10 - Lionel Messi - v4

[Barcaman]

again one of those rarely games by messi and i see ppl blaming him - lol ( i can guess what was happening through 2013-14 season here , im just new one )
guys we don't need 15 kilometers running by messi or defending/pressing by him either,( actually he does, remember previous seasons ... ofc not tata's season, lol. ) i would even thank all previous managers who did let messi play free and his own way
he's total genius , therefore we just need one of those tricky passes or a movement of him that lead us to win ( he actually did last night where he put suarez in a one-on-one situation but suarez didn't decide to either shoot or pass to nemyar. )
i'd rather he runs 200 meters but give us a winning moment instead of running too much and becomes useless...
im not saying he had sucha good game, he hadn't. but the whole team were shit after scoring the goal, we've seen that before ( sevilla last season ) there are 38 round matches, it's obvious that would happen every season, it's not unusual.
remember guys we were 4 points behind RM last season exactly at this moment

Welcome to the forum! Sorry it took a while to validate your post.

 

[Horatio]

Not sure, some serious competition with Sandro and Munir hitting form against Villanovense.

Tough choices for Lucho

We already have the top spot in the group stage regardless of the next match's outcome.

 

[Barcaman]

Did you read what I said, Bojan? Because that's not what I wrote. El flaco was saying he was sorry for rakitic, because Messi wasn't pressing. But Rakitic also had a poor game, worse than Messi. One of rakitic's worst, in recent times. So did Busi. And yet, if chances were taken, Barça could had won the game 0-3. It wasn't Messi's fault in ended in a draw.

He has a point because Rakitic does a horse work for the team and namely those who (for whatever reason) aren't putting a shift.
On top of that Messi has a free role whereas Rakitic is constrained to a defensive role.

Everyone saw Messi was moved to right flank in 2nd half. Usually it's the opposite when he fatigues on the flank and in 2nd halves we see him taking it easier in the center.
So if he was moved to the right later in the game that tells you he is fit (or should be). Why he looked so disinterested then is a valid question just as why did he even start in the center.

Noone is immune to criticism and if you talk to impartial fans they'd tell you Messi had a stinker.

 

[Vlom]

He did, but Rakitic had a bigger one, and all season long now, so Ivan's form is way, way, way more preocupating than Messi's.

 

[Barcaman]

I don't think so.
Ivan's primary role is to cover spaces (which he does regularly) and he is easier to replace anyway (Roberto).

Messi is irreplacable though.

 

[Flavia]

He has a point because Rakitic does a horse work for the team and namely those who (for whatever reason) aren't putting a shift.
On top of that Messi has a free role whereas Rakitic is constrained to a defensive role.

Everyone saw Messi was moved to right flank in 2nd half. Usually it's the opposite when he fatigues on the flank and in 2nd halves we see him taking it easier in the center.
So if he was moved to the right later in the game that tells you he is fit (or should be). Why he looked so disinterested then is a valid question just as why did he even start in the center.

Noone is immune to criticism and if you talk to impartial fans they'd tell you Messi had a stinker.

And if you read carefully you'd see I criticized Messi. Never said he had a good game, but he's also not the only one to blame for the draw, as some were doing here. And I disagree about Rakitic. He had a very poor game, pretty sloppy passing. He gave away at least 2 great counters for Valencia.

 

[Vlom]

I don't think so.

About the preocupating part ? That would be an overreaction, i'd worry if Messi has several bad halves/games like yesterday in a row, but a one off is nothing to worry about.

Even saying yesterday was bad is an over reaction, sure by Messi's standards it wasn't phenomenal, still setup Ney and Suarez for one goal each that they blew up, and blew a couple himself.

Ivan's primary role is to cover spaces (which he does regularly) and he is easier to replace anyway (Roberto).

Sure, but I'd be sad to see Ivan loose his spot in the best 11 (which he doesn't belong in right now), we know how good he can be for the team.

We need him if we are to repeat the trebble

 

[ThwiX]

I know better than to doubt Messi after just coming back from injury, especially after the Tata season. Even I thought he was done back then. Playing literally x50 times worse than right now for a whole season.

He would've been back to GOAT form again for most members here yesterday if his shooting was better. Too many weak shots straight at the keeper that he normally would score to win us the game.

 

[BigBarcaBoy]

Messi didn't look disinterested, he didn't have a great game, still had chances to get a hat trick, why there needs to be this ridiculous forensic examination everytime he appears almost mortal is beyond a joke of course no one is above criticism but some of this stuff on here and on twatter is beyond me totally . People doubting him is laughable, the guy should have a statue outside the ground, the debt we owe to the man is simply impossible to imagine.

 

[JamDav1982]

I dont think anyone is really doubting Messi.

Just some people totally over react and get too defensive if anything other than him being brilliant is said.

From what I can read these pages have been people saying he played poorly and tactics were a bit too Messi centric in second half.

People over react to that by making out Messi is being blamed for the defeat or is past it.

Next time he scores a couple of goals it will be 'I never doubted him' or 'take that Messi haters' Just totally missing the point.

 

[Kerrybai]

Decent game but nothing special, his finishing will improve over time.

A draw at Valencia is a solid result/

 

[Truthist]

He's just back from a lengthy injury. It's natural after a game or 2 for fatigue to set in due to a lack of match fitness before getting back to his best. Let's give the great man as much time as he needs.

 

[NorthernVictory]

Why doesn't Messi take corners anymore?

 

[Horatio]

Why doesn't Messi take corners anymore?

Because Machester.

 

[SirXavi]