10 - Lionel Messi - v2

[BerkeleyBernie]

He does not clog our attack. This is genuinely a head-scratcher.

Messi simply does not play as a target player. He plays as an extra midfielder. He clogs the attack when he starts games up front, and *walks* around next to the CBs, providing no target. He finally drops back to the midfield, but that puts the opposition entirely behind the ball, unless the wing forwards are given permission to occupy the space front center he left vacant. But their instructions are to generally hug the touchline "to give space in the middle."

Bottom line, Barça needs a CF (Villa/Alexis) to occupy the CBs (*not* the fullbacks), so Messi can operate between the lines. And Messi needs to stay between the lines to draw the opposing CMs so Barça midfielders have time on the ball.

 

[Mitchell1978]

Had Villa been fit all season and had he played upfront with Messi al season long he would have around 25-30 goals and we would have had our second scoring option alongside Messi.

 

[Flavia]

Messi simply does not play as a target player. He plays as an extra midfielder. He clogs the attack when he starts games up front, and *walks* around next to the CBs, providing no target. He finally drops back to the midfield, but that puts the opposition entirely behind the ball, unless the wing forwards are given permission to occupy the space front center he left vacant. But their instructions are to generally hug the touchline "to give space in the middle."

Bottom line, Barça needs a CF (Villa/Alexis) to occupy the CBs (*not* the fullbacks), so Messi can operate between the lines. And Messi needs to stay between the lines to draw the opposing CMs so Barça midfielders have time on the ball.

Alexis is no cf. The problem is not Messi, I'm baffled some think that way. The problem is Barça have no real quality upfront since Villa's and Pedro's injuries. Also, tactical. The team declined as a whole, with no pressing, no 1-2's and everything else that made this side so great once.

 

[loozy]

The lack of pressing is worrying me more than anything

 

[Kerrybai]

unless the wing forwards are given permission to occupy the space front center he left vacant

That's it in a nutshell. We play with attacking fullbacks so we don't need our wingers to constantly hug the touchline. If they come inside they can act as a 9. At the same time when Messi drops deep one of them should drop into Messi's position like Aguero does for Argentina.

The easiest solution is to play a 9 but switching to 4-2-3-1 might not suit a lot of our players. Perhaps we should deploy the Milan formation at the camp Nou with Alves essentially playing on the right wing and Villa in front of Messi. It leaves us open defensively but it could work with a stronger back-line without Alba.

It's not as simple as sticking a 9 up front, our movement needs to improve dramatically as well.

 

[Mitchell1978]

One thing that is clear to me, is that Messi should not have come in against PSG that second leg, or in the first leg against Bayern while not being match fit. The management is to blame here. He probably would have been 100 % fit had he rested thoses games.

 

[Tonykross]

One thing that is clear to me, is that Messi should not have come in against PSG that second leg, or in the first leg against Bayern while not being match fit. The management is to blame here. He probably would have been 100 % fit had he rested thoses games.

Barcelona would have lost against PSG without Messi.

 

[Mitchell1978]

Barcelona would have lost against PSG without Messi.

I realise that, but the result being that he was injured/not fully fit for the semi-finals which barça lost without much of a chance.

 

[Darko]

That's it in a nutshell. We play with attacking fullbacks so we don't need our wingers to constantly hug the touchline. If they come inside they can act as a 9. At the same time when Messi drops deep one of them should drop into Messi's position like Aguero does for Argentina.

The easiest solution is to play a 9 but switching to 4-2-3-1 might not suit a lot of our players. Perhaps we should deploy the Milan formation at the camp Nou with Alves essentially playing on the right wing and Villa in front of Messi. It leaves us open defensively but it could work with a stronger back-line without Alba.

It's not as simple as sticking a 9 up front, our movement needs to improve dramatically as well.

The easiest solution is to just play good wingers(inside forwards) that will cut inside and make runs when Messi drops deeper,its that simple,the fullback turn into wingers and the wingers turn into strikers,the problem is just finding wingers/forwards that will suit our system and are hard working,while being expert finishers,dribblers,passers,with good off the ball movement and composure

Aguero-Messi-Higuain ,if only it were possible...

 

[Flavia]

Leo Messi does physiotherapy

www.fcbarcelona.com
05/03/2013 12:27

The Argentinian, who missed the second leg against Bayern Munich, didn’t train with the rest of the team today and instead worked out individually, as did Victor Valdés.
Abidal trained normally, while Sergio Busquets joined in with part of the session

Barça trained this Friday morning in preparation for Sunday’s match against Betis at the Camp Nou (21.00). The main absentees were Leo Messi and Víctor Valdés. The Argentinian, who sat out the game with Bayern Munich, did physiotherapy on his own. Tito Vilanova had explained after the Wednesday night’s match that Messi “noticed a strange feeling against Athletic” and although there was no injury, the club decided that it would be too great a risk for him to play “because any explosive effort could cause a breakage”.

 

[Luftstalag14]

According to Football Espana, Messi might play 45 minutes (at best) against Betis this weekend.

 

[KhaledBarca]

 

[Yannick03]

If possible, do you have one like this with just goals or goals+ assists ? I'd like to know the dominance of Léo
Thanks in advance !

 

[Garrus]

This whole 'Messidependencia' things, Is nothing more than a badly thought hogwash, He's being utilized to the best of his abilities the same as Cristano, Ibra, Bale, Or cavani, They're all the focal of their team, And it's just the natural evolution of players of their caliber.

 

[darthvader7888]

This whole 'Messidependencia' things, Is nothing more than a badly thought hogwash, He's being utilized to the best of his abilities the same as Cristano, Ibra, Bale, Or cavani, They're all the focal of their team, And it's just the natural evolution of players of their caliber.

Well, when Villa doesn't play, Messi is our only scoring threat.

I don't think it's Messi's fault though, nor do I think it's because of the number of goals he scores.