Luftstalag14
Culé de Celestial Empire
So what is happening? When Messi is on the pitch, our players just collectively decided not to press any more? How could his lack of effort in pressing affect the rest of the team?
10 - Lionel Messi - v3
- Thread starter Barcaman
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So what is happening? When Messi is on the pitch, our players just collectively decided not to press any more? How could his lack of effort in pressing affect the rest of the team?
Incredible how you compare getafe at home to atletico away. LOL. Ludicrous.
The 100% fit BS again? Oh lord...
There was no difference between 1st half and the 2nd. Stop wasting our time.
footyfan
Calma, calma
That's what I'm trying to understand.
I suggest you read my post a little bit more carefully, our pressing with him and without him are in stark contrast, and this can be seen in both today's game and the Getafe game.
spark
New member
Why are you forgetting games earlier this season before he got injured again such as Madrid Milan and Ajax at home or Valencia away when he was indeed pressuring ? Since then the only sample is two games he hasn't reached a total of 90 minutes. One of which he took a blow from costa as soon as he came on. Our pressing certainly wasn't excellent in Amsterdam nor Bilbao and he was in another continent for those games.
footyfan
Calma, calma
I am certainly not forgetting them, I dont think he pressured the way you seem to remember it, definitely not in the Valencia away game or the Madrid game where him winning the ball seems to give the idea that he was participating in the collective press.
I only picked these 2 games because him coming on made a difference, i.e easier contrast.
The point still stands, our pressing this season has been a lot better without him. Our pressing was very good in the Bilbao match, definitely better than in the Madrid or Milan matches.
I don't understand how anyone can deny that one person being regularly stationary negatively affects our pressing. In the moments after we lose the ball, Cesc when in the false 9 position makes a burst back to win the ball back while Messi does nothing. And this is not just based on the last 2 games. The game where we really saw Messi pressing was the Levante home game, first game of the season.
The problem is he is becoming more of a pure striker and less of a false 9. Cesc nowadays plays the false 9 position better than him. I think putting a striker in front of Messi would get him a lot more touches on the ball and also closer to the action when we lose the ball.
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The false 9 is not a defined role it is assumed to be different things by all of us Messi is the best in the role he is never the relentless runner like Pedro or Alexis he doesn't press unless the opponent is close to where he is u can see that he is constantly moving with at least one marker on his tail unlike any other player in the world even when Barca don't have the ball thtas the kind of player he is he uses his superb intelligence,vision and awareness that makes him one of the most deadly player on the ball he effectively is taking at least 1 player out of the opposition's attack without pressing not to mention 3 when Barca is on the attack. I believe last night the Costa tackle on him as soon as he came on made him mentally afraid to exert himself which is understandable giving that those minor knocks collectively put him out for the longest duration in his career if the stupid tackle wouldn't have happened we would have seen the real GOAT we all know and love
KhaledBarca
New member
the amount of bullshit in the last 2 pages is so damn high!
GTFO, are you seriously blaming Messi!!
GTFO, are you seriously blaming Messi!!
Galning
Moderator
:thumbsup2:
footyfan
Calma, calma
Another example:
Here he's doing the same vs Levante:
Is it any surprise that whenever he participates, our pressing looks top notch? Not only is he fast and aggressive, he is one of the best ball winners around, on par with our defenders atleast. And it's not just about him winning the ball, something as simple as cutting off the passing options, that he would regularly do in previous seasons is missing now, especially last season. And this injury excuse is so stupid, because even before last April when he first got injured, he played the exact same way he did yesterday.
You have to be blind to not notice the changes in Messi's play, or maybe only just recently started watching Barca, in which it's justified. It makes me laugh when people say he was never part of the pressing game anyway, like what....
You can't deny that having one less player during the collective press makes a huge difference, especially when you've just lost the ball. Another player who is over the hill in this regard is Xavi. The thing is that these two players are incomparable and bring so much quality that you would rather play them despite these shortcomings. For example, Cesc even though he is very good at the pressing game, just doesn't have that bit of talent that Messi possesses to get free of the first man and take two or three players on, something that's crucial against the tightest of defences. Nor does he have Xavi's vision and awareness that allows him not to generally get overrun. It's true though that Xavi is slightly regressing in this regard too, but he's still better than Cesc.
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