Messi MUST resist the Urge to Come back Early after Barcelona lose AGAIN to Athletic Bilbao

He must stand firm. The temptation is there. As he sleeps, I am certain he can hear the football witches whispering devious sounds into his ear, telling him how much his team needs him. Lionel has to fight it, and be a bit selfish and think about himself. He must ONLY come back when he is feeling completely and absolutely great. The reality is though, Barcelona need him and they need him BADLY.

Neymar is now experiencing the BIG LEAGUES now. He no longer has his "master" to guide him. The Barcelona fans are looking to him to take up the mantle in Leo's absence. He's finding it hard and with the two losses, Neymar is finally feeling for the first time in his career....REAL pressure to perform.
  People need to look at the whole pie. Neymar is only in his first season, with the actual campaign not even halfway. The eyes ought to be on Sanchez, Pedro, Iniesta and Xavi who should really be doing more to get the job done. It's how it should be, but they are not the stars...Neymar is. When times go rough, the fans look to the star to show up and WIN them the game, and not just purely perform.

The influence of Messi is something I have commented on for a long time. I said he RAN this team, and this is proof he does. You are dealing with a dude that not only scores but assists and is part of pretty much every single Barcelona attack. Once he is taking out of the team, they are NOT the same team. Barcelona no longer have that man who can get past three players and slot the ball home, or find that impossible pass for Sanchez to score. Messi RUNS this team and people need to recognize that fact.


I've been hearing reports that Barcelona will need to buy in January, but there is no player for sale that Barcelona can get who will do anything close to what Messi does for them. Nobody. Barcelona have to look at themselves and raise the level of their game. Sure, Martino must do his bit...but there is a psychological issue at play here. When you have players who have grown so used to playing with a superstar, it is suddenly very hard to then try and operate without that player. There have been times when Barcelona have played without Messi to success, but these players are getting older. Age is catching up with Xavi and Iniesta, with these players unable to reach the heights of years ago. The only advice I can give to them is to rethink the way they play, and really start operating in a system that suits the talents of Sanchez and Neymar, rather than operating in the same way that really NEEDS Messi to be around. That is where Martino must come in, but the players must shoulder some of that burden as well.


HH