I honestly think when messi stops playing, barca will look more like a team in CL. Dont get wrong, barca will never have player like messi, im just sick of alba, suarez, roberto, rakitic, iniesta, search messi in every occasion, even when he is not in best position those guy will pass ball to him, stop it already, do something else, give more effort, they are on high wages, high skilled players, but i have a feeling they expect messi to earn salary for them, they will just pass ball to him, its embarressing when opponent close messi and those guys are absolutly clueless what to do.
Have a feeling for coaches also, they put to much weight on him, he is best ever, but give him a break, you have other players on the team which shouldnt just be on the pitch and wait for messi to save their asses
I see what you're saying, but this can be solved with a manager that actually knows his stuff and plays importance on the team, constant movement and 1v1 to create situations and chances, constant fast-paced circulation of the ball.
But for that we also need the right players.
Alba got two moves - Cutback to Messi or run behind the defence to receive a pass from Messi. Apart from that he's average. Plain average. He cannot beat a player 1v1 regularly, he isn't very creative with his passing, he cannot cross to save his life.
Suarez - Cannot control the ball anymore and is slow and sluggish. I feel like you can either have Messi or Suarez playing at the same time now otherwise it's way too slow.
Roberto - Just average so no surprise he always looks out for Messi
Iniesta - Age caught up with him. Xavi got very conservative with his passing once he grew older too. Iniesta hardly tries any risky passes now which you need. You cannot pass, pass, pass and not try to through balls or anything like that if you want to create any chances. Too obsessed with keeping possession rather than creating something with it.
Rakitic - Simply not good enough to play in the midfield style we play. He runs and plays simple passes and that's it, so naturally he'll look for Messi. He's capable of playing better passes, but due to teams closing down and his inability to move faster than the speed of a turtle and inability to dribble past a player it just becomes too difficult for him
We need new players that are able to dribble players and create chances, that are willing to play risky passes, through balls, try crosses if there's an option for it, or long shots if there's space. Coutinho is already showing some of it, he doesn't try to find Messi all the time, he tries to play one-twos with other players, tries long shots or dribble through players to play a through ball.
We need someone alongside him in the middle that is able to do that and play deeper in the midfield. Don't need to be a dribbler, but have the press resistance and ability to skip past one player would be fine as long as he can create and play the pass where it should be played, actually use the player that's all alone on the flank after creating an overload.
You need both different players and a manager that puts emphasis on this for it to work. We need some goddamn pace in our midfield too so we can counter-attack as well. It's so freaking slow.
I think we eventually need to move Messi to False 9 again and sign a striker that's able to play out wide too and got rapid pace - He plays as an inside forward while Dembele plays a bit wider. Give Coutinho + the other midfielder creative freedom and tell Messi it's okay if he doesn't want to move a lot all the time, but stay more advanced forward, Coutinho and Midfielder 2 will get you the ball and Dembele + Striker X will create space for you and run behind the defence inviting through balls.
