He has been horrible.
But it also has to do with Barcelona having no midfield at all.
But it also has to do with Barcelona having no midfield at all.
Lionel Messi - Performances
- Thread starter Rado_N
- Start date
One thing about Messi is that Barcelona's tactics are somewhat built around him playing well. If he's frequently losing the ball and not doing much with it that's a huge negative for them because he barely takes part in defense so they're essentially down to 10 men if he does as little as he did tonight. At least when Suarez is playing poorly he's still trying and pressing.
It's a very rare problem that Barcelona have had to deal with but it cost them big this time.
It's a very rare problem that Barcelona have had to deal with but it cost them big this time.
Am I the only one who thinks its a bit of a disgrace how unfit and physically shot he looks? Looks like he's lost his drive and is deep into his comfort zone.
Best player of all time in the eyes of many been destroying everyone for 10 years I think if anyone deserves to slip into a comfort zone it's messi the man is simply a legend.
Don't agree with this type of thinking at all. If he's in a comfort zone, he shouldn't be playing. You're only as good as your last game, and it's this type of mentality that leads to 4-0 tonkings against PSG.
What I'm saying is even messi can have bad games, he's unreal man! Look how many shockers Rooney had had for us over the years I think you can forgive a bad game.
Where did you draw this conclusion from?
9 goals and 4 assists since the 5th of January.
That's not really what you said in the earlier post, and it's not what I said either. Of course everyone can have bad games.
My point was that he looks unfit, and it's a bit sad for a professional athlete in his supposed prime to look like he's unable to keep up with the other players on the pitch physically.
It's the same as Ronaldo. Managers are afraid to drop him and messi because of the backlash they would get.
There is no doubt he should have been subbed off tonight but then again he is capable of the impossible so you just leave him on and hope he can rescue the team.
Barca can't sub Messi just like they can't replace Neymar or Suarez when they need to. This isn't even about managers being afraid or a player having too much power or anything like that - they just don't have players to bring on. Who do you want to bring on for Messi? Just look at the players on the bench. It's a joke. Do you want to bring on Suarez for Messi? Or Alcacer even? They probably won't even help Barca on a good day. With Messi you can at least still hope that he will have a moment of genius.
Apart from that he had very good games this year so I doubt he's not fit. Lazy maybe.
Apart from that he had very good games this year so I doubt he's not fit. Lazy maybe.
He was kind of absent today and is almost like he was hiding on purpose and then the times he got the ball he was either losing it or being disposed. So yeah he had little impact and while the midfield was absent and overrun he, along with Suárez and Neymar, wasn't doing them any favors by strolling in the pitch and doing very little to press and regain the ball. He was pretty poor but so were most of his teammates. He could also be looking not to be arsed because of the issues around his new contract, has he signed a new one yet?
Really poor game, but it was always going to happen. People just watch one game and think he should do better, but the reality is he is saving their arses whole season while most of them are playing like crap, so it's expected that sometimes he will have an off game, especially when opponents actually concentrate just on him. He can't save them in literally every game, sometimes the opponent is just too strong for Messi to win the game alone. The fact that this was Neymar's probably best performance in months when Barcelona were inferior side says a lot, he usually shows up this season only when they are winning 5-0 or something like that.
Messi is great but he can't win games when they can't get anywhere near the final third, let alone their goal. His workrate should be better, but he's become the player he is by managers accomodating him to play like this, so I seriously doubt it will ever change.
He is still their best player by miles, and they have lot of problems in their team that need fixing if they want to get back to winning ways again. He has over 30 goals while playing mostly as a playmaker. You can't expect anything more from him.
Messi is great but he can't win games when they can't get anywhere near the final third, let alone their goal. His workrate should be better, but he's become the player he is by managers accomodating him to play like this, so I seriously doubt it will ever change.
He is still their best player by miles, and they have lot of problems in their team that need fixing if they want to get back to winning ways again. He has over 30 goals while playing mostly as a playmaker. You can't expect anything more from him.
His demeanour reminds me of Henry in his last days at Arsenal; even Thierry's goal 'celebrations' seemed to suggest "Yes, I'm carrying this lot, and I'm bored with it".
Barca's own Gerrard situation.
Dreams of United. Mou crushed his dream, he wants Griezmann. I would be down too.
Maybe the battering he has taken over the last few years is starting to take it's toll. Constantly being fouled while dribbling through multiple defenders can't be good for the body.
Anyway, hopefully he wants a new challenge. Sign him up Ed
.
Anyway, hopefully he wants a new challenge. Sign him up Ed
.That was possibly the worst performance I've ever seen from him.
Barca this season is far too much reliant on Messi, tonight he really had bad game and nobody seems to step up
Even this season, he's been called on many times to save them and save them he has - even if only with an exceptional freekick. There's just an overall flabbyness about the team that means that if the front three don't click, nothing works. Up until Christmas they were all looking pretty average, I actually thought there had been a bit of an upswing since then ( typical of Luis Enrique's tenure) - obviously a bit of a false dawn.
