You see, I agree on the importance of tactical discipline, and above all of the role of the coach.
I also agree on being critical of the players, and, as I explained, analyzing the reasons for Messi's poor performance.
But I do not recognize, having read you, that you have any right to feel a connoisseur of tactics.
I think coaches are not so foolish as to field players who harm the team. And that the whole narrative of the tyrant Messi who decides the formation in place of the coach is a conspiracy-minded delusion that only in this forum can have space.
As an aggravating circumstance, it is extremely boring and ridiculous this fact of labeling as Messi fanboy all those who have a different view.
That said, the question boils down to two different points of view:
Who believes that this Barcelona would do better without Messi, who believes the opposite...
points of view
I'm the only one here who posts from time to time tactical analysis of games and plays. So... I'm the best simply because I'm the only one who is willing to spend dozens of hours and go there.
As for Messi and tactics. It's simple really. Messi was always a player that posed tactical problems, and not small. Even since the days of Pep. But Guardiola was a genius and turned this into an asset with his False 9 plan. He was also lucky, because unlike others that followed him, he was given the supreme version of Messi, surrounded by equally bright football minds, who are able to implement that level of fluidity and very intricate moving patterns. Watch how Xavi and Iniesta synchronized every time Messi wanted to move somewhere. Guardiola, Xavi, Iniesta, Alves. These guys were vital in creating and implementing a style that turned Messi's tendency to create tactical problems into a strength.
After that, we had a brief period when Messi played as an explosive RW, with MSN. This was the most tactically solid version of Messi, like a superior peak Robben. Very streamlined, very hard to handle. Which is 2015. Other than that, the game had to be built on him, even at the expense of losing important things: such as inexistent or bad pressing, such as positional stability (the famous holes under EV, when we played 4-3-3 with a big gap on RW because Messi wasn't staying there), such as him invading other players' space and confusing them and so on. And we declined (and Messi declined as well) in terms of players and managers who could figure out how to turn those problems into valuable things for the team.
Messi's story was always about him having insane scoring and creating productivity at the expense of him causing tactical problems. When he was in his prime, he always brought more to the table than the problems he caused. Sometimes a lot more. As he aged and declined, this balance became a negative one, and right now, it's a tremendously negative one.
That's the issue. The fans simply live in complete denial.
