Rafael van der Vaart has mercilessly lashed out at Lionel Messi in the run-up to the Champions League smasher of Paris Saint-Germain against Manchester City. The analyst says he is “sad” about the game of the Argentine superstar. Van der Vaart also indicates that he is slowly developing more sympathy for Cristiano Ronaldo, who in his eyes ‘can take a team to another level’.
Messi was accurate for the first time in Ligue 1 against Nantes last Saturday, but has barely been able to make his mark on the French superpower’s game. “It makes me sad,” says Van der Vaart when asked about Messi. “It’s a matter of will. Do you want to or don’t you? I don’t mind watching. Messi is very searching. If he doesn’t score or assist, it’s a very bad game. Neymar it has much more, that open look. He sees more, Mbappe too. Somehow it doesn’t fit.”
Perhaps the most talked-about was the substitution against Olympique Lyon. Messi was called off by Mauricio Pochettino in September and then refused a hand from his compatriot. “If he is substituted, the trainer has done it”, Van der Vaart refers to the attacker’s substitution against Lyon. “If he changes him one more time, it’s done. When you see Cristiano Ronaldo for example, I know they are two completely different types of players, who is fighting and wants to take the team to another level.”
“Messi walks now and then. Then I think: aren’t you ashamed? Are you ashamed of your teammates? You walk in a circle and everyone passes you. Surely number six must tell him to do something? I’m just getting annoyed with Messi. And that’s a shame, because something like this will never be born again. That already started a bit with Ronald Koeman. It was actually a refusal to work, that is not normal for such a player. This is what we want to see from him. I hope he shows this tonight too,” concludes Van der Vaart when he sees the goal against Nantes.
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