“Is this a joke?” – Fans enraged as French football news platform lists PSG superstar Lionel Messi in poll to decide ‘flop of the season’ from Ligue 1
French football news platform Get French Football News has listed Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) ace Lionel Messi in a poll for the Ligue 1 'Flop of the Season'. His fans were absolutely livid about this and took to Twitter to share their displeasure.
The Argentine joined PSG last summer after Barcelona failed to offer him a new contract due to their financial issues and La Liga's wage rules.
He has struggled to replicate his usual form in his first year in the French capital. He's amassed only six goals in the league from 25 appearances, while contributing 13 assists.
While Messi is only behind his teammate Kylian Mbappe (15) in the division for assists, his poor goalscoring form has received its fair share of flak. The 34-year-old is set to finish in single digits for the first time since the 2005-06 season (also 6).
He was also snubbed from the Ligue 1 'Player of the Year' nomination and now finds himself on an ignominous list.
At the time of writing, Messi has 48.5% of 7,550 votes for the 'Flop of the Season' title. He was ahead of Georginio Wijnaldum (38.8%), Xherdan Shaqiri (7.9%) and Jerome Boateng (4.9%)
Wijnaldum, who joined PSG on a free transfer from Liverpool, has failed to impress as well. Both Shaqiri and Boateng joined Lyon around the same time last summer and neither made a good impression.
Shaqiri even left the club in January to sign for MLS side Chicago Fire despite making five direct goal contributions in 11 top-flight matches for Les Gones.
Messi's inclusion on the list, however, hasn't gone down well with his fans, who believe he shouldn't be on it.
Here are some of the best Twitter reactions:
bit.ly/GFFNawards22VOTE | Ligue 1 Flop of the Season
Vote in full ➡️ bit.ly/GFFNawards22
@GFFN Messi isn't a flop, this is a joke of a tweet to get interactions lmao.
@GFFN Is this a joke? Of course, Wijnaldum is worse. Even if Messi's season was not good, he would still be better than Wijnaldum's season.
@GFFN now a player with almost 20 g/a on league is a flop, messi standards are just too high.
@GFFN Ppl voting messi lol https://t.co/r7BfmYjqOh
@GFFN Messsi shoes>>>>>All
@GFFN its obviously shaqiri but we know how this will end
PSG star Lionel Messi showing signs of improvement
The former Barcelona man has indeed struggled to adapt to life in Paris. However, lately, there have been signs of improvement which is a cause for optimism for next season.
Since April, the Argentine has scored four goals and made three assists in seven league games. This included a quickfire first-half brace against Montpellier last weekend (May 14).
That's close to 40% of his total goal-contribution, an indication that Messi is finally settling at PSG.
Although he will be 35 next month, the seven-time Ballon d'Or winner has a few more years at the top. Fans will hope to see better stats from him in the 2022-23 campaign.