Lionel Messi - v7

[FinBarcelonafan]

If he is smart he should leave. He should choose a club with a clear goals for his last 2-3 seasons. Barto & Co. have ruined the last 5 years of his career and now people will start blaming him. It's time to go Leo. You gave everything to this club but it's time for a change. This would be the best option for him and also for the club which has become too dependent on him. This cycle is over, both sides need to move on.

Yeah it's a tough spot because we can't get rid of him. We can maybe get rid of his support. That's enough for a start.

Busi/Vidal/Raki packing after this season and Suarez. Only problem, we have no money.. well sell Griezmann whoever will take him. PSG probably.

 

[Raketa10]

Yeah it's a tough spot because we can't get rid of him. We can maybe get rid of his support. That's enough for a start.

Busi/Vidal/Raki packing after this season and Suarez. Only problem, we have no money.. well sell Griezmann whoever will take him. PSG probably.

To be fair this should be the order of things:

1. We should get rid of this board with Barto and chose a new board with a clear vision
2. Hire a world class manager
3. Get rid of Vidal, Raki, Busi, Pique, Alba, Umtiti and Suarez
4. Think wisely what to do with Coutinho, Griemann and Demebele. If we sell them all, the money we get should be carefully spent.
5. Talk to Messi and present him with a new plan. We should request from him to play a positional role in that new squad. He should accept to be the crucial part of squad but definitely not one man show. If he can't live with that he should go elsewhere because this clearly isn't working anymore.

 

[Vilarrubi]

 

[Ritchie]

Way too harsh. Of our older core Messi still delivers/adds the most. Then Alba, Pique, Busquets and Suarez. Rakitic and Vidal should be gone first (and it looks like we are trying). Umtiti as well. I am on the edge about Suarez, but when he doesnt score hes downright toxic.

If we start next season with Messi, Alba, Pique and Busquets that would be a win in my book. I really think we can have a very good team if we make a few sensible decisions.

Messi still has quality but he cannot carry a team on his back anymore. That era died at Anfield (although he managed it in the first leg) and then with the Valverde sacking.

He needs legs around him, not a bunch of turtles.

The team needs an extensive rebuild but the club does not have the money to be buying proven quality and the old players have no resale value to sell and the same with the transfer flops like Coutinho and Dembele. When Arthur is your only asset with any market value it says it all.

Barca are where Milan were 10 years ago and I warned for years it's where we were heading. Real Madrid knew a few years ago they would need a big rebuild and started buying good young players

 

[Messi983]

It's really a shame we're not in a better situation where we could really fully appreciate and celebrate this amazing achievement instead of talking about other things. Let's hope things will look better when he'll score his 800th goal.

 

[bismp]

Messi was tearing everyone apart last year.

Maybe he is in decline true,but the man is 33.You can't expect him to go on forever.

Or maybe the team and the club around him have been destroyed by the board.At this stage of his career he needed a strong team.His teammates would take some of the burden off him,while Messi would turn this good team into a great one.

Sadly,the board had other plans. So,we'll have to watch a very sad and disappointing end of this brilliant career.

 

[Tackle]

Messi was tearing everyone apart last year.

Maybe he is in decline true,but the man is 33.You can't expect him to go on forever.

Or maybe the team and the club around him have been destroyed by the board.

Last season was one of his best ever. A top 5 season in his career at age 32. He has not reached half of that level this season. I know he has had injuries and lots of time off, but still. Most of his goals this season are against minnows and through penalties.

 

[Eshez]

Messi will age horribly, he insist on being the playmaker, dribbler and goalscorer and he just does not have the stamina to give enough attacking volume.

Ironically Ronaldo has seemed to adapt better to age with his poacher role.

 

[Laplacian]

Messi will age horribly, he insist on being the playmaker, dribbler and goalscorer and he just does not have the stamina give enough attacking volume.

Ironically Ronaldo has seemed to adapt better to age with his poacher role.

Worst thing, dude realises he lacks stamina that's why he walks for 70% of the time, but absolutely refuses to adapt to his declining physicality by limiting his role. It's hilarious how Ronaldo was described as the arrogant one throughout his career and Messi the humble, when their physical decline is showing that to be the exact opposite. Ronaldo has the humility to see he's not god and has accordingly changed his game deal with that. Whereas Messi seems to believe he can still dribble past 5 players from midfield like it's 2010.

 

[pregra]

Talk about hyperbole haha. If Messi were to ?do? what Cronaldo does, he would never touch the ball more than 5 times per game. Only way he can get on the ball regularly is to drop deep. Messi in a poacher role would have one chance every 5th game with these teammates...

 

[Richard.H]

One thing that I do not like about older Messi is his refusal to be a mentor to the canteranos. In his younger days he always had mentors in the club: Ronaldinho, Edmilson, and Sylvinho come to mind.

You would think with how supportive those players were of his progress he would be a lot closer to youngsters like Puig and Fati. It seems to me in practice and in matches he's just like the "cool" kid on campus who just hangs out with his bully friends and refuses to talk to others. Something I've noticed and it's starting to tick me off quite a bit since he's the captain.

 

[DonAndres]

One thing that I do not like about older Messi is his refusal to be a mentor to the canteranos. In his younger days he always had mentors in the club: Ronaldinho, Edmilson, and Sylvinho come to mind.

You would think with how supportive those players were of his progress he would be a lot closer to youngsters like Puig and Fati. It seems to me in practice and in matches he's just like the "cool" kid on campus who just hangs out with his bully friends and refuses to talk to others. Something I've noticed and it's starting to tick me off quite a bit since he's the captain.

Difference is with Messi, all the older players immediately felt he was a part of the team and worked to integrate him.

Now, Messi and the Amigos feel like this is "their team", and the kids are basically just guests. And it's no surprise they think that way, the club and management enable them in exactly that manner and panders to all the Amigos as if they are still the untouchable pillars of the team.

Wipe out most of the veterans from the squad and Messi would naturally be forced to integrate the kids more into his circle. He does trust the likes of Ansu/Puig on the pitch but he needs to incorporate them more into the team dynamic, treat them like they are first team players just like he is. Equals, even if he is the senior.

 

[soul24rage]

Difference is with Messi, all the older players immediately felt he was a part of the team and worked to integrate him.

Now, Messi and the Amigos feel like this is "their team", and the kids are basically just guests. And it's no surprise they think that way, the club and management enable them in exactly that manner and panders to all the Amigos as if they are still the untouchable pillars of the team.

Wipe out most of the veterans from the squad and Messi would naturally be forced to integrate the kids more into his circle. He does trust the likes of Ansu/Puig on the pitch but he needs to incorporate them more into the team dynamic, treat them like they are first team players just like he is. Equals, even if he is the senior.

Yep, it worked well with the Argentina NT, pretty sure it'll work the same with Barca under a different board.

 

[FinBarcelonafan]

Messi will age horribly, he insist on being the playmaker, dribbler and goalscorer and he just does not have the stamina to give enough attacking volume.

Ironically Ronaldo has seemed to adapt better to age with his poacher role.

Exactly. He needs to change this approach and he would be scoring now too.

 

[FinBarcelonafan]

One thing that I do not like about older Messi is his refusal to be a mentor to the canteranos. In his younger days he always had mentors in the club: Ronaldinho, Edmilson, and Sylvinho come to mind.

You would think with how supportive those players were of his progress he would be a lot closer to youngsters like Puig and Fati. It seems to me in practice and in matches he's just like the "cool" kid on campus who just hangs out with his bully friends and refuses to talk to others. Something I've noticed and it's starting to tick me off quite a bit since he's the captain.

What? He's been very nice to Fati and Puig.