Messi used to press way more.
That much is true, which is understandable given his relative age now and then. Now, it's about preserving energy so that when he has the ball he can make something happen. Also, since Messi plays almost every minute of every game, well into his 30's, that kind of constant pressing would make him more injury prone and fatigued; and if Messi is out then Barcelona are usually much worse (or have been).
That being said, as of February, Messi had the third highest number of ball recoveries and second highest ball recovery percentage, ahead of Lewandowski, Neymar, Suarez, Salah, Haaland, Mbappe, Ibra, Ronaldo, Rashford, and Benzema, so Koeman does have him pressing more than recent years.
I've always said Barcelona wasn't boring, it was the opponents that set up shop that made the contest boring.
Absolutely. People always used this rhetoric versus Barcelona. They use it now versus City. It's silly. They never blame the team putting ten men behind the ball and refusing to commit men forward as being the reason the game is boring, which is silly because that's
clearly what is the cause of a boring game.