Lionel Messi - v7

[El Gato]

lol, agreeing with the person with healthy eyesight because you see the same things as he does, how normal

FTFY

So floor raiser is a fancy term for an old attacker who can't hack it on fitness and resorted to (albeit brilliant) passing? Evolution is evolution I guess. Guess passing focus makes him... passive?

 

[serghei]

lol, agreeing with the Madrid fan because it aligns with your anti-Messi agenda, pathetic

And Messi is far more of a floorraiser then he is a ceiling raiser as he is the only on that keeps barça relevant as a world class team https://tacticalfouling.com/2019/08/16/barcelona-deep-dive-on-messi-and-ter-stegens-floor-raising-valverdes-pragmatism-and-fitting-in-the-new-signings/

Sorry, but I don't see Wolfe as the enemy just because he is a Madrid fan. I happen to agree with him a lot in some areas, and disagree with him in others. This is simply one of those areas where we see it the same.

 

[feggydinho]

This is one of his bad matches, but we can't expect him to be at full capacity everyday. The second leg would really be tasking

 

[KingLeo10]

Sorry, but I don't see Wolfe as the enemy just because he is a Madrid fan. I happen to agree with him a lot in some areas, and disagree with him in others. This is simply one of those areas where we see it the same.

You should start criticizing Pep to this level instead of fawning over him for all but his two-faced media self then. Because as it stands, Messi's proven more without Pep in the CL than vice versa. Pep has 6, soon 7 successive CL eliminations with 0-4 RM, 0-3 Barca, 0-1 AM, 0-3 Pool, and exits to Monaco and Spurs thrown in the mix. Yet you have no problem rating him joint best with Klopp despite OBVIOUS flaws.

We all have our favorites and non favorites. And at this point, it's apparent that you simply tolerate Messi more so than being a fan of him (as I, DonAk, and others would classify myself) which is completely fine. Case in point being you calling his goal v Chelsea at SB a mistake/tap-in when if Griezo/CR7 scored that you would call it clutch (one mistake, one goal etc etc etc). Yes, there are some Messi fanboys on this forum (the ones who still think he's in his prime) but the spectrum is pretty well established at this point. You also don't go after Suarez for being worse in CL KO games in terms of scoring when he plays the more advanced position on the pitch and actually has height to use if he so chooses for headers.

What you just wrote in the Setien thread about using Messi better is the kind of measured response that his performance warranted. He was shit in the first half, and good in the 2nd half. The 'he's not a leader' is a lazy/cheap argument in 2020 because we've known this since 2010. When will the other players show any of that? Or the manager himself? We're FC Barcelona, not FC Messi.

 

[Centauri B]

Was very poor in the first half when he had a chance when Napoli defense was open and also 2 more occasions where he failed to make the pass. A bit better in the second half with a couple of good runs and passes.

In any case, Camp Nou masterclass incoming in the second leg.

 

[Respekt_III]

blah

I dont know man, i seem to see more people defend messi regardless of performance. Legitimately criticising him for his performances tends to lead to the Messi FC brigade to pulling out their pitchforks.

Personally I'm harsher on Messi than other players as well because he's the goat and needs to be measured against goat standards; having said that I'm sure many have also acknowledged that he's no longer in his physical prime and as a result his influence on games can wane compared to before, he now has to rely on support from a unbalanced and dysfunctional squad filled with sub-par team mates.

 

[KingLeo10]

I dont know man, i seem to see more people defend messi regardless of performance. Legitimately criticising him for his performances tends to lead to the Messi FC brigade to pulling out their pitchforks.

Personally I'm harsher on Messi than other players as well because he's the goat and needs to be measured against goat performances; having said that I'm sure many have also acknowledged that he's no longer in his physical prime and as a result his influence on games can wan compared to before, he now has to rely on support from a unbalanced and dysfunctional squad filled sub-par team mates.

We have similar positions. I thought Messi was the 3rd worst thing in the 1st after Setien's initial selection and Firpo. He rebounded in the 2nd and was good when the team was better set up to cover his well known weaknesses.

My problem is with over the top comments calling him a retired player or the usual BBZ 'Messi can only cut it v Leganes' trolling. Or others suggesting Ney could do a better job for us right now.

