If he does not get minutes vs Getafe i dont think he will be starting vs Athletico....

Maybe, he'll be on the bench against Atletico too.
Its going to be a very physical game and it might not be wise to give him his first start after 2 months out injured against the 3rd best team in europe!

Alexis Neymar Pedro

and Messi as a sub if needed.

The Monster has returned - Alex Song

A recent report by Barcelona-based sports daily, Mundo Deportivo suggests that it was actually the man who signed Messi, former manager Charly Rexach and Guardiola’s then assistant Tito Vilanova, that convinced Guardiola to employ the tactic with Messi as the centre-piece.

The story went that Rexach suggested that it would be advantageous for Messi to be the axis of the attack, while moving Samuel Eto’o to the wing, something that took a bit of experimentation.

Vilanova began to study the concept and soon started to see the advantages that he then decided to pass on to Guardiola, something the former defensive midfielder didn’t latch on to right away.

However, as Messi’s skill set progressed and started to shine through, and with constant nudging from Vilanova, Guardiola was finally convinced and the two decided to employ their new, soon-t0-be revolutionary tactic against their arch-rivals, Real Madrid.

Real Madrid were shell-shocked, without a reference point in the attack, they were unable to cope with Messi’s role set so far back with Eto’o on the wings and Xavi pulling the strings.

Yet, while the coaches, in particular Guardiola were credited with the tactic, it was Messi who made it all possible and changed the way team’s looked at modern football.

http://www.insidespanishfootball.com/93829/tito-vilanova-convinced-guardiola-to-use-messi-in-the-false-9/
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So as I see it there are now 3 different people taking credit for this.

1) It has long been assumed that Pep was the one to come up with the F9 as part of him reintroducing various aspects of total football.

2) Pep claimed in a talk in Argentina that Messi was the one that asked to be moved centrally iirc. This has corroboration from Ibra's account of what happened. That being said, while I suppose Messi could intuitively understand that he would be best suited for a F9 role, he never really talks about tactical terms so this seems unlikely.

3) Tito is now the creator of the F9 Messi.

Messi played centrally in the youth ranks when Tito was coaching him. Contrary to popular believe Messi never was a winger to begin with. He was just played there at the beginning of his career because a 17 year old couldn't just come in and play where Eto'o played. But the reality is that Messi's youth team played 3-4-3 with Messi behind a striker. Barca's first team however played 4-3-3, so there was no room for Messi to play in the middle.

Also, even Rijkaard used the false 9 concept in the CL final back in 2006 with Ronaldinho. It just didn't have the same result as the Bernabeu 6-2 so he didn't get any praise for it. But it's certainly not something Pep "invented". Roma too played false 9 with Totti years ago.

I never said Pep invented it, only that he re-introduced it.

Wasn't meant against you. Just a general point I made.

Diego Simeone is rooting for Messi to play well.. so he can win the World Cup.

Messi found it hard to break Atletico down. Could it be because of the early knock on his knees from Costa?

Wearing Blaugrana.

Messi the playmaker, the #10 takes over. And his teammates appreciate it.

He's playing like this for years. I don't see why all of a sudden this is seen as a novelty by the media. Maybe he dropped even deeper in recent games to get the ball because Iniesta wasn't there to link up inbetween the lines and because he didn't get on the scoresheet in La Liga but overall nothing new.

I don't like Messi the playmaker. Go back to being the ruthless scorer and also playmaker that you were.

free_cat wrote:I don't like Messi the playmaker. Go back to being the ruthless scorer and also playmaker that you were.

If we are to judge this based on Tata's tactics this season i think he will shift his role from this playmaker to ruthless scorer depending on the teams we face. If they close him down constantly and mark him with 2-3 players, why not do the playmaker? I just hope Pedro/Alexis and later Neymar can finish the chances he will create!

We shall see how the summer transfers are handled, if Tata buys a new 9, we can only assume Messi will be rotating his role as false 9 to traditional 10.

I'm still not convinced it's a tactical decision rather than Messi just being lazy.

The Argentina international has acknowledged that things have changed under the 51-year-old, while admitting Tito Vilanova's illness was hard to deal with

Lionel Messi believes Barcelona can "feel the difference" since Gerardo Martino took charge of the club.

Martino took over at Camp Nou in July 2013 after Tito Vilanova left his position with the Spanish champions, having suffered a cancer relapse.

Messi feels the former Newell's Old Boys boss has brought his own ideas to the club.

"Every coach has his own ideas," the Argentine told reporters.

