, it is an argument that simply is not made about his rival.

Whether we admit that he is the best of his generation or not, there is no denying that Messi is defining the modern era of football.

Up until this point and potentially further, Messi is the face of football and his success with Barcelona has been historic. When looking at what he has already accomplished, it is not unfair to think that he is peaking or even already peaked.

Messi has already accomplished more at the age of 25 than most players will accomplish or have accomplished in their lifetime. However, just as his career gives reason to think he has peaked, there is also strong evidence to suggest that his best is yet to come.

This article lists three major reasons to think just that. After reading the piece, I hope you will be encouraged to discuss and debate this point.

If we are lucky, discussion may even avoid becoming a debate about Messi vs. Ronaldo or Messi as the greatest of all time.

Age

This first point is the most obvious, but also the most debatable.

Lionel Messi is the reigning three-time Ballon d'Or winner and may be about to win his fourth consecutive award. He has already won 20 major team trophies and is already one of the most prolific goal-scorers in Spanish and European history.

He just turned 25 in June of 2012. The idea that he has yet to hit his peak is both exciting and scary.

If we are only seeing the first part of a long career, fans are witnessing a historic player. It also means that other teams are in for many more years of torment.

Yet, history proves that Messi is, in fact, not even peaking at this point.

"Prime Example"

One example of this fact is Messi's great rival, Cristiano Ronaldo.

When Ronaldo won the Ballon d'Or in 2008, he had just turned 23 and had one of the greatest individual seasons in Premier League history.

By the time he made it through his first season in La Liga, it seemed as though CR7, while still one of football's greats, had peaked that season.

Ironically, Ronaldo was 25 at that point, the same age Messi is now.

Since then, the Portuguese superstar has shown that, despite everyone having years to study him and figure out how to control him, he is as unstoppable as ever. The Real Madrid man has made it clear that he is only in the middle of his prime and far from slowing down any time soon.

At the moment, Messi is entering the same period where Ronaldo began playing his best football.

Age Not Definitive

Of course, the number itself is not all that matters. Not every player peaks at the same time, and not everyone is at the same point in their careers at the same age.

Messi and Ronaldo may be the great rivals of their time, but they are very different players physically and in terms of playing style.

The goal-scoring abilities are equal, but the play-making abilities are not as Messi is superior in that respect.

So let's look at another legendary play-maker—Zinedine Zidane.

Zidane was also crowned World Player of the Year three times. Unlike Messi, he also won a World Cup. Also unlike Messi, the Frenchman won his biggest accolades later in his career.

His first Ballon d'Or came at the age of 26 and his last Player of the Year award was handed to him after his 31st birthday.

But Messi is not quite the same player Zidane was either.

The "Old Messi"

One man who Messi does always draw comparisons to is the Diego Maradona.

Messi was labelled the "New Maradona" from a very young age and it took him many years of elite football to shake that tag.

I'm not sure Maradona ever "peaked," but it is fair to say that his most defining years came much earlier than Zidane and right around where Ronaldo is now.

Maradona won the World Cup at the age of 26—the age Messi turns next year—and his best statistical domestic season came at the age of 20. He then proved to be Europe's best player in his mid-twenties with Napoli.

Making his Own History

So what do these examples prove? Nothing, really.

The cases of the three other greats shows that Messi is making his own path. If he is peaking right now, he has at least a few years to mimic Maradona and did it much sooner than Zidane.

He could follow Ronaldo's path, but is such a different player that we cannot know at this point.

What we do know is that there is more reason to think Messi's age is an argument that he has yet to peak rather than an argument against it.

Of course, earning a bit more rest and having less reliance on him at Barcelona will surely help his longevity.

Continuous Improvement

We may not know when Messi will peak, but we do know that it hasn't happened yet. He has already proven that much.

The Argentinian has improved every single season since 2007. His total goal count has gone up every year since as have his La Liga numbers.

Last season, he scored more Champions League goals than any other time in his career and he stopped doing it in the quarterfinals. He scored more total goals last campaign than any other player in history. Right now in La Liga, he already has more goals than he did at the same point last season.

Two weeks ago. he broke the La Liga record for most goals in a calendar year. That record was set by Cristiano Ronaldo last just last year.

At the moment, he is two goals away from breaking Pele's second-best record of 75 goals in a calendar year and has a strong chance of breaking Muller's all-time record of 85.

Beyond Numbers

It is not just the numbers that are improving, it is Messi game.

Back in 2008 Messi was criticized a bit for not taking the leading role with Samuel Eto'o and previously Ronaldinho on the pitch. That critique didn't last long.

The next year people said he had gotten too stingy and didn't provide enough for his team. Messi has managed over 20 assists every season since.

Before last season he was criticized for his poor free kick ability. He has since become one of the best in Spain and even Europe.

After the 2010 World Cup people said he was not a true leader and could not take Argentina to that next level. He is now the captain of La Albiceleste and has been spectacular in his role as playmaker for his national team, a very different role from his at Barcelona.

Every single season, Messi seems to perfect one weakness from his game, many "weaknesses" that were already a level above his peers.

He still struggles with penalties, but the rest of his game more than makes up for it.

Team Stability

No player becomes great on his own. No matter how talented someone is, they can only consistently reach the heights that the rest of their team and organization helps them reach.

Whether we're talking about Pele, Zidane, Ronaldo, or any other great perhaps short of Maradona, every footballing great has been surrounded by elite talent that helped them find their top form.

A Point for, Not Against Messi

Some try to use Messi being at one team as a mark against him, especially when discussing Ronaldo.

However, that is a weak point since CR7 left one world class group of teammates for another. He went to Real Madrid and was part of a team that broke the single-season point record in his first season.

Leaving one of Europe's greatest teams of the last few decades for arguably the greatest of all time may be a change, but not in stability or talent.

The same is true of Lionel Messi, he has always been in a favorable scenario, as has Ronaldo. For Messi, it has just been with one team and that is in no way a mark against him.

Messi has been in a great situation throughout his career. He had early growing pains like most players when he struggled with injuries and off-field distractions, but he has always been taken care of at Barcelona.

He is now one of the leaders of a club that is a poster boy of stability, inherit values and consistency. This Barcelona team has a system that they breed players into in order to play their style of football.

No Change in Sight

Messi has played alongside many previous greats and will continue to do so for perhaps his entire career.

Right now we are witnessing the latter stages of modern legends Carles Puyol, and more slowly, Xavi Hernandez.

For many players and teams, losing such influential and world class support could spell at least a temporary decline. However, true to form, Barcelona has set itself up for continued, long-term success and stability very nicely.

Their new coach is an entrenched part of the club with many years spent within the organization. The core group of players is in their early or mid-twenties.

The older players like Dani Alves, David Villa and perhaps even Puyol already have their successors in place. Victor Valdes is not old by the standards of his position.

Next Generation

The rest of the team are nowhere near retirement age, just like Messi. Andres Iniesta is the closest thing to "old" and he is still 28 with Cesc Fabregas right behind him on the bench

Fabregas, Sergio Busquets, Thiago Alcantara, Gerard Pique, Jordi Alba, Martin Montoya, Marc Bartra, Alexis Sanchez, Pedro, Alex Song, and perhaps Neymar soon, are all either world class or highly touted youngsters and none are over the age of 25..

This current and new generation of Barcelona players ensures that Messi will be surrounded by world class players for a long time, potential until he retires.

That can only help him going forward, and makes it all the more likely that his best football is yet to come or, at the very least, not yet behind him.

Thank you for reading. Please leave your comments, responses and opinions below.

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