He's been their go-to guy for so long that they do have a default that says, when you can pass it to Messi, pass it to Messi. But football's 11v11 and with PSG winning the 10v10, sometimes even Messi's only human.
He's been their go-to guy for so long that they do have a default that says, when you can pass it to Messi, pass it to Messi. But football's 11v11 and with PSG winning the 10v10, sometimes even Messi's only human.
Why didn't he play yesterday? Injured?
It's surreal seeing all this criticism for him. Totally justified, but the thread reads like a Lingard performances thread or something.
No white text?Maybe the battering he has taken over the last few years is starting to take it's toll. Constantly being fouled while dribbling through multiple defenders can't be good for the body.
Anyway, hopefully he wants a new challenge. Sign him up Ed
I meant the first part of your post is about the battering affect his body, then you want him to go join the most physicality demanding league!
Not when he loses the ball - as he does a LOT! I recall a stat a few years back saying nobody lost the ball more than Messi.
Yet it's OK to say that Ronaldo is over the top? It doesn't matter how good you once were. It matters how good you are - Rooney for instance.
It is so far from the same. Ronaldo doesn't look anywhere near unfit. You could tell that he played with an injury for a sustained time, but nowhere did he look unfit. Messi looks physically unfit judging from that game. There was a sprint he tried to make to chase down a player and he looked Rooney-esque; they just ran straight from him. He was never as fast as Ronaldo in a straight line, but now he looked just downright slow. Comparing his movements to that of Neymar is quite telling. He used to be so agile and nimble.
Yeah, it's unacceptable for any player. I just meant in terms of defensive harrying.
No need for him to do defensive harrying, but he could press their attackers just a little - he barely walks towards them, and when Suarez and Neymar have sprinted to close down the other defenders it must be so annoying. There was an instant when Barca had pressed PSG down to their corner flag, Messi was the one to press the defender who had little time, but seeing as Messi didn't approach him, he could pick out a pass forward instead of having to clear it.
Worst performance by Messi I think I've ever seen in my life.
Still the best player in the world this year, should he really see his career out at Barca though?
Still the best player in the world this year, should he really see his career out at Barca though?
No. I think he's a great player, but he was rubbish this match. Whenever I've seen him play though, he doesn't do a lot of pressing or hard work, but who cares when he is so brilliant at the things he does do? When, however, he suffers from a serious off day like he did yesterday, he could at least try and put some effort into it.
He did look seriously slow yesterday though - may have been unfit just for the match, but overall he doesn't look as explosive as he once did, and he's only 29.
This really doesn't apply to him, and this is an absolutely horrendous post.
So how many times have you watched him this season, or even in total?
CR7 or Messi, who has better work ethic off the pitch? At training ?
Think the Portuguese all-time great head and shoulders and it might be starting to show...
Think the Portuguese all-time great head and shoulders and it might be starting to show...
Christ, he has one bad game when he's been single handedly carrying a faltering and bang average Barcelona team all season and he's finished? He has been the BPITW this season, if anyone is allowed a bad game going by this season's standards it's him.
He didn't perform this game and it showed just how bad the rest of the Barca squad have been. I really don't know what's gotten into them, they just look comfortable and lazy. Neymar and Suarez haven't been the same, Iniesta looks like he's coming to the end of his career, Gomes is a diabolical signing who I don't rate at all, just to name a few problems, not even getting into the fact that they have midfielders playing in defence.
Think they need to sell one of MSN and fix the obvious problems in their squad. Gomes will never be good enough to even come close to replacing Iniesta, they need a RB who actually plays that position, a new CB, and a back-up for Busquets in case of seasons like this where he gets injured and they look like a pub team.
He didn't perform this game and it showed just how bad the rest of the Barca squad have been. I really don't know what's gotten into them, they just look comfortable and lazy. Neymar and Suarez haven't been the same, Iniesta looks like he's coming to the end of his career, Gomes is a diabolical signing who I don't rate at all, just to name a few problems, not even getting into the fact that they have midfielders playing in defence.
Think they need to sell one of MSN and fix the obvious problems in their squad. Gomes will never be good enough to even come close to replacing Iniesta, they need a RB who actually plays that position, a new CB, and a back-up for Busquets in case of seasons like this where he gets injured and they look like a pub team.
In total? Too many to count - I think he's probably the best footballer around, so not discussing that. I was discussing this match and saying that he looked both unfit and uninterested.
This season: I don't have an exact number - five-ish.
Is your point that I can't make a comment about one poor match from him because I haven't watched every match he plays? Do you?
Messi has still averaged a goal every 90mins in the league this season.
Valencia is 31 and looks fitter than ever. Beckham was pretty darn fit at 30 something. Giggs is an obvious example, Zanetti, Maldini etc - Cristiano Ronaldo. You need to look after yourself, however.
I don't watch him that much, but is he deteriorating physically?
He had a pretty bad game last night, happens to every player so no need to write him off just yet, if anything it shows how much Barcelona relied on his individual brilliance so far this season.