Lionel Messi - v7

[DonAK]

Get Mourinho in to play that 4-2-3-1. He'd sort Leo out.

A 4-2-1-3 can be a 4-2-3-1 too, or a Nagelsmann style 4-2-2-2.

It's similar to the setup Mourinho used at Inter and one both Ajax and Dutch NT uses a lot.

 

[El Gato]

Yh, get him in. You're always in his heart and all that. He might even bring N'Dombele (or Eric Dier if you're less lucky) with him to help in you with that other pivot.

On a serious note, I don't see the point of trying to make it work with Messi. If you have to chop a cat's tail off, you don't do it slice by slice, just get it done in one go.

 

[Richard.H]

Get Mourinho in to play that 4-2-3-1. He'd sort Leo out.

He’ll surely make Messi track back and help semedo

 

[DonAK]

Yh, get him in. You're always in his heart and all that. He might even bring N'Dombele (or Eric Dier if you're less lucky) with him to help in you with that other pivot.

He'll be returning to Madrid once Zidane leaves. Unless Florentino leaves before that happens.

He’ll surely make Messi track back and help semedo

And have us end on 3rd place and wreck the team totally.

 

[Richard.H]

He'll be returning to Madrid once Zidane leaves. Unless Florentino leaves before that happens.



And have us end on 3rd place and wreck the team totally.

I was being completely sarcastic mate. Would be funny to see him yell at Messi though

 

[El Gato]

He'll be returning to Madrid once Zidane leaves. Unless Florentino leaves before that happens.

Zidane is done as soon as this generation of players wins another Liga, Perez might likely go along with him as soon as Mbappe has signed on. Pochettino is still a go-to after Zizou anyway. Or he might stay until the new stadium is finished around 2023-2025 but he'll be almost 76 years old by then.

Messi should go for his own sanity. He's highly unlikely to win the CL for at least another season.

 

[ASordidGod]

I'll say this though, and I've mentioned it before. I don't agree with the "he's finished", "we should move on from him" comments.

That's rubbish.

But his position is a big problem moving forward. We ideally want to be able to play through both flanks and with a CF. Where will Messi fit in here?

By suggestion would be signing a B2B MF/A ball winning MF like Camavinga to pair him up with de Jong and then sign a CF and LW and play a 4-2-1-3.

ter Stegen
RB - CB - CB - LB
Camavinga - de Jong
Messi
RW/Griez - CF - LW

​

First of all you get the best out of de Jong and add some proper solidity in the midfield by pairing him up with another athletic midfielder that's great defensively and ascending.

Who cares about "control" if you're just going to play sideway passes all the time? We need to be able to move the ball quicker. A lot quicker.

Messi's position becomes less of a problem and he can fully utilize his playmaking ability and still make those late runs in the box being able to play off a CF.

You finally get two wingers or wide players we can play through, who can also help out defensively.

You don't have to sacrifice a CF to fit everyone in.

Is it perfect? No. Never will be. But it could be good. It might be a bit of a mess defensively at first, but we're going to be either way.

Yeah, for me this seems an obvious solution, or at least a viable workaround. Only problem is, like you identified, it would require a completely different profile of players to be successful. I mean, imagine trying to shoehorn Busquets into one of the two physically demanding mid roles, oh no wait, the genius Valverde already tried that with his robotic 442. You get my point though. On paper it's the only solution, but as it stands we just don't have the players. And as much as I love him, there's no point buying a new team to build around a soon to be 33 Messi. I think we just have to suck up his decline and the negative consequences upon the team as the price for all his years of genius. Imo, anyway. Another option would be to just sub him in on 60 mins every game and tell him to have at it. Unfortunately I don't think he'll go for that.

 

[DonAK]

Zidane is done as soon as this generation of players wins another Liga, Perez might likely go along with him as soon as Mbappe has signed on. Or he might stay until the new stadium is finished around 2023-2025 but he'll be almost 76 years old by then.

