Things never stay the same. That is the beauty and tragedy of life. Barcelona were never going to be able to play the same exact way forever. Player come and go, and players grow old and can't do what they used to do years ago. So that means people need to fill different roles, and Lionel Ritchie is now learning about that.
Iniesta used to do this job and he was the one who combined with Messi to open that ass up. But with Iniesta getting older and just not having the flow he once had, someone has had to fill that important position of fitting in the hole and connecting the midfield with the attacking players.
Messi also played in the hole back in the glory days of Barcelona, but there is far more responsibility on him now. He is getting more touches now, and whereas before he would look for the one-two to then free space for him to unleash a shot, he is now looking for that cross-field pass to Pedro or Neymar or threading in a through-ball to let in the Cannibal to score...and not to eat. But is this good or BAD for Barcelona?
I would lean more toward this being a bad move rather than good. It's close. Let's look back at the years when Barcelona were at their heights, and Messi not only scored A LOT of goals, but he come up with a lot of assists as well. So that element has always been part of his game, so this new role is not like a baker walking into the butcher's. But him having so much responsibility and Iniesta and Xavi not being able to contribute as much as they have in previous years, can only hurt Barcelona. They need ERRRRRRBODY chipping in, and more importantly, Messi is their greatest goalscoring threat. But the plot thickens....
So yes, Messi still has a lot to contribute to Barcelona if he is hungry, but not nearly as much as Neymar. Because I talk of Messi getting help IF he is hungry and IF Luis Enrique refuses to give Neymar a greater role within the Barcelona team.
In an ideal situation, Messi having the creative role is a nice evolution that makes sense, but then you have to give Neymar the kind of free-role that he has for Barcelona and if the Catalans break with both Messi and Neymar on the counter, that is a LETHAL combination.
HH
