Luis Suárez

[Joan]

If we can offload PSG to Suarez for a decent fee, that would be great..Hell even for a discounted price..considering in his current form, we may have to pay the other party to take him

PSG to Suarez?

 

[shadows]

PSG to Suarez?

Ya my bad..corrected it now..

 

[Stoichkov1]

Why won’t it work? False 9 gives you an additional passing option in central midfield as well as a lethal finisher and second wave runner.

The obsession with a pure 9 is kind of weird when most 9’s these days are expected to be associative in their play. Benzema, Kane, Firmino, Dzeko all do it. Who better to take in that mantle than Messi?

We had this conversation before.

It doesn't work because:

1)Messi is 31 and doesn't have the stamina to drop deep and make runs behind the defenders like a striker;

2) We are too predictable;

3)Messi is better at playmaking and he needs someone to drag the defenders away

I would take Kane or Dzeko, not Benzema because his goalscoring record is terrible and would be even worse than Suarez in my opinion.

 

[MessiCam]

We had this conversation before.

It doesn't work because:

1)Messi is 31 and doesn't have the stamina to drop deep and make runs behind the defenders like a striker;

2) We are too predictable;

3)Messi is better at playmaking and he needs someone to drag the defenders away

I would take Kane or Dzeko, not Benzema because his goalscoring record is terrible and would be even worse than Suarez in my opinion.

That’s why you have you have wingers who play in the half space... To run in behind. The job of a False 9 is to create space for others not like a 10 that relies on teammates to provide him with space.

As False 9 he would also play more between the lines, conserve more energy. There is nothing wrong with Messi’s ability to run in behind defenders when required. You also rid yourself of his defensive inefficiencies as well.

There is literally no down side to playing Messi as a False 9 right now because you take advantage of his scoring ability as well as his playmaking abilities. He also has very creative players in Coutinho and Dembélé either side of him now too which he has never had before (so the marking would have to be different). Only problem is Dembélé’s work ethic.

That you can say he doesn’t have the stamina to make runs in behind is kind of ridiculous because he is doing it week in week out from a deeper position than what a False 9 requires.

Now that we’ve got that out of the way... With a traditional 9 where does Messi play without losing a passing option in central midfield as has been the case this year?

False 9 kills 2 birds with 1 stone.

 

[xXKonan]

Funny thing is there's a good portion of the Barca fanbase, especially on twitter that will give you shit for questioning him and that we shouldn't replace him at all.

Same guys who think Iniesta isn't past it and Pique is always on the top of his game. Suarez was once a beast of a player but these days he's a far cry from what he use to be and I'm glad we are going for Griezmann we need someone who is more mobile and someone who isn't always on the ground or being toxic as hell on the field and someone who doesn't kill plays.

 

[wisconsincule]

Messi false 9 is the way to go for sure. Suarez cannot play anymore for us. It’s time to move on. I don’t think he’ll take a bench role.

 

[EdmondDantes]

I thought he'd be fine tonight since he was rested midweek. I'm a huge Luis fan but he struggled again tonight.

He still clocked a goal and an assist though.

 

[JamDav1982]

There are down sides.

Messi could drop too much, look for ball too much and is slows it all down.

The one time Barca have won the CL since Xavi/Iniesta prime is when Messi played RW and team destroyed others on the break.

There was a variety of goals there.. all front three could break through any wing or centre, Suarez at times was a threat with balls into the box etc.

Messi at false nine stopped being so effective even when Barca had some of the best players ever to do it.

He needs to be back on the RW or even rotating RW/CF with Griezmann but then you have to cover for him defensively as wont track back enough but likes of Griezmann help cover that a bit.

Barca will be more of a 442 again next season would think.

 

[Barca83]

There are down sides.

Messi could drop too much, look for ball too much and is slows it all down.

The one time Barca have won the CL since Xavi/Iniesta prime is when Messi played RW and team destroyed others on the break.

There was a variety of goals there.. all front three could break through any wing or centre, Suarez at times was a threat with balls into the box etc.

Messi at false nine stopped being so effective even when Barca had some of the best players ever to do it.

He needs to be back on the RW or even rotating RW/CF with Griezmann but then you have to cover for him defensively as wont track back enough but likes of Griezmann help cover that a bit.

Barca will be more of a 442 again next season would think.