Florentino has learned his lesson and has delegated responsibility to different people which explains your good recruitment the last few years. Besides, what else is he going to do? He's not coming in daily anyway. He's just presiding over and ensuring everything runs smoothly while he focuses on his personal business.

 

[El Gato]

Besides, what else is he going to do? He's not coming in daily anyway. He's just presiding over and ensuring everything runs smoothly while he focuses on his personal business.

True I guess. The club is all the man has left with kids taking entirely different life routes and after his wife passed. But I still think he's a man of goals. Not sure if he'll stay beyond the period of regaining stability.

 

[DonAK]

True I guess. The club is all the man has left with kids taking entirely different life routes and after his wife passed. But I still think he's a man of goals. Not sure if he'll stay beyond the period of regaining stability.

I think he stays until you win at least a couple of league titles and a CL, or get close to winning a CL.

He surely want to prove that he can rebuild the team and turn Real Madrid into serial winners against post-CR/Ramos and this generation.

 

[DonAK]

ter Stegen
Semedo - Pique - Upamecano - Alba
E.Camavinga - F.de Jong
Leo Messi
Trincao/Griez - CF - J. Sancho

My only problem here is the choice of the CF. Not sure Lautaro can lead the line here.

Some of you are going to get slightly triggered seeing Semedo and Alba there, but you cannot get everyone in one summer window. I would sign the players required for this setup to work first, and then work around to improving the RB and LB position as well as search for Pique's successor in 2021.

Obviously this is just my opinion/view on how Barca should play and how we can integrate Messi in a setup that doesn't make the team look like a complete mess.

I'll rather we move the ball quickly forward, play more on the break instead of aimlessly passing the ball around in the name of keeping possession and "control".

You can still utilize the likes of Arthur in this setup as he played in a 4-2-3-1 with Brazil where he paired up with Casemiro. Busquets is forced into a transitional role like Xavi had in his last season. He can play in the smaller games.

We can still use other systems when Messi isn't in the team, but a 4-3-3 with Messi is dead while a 4-4-2 is never going to work either IMO.

Would be interested to hear what people think​

 

[bismp]

ter Stegen
Semedo - Pique - Upamecano - Alba
E.Camavinga - F.de Jong
Leo Messi
Trincao/Griez - CF - J. Sancho

My only problem here is the choice of the CF. Not sure Lautaro can lead the line here.

Some of you are going to get slightly triggered seeing Semedo and Alba there, but you cannot get everyone in one summer window. I would sign the players required for this setup to work first, and then work around to improving the RB and LB position as well as search for Pique's successor in 2021.

Obviously this is just my opinion/view on how Barca should play and how we can integrate Messi in a setup that doesn't make the team look like a complete mess.

I'll rather we move the ball quickly forward, play more on the break instead of aimlessly passing the ball around in the name of keeping possession and "control".

You can still utilize the likes of Arthur in this setup as he played in a 4-2-3-1 with Brazil where he paired up with Casemiro. Busquets is forced into a transitional role like Xavi had in his last season. He can play in the smaller games.

We can still use other systems when Messi isn't in the team, but a 4-3-3 with Messi is dead while a 4-4-2 is never going to work either IMO.

Would be interested to hear what people think​

I don’t think we have the funds to make all these transfers

 

[xXKonan]

I just want real wingers.

Tired of us spending absurd cash in buying Slow unadaptable number #10s/SS and using them as Wingers. Or buying wingers that need to have the ball at their feet in order to be effective.

 

[Laplacian]

If aguero can play as a striker, why can't he? It's easier to build a great midfield than it is to find a viable strategy for Messis free role. He's done it since the pep days, you're old now it's time to adapt for the better of the team.

Or we can watch every single manager break their heads over his position until he has the decency to retire, which won't happen until he's 35 I bet.

 

[Horatio]

Must have an injury. Since when does Marcelo outpace Messi?