Messi as a false 9 doesn't work anymore for different reasons:
1) The opponents got used to it and know how to neutralize him. Without a striker who makes runs behind the defenders the team would be again in full messidependencia mode and we would have even more difficulties to score against teams that park the bus;
2) Messi is 30 years old and can't play as a false 9 anymore. He walks/runs only 8km per match while the false 9 position requires a players that drops deep and at the same makes runs in the box like a striker, Messi would be
exhausted after 2/3 matches;
3) You need players and wingers who understand and practiced the system.
We would play even worse than we played under Tata in 2014.
On the contrary, false 9 is the only way Messi can allow his creativity and decision making to explode expotentially in the final third and be unpredictable at the same time. The reason he walks is to save all his energy in the final third, burst of speeds in between defence before striking the ball into the net, which is why he is so effective despite being the one who runs the least off the ball. His offensive output is crazy, dribbles, passes, splitting up of defence, not to mention his goal conversion.
If opponents got used to Messi, he wouldnt end up with 23 goals this season and arguably even more devastating than the past two seasons. There's a reason why Messi is on another level for the past decade and still going.
Having a fixed striker is actually more predictable for the opponent and easy to neutralise. U could already witness how the 4-2-3-1 against Alaves is so ineffective.
Messi's performance against Juventus sums up how good he is as a false 9 and him telling Dembele to make that cutting run is pretty evident how he is so effective in such a system.
If u have Messi in such form in your team, anyone would build a team around him instead of making a system to accomodate Suarez. Luckily Suarez has got back his sharpness and is a decent RF/RW, if not EV might have switched to the 4231.
I do agree we need decent wingers/fullbacks who is lethal at goal BUT needs to accomodate Messi on a similar wavelength, like Jordi Alba, and I'm sure Messi will tell Dembele what to do unlike Snake Jr who wants his own spotlight.
