Barca: Life without Messi

NIMAN

The current Barca team are rightly being held up as one of, if not the best, club sides ever.

As a Madrid fan, I do agree with this, although I hate comparing teams from different era's as there are so many variables.

I do think that they are changing the future of the game with their tactical style, such as having no out-and-out strikers and playing midfielders in defence etc. We will look back on them in decades time and see how revolutionary they have been.

However, as great as they are and have been, how do we think they would have performed or been seen if Messi was not so prolific or had more injuries?

I know this is only hypothetical, but he is so important to them, could be have been replaced? I know people might argue Ronaldo is the same for Madrid, but I do think they could cope better without him than Barca would without Messi (my opinion of course).

So is this Barca side the greatest ever because Messi happened to be at the club? Or because they had a good spread of talent like Xavi, Iniesta, Busquets, Puyol etc all at the same time?

~Rebel~

NIMAN wrote: »

The current Barca team are rightly being held up as one of, if not the best, club sides ever.

As a Madrid fan, I do agree with this, although I hate comparing teams from different era's as there are so many variables.

I do think that they are changing the future of the game with their tactical style, such as having no out-and-out strikers and playing midfielders in defence etc. We will look back on them in decades time and see how revolutionary they have been.

However, as great as they are and have been, how do we think they would have performed or been seen if Messi was not so prolific or had more injuries?

I know this is only hypothetical, but he is so important to them, could be have been replaced? I know people might argue Ronaldo is the same for Madrid, but I do think they could cope better without him than Barca would without Messi (my opinion of course).

So is this Barca side the greatest ever because Messi happened to be at the club? Or because they had a good spread of talent like Xavi, Iniesta, Busquets, Puyol etc all at the same time?

Well, the Barca team before Messi came into it was playing great stuff too with Rijkaard, Ronaldinho and Eto'o.

Sure, Messi is huge for them, but he's still just one man. With the work ethic and system Guardiola has polished since he got there, and the obvious willingness from Barca to spend big whenever they feel they have a gap, I think they'd still be around where they are even without Messi. A notch less, perhaps, but still incredible.

NIMAN

Thinking a bit more, and just off the top of my head with no stats to back this up, but I think that Madrid have a better goal tally from their 'other' forwards (i.e. without Messi/Ronaldo). Benzema and Higuain have decent tallies, not so sure about Barca.

But then again they don't play with strikers per se.

Bodhisopha

NIMAN wrote: »

Thinking a bit more, and just off the top of my head with no stats to back this up, but I think that Madrid have a better goal tally from their 'other' forwards (i.e. without Messi/Ronaldo). Benzema and Higuain have decent tallies, not so sure about Barca.

But then again they don't play with strikers per se.

They'd have to if they didn't have Messi. No way would they be the same team without him, stating the obvious really, but with a couple of good signings, or an on form Villa in his favoured position they could still be a great team, just not as great.

~Rebel~

NIMAN wrote: »

Thinking a bit more, and just off the top of my head with no stats to back this up, but I think that Madrid have a better goal tally from their 'other' forwards (i.e. without Messi/Ronaldo). Benzema and Higuain have decent tallies, not so sure about Barca.

But then again they don't play with strikers per se.

Taking a quick look at the figures for the rest of both teams, without their main man, is interesting.

In all competitions: Real's other forward players do have more goals than their Barca counterparts, BUT if we look at the whole team's goalscoring contributions, they're still actually neck and neck.

Madrid without Ronaldo, have 97 goals scored between the rest of the team.
Barcelona without Messi, have 96 goals scored between the rest of the team.

Ronaldo adds a further 52 goals to Madrids tally, while Messi adds a further 60 to Barca's.

So essentially, in terms of goals, there's really nothing to separate the two giants.

Stats taken from:
Madrid - http://www.skysports.com/football/squad/0,,11835,00.html
Barcelona - http://www.skysports.com/football/squad/0,,11833,00.html

gimmick

If Messi was not there, Barca would simply find another outlet. Villa would probably be used as an out and out striker, as would Pedro.

The Spanish team which won the World Cup was basically Barca lite, and they did alright.

Messi adds another dimension, and yes Barca are set up to provide for him at all times, that is not in question, but if he were not there, others would have to step up more. Perhaps Ibra would still be around!

monkey9

I'd say Barca would cope just as well as Spain cope without him!! I don't think he'll ever leave though. He could well end up being a one man club!

gosplan

Makes no sense.

Barca build their team around Messi because that's the right thing to do. Everything else is about moving the defence around in order to find him a yard or two of space and then get the ball to him.

People say Barca don't have a plan b but generally they don't need one.

If Messi wasn't available, they would do things differently so it's not really fair on Barca to say - 'well if Messi wasn't there and Iniesta had to play in his position, they wouldn't do so well' - because it would be a different Barca setup.

kitakyushu

I think the Barca team does more to make Messi look great than Messi does to make Barca look great.

Just watch a typical Argentina game to see the difference.

s_carnage

NIMAN wrote: »

So is this Barca side the greatest ever because Messi happened to be at the club? Or because they had a good spread of talent like Xavi, Iniesta, Busquets, Puyol etc all at the same time?

The answer to the OPs question is both. This Barca side will likely (if they haven't already) go down as the greatest side ever but it will be because they had Messi and also an extremely high spread of talent available to them in every area of the pitch.

If Barca didn't have Messi they would be playing a different system but with the abundance of talent they have at the club they would still be favourites to win every competition they enter. What gives them the edge and also what turns them into a contender for the greatest side ever is one of the greatest ever players to play the game.

kryogen

Messi does make a huge difference, it really isnt that long ago Barca could have been seriously struggling if it had not been for the emergence of Messi and Iniesta and the peaking of Xavi.

06/07 I think they won nothing, 07/08 was another poor season wasnt it? This was with the Ronaldinhos and the Decos and Eto'os

Going back, from 2000 until 04 they won little or nothing (I think)!

Without a shadow of a doubt for me Messi and what he can do on the field is the biggest reason for Barcas success, but the combination of the three of them has been so important.

Turtwig

I think the easiest way to answer it is that even with Messi playing Barca are no where near their best when Xavi and Iniesta aren't playing. When you consider that the former has been nursing a muscle injury almost all season and the latter has been injury frequently this season it would explain their dips in form. Messi is a match winner but Xavi and Iniesta are what make them the awesome team they are that on their day no one can possibly match them.

plasmaguy

Agreed Jernal.

It's the high percentage of possession that really helps Barca be a great team. Xavi really pulls the strings in midfield, he's the fulcrum around which the team revolves.

I still think Messi is their best player, able to unlock defenses quicker and better than anyone in the modern game.