Before the season started, there were questions swirling over Lionel Messi. After his injury problems and public disagreements with Tata Martino last year, many theorized Messi was in a downward spiral. The public "feud" with Luis Enrique this season, along with his suggestion he may not finish his career at Barcelona, only added fuel to the fire. And when the smoke cleared, Cristiano Ronaldo beat him to win the Ballon D'Or.
It's not a secret that Messi is not the same player he once was. By the end of 2014, Ronaldo had already notched 30 goals, while Messi was struggling to adapt to Luis Suárez and his new role on the right. The younger Messi had no issues being world class in that position, but long gone are the days of the flowing locks, the long-bursting mazy runs, the cheerful celebrations of the soccer world's Frodo Baggins.
Plainly put, Messi is a shadow of his former self. He's much more cynical, more selfish and power-hungry. How else can the departure of Martino and friction with Enrique be explained? It's a power play by a man who feels his powers waning. Consider: after Barcelona's 5-0 victory against Levante, Messi had only managed 37 goals and 18 assists in all competitions. A far cry from the player who once scored 82 goals in one season.
At 27 years old, we might be witnessing the twilight of Messi's career. It's a shame for a player who seemed to be on a tear just a few years ago. The regression started when Pep Guardiola exiled himself from all things football, mixed in with the politics and scandals of the Barcelona board. The weight of it all took a toll on the small Argentine. No longer is he the boy that eviscerates defenders with feints. Rather, he's just the player with the most goals and assists in La Liga history.
Once, the playmaking forward was capable of taking the game by the scruff, conjuring up magic at decisive moments to tilt the result in Barcelona's favor. Now, he's just sauntering around the field, scoring hat tricks against the likes of lowly Levante. He was defiantly anonymous against Real Madrid during El Clásico; no matter what he did and does against Atlético Madrid; everyone knows Diego Simeone always instructs his team to be gentle with his fellow countryman.
In his 300th game in La Liga, Messi managed to score a hat trick. One of those goals -- the third -- came from a penalty won by Neymar. A younger Messi would have surely scored three without needing a spot-kick. It's almost embarrassing Messi can no longer do these things on his own. How embarrassing must it have been for him to celebrate such an important goal when it was scored in the most dubious of manners?
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Really, the Brazilian could be the catalyst for Messi's demise. For one, his purchase from Santos was not well received by the Argentine. Messi took it as a sign he was being displaced. His murky transfer also played a big part in the current shambles that is the Barcelona board room, with many prominent backroom staff members set to appear in court to defend the acquisition and the ambiguity around it.
On the field, Messi and Neymar just didn't mesh. People questioned if Neymar was a flop; headlines highlighted Messi's stubbornness and decline. This season has only made everything worse. The more Neymar grows into his own, the more Messi pouts. The untrained eye only sees one of the best strike partnerships in recent memory, but the insightful observer can see the hatred behind the smiles. Messi has assisted on nine of Neymar's 24 goals this season, but what of the other 15?
The tension between the two is clear. Neymar may claim publicly that Messi is his best friend, but we all know that's PR foolishness. They're just a few incidents away from tearing each other apart. Perhaps Barça should reconsider selling Messi, before the inevitable bloodshed begins.
Barcelona should also be concerned with Messi's left foot. Will he ever be humble enough to train it properly? His first goal against Levante was yet another right footer, which now makes nine for this season. As a professional footballer, each day he should be working on training up his left, so as to be less predictable. Messi scoring with his right is almost as routine as Arjen Robben cutting to the inside.
Lionel Messi is like so many other child geniuses who flame too soon. He was just another blue star -- a spectacular, celestial being that burns so hot that they consume their fuel too quickly. He could have been a red dwarf instead -- if he was managed correctly and had been just a little bit more talented. But instead of talking about an otherworldly Lionel Messi, current leader in La Liga in almost all offensive measurables at the incredible age of 27, we're stuck mourning his former brilliance.
Comments
seriously?
Stick to u21 soccer reports. You don’t know Messi and to pretend you can see things nobody else does is insane…
Probably the worst blog I’ve read in 10 years. Literally.
By Philliephil on 02.16.15 7:56am
not serious
The article is being sarcastic. Poorly executed sarcasm, but sarcasm nonetheless.
By mhpapp on 02.16.15 9:38am
Very poorly executed.
By Eugene Burke on 02.16.15 10:49am
This must be SBNation's new strategy to generate clicks.
"This is dumb!"
"No, this is sarcasm!"
"Yeah, but it’s still dumb!"
Correct answer: D) all of the above.
By aewfjio on 02.16.15 10:54am
Disagree about the "poorly executed" part
I laughed out loud several times while reading this piece. It was pretty clear, at least to me, that it’s satire.
By Timber Dave on 02.16.15 1:11pm
Is he going to properly train his left foot!!!!! that tipoff was for all the slow people.
Obviously a joke. Stupid people will say stupid things, but no one will ever question his left foot.
