Lionel Messi - v7

[Andrew M]

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.

Ronaldinho was more interested in partying than anything. Hardly a good mentor

 

[Givenchy]

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.

hate to say it but this is true.

I remember people used to say Messi would end up adapting and evolving as he gets older into a midfielder whilst Ronaldo would lose his pace and fade away. fast forward 5 or 6 years; Messi has no fixed position and its destroying our formation whilst Ronaldo accepted his limitations and evolved into probably the best finisher of all time.. don't get me wrong, Messi is a joy to watch whilst Ronaldo is boring these days but the last 4 years in Europe says it all

if Messi lacks stamina, its ridiculous to keep dropping deep and attempting lung busting runs through a maze of players, hes not 24 anymore. hes still the best in the world when he cares and he looks so much better when hes cutting inside on the right. I wish we could get a manager (maybe Xavi?) who could persuade him to put the team first.

its sad to watch his final years at Barca unfold.. unlike Suarez, Leo still has 2 years of magic in him if he preserves himself for the big games and plays for FC Barca instead of FC club de amigos

 

[kattanib]

Question, why do you think Messi never cared to learn English? Is it a self image thing like Pep, wanting to always look like a perfect angel and not a fool? Or is it an ego thing where he won?t adjust himself for others, rather they should change for him? Food for thought

 

[Andrew M]

Question, why do you think Messi never cared to learn English? Is it a self image thing like Pep, wanting to always look like a perfect angel and not a fool? Or is it an ego thing where he won?t adjust himself for others, rather they should change for him? Food for thought

I think you're over thinking it. He probably never learnt it because he didn't have to

 

[FinBarcelonafan]

Question, why do you think Messi never cared to learn English? Is it a self image thing like Pep, wanting to always look like a perfect angel and not a fool? Or is it an ego thing where he won?t adjust himself for others, rather they should change for him? Food for thought

If you don't have to, why bother? He almost never uses it.

I doubt he will ever live in English speaking country. He probably goes back to Argentina after Barca. He seems to love his language and country.

 

[kattanib]

Fair enough

 

[Latschenkiefer]

What the fuck is wrong with his haircut choices at times? He looks terrible again. I thought he would grow a lion's mane and then this rude awakening. Kim Jong-un hipster version.
Stick with these:

 

[Ritchie]

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.

Last season should have been Messi leading us to a treble treble. Then Anfield happened which was the death knell for this Barca team. Then his hopes to get Neymar back ended with the Griezmann purchase, another disastrous big signing.

His mate Suarez is finished, the team is broken and he's not got the legs/energy/will to carry them anymore.

 

[Ritchie]

hate to say it but this is true.

I remember people used to say Messi would end up adapting and evolving as he gets older into a midfielder whilst Ronaldo would lose his pace and fade away. fast forward 5 or 6 years; Messi has no fixed position and its destroying our formation whilst Ronaldo accepted his limitations and evolved into probably the best finisher of all time.. don't get me wrong, Messi is a joy to watch whilst Ronaldo is boring these days but the last 4 years in Europe says it all

if Messi lacks stamina, its ridiculous to keep dropping deep and attempting lung busting runs through a maze of players, hes not 24 anymore. hes still the best in the world when he cares and he looks so much better when hes cutting inside on the right. I wish we could get a manager (maybe Xavi?) who could persuade him to put the team first.

its sad to watch his final years at Barca unfold.. unlike Suarez, Leo still has 2 years of magic in him if he preserves himself for the big games and plays for FC Barca instead of FC club de amigos

Messi does need to adapt his game to reflect his declining legs but hasn't done that yet. Part of the problem (like at the last World Cup) is he's in such a useless team and he feels like he's got to do everything, rather than be more peripheral.

Ronaldo has adapted his game by basically goal hanging for most of it, whereas Messi drops deeper and deeper. Ronaldo has always been in teams who can create though.

 

[Batistuta9]

It's not as simple as Messi not dropping deep and the problem will be fixed. Sometimes he needs to drop deep for the team to even make a chance. I reckon he doesn't trust any of the midfielders to have the quality to create/playmake. It's just a massive shame the midfielders we have don't even have half the quality of xavi and iniesta.

 

[pregra]

Exactly this. If Messi doesn?t drop deep we will never get the ball to him further up the pitch

 

[Ritchie]

Exactly this. If Messi doesn?t drop deep we will never get the ball to him further up the pitch

That's the point. Penaldo can goal hang and wait for his chances. Messi has to create his own.

 

[Blaugrana Bull]

Well, Messi does not create space for himself because he does not move one bit. So his only possibility is to come out of the opponents formation, get close to our defensive midfielders and try something from there.
Runs behind or quick cuts to get the ball are nonexistent in the final third. And that is not the team's fault. He does nothing off the ball but only when he is directly involved in the action.

 

[Tackle]

That's the point. Penaldo can goal hang and wait for his chances. Messi has to create his own.

Ronaldo does have excellent off-ball movement, positioning, timing, is one of the best headers of the ball in the world, is constantly making runs, is great at losing his defender etc. Yes, at the end of the day he is still reliant on good service, but he certainly makes it a lot easier. He is doing a lot of work to get his "tap-ins."

Leo doesn't even make normal football runs anymore. There is hardly any attempt by him at all to get free. He simply stands in the middle of the final third with 5 defenders around him and asks for the ball at his feet at a walking pace.

Not sure how you can expect for him to get easy chances when he puts no effort in. Suarez tries to get free and in good positions, but the lad's legs are gone. Our midfield's creative output is shite, but it doesn't help when your attackers are marked for the entire match. You needs runners in modern football.

 

[Hardy]

That's the point. Penaldo can goal hang and wait for his chances. Messi has to create his own.

dude, ronaldo runs 9 km per game, according to serie a stats, don't act like goal chances fall from a tree look where the fuck is Messi everytime we have a counter attack