Lionel Messi - v7

Messi needs to adapt his game once again. He did something similar few seasons ago. At the age of 33.5 he needs to start trusting his teammates more than ever. I am sure he can do that but first and foremost he needs to be honest with himself.

Leo needs to accept the fact he can't dribble past 3 defenders anymore. He needs to become an integral part of the team and stop with that "Leo - the savior of Barca" nonsense. He is constantly trying to do too much on his own, that simply needs to stop.

[SER] SETI?N-MESSI' DISCUSSION IN BALA?DOS: Messi asked for respect for some players who had won it all compared to him. Seti?n’s reaction was, "If you don't like what I said, you know where the door is." Messi looked at him and laughed compassionately ...

GOAT captain

Raketa10 said:

Messi needs to adapt his game once again. He did something similar few seasons ago. At the age of 33.5 he needs to start trusting his teammates more than ever. I am sure he can do that but first and foremost he needs to be honest with himself.

Leo needs to accept the fact he can't dribble past 3 defenders anymore. He needs to become an integral part of the team and stop with that "Leo - the savior of Barca" nonsense. He is constantly trying to do too much on his own, that simply needs to stop.

Click to expand...

I agree with this, however I think if you watch the games (which I'm sure you do) you'll see that nothing much happens if you're honest. He's been deferring to teammates more than ever this season and it just breaks down time & time again, even before it begins to look dangerous. He's tried to remain high but simply isn't gettig the ball. There is a distinct lack of talent in this squad. They're simply not capable of unlocking these low-block defences. Opp coaches are setting up to turn over possession and hit on the break vs a slow defence. It's certain gold!

He's undoubtedly on a terrible run; lost abit of pace and hence dithers on the ball around the box resulting in lost possession and not getting his shot off earlier. There seems to be a loss of power in the shot (nevermind the accuracy), probably not a lot but enough I feel to make a difference. Otherwise his game is fine, and there have even been times when he has pressed more than you'd have thought. His passing and first touch are still the best in the game.

Not sure if anybody watched his game for the NT in La Paz a few weeks back but he was clearly motivated in difficult conditions, and played very well, runnng the show.

Not adverse to him playing less minutes,I think that would benefit both club and played in the mid-term but anybody that thinks Barca would be better without him, even in current form, need to give themselves a shake.

Xaviniesta said:

[SER] SETI?N-MESSI' DISCUSSION IN BALA?DOS: Messi asked for respect for some players who had won it all compared to him. Seti?n?s reaction was, "If you don't like what I said, you know where the door is." Messi looked at him and laughed compassionately ...

GOAT captain

Click to expand...

My Captain

Raketa10 said:

Messi needs to adapt his game once again. He did something similar few seasons ago. At the age of 33.5 he needs to start trusting his teammates more than ever. I am sure he can do that but first and foremost he needs to be honest with himself.

Leo needs to accept the fact he can't dribble past 3 defenders anymore. He needs to become an integral part of the team and stop with that "Leo - the savior of Barca" nonsense. He is constantly trying to do too much on his own, that simply needs to stop.

Click to expand...

I agree with this, however I think if you watch the games (which I'm sure you do) you'll see that nothing much happens if you're honest. He's been deferring to teammates more than ever this season and it just breaks down time & time again, even before it begins to look dangerous. He's tried to remain high but simply isn't gettig the ball. There is a distinct lack of talent in this squad. They're simply not capable of unlocking these low-block defences. Opp coaches are setting up to turn over possession and hit on the break vs a slow defence. It's certain gold!

He's undoubtedly on a terrible run; lost abit of pace and hence dithers on the ball around the box resulting in lost possession and not getting his shot off earlier. There seems to be a loss of power in the shot (nevermind the accuracy), probably not a lot but enough I feel to make a difference. Otherwise his game is fine, and there have even been times when he has pressed more than you'd have thought. His passing and first touch are still the best in the game.

Not sure if anybody watched his game for the NT in La Paz a few weeks back but he was clearly motivated in difficult conditions, and played very well, runnng the show.

Not adverse to him playing less minutes,I think that would benefit both club and played in the mid-term but anybody that thinks Barca would be better without him, even in current form, need to give themselves a shake.

Not surprised. That's how it looked.

Setien and Koeman had/has impossible job in hand.

I give Messi big credit for wanting to leave.. Dude is Done at top level. Done
The guy used to run like an animal when he was young and then got older and realized he has godly talent so he abandoned his body thinking that his touch will be enough forever.

What he means with respect? Or does it mean playing amigo clann all the games?

Sterlingfan2000 said:

What he means with respect? Or does it mean playing amigo clann all the games?

Click to expand...

dunno but you can't be a medicore coach and expect top tier players to listen to you , never going to happen.


anyone who played a sport or a team video game understands it. Imagine you become really good at a game , let's say CSGO which is a team game , reach the top levels , and some pleb who is new to the game compared to you wants to give you orders or advice on how to play . LMAO.

all great players have ego, messi opened the can of coke with fucking pep when he banned it lol. setien just wants to blame his failures on messi when in reality he was in way over his head, he didnt even have the power/balls to bench vidal and rakitic who were complete liabilities. after his first game, he just went back to whatever valverde did, thats on him, nobody else.

behindbrowneyes said:

Are there any comparings about run km/game with last season? His finishing might be off because he has to run way more and therefore lacks freshness in the box. He'll have to adapt to this.

Click to expand...

Or maybe he runs the same.

But last season his stamina was 70/100 (like in video games) and this season it dropped to 60/100 because he is 1 year older.

So, even the same amount of running like the last season might be too much for him.

Add to this that he wants to play every single minute of every single game.
Plus, fixtures are more crowded in this season because the season started later (La liga, CL, NT matches).

So:
1. 33.5 years
2. Crowded fixtures
3. He wants to play every match
= you get a tired Messi who can't run, dribble or score.

But even then the coach is not allowed to bench him.
Fc Messi, more than a club.

With all of Kyiv's absences, he better play 90 minutes and get some good statpadding in. Rest him vs Betis instead

Total meltdown. Y'all see how we stand on la liga table without captain goals.
But but but, its only eibar, granada, etc
My captain gonna find his shooting boots yet again and would deliver such a moan fest on forum i cant wait to witness

Katarina1 said:

With all of Kyiv's absences, he better play 90 minutes and get some good statpadding in. Rest him vs Betis instead

Click to expand...

I hope we don't underestimate them just because of their absences.

We could suffer like RM did with Shakhtar.

Fati_Future_BallonDor said:

He needs to become 12/13 Messi again when he had deadly good off-ball movement to bring hi in perfect position.

Click to expand...

so he just needs to replicate what he did when he was in his physical peak and was surrounded by the likes of Xavi, Iniesta, Busquets, and Alves.