By bill.almy on 02.16.15 2:18pm
couldn't agree more,
By OSC DOM on 02.16.15 10:32am
Horrible 'Journalism'
What a horrible piece of Reporting. Lionel Messi alongside Cristiano Ronaldo are 2 of the best players to ever grace the football pitch. A hatrick is a hatrick. How many other players in the world have scored 37 goals and 18 assists. Probably only 1 other. Ronaldo. You can’t say a player who has scored the most La Liga goals in history is in decline and try to create a shitstorm about it. Messi is one of the best footballers ever and to suggest otherwise via petty gossip is shameful.
By NCro14 on 02.16.15 8:05am
Please consult your dictionary
The words "satire" and "sarcasm" may be relevant to your interests. If you do and you still don’t get it, try "idiot."
By Steve Stoehr on 02.16.15 10:02am
A) Not journalism, nor is it 'reporting' anything
B) Clearly satire
By on 02.16.15 10:58am
Itis sad whta you wrote...
I just could not believe what I just read!! I knew when I started reading this article that its writer was totally biased; I had to go back and see above the date of the article to make sure that its statements made sense. I do not know what people expect from Messi, every single game. Some people may expect the diminutive guy to jump and perform three mortals before netting a goal. Maybe is Messi’s fault; We are so used to see him braking any kind of record.
By santiago.somoza.1 on 02.17.15 1:39pm
you are correct… this is just a shit… the reporter just sucks on his way of madness…
By tanvirrahee92 on 02.18.15 11:52pm
Lionel Messi
I had to stop my self from reading this article as a Barcelona fan and a Messi fan in my opinion some people just want to see more from messi if he scores 2 goals tomorrow he has two score 4 goals things are not that simple anymore and specially with the pressure that he has on his shoulders, how is that possible that people like the person that wrote this article would say negative things about Messi we should be glad that we as soccer fans got to see such a good player do his magic what he did and what he is doing right now we are not going to see it again… so please don’t talk sh**t about him and be proud that you were able to see him play ( Messi you would always be the best player of the world for all the things you have achieved …
By jeffsaltima on 02.16.15 8:05am
You didn't read the article?
That would explain how off base your comment is.
By Steve Stoehr on 02.16.15 10:03am
Are you trying to defend this piece of shit ?
By sen.mr on 02.17.15 4:51am
You took the subject matter of this piece seriously?
Like, you actually thought he meant it when he said "Messi needs to train his left foot?" You really thought he was being serious?
By Steve Stoehr on 02.17.15 7:26pm
OMG
For the love of language use some punctuation every now and then.
By joshuak08 on 02.16.15 11:58am
Really????!!! even in his worst days he’s good. Seems like this writer should be focusing on the Kardashians gossip instead, zero knowledge about sports.
By omar castillo on 02.16.15 8:09am
April fools came early?
For real though, I had to sign up to comment on this garbage. I can’t quite decide if this is a prank or sarcasm because the ignorance on this article is just appalling. Messi has "only" 37 goals this season which makes him the leading goal scorer in Europe (and elsewhere?), Ronaldo having 36. How in the hell is that little? 37 goals 18 assists in 33 matches, and you call that bad. BTW, it wasn’t 82 goals it was 73 in 60 matches (the record), and the way I see it, if he keeps up this pace and has a bit of luck he could get close to it this season. He’s the leading assister in la liga and you call him selfish?
But the thing you said that tops it all was about Neymar. LOL, hahaha, that shit was funny. Messi assists 9 of Neymar’s goals and you call it "bad" relationship, really? And you want him to assist all of them? Hahaha, 9 out of 24 ain’t good enough? You should pass the joint, I wanna get what your having. Then you go on to blabber about penalties in hat tricks, when this was the first one for him this season. 4 out of 5 have been without penalties. And Messi scoring right-footed goals is bad now? He should only practice left-foot? I hope in a few hours when you come down from your high you remove this piece of shit article.
By TallDude404 on 02.16.15 8:12am
Absolutely! Thanks for putting the truth out there.
By resende on 02.16.15 9:38am
thumbs up
i had to sign up to tell you, you spoke the mind of everyone that read this article. Would love it too if the writer could really pass the sh*t he’s on…
By charlesmane on 02.16.15 11:49am
You had to sign up..
Just to show everyone how dim you really are?
Are you serious? This article drips of sarcasm and you didn’t catch it? Really?
Wow.
By theRR2 on 02.17.15 5:40am
Yes!
Absolutely!
By Smileawaysmith Smith on 02.24.15 10:41am
All of you do realise that this is just heavy sarcasm right?
It’s mocking all of the other articles that are seriously trying to say that Messi is declining.
By Gilles Hoffmann on 02.16.15 8:13am
I'm loving the barca outrage!
Are people on here really that slow that they don’t realise this is pretty obvious sarcasm?
By Jamack on 02.17.15 5:46am