Xavi Hernández

[sabby]

If they can call Casillas a saint then I don't see a prob Messi being called a saint.

 

[mitkoa7x]

If they can call Casillas a saint then I don't see a prob Messi being called a saint.

He's a God not a saint.

 

[Kerrybai]

Yeah, I think the "Messi is a saint" thing is largely the media's fault, not sure if "fake" is actually the right word but he's not an angel either. To a non-Barca fan like Josh I guess I can understand some of the stuff being annoying to hear about constantly. Regardless, I'm still a fan of what he does on a football pitch.

I'd agree with that, we have seen Messi's temper come out at times but its unfair to criticise his personality when we don't know the guy, it's very quiet when speaking to the media so we know very little about him, it seems like a strange reason to dislike someone because of how the media portrays them., but to each their own.

We sound like a bunch of old ladies in a hair salon

 

[Jaykob]

His role does require athleticism. In the last few years he and Alves have covered more ground than anyone else in the team.

There are barely any midfielders that get to 33 and still cover the whole pitch. They have to try and reinvent themselves if they are to carry on.

To run 12 km in 90 minutes should not be a problem for him, even at his age, considering his game does not depend on acceleration

 

[Paganinisrvnge]

I've seen some serious criticisms of Xavi in other threads and in the chat and while some of them were a bit exaggerated, I feel like they were partially right. I believe Xavi still has plenty to contribute to the squad as he's not 40 years old but it's been very evident to me that his form has fallen off for about a year now if not a little more. There have been some brilliant performances(2012 Euro final and 2nd leg vs Milan this year come to mind) but there have been many performances where he just seems so hesitant to try anything risky and seems so slow. At times he makes me feel like it's against his morals to continue a fast counter attack even if it could lead to a goal so he just slows things down.

I hope he can still be a key part of the squad but I would like to see him rested more next season.

 

[Darko]

at some comments here,the guy is a footballing genious,I doubt that he would not play passes that would result in goals on purpose,its either the instructions he gets,to play it safe and leave the final passes to Iniesta and Messi or he just doesnt feel that it is a good option,when as soon as we lose the ball we can get demolished on the counter(and more often than not Alexis and Pedro will lose the ball or do something that enables our opponents to counter)
he assisted Villa against Milan with a good pass so I doubt that he has suddenly forgot how to pass forward

 

[Flavia]

‏@barcastuff 55 min
Overtaking Cruyff (439, player 139 coach 300), Xavi is now the professional with most games for Barcelona (440) [via @pedritonumeros]

Most games with Barcelona: Xavi (440 player), Cruyff (439: 139 player + 300 coach), Guardiola (415: 263+152)

 

[Deco 20]

Most league games, right?

 

[Stric]

What strange stats, mixing playing and coaching games. Anyways, Xavi tops them both with only games as a player.

 

[darthvader7888]

What strange stats, mixing playing and coaching games. Anyways, Xavi tops them both with only games as a player.

Imagine how many he'll have once he starts coaching

 

[footyfan]

One*

Not stupid at all, why should he get away with not putting the effort, because he scores goals? Yeah well alot of his team sacrifice themselves for him aswell. If he doesn't put the effort in, why should anyone else?

It's not sacrifice if it's their job. And he's not "getting away with it", that would imply that he actually doesn't want to press and is just using his insane goal-scoring stats to influence the coaches to allow him to be lazy.

If you ask me, he played injured or w/e because he wants too, i think he has a huge influence. I do definately dislike him, i think his personality is very fake. Not the humble guy he's made out to be.

I wouldn't say my real feelings as i would get hounded by fanboys.

Any player, especially a top competitive player like Messi, would want to play important games like second legs. It might as well be that he never says no to the coaches if they ask him, but you've got no proof that he goes and demands to play over other players.

I'm gonna quote you from another thread:

Too bad he has the personality of a coke can

So lemme ask you, why bother disliking him if this fake personality is equivalent to that of a coke can anyway? Besides you're talking as if he's being fake to garner brownie points from the media.

You have a preset impression of him and are twisting facts to suit your image of him rather than using the facts to build his image. Maybe it's unbelievable for you that someone so talented is so boring.

Part of the reason, as someone pointed out in the Messi thread, hurts other players spirit. I know it would deter me from putting the work in, if i saw someone half ass it & take pretty much all the credit at the end aswell.

That means you're doing a pretty poor job earning your multi-million euro pay. And I'm sure it hurts their spirit when the gamble pays off in >95% of the games where he either saves the team's ass or plays a big role in the win.

Not only this season, you go on believing he's not lazy, I don't care.

And you can go on believing he's lazy, even though you don't actually present any evidence to support it. On top of that, you call others "fanboys" for actually disputing your statement...

That's true. I wouldn't know for sure if it was Messi who demanded to be played in the middle, but either way, once Messi started playing in the middle, Ibra was pushed into a classic #9 role, which is not his thing, at all. His playing started suffering then and it didn't work out very well for the remainder of the season.

That's not even completely true. There were multiple games where Messi played on the right and Ibra in the centre was absolute junk. Here's a nice example:

Pep started moving Messi inward because you could see that he was becoming increasingly dangerous when he was closer to the centre and because Ibra was not affecting the game positively. And "maybe" because Messi asked to be in the centre or complained (there's no concrete proof).This just made Ibra's spot in the team more and more obsolete. Messi, on the other hand, scored 3 hattricks in 3 games (Zara, Valencia, Arsenal), saves the team vs Almeria, and scores vs Real Madrid too.

