Champions League 2013/2014

[Sumlit]

I knew you guys would make excuses.

Ibra is a superstar, and should have been treated as such, instead he was forced to play second fiddle to Messi. Maybe, just maybe Messi's ego had something to do with it too? Imagine if we had both Ibra AND Messi thriving together? The partnership would have been amazing.

I'm just trying to get others to think outside the box for a second. Just consider it for a second.

Pedro had the most terrible season for Barcelona last season yet he had an epic season with Spain. Coincidence? Maybe. Maybe not.

Alexis has looked a shell of his former self. It's no mystery that his confidence has suffered the most being forced into a wide role. Some will say, well he is scoring and assisting and I would say hats off to the man he has conformed well and I applaud him for his efforts, but can you honestly say Barcelona Alexis is the same as Chile Alexis? Totally different levels of confidence. Do you think where he plays for Barcelona has something to do with his confidence issues? Some would say yes. I would be one of them. Spread the wealth Messi. Alexis would be triple the player for us if that happens.

The list goes on and on.

Villa. OMG the guy was a total stud then comes to Barcelona and becomes a guy who can't even hit the net for 20 some odd games straight? Gets yelled at by Messi, can't even play in his position ever. See a trend?

Now it's Neymar. He has the exact same look on his face these days that Alexis had last year and continues to have every so often. A look of frustration. Comes from Santos a complete beast of a goal scorer and now can't find the net if he tried. I'm not saying everything is Messi's fault I'm just saying there is something to it that people need to maybe consider. Messi is not totally innocent to all the above. Not completely at fault either, but not a saint to some of this stuff. It's too big a coincidence at this point.

Pepe Silvia, you're going off to crazy town here man.

Ibra was treated like a superstar. Firstly, he was bought for an exorbitant amount of money, that's superstar treatment. Secondly, Ibra was played down the middle at first. Barcelona and Pep thought so highly of him that they moved the best player in the world, fresh of a treble, back to the wing to accommodate Ibra. It wasn't only until Ibra started playing like trash, that Pep started benching him and playing Messi back in the middle. Still, when Ibra played, he always played in the middle.

Ibra at Barca was Ibra's fault. He is a selfish player, and Barcelona are all about team. Plus, he had issues with Pep. Pep, not Messi.

About Alexis you're also saying some crazy things. Firstly, Alexis was always brought to play the wing. You think Barcelona bought Alexis to move Messi from the spot where he is the best player in the world, to play Alexis, who is good, but nowhere near the level of Messi? Come on man, listen to yourself.
Alexis gets A LOT of scoring options down the wing. It is his own damn fault if he misses them. Not Messi's. He was brought to play the wing. He is not a CF. He does not play CF for Chile either, even though he plays more centrally and freely. If he cannot perform his role at Barcelona, then he should be sold, simple as that. It isn't Messi's fault.

Villa, he had an awesome season when he came. Played with Messi, you know. Won the UCL. Scored plenty of goals. Then what happened? He broke his leg and missed an entire season. Then age and injury caught up with him. Not Messi. Again, some crazy things you're saying.

Neymar was having a good first season for the team until he got injured and all this crap about his contract came up. But no, it cannot be that. It has to be Messi killing his confidence.

I mean, all your points are virtually wrong and just flat out crazy. Come on man.

 

[DonAK]

Neymar nor Alexis were ever actually good goal scorers. Neymar racked up goals in the sao Paulo state league. If you gave Messi someone who is an actual goal scorer like Aguero, Suarez, etc then Messi would lead Europe in assists every season. Even with unreliable finishers, Messi has the same assists as Xavi...

Neymar also racked up goals in Libertadores. He also scored fairly many goals in the Brasileirão. Are those state competitions? Hell no. Yes, they are not at the level of top competition football in Europe, but make no mistake, he has an impressive record in the Libertadores which is by no means an easy tournament.

Im not here to argue on whether Neymar is a profilic finisher or not, because he still got to improve a lot in that aspect of his game, but I've seen your posts about him doing well only because he played against amateurs in a state league various times lately and that is nothing but a lie or a misconception or ignorance or whatever you call it.

 

[Pepe Silvia]

Never said Alexis was a goalscorer. A top-end Alexis would be ahead of Cesc in assists and be one of Europe's top midfielders if he were played in a central attacking midfield role at Barca. Instead he plays mostly out wide with little space to operate. Against La Liga sides these problems aren't as prevalent as in CL matches when teams park the bus. Our staleness in certain games is nauseating and something should be done to increase dynamism. I can count maybe 2 games when we've been against bus parking teams in CL where Messi gravitated out wide. And guess what?!?! We kicked ass both times.

I attribute Alexis and Pedro improved seasons to Tata Martino. Is it any surprise that these two players began thriving once Messi got injured? I know it's kind of mean to say and I mean no offense to the Messi fans, I'm one too, I just am observing cumulative incidents and formulating an opinion. Something to think about.

 

[Paganinisrvnge]

Alexis took forever to really hit a patch of great form. If he had scored like he has this season in Peps last season then we would've won back to back champions leagues.

 

[CatalinR10]

Ibra is a superstar, and should have been treated as such, instead he was forced to play second fiddle to Messi. Maybe, just maybe Messi's ego had something to do with it too? Imagine if we had both Ibra AND Messi thriving together? The partnership would have been amazing.

