The tiki taka argument goes out of the window when Messi showed just how devastating he is on the counter under Lucho where him, Suarez and Neymar formed one of the greatest front 3s ever. Their midfield was bang average and didnt dominate others.
Well that's the thing. LS has instructed Messi to drop deep whilst our instructions is to have Matthaus and Rijkaard behind the ball when defending. You keep implying that Messi will be constantly between Rijkaard and our CB's which clearly won't be true in this matchup.
LIONEL MESSI suffered undoubtedly one of the biggest no-show performances of his career last night as Barcelona were obliterated by Paris Saint-Germain.
Got it. Thanks.
Thought they scored 6 goals in the second leg?
. Messi will still land on much higher ground.my midfield is not average though.And we saw what happened when their "average midfield" got dominated against PSG and Messi suffered less time on the ball:
LIONEL MESSI suffered undoubtedly one of the biggest no-show performances of his career last night as Barcelona were obliterated by Paris Saint-Germain.
The five-time Ballon d'Or winner could be seen jogging around the pitch after losing the ball last night as he gave the ball away and simply failed to connect with his team-mates.
OptaJoe
1 - Lionel Messi has failed to register a single touch in the opposite box in a #UCL game for the first time this season. Disconnection.
11:47 PM - Feb 14, 2017
Messi was far from the only Barcelona player to have an absolute stinker at the Parc des Princes - but given the heights he has scaled in the Champions League, he was undoubtedly the biggest underperformer.
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It could not have been a starker contrast to the match played by Angel di Maria - as the former Real Madrid and Manchester United forward terrorised the Barcelona defence.
His Argentina team-mate surged forward with electric speed and sucked in ball-watching Barca defenders as he netted a free-kick and later another curling beauty.
But as for Messi, 29, the fact that he failed to register a single touch in the opposition's penalty area said everything you needed to know about the quality of his game.
As Opta stats have shown, if that is the case, it usually means that the Barcelona metronome is not ticking as it usually should be.
Messi played 37 passes in the game and only 28 of them were successful. He twice gave the ball away in the centre circle, an uncommon sight for the Argentinian superstar.
Meanwhile it was Andres Iniesta that got hauled off my Luis Enrique, with Barca already four goals down.
Of all the incredible things the Spaniard has achieved in his career, that must have surely been an all-time low moment.
Same can be said about Stam and Ziege really, especially the latter one.Thought they scored 6 goals in the second leg?
If you want to look at one of Messi's poor games, then do the same for Campbell and Ayala
Neither is Barca's I was replying to Moby's comment a bit in jest.
I was agreeing on you with that one until LS came up with the stat of them facing 5 times and Figo not winning even once.Same can be said about Stam and Ziege really, especially the latter one.
They played when Figo was far from his peak tho - a good 2-3(even 4) years away from it in fact and was just settling in a Barca team that was on the wane(after the Dream team) in a complete overhaul changing all of their personnel.
Can see that going both ways. Beckenbauer is perfect to track Di Stefano dropping back and Di Stefano is perfect to track Beckenbauer advancing.
I don't go by anecdotes either and still think Figo will do well here, but probably not as if Ziege doesn't exist. And again as a wingback his defensive duties are anyway taken away to an extent, but Figo will have a good game here yes.
Yes, exactly what I keep referring to in the last two pages but no one seems to even mention it
Beckenbauer played in midfield with Schulz as a sweeper, here Beckenbauer is playing as a libero who is starting as behind the two stoppers - completely different scenarios.
Similarly he's against a centre forward here not a midfielder. They similarly fall in the same action area as he did with Charlton and both look set to face each other's strengths.
But again Ziege is playing as a wing back so it's easier for Figo to catch him in possession rather than Messi being screened by two defensive monsters before even taking a chance at the CB's - completely different ball game...
The defensive monsters also have another guy from Argentina to screen. Both require being double teamed. Pick your poison.
Not at all. Beckenbauer was instructed to man mark Charlton.
If Beckenbauer is man marking Di Stefano is completely different game. This will nullify his effect on the midfield and we can control the center of the park. You can't have it both ways.
Both of them will be minding the two Argies. Matthaus - Maradona and Rijkaard - Messi as I've already mentioned. Both will be double teamed and we still have a spare man at the back with Kocsis being between the two CB's.
I am aware. I was considering that scenario based on their styles of play, not saying it was a certainty.
As if you can ever have a chance of containing Messi and Maradona with a 2v2. That's a 4 man job at the very least.
Yes, hence Di Stefano pulling the CB's out wide with Kalle and Zico running into pockets can have equally devastating effect. It's clearly not Beckenbauer minding him so I don't see the relevance with Charlton here.
And yet Zico, Kalle and AdS will be contained 1vs 1 on the other side?
I see 7 defensive players.
Behind the ball? With tactics like that Messi/Maradona won't even get half the time on the ball in the opposite end that you are thinking.
Maradona played in those tactics for his entire career.
And Messi didn't which is the main stick you are using to beat my CB's with
Sometimes, and I would have given him that criticism if he was against CBs of better calibre, here all you need is Maradona playing in Messi behind the DMs and it's game over. I don't see Maradona failing to do that even when tightly marked (WC winning through ball to Burruchaga?) and I don't see Messi failing to torch that defense everytime he gets it. That's what really swings it here.And Messi didn't which is the main stick you are using to beat my CB's with
But that's the thing he won't get behind Rijkaard in that situation. With LS instructions Messi will drop deeper and we will have two lines of defence. Only Kocsis is between the CB's and DM's - not Messi mate. Essentially you are playing it in completely different scenario rather than how both managers has set up their teams..
Messi is instructed to get behind the lines of CBs and DM or edge of the DMs, and not far deep in the midfield. there is a big difference.
But that plays exactly the way it would suit us best. If you are sticking players tight on Di Stefano it's easier to pull them around and make space for others.
His offensive formation in the OP says otherwise, and has Messi up front alongside Kocsis.
It's Kocsis alone between the two CB's whilst Messi will clearly be dropping into midfield.
), the pure striker Puskas, the left-winger Gento.This shits over La-Maquina.
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