10 - Lionel Messi - v3

[dostoevskij]

he will be fine, he wont win the golden shoe this season, but i hope it is the opposite this season from last season, where he had a incredible first half and was injured or not 100% fit for most of the much more important second period of the season.

 

[Luftstalag14]

Seems that rugby tackle Messi got inspired them to play a bit:

Messi scored a goal there, didn't he?

Finally he scored from open play.

 

[Neymessi]

The guy has more dribbles per game this year than he ever had in his career. He's also taking more shots. How is that a sign of been unmotivated? He'd trying everything but his finishing is rusty. Give the guy a break.

Agreed that his passing,vision and dribbling are world class but his finishing and his decision making have temporarily reduced. He should have passed where he dribbled and dribbled where he should have passed..

 

[Kerrybai]

Agreed that his passing,vision and dribbling are world class but his finishing and his decision making have temporarily reduced. He should have passed where he dribbled and dribbled where he should have passed..

That's a reasonable opinion, my issue relates to those saying he's unmotivated. Poor finishing has nothing to do with that.

 

[Neymessi]

That's a reasonable opinion, my issue relates to those saying he's unmotivated. Poor finishing has nothing to do with that.

Are you talking about that guy who was once a barcelona trainer or something?? Well i hardly feel any barca staff members have any brains.

 

[Neymessi]

Are people really buying the "unmotivated" nonsense? Really?

Man, Messi can just not catch a break. He's not even allowed to have a small dip in form after finally coming back from an injury that has been nagging him on and off for almost a year. Some matches without scoring, where the rest of the teams general crappy form also is partly to blame, and BS like this starts circulating the media. It's always something.

Yes, Messi does have a slight dip in form, but I would be more worried about the poor form of the entire team and the tactics that Martino wants them to play now a days. It's not tiki-taka, and the team suffers from it. There are almost no more quick triangle-passes or give-and-go's, the only player that seems to want to create this quick tiki-taka play is Messi, but he rarely gets any followup anymore... How many times haven't he passed to Xavi and started a run, only for Xavi to hold on to the ball and pass it up to one of the wings so either Alba or Dani can cross it into the box?

+!000

 

[Chainsaw]

The guy has more dribbles per game this year than he ever had in his career. He's also taking more shots. How is that a sign of been unmotivated? He'd trying everything but his finishing is rusty. Give the guy a break.

I believe in my own eyes more than some statistics nonsense some of you sensitives come up with every time Messi is criticized.

For your information, it's a forum not a court. And criticizing is not a death penalty. So I say, give yourself a break. You need it more than Me or Messi.

 

[Armando929]

I find the criticism exaggerated as well.

The problem with Messi is that he's put up unheard of numbers in the past 4 years and any dip in form or production will have the anti Barca fans jumping for joy and saying unfounded things. He's been running full steam since the 2007-2008 season and he's played damn near every match for club and country. It was only a matter of time that he was gonna start to pick up some injuries and luckily it hasnt' been anything that a player cannot come back from and be his normal self. His goals will come eventually.

I honestly think our problems are more tactical. Our system and formation is so rigid that it just doesn't allow for much versatility at times. I've always felt we'd have been better off with a striker up top, and Messi either playing behind him, or coming in from the right. Our movement up top is just too static, and Xavi just doesn't thread the needle like he used to anymore. Not to mention Iniesta's bad form. Alexis and Pedro have done well but they tend to drift in and out of the game at times. Cesc, Messi, and Neymar have been our best players this season IMO.

 

[Alarcón]

Not taking sides or saying I agree with his critics but many of you seem to miss the point. No one complains about him not racking up the usual amount of goals or assists. It's the way he plays and behaves on the field that some find faulty.

 

[Chainsaw]

I find the criticism exaggerated as well.

The problem with Messi is that he's put up unheard of numbers in the past 4 years and any dip in form or production will have the anti Barca fans jumping for joy and saying unfounded things. He's been running full steam since the 2007-2008 season and he's played damn near every match for club and country. It was only a matter of time that he was gonna start to pick up some injuries and luckily it hasnt' been anything that a player cannot come back from and be his normal self. His goals will come eventually.

I agree. But I don't understand some reactions to criticism turning into some sensitive wankfest either, like Messi's head is about to roll just because he's been criticized!

I honestly think our problems are more tactical. Our system and formation is so rigid that it just doesn't allow for much versatility at times. I've always felt we'd have been better off with a striker up top, and Messi either playing behind him, or coming in from the right. Our movement up top is just too static, and Xavi just doesn't thread the needle like he used to anymore. Not to mention Iniesta's bad form. Alexis and Pedro have done well but they tend to drift in and out of the game at times. Cesc, Messi, and Neymar have been our best players this season IMO.

I agree to some extend. I see that Messi's been playing more like an AM than anything else recently, which has affected his performance more or less. People were complaining about Cesc should not be a false 9 and all. But it seems as of now that Messi is playing more in Cesc's position than Cesc playing Messi's position. I think Tata needs to find a solution that Messi spend less time in the middle and more near the goal. Maybe trying Cesc behind him could help that.

 

[coura]

They should be training set pieces and shooting on goal instead of rugby

 

[Luftstalag14]

Agreed that his passing,vision and dribbling are world class but his finishing and his decision making have temporarily reduced. He should have passed where he dribbled and dribbled where he should have passed..

Fair comment. I still wanted to point out though even though Messi is still a little rusty, some of those near-misses were product of sheer bad luck in my opinion, unless if one wants to argue that a 100% Messi would have anticipated the positioning of the goalkeeper and the defenders and what they would do to save/block his shots and consequently he would have changed his move/position/the angle of his shots etc.

Also, regarding his decision making, was he known for always making much better decisions in his heydays?

 

[DonAK]

Leo's decision making has been a bit off in some of the games, but he'll get into it soon. Im sure about that....

 

[barcanuck]

I find the criticism exaggerated as well.

The problem with Messi is that he's put up unheard of numbers in the past 4 years and any dip in form or production will have the anti Barca fans jumping for joy and saying unfounded things. He's been running full steam since the 2007-2008 season and he's played damn near every match for club and country. It was only a matter of time that he was gonna start to pick up some injuries and luckily it hasnt' been anything that a player cannot come back from and be his normal self. His goals will come eventually.

I honestly think our problems are more tactical. Our system and formation is so rigid that it just doesn't allow for much versatility at times. I've always felt we'd have been better off with a striker up top, and Messi either playing behind him, or coming in from the right. Our movement up top is just too static, and Xavi just doesn't thread the needle like he used to anymore. Not to mention Iniesta's bad form. Alexis and Pedro have done well but they tend to drift in and out of the game at times. Cesc, Messi, and Neymar have been our best players this season IMO.

Great post. Agree completely.

 

[CatalinR10]

Messi to score at least 2 goals next game


hear that lufstalag ?