Role play

Its not just the opponant knows what to do, they know what Messi will do and where the mistake is. The holds the ball too long and drops too deep, which negates their decision making.

He drops so deep (and doesnt make a secondary run), a midfielder will pick him up, not a defender, and that means there is no space to run into for any of the forwards. Sure, a midfielder picking Messi up means they are outnumbered in the midfield, but with a solid block of 4, all that means is they are leaving Xavi or Busquets with the ball but with no threatening option to pass to.

And because there is nothing in front of Messi, he has to get past the midfielder marking him and STILL has a defence in front of him.

You do need to cause the destabliazion of the lines, by introducing a striker if Messi doesnt offer the secondary run. That keeps the CB in place and if Messi is able to turn in the midfield, offer him more space or a forward passing option in behind.

But as you explained, the other changes it causes in the midfield is unacceptable.

So I agree with your tactical change. That Right-wing pseudo striker.

I think there are 3 options in my mind. One is better coaching, a coach who some innovation and ideas. Alexis is a player who shows the ability to do this.

2 other options for me, provide vastly different things. One is Carlos Vela. Sometimes a striker, sometimes a wide forward...he runs, he can dribble and he sure can finish.

A second is the improving Lukaku like someone mentioned already in another thread. His still raw touches will frustrate people from time to time, but his physical power gives us a secondary option without critical changes. If not for Martinez, would never have even considered it, but it seems he has developed alot.

What do you guys think about Jonathan Soriano as a back up striker? I honestly have never seen him play, therefore am curious.

He's only doing well because of the system his team plays.

Not Barca back up quality.

If we do a "right wing pseudo-striker", they're going to have to have Alexis-like work rate, or it's not going to work.

I really think that a superior option would be to adopt the pressing game we perfected in the past, sell Alba and buy a more defensively sound LB (whoever that is), and then either keep Alves or buy someone like Cuadrado (though admittedly I have not seen much of him) who is able to dominate the right flank and allow the striker to stay mostly right-of-center during most of the game-pressing high up of course as the rest of the team is- and then have to track back to right wing only if they manage to escape the high press, and then the RB obviously must drop farther back accordingly.

I think we're more likely to find a hard-working RB than a world class striker (we'll need one) who is willing to put in Alexis-like work rate and then also play in front of Messi.

The only options I can think of would be Alexis, Suarez, and Lukaku. The last of whom has played out on the RW before in Martinez' system as a RW-psuedo striker type player. He's still very raw though and the jury is out on whether he's ready for a move to a team like Barca, and who knows how he'll do in a league like La Liga as opposed to the Premier League. However, I quite like Lukaku and he certainly offers a different outlet and a different type of player to us- a physical beast.