10 - Lionel Messi - v5

Bojan said:

Should have been sent off.
And in this match he didn't even bother starting as RF. He played entire match as amc and disastrously at that.

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What's RF and amc?

With a joke of a ref like that its a miracle he wasnt send of the way their fans and players were pushing for it.

Marie-Antoinette said:

What's RF and amc?

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Right Forward, Attacking central midfielder

quite performance this time by messi . roamed midfield more an focused less on launching forward, it helped up command the midfield but upfront we were lacking.

Origami said:

Right Forward, Attacking central midfielder

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Oh, alright, thank you.
Anyway, when you have Sergio Roberto at your right you can get piss off easily, which was the case with Leo.

Yeah, just blame Messi's bad game (he was actually very very bad for his standards) on Roberto but when someone says that Roberto might not be playing good because he doesn't have help from Messi in offense (because Messi spent 99% of the game in the middle, not on the wing) people are all over him how he can criticise Messi.

Messi983 said:

Yeah, just blame Messi's bad game (he was actually very very bad for his standards) on Roberto but when someone says that Roberto might not be playing good because he doesn't have help from Messi in offense (because Messi spent 99% of the game in the middle, not on the wing) people are all over him how he can criticise Messi.

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Yeah, it must be all just coincidence that when Aleix played against Las Palmas, Messi actually stayed on the right side for the first time in months. You can also wonder why the RCM(Gomes) had a good game against Las Palmas because Barca's RCMs rarely do have good games anymore.

So you think Aleix was the only reason why Messi stayed more on the wings? If he likes to play so much more with Aleix than Roberto don't you think Lucho would figure that out and played him more if that would mean we'd play more fluently and possibly win games easier.

We could also argue that Messi stayed more on the right in Las Palmas game because Arda was playing LW instead of Neymar. What about that?

Also, I really wouldn't judge too much from just one game against a poor away team. As I said in other threads I believe that Aleix deserves more opportunities but at the same time I don't think he's the reason Messi stayed more on the right side instead of moving centrally as he does when Roberto is playing. But yes, it's a lot easier to say that Roberto is not good enough than to admit that it could be also partially Messi's fault that our right side is struggling in most games.

So you think Aleix was the only reason why Messi stayed more on the wings? If he likes to play so much more with Aleix than Roberto don't you think Lucho would figure that out and played him more if that would mean we'd play more fluently and possibly win games easier.

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Lucho works in mysterious ways.
Anyway, let's wait for the next time Aleix starts(2-3 months from now) and then discuss this matter.

Maybe the weirdest game I have seen from Messi. He worked hard to get sent off, failed at that. Lucho should have pulled him, but given Messi's frame of mind, that could have had major repercussions.

Next time, Messi should not be in the 18 going to the Anoeta. Not even Messi can play every single game, let him rest for the very rare games when he is unlikely to be positive.

I wasn't able to watch the game, but have seen several clips from his performance - and yeah 'weird' is the perfect expression, I haven't seen him like this before. It just shows us that fairplay-idols like Messi (and Iniesta, Xavi...) also can get frustrated and 'black out'. The only time he has been a bit like yesterday, was the one time against madrid

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XfROdza2xAU&ab_channel=tyughjbnmw

Edit:

But he surely shouldn't be rested vs Real S., he will probably not loose his head for a lone time. And we need him on the pitch, you can not just bench players like Messi in such important games.

I'd really like to go back and watch the Las Palmas game and watch only Messi's positioning. In 90% of the games this year he is playing too centrally. Not because he's bad at it but because Lucho put him in the game as a right winger. Now I'd really like to know if Messi is just saying screw you Lucho I'm gonna go wherever I think is best or if Enrique told him to play that way. It must be the former because it makes no sense playing Gomes or Rakitic at that RCM spot because when Messi comes inside those guys take over the RW spot. Those guys will never be wingers. Lucho must know this but is afraid to tell Messi to stay wide. To me its almost like Messi doesn't trust the midfield anymore (at least the 3rd option after Iniesta and Busquets) and says screw it I'll handle it. But even though he has had some good and even great games playing this way it has a knock on effect that hurts the team. I put more blame on Lucho than Messi for this. If he doesnt have the balls to tell Messi how to play then at least have the sense to play different players. Either try Denis Suarez at the RCM spot cause he actually has the attributes to be competent on the wing when needed. Or try the formation some ppl proposed here. A double pivot with Messi slotted in as a midfielder to start and another player to occupy that RW space the whole game.

You only need to look at the game vs Villarreal where Messi started out at the RW and stayed there for a good 15 minutes before moving to the center and deep down the field again.

Why?

Because he was not getting the ball.

That's the #1 issue right now. You can say Messi should stay put out wide, but who gets him the ball there? Certainly not Roberto or whoever plays the RCM position and Iniesta and Busquets have enough on their hands trying to keep the ball away from the opposition press.

DonAK said:

You only need to look at the game vs Villarreal where Messi started out at the RW and stayed there for a good 15 minutes before moving to the center and deep down the field again.

Why?

Because he was not getting the ball.

That's the #1 issue right now. You can say Messi should stay put out wide, but who gets him the ball there? Certainly not Roberto or whoever plays the RCM position and Iniesta and Busquets have enough on their hands trying to keep the ball away from the opposition press.

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Well then he needs to just trust his teammates more then I guess. Hard thing to say with the midfield options and their form right now but part of why they have looked like crap is because they are playing out of position. None of us want the ball not to be at Messi's feet as much as possible but so many other players are being put out of position because of it. Suarez is another one who fills that RW spot sometimes. That's why some of his performances haven't been up to the level he's capable of.

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Illarramendi's fouls on Messi during the CdR-game yesterday.