I doubt the sport story is true, btw. Some of those theories are around since forever, just changing some bits to adapt to the current events. There's really nothing to indicate something else rather than his injuries.
Is that talk with Pep really confirmed? There are so many bs things published about Messi, it's not even funny. As you said "apparently had", then I guess not.
I wonder, what makes you not convinced it's not only about injuries? Is there anything factual, or just speculation?
We've read two versions of those events both Pep's & Zlatan's...Of course, Balague made it sound even more sinister in his 'book' but the results were the same, Zlatan was squeezed out of the CF position and Messi played centrally...My point was that we, as fans, had no idea any of this was even possibly going on behind the scenes at the time...The talk came later so it merely proves that just because you're not reading a play by play in the media or the players themselves are explaining it word for word, doesn't mean there isn't something going on
As for why I'm not convinced it's just about the injury is that an injured Messi couldn't possibly be risked at this stage of the season by the club...There's far too much at stake to rush him back or allow him to play with a relapse concern possible...Especially when you consider how long he was out the last time he was injured in April...If anything, it makes more sense that they'd be even more conservative in his rehab since he's reaggravated it so many times
As for facts, none of us are privy to any of the facts because a club like Barcelona does not air their dirty laundry in public...It's entirely speculative with tidbits of info pushing one theory or another...The biggest factor, for me, has to be his play and when you see that comp of Messi and see the player who played against Asspanyol, you don't see the same player
There have been a series of articles by
Sport that all is not well behind the scenes and not all specific to Messi...The one theory that makes some sense is that the 3 players who have influenced the success of this team more than any of the other squad members (Xavi, Iniesta & Leo) are influencing the team less than they have been...Couple that with the least Barcelona they have looked in years and an odd performance from Messi against Asspanyol, it suggests something isn't quite right
Sport had another article on it today