But you literally go on to describe someone acting soft and arrogant lol
He's a member of the team, he's obliged to play when and where the coach tells him, otherwise he is soft and arrogant. That's just how it works. Normal players can't just be like "that game doesn't matter fuck this I'm out". Soft and arrogant super stars can.
Just IMO, I think it's understandable for someone who has done it all to be a little soft and arrogant heading into their retirement years, but that doesn't change what it is, it just explains it
A bit patronizing, but maybe I need to clarify. I am not interested in a debate about whether Messi is "soft" or "arrogant" and don't even necessarily disagree*. My point is that this is an extraordinary situation so anyone surprised that Messi is being selfish and pulling out of a game like this isn't really being honest or wasn't paying attention. He's the GOAT who's won everything imaginable and has come to North America, like you said, for his retirement years. Remarking that he's "soft" or "arrogant" and pretending like this is due to his nature as a soccer player, rather than the extraordinary circumstances of someone like Messi playing in a league like the MLS is silly. It's just reprimanding Messi to cover for your audience and represent their frustration.
Fun (for me) thought experiment: Wayne Gretzky leaves the NHL at the age of 36 and goes to China to get paid and help grow the game there, but then skips an out of conference game in Chongqing. To me: that's just one game; it's crazy that he's playing in China in the first place. To fans in Chongqing: this is outrageous, we paid to see Gretzky, what arrogance, etc etc.
Like I get it.... but I think in cases like those if the league truly wants/expects a player like that to feature in every away game then you need to include it in their contract or something because what is the incentive otherwise? Miami is first in their conference, strong even without these players, Vancouver is an average team.....I'm pretty confident their teammates are not the least bit bothered. Championship chances do not hang in the balance.
Also fun but irrelevant is just looking at the scale of travel compared to European leagues and how ridiculously distant Vancouver is from Miami in comparison:
* Pedantry/debate:
- soft? Nah. Doesn't really apply here and it's just Don Taylor being angry and using a stereotype against soccer players to try and shame Messi
- arrogant? Kinda...? It's also earned and the sort of 'arrogance' that I would have been surprised had we not encountered
I actually think there's a very high chance that Taylor and his family had tickets to the game and he's extremely bummed, but won't say it lol
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