Which is Better, To Be A Team Leader Or A Team Player: The Unresolved Argument of Messi vs Ronaldo

Now, depending on where you live on this spinning marble called earth, the name of the game is either Futbol or Soccer. To me it’s soccer, it’s where I spent almost every waking hour of my past weekend and in my opinion it’s the greatest game ever. Now whether you want to accept it or not (I’m looking at you NFL fans) soccer is the world’s most popular sport. Just so you can understand how large this industry currently is, soccer has approximately four billion fans[1], with the 20 most popular teams worth an average of $2 Billion each[2], and FIFA generating more than $4.6 billion in revenue last year[3].

If you are not one of the aforementioned four billion fans, I will update you to an ongoing debate that has everyone in the soccer world up in a tizzy…Messi or Ronaldo. Now, if you are still scratching your head, I’ll give you some background.

Lionel Andrés Messi Cuccittini, aka “Messi” or “Number 10,” is an Argentinian born footballer/soccer player who currently plays for the Argentina National Team as well as for FC Barcelona. Messi plays in a forward/scoring position, not that his position is the only one who scores on the pitch (soccer lingo for field) but his main goal is to score. He was born in 1987, started his professional career at around 13 years old and has made $127 million this past year in a combination of salary and endorsements. Oh, one small bit of information I left out – Messi was diagnosed with a growth hormone deficiency as a child and is only 5’7” in height and weighs about 160 pounds.

Cristiano Ronaldo dos Santos Aveiro, aka “Ronaldo” or “Number 7,” is a Portuguese footballer/soccer player who plays as a Forward currently for Juventus and the Portugal National Team. He has also played with several other major clubs including Manchester United and Real Madrid. Ronaldo was born in 1985, started his professional career at the ripe old age of 16 years old being paid over $14 million (a record fee for a player of his age) when he was first signed, and made $109 million this past year in a combination of salary and endorsements. Ronaldo currently weighs in at around 185 pounds, stands 6’2” and, like Messi, suffered from a medical condition that almost stopped him from playing soccer – after experiencing hyperactivity and episodes of syncope, he was diagnosed with a racing heart that required cardiac surgery when he was 15 years old.

Now that you have read the background on these two amazing human soccer specimens, let’s look a little more in detail into their stats to show why they are constantly compared and to see who will reign supreme, Team Messi or Team Ronaldo. 

While at first glance you may say hands down Ronaldo is way better as he has almost 30 more goals than Messi, that may not necessarily be the case. I believe this controversy and debate speaks to a higher issue that applies to one’s own personal personal belief system and how one functions in the working world – are you a Team Leader or a Team Player?

Based on the number of Assists and Club Trophies (or lack thereof in Ronaldo’s case) listed above, it becomes clear that if we had to assign a category to each player, Team Ronaldo seems to be a Team Leader whereas Team Messi seems to be a Team Player. The real question though is which is the better of the two, being a Leader or a Player. Of note, while Ronaldo has more goals overall, he also has played in more games – in fact, he has played in almost 150 more games than Messi. As referenced in the article where the stats were posted, barring any catastrophes, Messi is on track to get to the 700-goal mark in 70 fewer games.

So, what does this all mean and how does it apply to the working world?

It seems to me that the stats do not lie, when you work as a team and the team all has the same goal, you get to that goal faster. While it’s great to be a team leader, if you are the only one working towards the goal and dragging the team along with you, you run the risk of them weighing you down like an anchor; the time it takes to get to the anticipated goal will take a lot longer than if you worked as a team. Messi can rely on his team and his team can rely on him, the stats above make me wonder if this is the case with Ronaldo and his team. 

While there is no taking away the skill and passion and greatness of Ronaldo, I ponder if he would be even greater if he either had a team to support him or if he mentally let his team support him. As a coach of several youth soccer teams, I notice this trait early on in players’ careers. A player that plays the best, scores the most and is deemed the greatest by other players and adults may not be the finest player to have on your team. If this player cannot function and work as a team player, then you have no team. This leaves the so-called best player to carry the team and makes the other players either resentful or simply stop caring about the team (or even worse, the sport).

Conclusion

Simply put, even the best, may not succeed in a team environment if they cannot rely on their team and support system. Companies and teams that have several team members working together towards a common goal will inevitably be better and overcome any team that is carried by one sole person, thought leader, and/or subject matter expert. As I state to my teams each season time and time again, “ A team that plays together, wins together”.

As always…Be Brave, Be Strong and Never Give Up!

2019 Copyright of RLB Coach

[1] https://www.worldatlas.com/articles/what-are-the-most-popular-sports-in-the-world.html

[2] https://www.forbes.com/sites/mikeozanian/2018/06/12/the-worlds-most-valuable-soccer-teams-2018/

[3] https://www.investopedia.com/articles/investing/070915/how-does-fifa-make-money.asp

[4] https://soccercornertalk.com/2019/10/19/messi-vs-ronaldo-the-numbers/