 

[KingLeo10]

Also, his attacking partners are Vidal (a box to box midfielder) and Griezo who likes to free roam like Messi and is not a true striker.

And his initial midfield was a geriatric Busquets, geriatric Rakitic, and an out of position FDJ.

Hardly a good setup to maximize his strengths which is precise finishing in advanced positions.

 

[El Gato]

when the team was better set up to cover his well known weaknesses.

No wonder you like Benzema

 

[Respekt_III]

My problem is with over the top comments calling him a retired player or the usual BBZ 'Messi can only cut it v Leganes' trolling. Or others suggesting Ney could do a better job for us right now.

That's totally understandable but it happens with every player, I wouldn't worry about those that think a single uncommitted player will magically solve our numerous issues and 'make us great again' they're really not worth the effort.

 

[KingLeo10]

No wonder you like Benzema

RM (2015 onwards) and Juve also set up to cover CR7's lack of defensive effort or his ability to beat the man in dribbles. Why do you think both of you pump in 40-50 crosses in CL games in the box instead of playing through balls?

I have yet to encounter a player with no weaknesses. It's only smart management to paper them.

 

[El Gato]

RM (2015 onwards) and Juve also set up to cover CR7's lack of defensive effort or his ability to beat the man in dribbles. Why do you think both of you pump in 40-50 crosses in CL games in the box?

I have yet to encounter a player with no weaknesses. It's only smart management to paper them.

I have no idea why we pump in the crosses with Benzema in the box. I mean I guess I know why and I can understand it. But obviously it doesn't work very well and the man himself runs away to the left wing when he can.

It would be smart with great players like CR or Messi. I just find it funny how this standard has a tendency to branch down to shitter ones and there's this pretending going on across a like-minded group of fans that it's OK to apply this wider than for a select elite. Basically personally I find it really really odd and quite annoying how a dude with obvious finishing limitations has a mainstream veil of protection and legions of fans who vehemently refuse to believe no other striker could do the same job. All just because he has a good touch and spatial awareness.
What you wrote I found to be just a funny symptom of that. But I guess it's just opinions...

 

[sickstar]

Well im pretty sure he himself know that he's playing bad in the first half, despite the napoli defense parking the bus thing.

If it stayed like that and no improvement in the 2nd, i could call last night a nightmare and little do i or other people know what really happened. But he didn't, even before the goal he was already more active and reduce the errors. So its just an OK night and im fine with it as long as he performs better next time.

But looking at team condition, im worried the problem may not be on him next time but the team also, i mean he's not the only.one underperforming at first half, but it will be even worse with our minimal squad. Let's hope no one else has fitness issue for 2nd leg, or we'll be forced to play with second team! Bye bye ucl if that's the case.

 

[SG-7]

How are people still calling him lazy and uninterested? Hes literally done this for every game for past 8 years or so. If you're too thick to figure out thats how he plays after all these games..well then
He was bad in the first half. But once space opened up things got a lot better. If you watched closely enough, when barca had their first counterattack and messi tried to nutmeg the defender (as he was surrounded by 3) to get the pass through to Greizmann, it didnt quite work. Same happened in second half when literally no one was making through runs so he took it himself and surrounded by 4-5 players he tried to nutmeg the last player but it didnt work.

Now rewind to last weekend and you'll see he tried the same thing for his first goal and it worked. It's all a game of millimeters and slightest chances by him..and today it just didnt work out.
Now if our fullback actually dicided to make through runs like they fucking should..we wouldn't need to worry about this. I mean...our first goal came from the dimwit semedo finally having the balls to make a run past the defender..

 

[Laplacian]

Messi fanboys complaining about the team's hazardous tactics/playstyle while justifying Messi's role in the team. You can't have both, you either have Messi take a disciplined tactical role or you have an unbalanced team - not both.

Ultimately nothing we say means anything or will affect Barcelona's planning, just accept recruitment has been horrible for the past 6 years and that Barcelona will never win a UCL with Messi again, because by the time we fix this (the squad) Messi will be on his last legs. No conceivable way we're going to sign the required 5-6 players this summer. Just the reality. Relax and just enjoy the great's last few years at the top...