Moving Messi to the middle was one of the best decisions a coach has ever made for this club. If a player is capable of scoring 91 and assisting 33 from that position , why on earth would someone move him from there ? Ibra was an idiot for letting his ego get in the way. I remember the times when he played some bad games for Barca , in one game , Santander I think , he was missing chances from everywhere , Messi got a hatrick and instead of scoring a penalty , he gave the ball to Ibra in order for him to gain his confidence back. It's not like everyone was against Ibra like he would sometimes claim.

Pedro had the most terrible season for Barcelona last season yet he had an epic season with Spain. Coincidence? Maybe. Maybe not.

Don't know if it was that epic....Yes , he scored some goals for Spain but those were scored against teams like Belarus , Panama , Saudi Arabia , in friendlies . He did score an important goal vs France. Anyway his last 2 seasons for Barca were shit , even worst than Sanchez 's . He wasn't providing anything usefull for the team , had a streak of 22 games in La Liga without a goal . Maybe Tito's tactics for how Pedro should play were different , but since somebody else is Barca's coach , Pedro is a beast.

Alexis has looked a shell of his former self. It's no mystery that his confidence has suffered the most being forced into a wide role. Some will say, well he is scoring and assisting and I would say hats off to the man he has conformed well and I applaud him for his efforts, but can you honestly say Barcelona Alexis is the same as Chile Alexis? Totally different levels of confidence. Do you think where he plays for Barcelona has something to do with his confidence issues? Some would say yes.

Ah yes...the mighty Sanchez who used to miss chances like these...

Don't know what Messi has to do with Alexis's way of playing. When people try to provide with great passes in order for you to score but you fuck up 80% of the times , it's your fault . Even if he was/ is played out of possition , he should have scored those easy tap-ins , and i'm not talking only about those 2 chances from the vids.

Now it's Neymar. He has the exact same look on his face these days that Alexis had last year and continues to have every so often. A look of frustration. Comes from Santos a complete beast of a goal scorer and now can't find the net if he tried. I'm not saying everything is Messi's fault I'm just saying there is something to it that people need to maybe consider.

I don't agree. Except the time he played since he returned from his injury , he was awesome. You can't compare his first 6 months at Barca with Alexis's .

.....

 

[CatalinR10]

......

Messi is not totally innocent to all the above. Not completely at fault either, but not a saint to some of this stuff. It's too big a coincidence at this point.

Messi has to drop deep all the time because sometimes the midfield isn't capable of doing shit. He became involved in the buildup and creates chance after chance only for them to be missed.

Just look at those missed chances from last season

So how can you even consider him being at fault for someone else's performances if those players couldn't even score constantly 1 vs 1 .

When he scored 91 in a year , it wasn't necessarily because everyone was passing to him . He got 3-4 chances per game but scored 2 -3 goals while the others had their chances but failed miserably.

 

[Pepe Silvia]

He still can improve, Paganinisrvnge. I believe, and I've been saying this for a few seasons now, that the way forward is to continue evolving, not to stay stagnant. The formula for defense is crowd the middle to take space and the ball away from Messi right? Our counter to that should have always been to play Messi in various areas of the pitch, shifting our players within reason. Remember when Ancelotti put Ramos in the midfield thinking Messi would be there??? That type of result would be something to look forward too more often, but in times of tight defenses, we go with the same damn recipe and it's frustrating to watch. Point is, Messi and coaches have to know these things, yet they continue doing the same thing expecting different results. Insanity? Sure seems like it sometimes. Messi has something to do with our problems, which is why when he was out injured, we looked a more 'dynamic' team. We are certainly more deadly when Messi is on form, but this isn't FC Messi, it's FC Barcelona. We should do what is good for the whole of the team, not for the good of one player. Tata started the season giving me hope that he would be the man to ask the tough questions, make the tough decisions, and to an extent he has (benching Messi, throwing key changes to our game, etc) but now with Messi on form, will he be the coach to continue his early season outside the box thinking? Hope so. It's one of the main reasons I like Tata so much. He doesn't give a shit about the board or what the popular decision is. His decisions are for the greater good of the team. Sometimes his decisions cost us, but even Pep tried things that were ridiculous at times.

 

[Chainsaw]

Messi's ego is not responsible for other players' failures.

 

[hulinat]

Is Saviola still injured? Did he travel to Manchester?

 

[Flavia]

Messi's ego is not responsible for other players' failures.

Pedro and Alexis drop in form was due to Tito, not Messi... He already has as much assists as Xavi for a reason. Just need to look at this season. Both are doing great, with or without Messi on the pitch.

 

[Djab]

Pedro and Alexis drop in form was due to Tito, not Messi... He already has as much assists as Xavi for a reason. Just need to look at this season. Both are doing great, with or without Messi on the pitch.

And this is why I give credits to Martino.

 

[NeyMesSis]

ManU hd stream anyone??

 

[xavi_the_Boss]

Oh nice Goal from Hulk.

 

[Semi-Neutral]

Giggs is so good considering his age...

 

[xavi_the_Boss]

Lewandovski got a yellow which means he would miss the 1st leg of the quarterfinal.Pretty bad for Dortmund.