"We had Tito before, but maybe we didn't see any differences with [Pep] Guardiola's style because he was working besides him and most of the squad already knew his style.

"However, now with Tata, who came from outside the club, we can feel the difference."

Messi added that Vilanova's health issues had proved difficult for the players to deal with, particularly in light of Eric Abidal's battle against liver cancer.

"It was tough for everybody because it happened after Abidal's cancer and then it was Tito," he continued

"It was very complicated because the dressing room loved Tito and Abidal, and it was a great blow for the whole squad."

Messi goal vs Espanyol

The four-time Ballon d'Or winner has become "bored" with soccer, according to fellow Argentine Angel Cappa.
Former Barcelona assistant coach Angel Cappa says Lionel Messi has lost his passion for soccer.

The 67-year-old Argentine, who worked at Camp Nou under Cesar Luis Menotti in the 1980s, claims that his compatriot's performance in Saturday's 3-2 defeat at home to Valencia offers the clearest evidence yet that the Blaugrana No. 10 is in decline.

“To play football you need boundless passion, like Messi had, like the great players like [Diego] Maradona ... any important player in the Primer Division: Xavi, Iniesta, Busquets,” Cappa told La Xarxa. “You need enormous passion, you need that energy that comes from an absolute love of the game. [On Wednesday against Real Sociedad], he participated [in the game] a little more, but the day they played Valencia, I couldn’t understand how a player could play football so dispassionately.

"And especially him, because if we look at a game of his from three or four years ago, there was that craziness, that passion that he had for playing. And I don’t know why or for what reason, but that is coming to an end."

Cappa says it is obvious that the drive that turned Messi into a four-time Ballon d'Or winner is now conspicuous by its absence.

“That love of the game, that passion that makes him go and look for the ball on the left, on the right, in the middle, take players on, beat one, then two ... I see Messi has lost that,” Cappa said. "He has extraordinary quality, he’s wonderful and at any moment he can come up with a wonderful play, but it’s as if he has been married for 15 years to football and got bored of it.”

Cappa also suggested that Messi's malaise is merely the result of grander problems at Camp Nou.

“I’m talking about Messi, but Barcelona have also lost that passion," he said. "Before, you couldn’t miss even a second of the 90 minutes because there was always something. Now Barca have the ball, sure, and they do things now and again, but they have also lost that boundless enthusiasm they had before.”

Messi exploded against Sevilla, but the real magic is in how his teammates look out for him, take care of him.

Barcelona star Lionel Messi has hit back at Angel Cappa's claims which suggested that he has fallen out of love with the game.

The 67-year-old Argentine, who worked under former Blaugrana boss Cesar Luis Menotti at Camp Nou in the 1980s, suggested earlier this month that his compatriot had "lost his passion for football" after becoming bored of his "15-year marriage" to the sport.

However, Messi, who only recently recovered from a hamstring injury, insists he remains "dedicated" to playing.

"I don't give any importance to Cappa's comments. I don't know why he said that. I'm thinking about getting back to my level," the four-time Ballon d'Or winner told Radio La Red.

"I'm dedicated to playing. When I wasn't scoring, I was happy with my performance. I know what I give to, and how I feel, about football.

"I took the injury calmly. It took a long time to be ready, but now I'm not rushing things. As matches go by, I'm feeling better. It's how we planned."

Messi went on to praise coach Gerardo Martino for the way he has grown accustomed to life at the helm of the Blaugrana.

"He's gradually learning the club, the media, the fans, everything. Beyond what he knows as a coach, Tata is a very intelligent person, and he knows how to handle all this," he said.

It had been suggested Martino could experiment with the Barca set-up by deploying Messi in a deeper or wider role in attack, but the 26-year-old himself says his position remains more or less the same as it has been since former boss Pep Guardiola first moved him to the centre of the forward line.

"I heard in various places it had been said I would be playing further behind or in a different position," Messi stated.

"We keep playing without a No.9, we still use a 'false nine' as we used in Guardiola's era. The position remains the same."

"Messi has swept the board at the Ballon d'Or in the last few years. He's a genius and is certainly on a par with Maradona and Pele," Heynckes told the official Fifa website.

Has become the top scorer in FC Barcelona's history with 371 goals at the age of 26.

Congratulations and thank you for everything, Messi!            

Barcelona will make Lionel Messi the world’s highest-paid player, with the four-time Ballon d'Or winner poised to earn more than £335,000 per week.

legend turns 27 today.