Ibra's issues were primarily with Pep and how he communicated with him, and the fact that he was forced out of his "bad boy" nature. He said so as much himself. And also because Pep used him like a Fiat - meaning he actually couldn't be as individualistic as in his previous teams.

 

[spark]

It's not sacrifice if it's their job. And he's not "getting away with it", that would imply that he actually doesn't want to press and is just using his insane goal-scoring stats to influence the coaches to allow him to be lazy.



Any player, especially a top competitive player like Messi, would want to play important games like second legs. It might as well be that he never says no to the coaches if they ask him, but you've got no proof that he goes and demands to play over other players.

I'm gonna quote you from another thread:



So lemme ask you, why bother disliking him if this fake personality is equivalent to that of a coke can anyway? Besides you're talking as if he's being fake to garner brownie points from the media.

You have a preset impression of him and are twisting facts to suit your image of him rather than using the facts to build his image. Maybe it's unbelievable for you that someone so talented is so boring.



That means you're doing a pretty poor job earning your multi-million euro pay. And I'm sure it hurts their spirit when the gamble pays off in >95% of the games where he either saves the team's ass or plays a big role in the win.



And you can go on believing he's lazy, even though you don't actually present any evidence to support it. On top of that, you call others "fanboys" for actually disputing your statement...



That's not even completely true. There were multiple games where Messi played on the right and Ibra in the centre was absolute junk. Here's a nice example:

Pep started moving Messi inward because you could see that he was becoming increasingly dangerous when he was closer to the centre and because Ibra was not affecting the game positively. And "maybe" because Messi asked to be in the centre or complained (there's no concrete proof).This just made Ibra's spot in the team more and more obsolete. Messi, on the other hand, scored 3 hattricks in 3 games (Zara, Valencia, Arsenal), saves the team vs Almeria, and scores vs Real Madrid too.

Ibra's issues were primarily with Pep and how he communicated with him, and the fact that he was forced out of his "bad boy" nature. He said so as much himself. And also because Pep used him like a Fiat - meaning he actually couldn't be as individualistic as in his previous teams.

 

[DonAndres]

You're not sure?, You can't be serious, Is FCB some kind of neighborhood club, Playing some street football, Where messi can press or not press depending on his 'mood', Or alves attacking when ever he 'feels' like it.
How about some logic in here, Ever wondered why he turned from a player plagued by injuries, Into someone who hardly got injured in 5 years, Trust me it's not because of oil fish or diet, Ever wondered why most of messi's goal come late in the match, And why he is such a goal machine.
Messi's distance coverage has always been around 7km/match, Ever since pep came to barca, And it's benefits are what i just mentioned above, The little press he used to do before disappeared this season, Because of the change in our attacking methodology, The more vertical play we used this season allows messi to be more further forward, Near to the oppnenets goal, Where he creates the most danger, And because of this messi was able to score 43 goals in la liga in just the 28th round , Where last season he did it in the 35 round, Trust me, No player develops 'naturally' this much in just one season.

Many false/incorrect assumptions you're making there. First off Messi's injury problems were fixed by a combination of dietary changes as well as exercise regimen and a daily plan. He has a medical trainer with him at all times (even during Argentina games) and has an extensive stretching and warmup session 30 minutes before and after training. He (like all of the players) takes multivitamins and various other nutritional supplements to promote muscular endurance and healthy blood flow. He also has a necessary daily and sleeping schedule that he follows religiously. You can write off all these medicinal and physical regimens/diets all you want but the fact is that athletes need them to stay fit and they are among the most important aspects of the game. The most disciplined athletes with the most detailed and helpful systems are often the ones with the least injuries.

Messi's distance coverage is lower because of conserving energy in my opinion. It seems stupid but he does play up to 70 games in a season and he can't afford to run like a dog every single game otherwise he risks burning out. Also, he saves that energy for in game situations. It's quite clever actually. What's the point of running around crazily trying to set up an attack when the opposition defenders are watching you like hawks and closely marking you, while they have high levels of energy, and when there are barely any openings from which to set up a decent scoring chance. He saves his energy for when he sees them divert their attention elsewhere momentarily or when they are too tired to keep up with his trademark bursts of acceleration or when he sees a gap in space and can create a chance for his teammates. It's a smart thing to do and shows that he is always 3-4 steps ahead of the opposition. He can't just be lucky enough to score 70 goals in a season. He has the intelligence and instinct to always be making those opportunities.

Lastly, I don't know where you got that point where you said that he's closer to the opposition goal. Messi plays much deeper than he ever has with each coming season and rarely stays glued to the opponents defensive line waiting to make a run. He is the center of the mass of attacking players and as they pass around and link up they all move forward with Messi still in the middle. Then as the team is surrounding the opposition box it only takes a few seconds of finding a chance and exploiting it for Messi to make his move and play a one two or anything else for a goal to be scored.

 

[evilhita666]

Xavi's clock needs some winding...

 

[fcbdna]

Slowed the play down way too much. . . Should play less games next term.