10 - Lionel Messi - V6

[Horatio]

Messi always plays bad when he's rested

no he doesn't.

 

[Kul_z]

He was clueless. Dont like him playing in the day time haha

 

[Xtroverto]

Useless hack, sell him immediately.

Just tryin to be extra edgy you know

 

[soul24rage]

Messi always plays bad when he's rested

he looked revitalized vs Chelsea at home after skipping Malaga's match for the birth of his third child. The midfield was the biggest problem in the first half and it's no coincidence that he played better once Coutinho came in.

 

[Pedro]

Messi always plays bad when he's rested

Yep, people always want him rested, then he plays poorly like today, better if he had played at least 1 friendly with Argentina. He plays better when he plays regularly rather than having unnecessary rests, especially at the beginning of the season.

 

[soul24rage]

Yep, people always want him rested, then he plays poorly like today, better if he had played at least 1 friendly with Argentina. He plays better when he plays regularly rather than having unnecessary rests, especially at the beginning of the season.

I disagree that he played poorly today. He was anonymous in that first half (even then he played a good ball to suarez and another to dembele and a bad ball to rafinha all in the 1st half). The midfield couldn't get the ball to him in that first half so he had to drop deep with no one good on the ball on that right hand side. Later when Coutinho and busi came in, he played much better. Also it's better he gets rest now so that he doesn't burn out when March and April comes around.

 

[clemente]

People want to rest a guy that runs 5km a match, his style is literally all about conservative playing to organise every 3 day matches, hope he plays all 7 games in 21 days.

 

[FCB1987]

I don't mean to be a hater but is anyone else concerned that Messi isn't able to decide tougher matches for us as often as he used to. This is a criticism of the rest of our team as well, as I'm sure Messi could still dominate any match with prime Xavi and Iniesta behind him.

But since 2015, it seems like Messi always puts in 9-10/10 performances against the smaller teams especially at home but is just 6-7.5/10 in the tougher away matches or against top teams.

He's still the best player in the world (so you don't need to respond by attacking Ronaldo or anyone else) but I'm just not too confident about his and our chances in the CL this season.

 

[Cule4life]

Messi is not as explosive as before. His vision is still great though and we gotta mold the team to take advantage of that rather than rely on him dribbling 5-6 players like earlier.

You aren't the only one who thinks we won't win the CL this year

 

[FCB1987]

I'm not saying that Messi has mental hangups or is a choker or anything. I just don't think the style of player he is now and the role he plays in our team makes him as suitable for dominating tougher matches.

 

[Cule4life]

That's where the manager comes in and lays down his vision where players pull their weight in a cohesive system. Sadly Valverde is content on Messi bailing him out.

 

[ab739]

I don't mean to be a hater but is anyone else concerned that Messi isn't able to decide tougher matches for us as often as he used to. This is a criticism of the rest of our team as well, as I'm sure Messi could still dominate any match with prime Xavi and Iniesta behind him.

But since 2015, it seems like Messi always puts in 9-10/10 performances against the smaller teams especially at home but is just 6-7.5/10 in the tougher away matches or against top teams.

He's still the best player in the world (so you don't need to respond by attacking Ronaldo or anyone else) but I'm just not too confident about his and our chances in the CL this season.

He's not as fast and agile as he used to be, so he's had to adjust his game a bit

 

[Hazard]

People do know Messi's 31 right? Most players with his style are long finished at this age. That's why you need to surround him with more dynamic talents to cover up his declining athleticism. He can't dribble past 4/5 players like a couple of years ago anymore.

 

[Altomonte]

Messi had a decent game but his two shooting opportunities did not work out today. In particular, we are not used to him hitting a shot high like the one in the second half.
He was well marked by Illara who got a Yellow but should probably have received a second one towards the end.
It was similar to what happened against Croatia and France during the WC: When he is marked by a good defender along with backup it's difficult for Messi to dominate.
That's why it is important to have Coutinho playing alongside: with all the attention on Messi, Coutinho gets more room to take over as playmaker.

 

[Stoichkov1]

I don't mean to be a hater but is anyone else concerned that Messi isn't able to decide tougher matches for us as often as he used to. This is a criticism of the rest of our team as well, as I'm sure Messi could still dominate any match with prime Xavi and Iniesta behind him.

But since 2015, it seems like Messi always puts in 9-10/10 performances against the smaller teams especially at home but is just 6-7.5/10 in the tougher away matches or against top teams.

He's still the best player in the world (so you don't need to respond by attacking Ronaldo or anyone else) but I'm just not too confident about his and our chances in the CL this season.

Every player in the world plays better against smaller teams and worse against better teams.

Messi's problem is that he's too static and that doesn't work against the high pressing teams in CL and he drops deep when he doesn't need to. Messi is far more effective in the final third of the pitch.

As I said before there are at least 10 teams in the world who play better than us, so no one should be confident about our chances in the CL because almost surely we won't win it.