Lionel Messi - v7

[Tackle]

does he have a functioning system around him at barca?

No, but you can argue a large part of why the system is so broken is because every manager that inherits Leo has to build a team around him that accounts for all the imbalances his play style burdens us with.

KDB can fit into any system as an "8" and will succeed. Lewa can be plugged into any system as a "9" and will be world class. These players can be key players of very successful teams without the coach having to bend the system very much to accommodate their every whim.

Let's say Leo goes to City next season. What is his position? How does Pep find two other attackers that fit with him? How do you cover for the space he does not defend? How do you make up for the lack of width on the right? How do you construct a proper passing system without Leo moving off the ball very much? How do you approach counters? etc.

These sorts of questions do not apply to De Bruyne or Lewandowski. You plug them into you lineup and they will execute their roles to perfection.

 

[Wambo]

I still don't get it why people support Messi being the captain. He is the worst captain in recent history of the club. Absolute loser mentality and lacking every important aspect of a leader. The captain title isn't reserved to the best player, but the player who fits the role the best.

 

[malvolio]

Nah I am saying punt the lot of them and Barca will still be top 4 easily and can bring in other players also.

that's another discussion. unrelated to messi being shit or not for the likes of city/bayern. still can't stop laughing about KDB being better than messi.

 

[raedkuwait]

He is a family man, who needs his friend around him, he don't care much about any thing else.

 

[FinBarcelonafan]

I still don't get it why people support Messi being the captain. He is the worst captain in recent history of the club. Absolute loser mentality and lacking every important aspect of a leader. The captain title isn't reserved to the best player, but the player who fits the role the best.

Nobody defends his captaincy. Most of the people agree he shouldn't be the captain in the first place.

 

[te amo barca]

that's another discussion. unrelated to messi being shit or not for the likes of city/bayern. still can't stop laughing about KDB being better than messi.

Laugh all you want. We?re not talking peak level, but this season only. Messi has been mediocre, especially post corona.

 

[giorgoXXI]

Well, we better play Europa League than getting humiliations every year. That's smaller chances to get humiliations like this.

Can't disagree with that, but we start playing Europa and we won't be able to attract top talent and our revenue would go massively down.

Barca would still be top 4 without a doubt.

The way Barca play is slow one dimensional football for Messi and lesser extent Suarez to come up with indiviudal moments.

Messi plays a part in that being the approach.

I am not so sure about top 4. I am old enough to remember the Gaspart era and how qualifying for CL was a trophy for us.

Yes Messi plays a part in the approach, but haven't got any other players to play differently, and neither we have the money to buy any. Our only hope is La Masia, and until the new talent gains experience, Messi is still crucial.

Yes to your first sentence/paragraph. However, do you expect him to be here forever? Sooner rather than later we need to live without him and adapt. That is the ONLY way for us to get better eventually.

Agreed, but we need to have an alternative plan to Messi before he leaves. We can't just let him leave in the current state, and leave it up to Dembele, Griezmann and Ansu Fati to lead the attack, with 30+ Pjanic and Busquets behind them. Messi needs to be part of the transition, he shouldn't need to leave to kick start it (if things were managed better of course)

 

[FinBarcelonafan]

Laugh all you want. We?re not talking peak level, but this season only. Messi has been mediocre, especially post corona.

True, especially his goal scoring has been terrible by his standards.

 

[Luftstalag14]

Our bench players walk into those teams. We would be comfortably third at least.

Football is not played on paper so it doesn't work like that. The few times we played without Messi we look terrible and out of ideas mostly.

Of course you can say it was because we were so used to give the ball to Messi and let him do everything offensively, that could very well be the case. I am imagining it will take a while for us to play completely without him but if we manage well, over time we should get better. But probably not the first or even second season after Messi is gone.

 

[Devils]

I still don't get it why people support Messi being the captain. He is the worst captain in recent history of the club. Absolute loser mentality and lacking every important aspect of a leader. The captain title isn't reserved to the best player, but the player who fits the role the best.

We saw it at Argentina for years too.

 

[Luftstalag14]

Agreed, but we need to have an alternative plan to Messi before he leaves. We can't just let him leave in the current state, and leave it up to Dembele, Griezmann and Ansu Fati to lead the attack, with 30+ Pjanic and Busquets behind them. Messi needs to be part of the transition, he shouldn't need to leave to kick start it (if things were managed better of course)

The problem is, Messi is going to want game time and he won't play bench and we can't afford to pay the kind of wages he is on for a bench player. Also, with him being here players will still be bought and played to cater to him, even though he might not be playing every minute. I don't know if our players are capable of developing two different game plans, one with Messi and another without and keep switching back and forth.

 

[Alik]

I still don't get it why people support Messi being the captain. He is the worst captain in recent history of the club. Absolute loser mentality and lacking every important aspect of a leader. The captain title isn't reserved to the best player, but the player who fits the role the best.

I don't think anyone supports it. That being said, who else is suitable?

We saw it at Argentina for years too.

Mascherano was the true captain of that team. Should have been the official one too.

 

[Devils]

Will go down as the best player in the club's history but also might go down as the worst captain in the club's history.

I don't think that has ever happened before in football lmao.

 

[KingLeo10]

Will go down as the best player in the club's history but also might go down as the worst captain in the club's history.

I don't think that has ever happened before in football lmao.

We have no alternatives. The only other guy with a backbone was FDJ and even his might have been Bane'd.

 

[giorgoXXI]

The problem is, Messi is going to want game time and he won't play bench and we can't afford to pay the kind of wages he is on for a bench player. Also, with him being here players will still be bought and played to cater to him, even though he might not be playing every minute. I don't know if our players are capable of developing two different game plans, one with Messi and another without and keep switching back and forth.

But that's down to poor management. Messi has a lot of influence but in the end he doesn't run the club, its more like poor or lack of management has let him run the club in the last few years. If Messi doesn't feel comfortable with the players or system, he has a clause to leave at t he end of each year. But we should be looking to force him out, lets never forget what he has done for the club.

I still don't get it why people support Messi being the captain. He is the worst captain in recent history of the club. Absolute loser mentality and lacking every important aspect of a leader. The captain title isn't reserved to the best player, but the player who fits the role the best.

Messi could have Mascherano's or Puyol's captain mentality, and we would have still conceded 8 today.