You could also say that Messi RW only worked when he had two of the next three next best players in the world up front alongside him; it was a total disaster in Enrique's last season even when we had a better team individually than this season

 

[MessiCam]

There are down sides.

Messi could drop too much, look for ball too much and is slows it all down.

The one time Barca have won the CL since Xavi/Iniesta prime is when Messi played RW and team destroyed others on the break.

There was a variety of goals there.. all front three could break through any wing or centre, Suarez at times was a threat with balls into the box etc.

Messi at false nine stopped being so effective even when Barca had some of the best players ever to do it.

He needs to be back on the RW or even rotating RW/CF with Griezmann but then you have to cover for him defensively as wont track back enough but likes of Griezmann help cover that a bit.

Barca will be more of a 442 again next season would think.

Messi is never going to stick to the wing. I love RW Messi more than any other Messi but it becomes a tactical nightmare because he craves a central position.

And yes, with a player like Rakitic there is always the risk of him having to drop deeper more often than he’d like but it’s still a lot better than playing with only 2 CM’s and misusing Dembélé as a wide midfielder instead of a forward.

 

[JamDav1982]

You could also say that Messi RW only worked when he had two of the next three next best players in the world up front alongside him; it was a total disaster in Enrique's last season even when we had a better team individually than this season

Messi barely ever stuck to the RW after that half season just drifted centrally all the time after that.

 

[Stoichkov1]

That’s why you have you have wingers who play in the half space... To run in behind. The job of a False 9 is to create space for others not like a 10 that relies on teammates to provide him with space.

As False 9 he would also play more between the lines, conserve more energy. There is nothing wrong with Messi’s ability to run in behind defenders when required. You also rid yourself of his defensive inefficiencies as well.

There is literally no down side to playing Messi as a False 9 right now because you take advantage of his scoring ability as well as his playmaking abilities. He also has very creative players in Coutinho and Dembélé either side of him now too which he has never had before (so the marking would have to be different). Only problem is Dembélé’s work ethic.

That you can say he doesn’t have the stamina to make runs in behind is kind of ridiculous because he is doing it week in week out from a deeper position than what a False 9 requires.

Now that we’ve got that out of the way... With a traditional 9 where does Messi play without losing a passing option in central midfield as has been the case this year?

False 9 kills 2 birds with 1 stone.

Yeah but in 2011 we had Pedro and Villa who understood the system, now we have two completely new players

Messi false 9 is too predictable, especially when Barca plays against big teams. In 2013 when Messi false 9 stopped working we just passed the ball sideways for 90 mins without creating a single chance

 

[JamDav1982]

Messi is never going to stick to the wing. I love RW Messi more than any other Messi but it becomes a tactical nightmare because he craves a central position.

And yes, with a player like Rakitic there is always the risk of him having to drop deeper more often than he’d like but it’s still a lot better than playing with only 2 CM’s and misusing Dembélé as a wide midfielder instead of a forward.

I know which is why he wont go back to the right but for me it is his best position and he is more a threat and better for team out there even if gets on ball less.

Messi centrally everyone defers to him and it is slow particularly has been in CL.

Need a midfield that can dictate tempo and be left to move ball quickly and probe for openings. Wont happen with Messi central in my opinion. He will drop get deffered to and play like a second striker for most part.

I think if he wont go back to RW it almost has to be 442 again.

 

[Barca83]

Messi barely ever stuck to the RW after that half season just drifted centrally all the time after that.

Messi won't stick to the right wing though because he doesn't run enough to play as a winger but still come inside when the situation is right. Messi as a "right winger" is basically just playing a 4231 while he stands around the #10 space and the RCM goes out to the wing all day to cover him

 

[Stoichkov1]

I know which is why he wont go back to the right but for me it is his best position and he is more a threat and better for team out there even if gets on ball less.

Messi centrally everyone defers to him and it is slow particularly has been in CL.

Need a midfield that can dictate tempo and be left to move ball quickly and probe for openings. Wont happen with Messi central in my opinion. He will drop get deffered to and play like a second striker for most part.

I think if he wont go back to RW it almost has to be 442 again.

Messi was on the right when there was Alves, now he has to combine with Roberto, huge difference.

Also now there's no Neymar, so Messi on the right means that he touches the ball less and the team isn't creative enough without Messi.