That:
Is happening in every match this season..against Leverkusen, in the first half, there were times when he had 4 players around him in the moment he was receiving the ball..in the second half he was playing better because Bayer decided to play and Messi had more space. I think that in the last 4 months there were only 2 games were he wasn't havily marked: against Santos and against Malaga. And we all know what happend. Now I'm not saying that Messi didn't had 2 very bad months(because he did), but I was mostly annoyed with his finishing. So instead of watching the speed that he had 5 years ago, you should also watch what kind of space he had back then and how a fault meant a yellow card(these days, like Michael said, the defenders are allowed to to what they want against Messi-especially in La Liga).
And another thing..I'm sure that if you miss that Messi you also miss the injuries he was having because he didn't know when to stop running..
What should uppset us is not Messi's y, it's how many times his teammates don't know how to take advantage of the space he creates for them..Pedro was the best at doing that, but unfortunately he is still looking for his first touch right now.
That:
Is happening in every match this season..against Leverkusen, in the first half, there were times when he had 4 players around him in the moment he was receiving the ball..in the second half he was playing better because Bayer decided to play and Messi had more space. I think that in the last 4 months there were only 2 games were he wasn't havily marked: against Santos and against Malaga. And we all know what happend. Now I'm not saying that Messi didn't had 2 very bad months(because he did), but I was mostly annoyed with his finishing. So instead of watching the speed that he had 5 years ago, you should also watch what kind of space he had back then and how a fault meant a yellow card(these days, like Michael said, the defenders are allowed to to what they want against Messi-especially in La Liga).
And another thing..I'm sure that if you miss that Messi you also miss the injuries he was having because he didn't know when to stop running..
What should uppset us is not Messi's speed, it's how many times his teammates don't know how to take advantage of the space he creates for them..Pedro was the best at doing that, but unfortunately he is still looking for his first touch right now.
his work rate went down a bit,but you cant lose pace at 24 that's ridiculous.His dribbling is often related to state of the pitch - osasuna game best example.Totally misleading as they are still images used out of context.
1st image - Messi played very deep that game, almost like a real number 10. Only Ozil and Alonso are marking Messi. Coentrao and Callejon are there to double up on Dani , Ramos is marking Sanchez, Pepe is marking Fabregas and Carvalho is the spare man at the back.
Aside from the unnecessary and retarded ballwatching by Altintop( playing out of position.), it is nothing out of normal. Six of the defenders are miles away from Messi,and just keeping the ball in their line of sight but since someone drew those little red arrows on their heads, it must mean they are marking Messi, amirite guys?
2nd image - if you actually watched the game, it was Thiago who beat 3 madrid players and created the space. The only ones who are actually watching Messi are Marcelo and Carvalho. Everyone else is watching their own man.
As said earlier - a still image used out of context can be very misleading. I can use this Maradona picture to make it seem like he was being marked by 6 players whereas in reality it is just a wall breaking down during a free kick.
As if that wasn't happening in the past few years? As for Bayer denying space to Messi, was it the first time someone parked an airbus against Barca? And teams have been using thug tactics against him for years.Again, none of these are new stuff.
Nothing has actually changed except the very obvious. He loses the ball way more often when trying to dribble.
It is utterly laughable how the same group of people who say stats don't matter when it is brought up in case of comparisons between Iniesta, Fabregas, Oezil, Silva, etc (because in that case watching the game > stats) try to bring up Messi's goals and assist stats to "prove" that he's having a better season. Because watching the games doesn't matter in this case. Hypocrites, so many of them. Seems like stats do matter when it it can used for their advantage.
Don't get me wrong. By saying this, I'm not trying to criticize Messi because I feel this is kind of a transition season for him. Also, I'm not really worried because Pep has said his pace will return.But it pisses me off to no ends when people try to pretend that his dribbling and workrate (his overall game) hasn't been subpar compared to previous seasons.
That:
Is happening in every match this season..against Leverkusen, in the first half, there were times when he had 4 players around him in the moment he was receiving the ball..in the second half he was playing better because Bayer decided to play and Messi had more space. I think that in the last 4 months there were only 2 games were he wasn't havily marked: against Santos and against Malaga. And we all know what happend. Now I'm not saying that Messi didn't had 2 very bad months(because he did), but I was mostly annoyed with his finishing. So instead of watching the speed that he had 5 years ago, you should also watch what kind of space he had back then and how a fault meant a yellow card(these days, like Michael said, the defenders are allowed to to what they want against Messi-especially in La Liga).
And another thing..I'm sure that if you miss that Messi you also miss the injuries he was having because he didn't know when to stop running..
What should uppset us is not Messi's speed, it's how many times his teammates don't know how to take advantage of the space he creates for them..Pedro was the best at doing that, but unfortunately he is still looking for his first touch right now.
