the game has slowed down for him in his mind, he's gone

>>73962746
hes a p shit midfielder though

he has great passing and vision but you need much more than that to be a great midfielder

Guardiola ruined his development. He wanted Messi to be the next Cruyff as a false 9 who could play in midfield with Spanish midfielder.

Villa Iniesta Busquettes Xavi Pedro

This worked when aVilla was basically acting as a striker and Iniesta making up ground but once Fabregas and Sanchez came and Pedro was no longer rated Guadiola quit and Messi went back to where he was supposed to play as a winger. Only now he's not as good as he used to be.

Di stefano>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

but he still plays as a forward, like literally his whole career

>>73962746
>He had become the best winger, the best foward, the best false 9, and is now becoming the best midfielder.

not really, he has the same role no matter what position they play him in

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1MB, 400x213px

he's insane. he's not even at full throttle. he just picks out these passes that should be unfair, always the perfect weight and direction, it's like he's minmaxing a video game. free kicks are the same. he's a fucking wizard, could probably be world class if not simple the best in any position aside from gk, centre back and defensive midfielder. full back messi would rape teams

>>73963481
whole my life i dreamed of a moment when messi is going to play as a fullback

>>73962746
The false nine experiment was to plug a gap where it was needed
at the time Barca had no quality striker apart from Villa so Messi's drafted in as a striker
(If Villa's up top Sanchez and Messi are both right wingers)
But then they bought Neymar, so if Messi's paying at 9 then you have two naturally creative players playing next to each other
Neither one finishing each others chances and just going round defenders for shits and giggles
So they bought Suarez, well oiled machine

So really it was Pep's ego that forced Messi into the centre, rather than spend a little in the transfer market to pick up a creative winger and a natural centre forward, he decided his brain was the answer and he duct taped Messi up top
cue everone going mental because this was 1930s Austria tactics and, compared to MSN an under-performing Barca attack
You see it now with Pep not buying a centre back for a number of reasons, only this time it's an actual problem because it's losing him games
It's not the difference between winning 3-1 and 8-0 against a small village from the arse end of nowhere in La Liga

tldr; Pep is an Idiot when it comes to running a club, won't buy players when he can DIY budget versions that are worse

>>73963238
He was a mid in his early years

>>73963657
Poop literally sold Zlatan cuz he wanted Messi at 9

So no, there was no gap needing to be plugged
(...other than your ass)

>>73963657
It actually worked for Spain and Fabregas thanks to Del Bosque after they won the euros in 2012 while Pep lost his first league title and the CL semis to fucking Chelsea with Torres.

No wonder the man took a holiday.

>>73963718
Nah he wanted Pedro to play cos muh spaniards.

>>73963781
what? no. u think anyone there gave 2 shits about pedro..

It was all poop+messi prob moreso messi actually who i heard cried to poop on the phone to play him upfront and then didnt talk to anyone until zlatan was sold

>>73963718
>thinking that was the only reason that the Zlatan left
Zlatan left because he's not going to take Pep trying to mould him into a different player, because he's
>perfect

>>73963770
It worked for spain because you have Fabregas (creative man) playing with David Silva (still creative, but takes his chances like a goodboy)

>>73963857
well duh simpleton nothings 1 dimensional. "Hey Zlatan, amigo, we gonna play Leo up top. Your a winger now, ur totally welcome to stay, but did i mention that ur a winger now? so..ya... are you staying or leaving?"

>>73963822
Actually, yes. Pep did. He was adament that Barcelona could be a Spanish youth system after seeing how successful xavi and Iniesta are becoming.

Intact the first player he sold was Deco so he could play Iniesta (a natural winger) as a CM. He then played a 20 year old CB as a DM and Pedro as a winger claiming that they can switch positions and play Cruyff style. His 433 was actually a 442 if you think about it.

Villa Messi
Iniesta Xavi Sergio Pedro
Puyol Pique Toure alves
Valdes

>>73964051
In fact -toure +alba as LB.

>>73964051

>Actually, yes. Pep did. He was adament that Barcelona could be a Spanish youth system after seeing how successful xavi and Iniesta are becoming.

lmao no he didn't

He's pro independent Catalonia

>>73964192
From when he joined to when he left Messi and Alves were the only non Spanish starters and he brought Fabregas back.

He believed having a team of locals with a close relationship was good for club and country. He was right.

Messi as a false 9 was the worst decision he made.

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>>73963781
>>73963718
>Zlatan in Barcelona
>Good
Pick uno
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eIR_VMAEK1U

>>73964293
Moving to Man City you mean

>>73962779
>you need much more than that

Are you serious?

Great vision and great passing are all there is to being a midfielder.