10 - Lionel Messi - v2

[misterplatin]

Messi also creates PLENTY of opportunities. What the heck do you want him to do? Take over Alexis and Pedro's bodies and finish the shot for them? The only solution is to clone Messi.

You are not getting the point . Look at the stats once . We are ranked 25-30 in Shot/game among the top teams,nowhere around likes of Bayern,Real etc. Also most of those fall to Messi,no probs though but it means the rest get even lesser chances to score. Even a very good finisher needs few chances to score .All chances are not same so you need a variety of chances and some of them will be fruitful. Optastats show us that bar Messi our other forwards/mids get nothing compared to players from similar positions in other teams .
If anything we have a very good conversion rate and hence we have scored lot of goals.It is just that we are not attacking opposition goal very frequently as Bayern,Juve ,Real do .

 

[Fourteen]

I don't get this Messi-is-to-blame hype. He has saved our asses a bunch load of times this season. Sure, he was bad on Wednesday but he isn't the only one to blame. He is so easily defended because our other forwards aren't much of threat. The whole idea was that Cesc could go in the spaces that Messi left but he failed miserably. For me this game showed once again our potential biggest problem : we have no forwards other than Messi, they are just non-existent against every top side.

Bit harsh on Pedro i'd say.

Messi has been so perfect (in his all-round-game) in the past that it's noticeable to see him play at a slightly lower standard than we have seen. His goal-scoring exploits are still fantastic and ever growing, but from what i've seen and from what I suspect some people have noticed, he isn't having as much of a consistent impact on matches as he has done previously.

Messi is still the king, he's still the best, but let's call this period a "Messi-slump", which isn't a normal slump.

 

[Yannick03]

Bit harsh on Pedro i'd say.

Messi has been so perfect (in his all-round-game) in the past that it's noticeable to see him play at a slightly lower standard than we have seen. His goal-scoring exploits are still fantastic and ever growing, but from what i've seen and from what I suspect some people have noticed, he isn't having as much of a consistent impact on matches as he has done previously.

Messi is still the king, he's still the best, but let's call this period a "Messi-slump", which isn't a normal slump.

Pedro has been decent but I will never expect Pedro to get past his man and score a goal just on his own. That's why I would he thrilled if we sign for instance Aguero. Oppositions have to bear in mind that next to Messi there would be another goalscorer in our team which would make only marking Messi a big risk.

Messi hasn't been near his topform recently but I suspect the relative 'weakness' of the other forwards plays a big role in this. It limits the space he has IMO.

 

[misterplatin]

Is no one here concerned about our lack of chance creation this season. Surely other teams have stepped up and improved their SPG therefore scoring even more goals .We still have best conversion mind,because we take only good chances apparently . But those good chances are also lesser than good chances other teams are creating.
So what I am saying is that Barca that is known as the team with motto 'attack is the best defense' is not creating enough chances to match top teams that can actually defend better too .

 

[Indignado]

I don't get this Messi-is-to-blame hype. He has saved our asses a bunch load of times this season. Sure, he was bad on Wednesday but he isn't the only one to blame. He is so easily defended because our other forwards aren't much of threat.

The problem is that Messi could do much better. He lost the ball a thousand times and he didn't even run for it afterwards. That's just lack of commitment.

The whole idea was that Cesc could go in the spaces that Messi left but he failed miserably.

How do you know that? Are you Tito's agent?

we have no forwards other than Messi, they are just non-existent against every top side.

That's because we always play Iniesta on the wing against top teams.

 

[Yannick03]

The problem is that Messi could do much better. He lost the ball a thousand times and he didn't even run for it afterwards. That's just lack of commitment.



How do you know that? Are you Tito's agent?



That's because we always play Iniesta on the wing against top teams.

Maybe Messi is instructed to not defend, he is after all our most played player.

Secondly, the Fabregas is my interpretation. I think it would be stupid not to use spaces. Expecting that Milan were going to manmark Messi with a couple of players, it would have been expected from Cesc to use the space that was left behind. I probably should have added a IMO there.

Thirdly, IMO that tactic is flawed against tougher opponents. Much less space to operate.

 

[Stric]

"Lionel Messi has never scored against an Italian club from open play. In nine matches against Serie A teams, he has scored three times -- all of which came from penalties against Milan in the Champions League last season."

 

[Vapor]

People are acting like everyone plays ONLY for Messi and Messi just happens to get assists sometimes. If the other players were more clinical in front of goal; Messi would literally have like 35 assists in all competitions by now and the team would be destroying everyone left and right.

Exactly. I'll post this once again. It's so clear when watching this.

 

[CatalinR10]

Wb Messi: "We didn't play a good game, but we believe in ourselves for the return game. I'm sure we'll recover from this."

 

[UberNjufer]

i see i'm not the only one worried by his lack of work rate and non existent off ball movement.That is one area in which ronaldo trumps him by a mile.I really don't know what is going on,coach instructions?lazyness?best ever tag hit his head?As a barca fan and his huge fan i'm a bit worried + his behaviour towards some team mates has been really poor.WEIRD TIMES

 

[Leo10]

i see i'm not the only one worried by his lack of work rate and non existent off ball movement.That is one area in which ronaldo trumps him by a mile.I really don't know what is going on,coach instructions?lazyness?best ever tag hit his head?As a barca fan and his huge fan i'm a bit worried + his behaviour towards some team mates has been really poor.WEIRD TIMES

Precaution, he plays 60 games a season, gets tackled a lot, he cant run like a Pedro every game because he would get injured.

Obviously thats what the coaching stuff tells him to do. Common sense.

 

[SeloBarca]

If anything, the players should now be on "Furymode" for the return. Anything less then 110% (Puyol 150% ofcourse) is not acceptable.

 

[Vapor]

I was mentioning Messi's lack of workrate and 100% effort a few games ago and I got absolutely pounced on. Plain and simple he does not put forth his greatest effort many games nowadays. It is very noticeable when comparing him the benchmark in effort of Puyol.

Don't know what it is but he hasn't been 100% all season so far, in my opinion. The level he was at last season seemed even greater, even though he didn't score as many goals. If there was any time for him to somehow hit that form again, now is it.

Then again that is probably asking way too much, but Messi himself knows that his potential is greater than what he is displaying right now. If there is a time for all of the team to be reaching the heights of their potential and playing with 150% effort, that time is now.

 

[Stric]

People just start using numbers to justify this. Kudos to him for scoring and assisting so much, but that doesn't mean he's doing his best. What we've seen so far this season is far from his best. Playing-wise, not stats-wise. But that's OK, because a player that plays virtually every game in the season needs to conserve his energy... FOR IMPORTANT GAMES. The team's attitude (as well as Messi's) going into the Milan game was not good. They should have approached it more seriously. Remember our 2:2 against Chelsea last April? How we tried? That's how we need to approach knockout games. The team does have that hunger inside them, they just didn't show it. We can't afford not to do our best, Messi included.

 

[Pepe Silvia]

youre right stric. something about the lack of intensity in the first leg was very disappointing. not until milan scored did barca start to run. pffff.