10 - Lionel Messi - v3

[Galning]

Messi congratulating Ronaldo? Wow zomg I'm so shocked. Not really. Always great friends when Madrid or Ronaldo win. Barça congratulating Madrid, Messi attending the Ballon d'Or gala, etc... just wait until the tables have turned again.

 

[footyfan]

That being said, I don't even think he was bad today. I was more disappointed with how Barca were so open AFTER they got the equaliser.

 

[spark]

I don't know why he is not performing. I just can't figure out. If he was purposely not performing as a response to all the criticism (which I don't believe is the case by the way) he received, then he really is an immature prick that needs to be offloaded, sorry.

Flavia, I know the problem is way beyond Messi. I know the who team is playing like shit. Tata is clueless. However, Messi being the so-called best player in the world, being billed the one player who can change the outcome of the game; at this critical juncture when the club was at the risk of having a titleless season, was barely trying and not giving a damn, is simply inexcusable.

Messi was a huge part of the reason why I love Barca. But if he keeps behaving like this, I am going to be a Barca fan who is not a fan of Messi's anymore. Talent-wise, he might be one of the best of all time, however, work-ethic wise, he is not even close. He really broke a lot of people's heart recently. I am fine with how he played against Grenada, but not his behavior in the two CL legs and today's game. There was no urgency and desire fom him at all.

Messi, you are not winning any fans by playing like this. Good luck at the WC, you will need it.

Oh the irony.

 

[Ryan_Cule]

barcastuff ‏@barcastuff 2m
Picture: Pitch invader asking Messi's shirt after the game.

 

[Stric]

Messi congratulating Ronaldo? Wow zomg I'm so shocked. Not really. Always great friends when Madrid or Ronaldo win. Barça congratulating Madrid, Messi attending the Ballon d'Or gala, etc... just wait until the tables have turned again.

So true, and happens over and over again.

Remember the Supercopas? How Madrid reacted to our win in 2011, and how we reacted to theirs in 2012...

 

[Ghost]

Why is he touching his dick? This will get so abused by Real fans and their memes.

It doesn't really matter... Let them..

Messi congratulating Ronaldo? Wow zomg I'm so shocked. Not really. Always great friends when Madrid or Ronaldo win. Barça congratulating Madrid, Messi attending the Ballon d'Or gala, etc... just wait until the tables have turned again.

So true.

We are not angels and some of our players (Xavi) come off as bitter sometimes. But they're on a different level.

 

[BarcaVillain]

Don't get where you get that statement from my post.

I'm definitely NOT advocating Messi should pick his Coach or Teammates, I assure you.

I'm trying to say that the way the Coach is using Messi and the plays the team are making are not best suited to getting the best out of Messi, hence the dip in form.

You claimed that he 'goes into his shell' and "He's playing shite because when he isn't being used as he thinks he should be (by the Coach and Teammates)". He isn't the manager. He plays in the position he is told to play and, for the the money he's paid, should be putting a shift in, whether he likes it or not.

 

[Flavia]

I don't know why he is not performing. I just can't figure out. If he was purposely not performing as a response to all the criticism (which I don't believe is the case by the way) he received, then he really is an immature prick that needs to be offloaded, sorry.

Flavia, I know the problem is way beyond Messi. I know the who team is playing like shit. Tata is clueless. However, Messi being the so-called best player in the world, being billed the one player who can change the outcome of the game; at this critical juncture when the club was at the risk of having a titleless season, was barely trying and not giving a damn, is simply inexcusable.

Messi was a huge part of the reason why I love Barca. But if he keeps behaving like this, I am going to be a Barca fan who is not a fan of Messi's anymore. Talent-wise, he might be one of the best of all time, however, work-ethic wise, he is not even close. He really broke a lot of people's heart recently. I am fine with how he played against Grenada, but not his behavior in the two CL legs and today's game. I can accept Messi having as many bad games as humanly possible, what I can not accept is the lack of trying and effort. There was no urgency and desire fom him at all.

Messi, you are not winning any fans by playing like this. Good luck at the WC, you will need it.

I really don't know what you expected him to do today. I actually thought it'd be worse, but rm really doesn't seem that strong. Barça has no coach. Everyone was bad. I don't expect any player, not even Messi, to shine in the big mess we're in now. The psychological aspect is as important as the physical. And our players are all drained, gone, dead. Mentally broken. They've been playing at top level and winning everything since 2008. It's 2014, and with this current board we even managed a few more titles.

Just take a step back and look at the amount of shit that happened since January 1st.
This last week was the culmination of years of bad management. No one is playing happy, no smiles, all you see is a dark cloud hovering over their heads.

I'm not even mad we lost the final, I'm actually hopeful now something might change.

 

[Luftstalag14]

The game totally passes by him. When we lose the ball he drops back at a pace which can only be described as somewhere between slowly jogging and walking. He's unreachable now because he's 15 meters offside. Then when we recover the ball he keeps on dropping down while the whole game moves upwards from our point of view. The CM's ran back first but are by now already in a higher position than Messi. Impossible to influence the game from this position. If we then lose the ball again and Messi's in the center of the park, we might be better of placing a cartboard box there.

There is no off the ball movement what so ever. Sometimes all he needs to do is run 3-4 meters to make himself available, position his body better. He doesn't do it. When he gets the ball he's almost always with his back to their goal. It's a lot more difficult to make actions that way. That's the main reason why he has so much trouble getting past players these days. Messi has to turn and that gives time to the defender to make a challenge. I've noticed our players are stopping giving him the ball when he's under pressure because they know he's not in a good position and that a turnover migth be deadly.

Total lack of commitment, stamina, good will, determination, heart, passion.. whatever you may call it. I say appaling attitude, even if he's "saving himself for the world cup". If that's so, that's not only disrespectful to barcelona, but also incredibly stupid because form doesn't come without work.

I'm really eager to see how he does next year...

Now I hope it is all because of the stupid WC after all, otherwise it just shows the drastic and tragic decline of a star player that was once known as the best player in the world.

Either way, his attitude and work ethic are totally unacceptable for a professional.

 

[Jurij]

We can all agree that something is wrong. And something must happen. First of all. He lost his starting position and needs to gain it back. There is no other way.

 

[Luftstalag14]

He played bad like the whole team but maybe instead of blaming him like a bunch of spoiled little children you should support the players so they can get back into it. Messi was playing great a couple of weeks ago (close to his very best), the city return game, the osasuna game, the classico at the bernabeu. Then after that game the form started to dip massively, i don't have an explanation for this but thats life.

Is it really about his form, or his attitude?

I don't think his form has dipped, his mental desires all of sudden came to a halt, for some reason. And nobody knows why.

 

[Stric]

Is it really about his form, or his attitude?

I don't think his form has dipped, his mental desires all of sudden came to a halt, for some reason. And nobody knows why.

I don't think that's the case, either... his recent performance against RM screams the other way.

 

[Ghost]

I don't think that's the case, either... his recent performance against RM screams the other way.

He was not THAT good.

 

[Flavia]

Is it really about his form, or his attitude?

I don't think his form has dipped, his mental desires all of sudden came to a halt, for some reason. And nobody knows why.

It's not about Messi. It's about everyone, and everything.

 

[ceefoo]

You claimed that he 'goes into his shell'.

Yes, because when you are a 5' 7" striker and you need the ball played along the ground and it is constantly getting crossed 10 feet in the air by some buffoon, you are going to get pissed off. That's only natural right?

And as I said before, I am not excusing Messi's behaviour, but I understand why.