Lionel Messi - v7

eaman

Active member
Everytime he takes a sprint or is involved continually with the play, you just sense his energy draining.

It's like that with the whole team these days. A good, focused play with lots of runs or an intense burst of pressure and you get the sense that it has a price in the other end. The sense that you know we only get a certain amount of those in a game, so we shouldn't waste it.

Actually playing focused and energetically for 90 minutes seems like an impossibility, a pipedream. But that's what we literally used to do.

Exactly. Messi and every great player needs the team to step up as much if not more than the team need them to step up
 

BusiTheKing

Senior Member
If Messi's lack of work was just that, then we might make it, but I don't think he sees how much it affects the team's mentality. If he looks like he doesn't believe, then the whole team takes notice.

There are moments when he gets all worked up and makes runs for the ball and crazy dribbles and in those situations, it seems like the whole team is suddenly ignited. Players seem like they believe in each other and want to fight. Suddenly we're all over the opponent.

There's no reason why we can't be in this mode for 90 minutes, but we aren't because no-one is inspiring us to.
 

The Observer

New member
Do people even understand how much Suarez enabled him?

From this (Suarez):

jjmilnad.jpg


to this (Griezmann):

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Gotta take its toll.
 

sickstar

New member
Yeah many of those suarez assists are for messi lol and messi also does the opposite. While griezmann... Err.

Ok, messi had also wasts several good chances the past few games, that he rarely does before.. so.. maybe something did happened mid january. Some muscle issue...? Or just too much cola lol.
 
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vegitot

Senior Member
He still had 9 dribbles vs Sociedad. Prove that he doesnt need speed to beat opponent.
Thing is he doesnt have anyone to work with. Busquest is too deep and other players are not good
 

SG-7

New member
Messi didn't play as a RW (even though he spent some time there he was clearly mostly playing through the middle), Griezmann was on the right.

Even if he played LW they'll still find a way to troll him :lol:

But I think his sub-par performance is due to him prob playing through that thigh problem and greizmann offering little to no assistance, hence why he looked for Braithwaite most of the night as he was actually making decent runs.
Combine that with a shitty midfield of Raki + Busi and well...
 

tacticvarium

New member
If he is really playing injured, it's either he is dumb or our medical staff or coaches can't control him. There is no reason to force himself to play at this point. Yes, the squad is full of injured players and quality itself is not good but Messi forcing himself playing injured will make things worse at the critical period of the season.
 

Ritchie

New member
The last time bar eibar you mean?

Because from 4 goals, 2 were his vintage solo effort/ decisiveness in looking for goal chances. Although, you could argue about eibar's defense weakness, i say we could all agree on the first point.

He's showed moments of class in a few games because you don't lose that talent. I wouldn't say Eibar was a vintage performance either, it's just the one game he's been able to finish for shit. Dare I say it, that's the kind of game he shines in now, against La Liga crap at home.

The thing is, you need to carry Messi physically. There'll be retired 45 year old players in better physical condition than Messi is. Instead he's playing in a garbage team and still being expected to carry them. Really, he needs to be standing in the box in a creative team waiting for tap ins like Penaldo's last few years.

With the exception of maybe 2014 (when the World Cup medal was so close) Messi was clearly the best in the world in terms of performances from 2009 to 2019. I don't think that's going to be the case this year and he'd be lucky to even make the Ballon D'or podium. I think it might have been if he wasn't playing for such a shit team. Last year he did such a great job of carrying that team but he's beaten down now.
 
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tacticvarium

New member
The thing is, you need to carry Messi physically. There'll be retired 45 year old players in better physical condition than Messi is. Instead he's playing in a garbage team and still being expected to carry them. Really, he needs to be standing in the box in a creative team waiting for tap ins like Penaldo's last few years.

Messi himself has to share the blame as well. He had many good opportunities to leave and finish his career with much better endings but he chose the least challenging option to stay here for his family. I'm not one of those dumb people that argue Messi has to move to other top leagues to further prove himself. That's not the point here. It's getting clear that he doesn't have any "extra" motivation as a footballer to have a better career and individual achievements at this point. He just wants a comfortable and stable life for his family in Barcelona.

With the exception of maybe 2014 (when the World Cup medal was so close) Messi was clearly the best in the world in terms of performances from 2009 to 2019.

Honestly, I'm not too certain about that. There were years that perhaps Xavi and Iniesta deserved the Ballon d'Or more than Messi both in terms of individual and team achievements but it always had to be Messi who wins the award since he is a much superior superstar, celebrity and a fancy attacker.
 
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Tackle

Senior Member
At worst he is playing through some slight tightness or bruising. Don't buy the excuse he is starting despite suffering from any sort of serious injury. Seems like too easy of an excuse and the club is not foolish enough take on the liability for re-injury/aggravation risks that could jeopardize Leo's career at this point.

He was hardly near his best in the first half of the season either. Noticeably better for sure, but I feel most of that can be attributed to the presence of Suarez. Currently he has absolutely no one he trusts in attack.
 

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