Does Messi get too much credit for Barca's success?

by Gil Sat Apr 07, 2012 3:10 pm

If you replaced him with R9, Romario, CR7, Henry, Shevchenko, Eto'o etc all at their respective peaks would Barca still be as successful as they are under Pep?

by DuringTheWar Sat Apr 07, 2012 3:17 pm

messi gets too much credit? i thought he doesnt get enough (cant play without iniesta and xavi is what many say)

by Dnmac4 Sat Apr 07, 2012 3:17 pm

No they wouldn't. Messi is better then those players and in some cases much better then some of the names you named. Now had those players played in Barca's system since they were 12 years old then that might be a different story.

But IMO Ronaldo is a little too selfish for Barca's system and it's not a knock on him it's just that Real's system fits him better. You saw how Henry was much better as a CF and Barca doesn't play with one so he was kind of a square peg in a round hole and the same goes for Ibra.

It just so happens that Messi fits the system perfectly as he is the perfect false nine. It's his passing that is just as lethal as his scoring and the players you named just don't have that skill. When you see Messi's assist numbers in the past two years it will be something that's never been done if you pair them with his goal numbers. NO ONE has the skill he does to pick a pass or a goal dribbling full speed within the system. And Pep was smart enough to taylor the system to Messi's strengths

by alexjanosik Sat Apr 07, 2012 3:18 pm

Gil wrote:If you replaced him with R9, Romario, CR7, Henry, Shevchenko, Eto'o etc all at their respective peaks would Barca still be as successful as they are under Pep?

No,no,no,no,no,no and no.
Nobody has been as brilliant,as lethal,as ruthless and as mesmerizing as Messi game in game out,week in,week out,year in year out as Messi.
So no,you can replace him with R9,Maradona,Cruyff,Pele any damn player in history and we wouldnt be nearly as good.
Forget the likes of Shevchenko,Romario,Eto'o and CR7.LOL.

by alexjanosik Sat Apr 07, 2012 3:18 pm

alexjanosik wrote:
Gil wrote:If you replaced him with R9, Romario, CR7, Henry, Shevchenko, Eto'o etc all at their respective peaks would Barca still be as successful as they are under Pep?

No,no,no,no,no,no and no.
Nobody has been as brilliant,as lethal,as ruthless and as mesmerizing game in game out,week in,week out,year in year out as Messi.
So no,you can replace him with R9,Maradona,Cruyff,Pele any damn player in history and we wouldnt be nearly as good.
Forget the likes of Shevchenko,Romario,Eto'o and CR7.LOL.

by Albiceleste Sat Apr 07, 2012 3:20 pm

Scored or created 52% of Barca's goals this season? Doesn't get enough credit imo

by DuringTheWar Sat Apr 07, 2012 3:29 pm

alexjanosik wrote:
Gil wrote:If you replaced him with R9, Romario, CR7, Henry, Shevchenko, Eto'o etc all at their respective peaks would Barca still be as successful as they are under Pep?

No,no,no,no,no,no and no.
Nobody has been as brilliant,as lethal,as ruthless and as mesmerizing as Messi game in game out,week in,week out,year in year out as Messi.
So no,you can replace him with R9,Maradona,Cruyff,Pele any damn player in history and we wouldnt be nearly as good.
Forget the likes of Shevchenko,Romario,Eto'o and CR7.LOL.

Thats interesting, seeing as you won the world cup and european championship without him.

by guest7 Sat Apr 07, 2012 3:34 pm

Not really.

He is a complete attacker. A lethal goalscorer, best dribbler in the world by quite a distance and is a top 5 passer.

If anything, he gets too little. I honestly believe he is the difference between Barca and the rest of the teams.

I mean without him all Barca would have is the best midfield. Their forwards don't score much at all and their backline is nowhere close to what it was. Puyol is in decline and Pique is shit nowadays, Abidal is gone and I don't think Alves is a good defender.

by LeBéninois Sat Apr 07, 2012 3:39 pm

Se7en wrote:Not really.

He is a complete attacker. A lethal goalscorer, best dribbler in the world by quite a distance and is a top 5 passer.

If anything, he gets too little. I honestly believe he is the difference between Barca and the rest of the teams.

I mean without him all Barca would have is the best midfield. Their forwards don't score much at all and their backline is nowhere close to what it was. Puyol is in decline and Pique is shit nowadays, Abidal is gone and I don't think Alves is a good defender.

I was really going to write something similar . i just saved 2 min. Thanks

by Pedram Sat Apr 07, 2012 6:39 pm

90 % of Barca's goals comes from Messi directly (scoring and assisting) or indirectly (dribbling and creating spaces). if you take away Messi from Barcelona they will lose a lot of creativity.

by The Franchise Sat Apr 07, 2012 6:44 pm

I that Gil trolling....say it aint so..

by Aensensen Sat Apr 07, 2012 6:56 pm

In my own opinion, I think he doesn't.

I also like to watch the national team of Argentina and I think he's definetely one of their most important players. People who say he's a flop for Argentina are a bit too harsh. Sure he doesn't perform as well [doesn't score as much] as for Barca, but he's still dangerous and creates chances for others. You can't expect him to score so much in a team that boasts Aguero, Di Maria, Higuain, Tevez and Milito.

Barca has no real options in attack aside from him atm. In my opinion it's bullcrap that he can't do sh!t without Xavi and Iniesta, they certainly help him, but in Barca everything depends on him. Imagine if he got injured for 6 months. Barca would be dropping points like mad.

"Xavi, Iniesta & Busquets left on the bench for Barcelona's trip to Zaragoza"

I guess we can see how he'll manage without them tonight.