We'll have to agree to disagree on that. I reckon we'd absolutely destroy a Messi-less Barca.
That's the problem when you have supporters running a football club, it simply does not work.Barcelona are a toxic club though. Ridiculously toxic. I guarantee players at City would fight back if we had a chairman anywhere near as toxic as this fella. Bartomeu literally hired a social media company to attack his rivals for the position, also denigrating players etc. The gloves are off entirely. This isn't anything like Man City's structure. Barca are an absolute rank mess. They got Abidal to fire a manager, then sacked Abidal the next day ffs!
I don't deny for one second that Messi has been drawn into this toxicity, but everyone has at Barcelona. Don't forget Pep left Barcelona because he felt the politics was too tiring.
We'll have to agree to disagree on that. I reckon we'd absolutely destroy a Messi-less Barca.
Maybe all but he has earnt it surely. He has earnt the right to have a say as well (if that is indeed what he is doing which some people are presuming is gospel truth)
What are your real concerns about this IF it were to happen?
Messi wouldnt have that player power here - the club is run by bigger people than him -Khaldoon for starters. He wouldnt have the power as depsite being the best player ever in the world he hasnt got the experience of the league nor the club to wield that power. He is the new boy. He wouldnt even be captain (Im presuming that will go to KDB this year)
A different surrounding might just be what he needs so he can get back to just playing football and not worrying about the politics of the club
Imo, La Liga is a football competition, where there are tactical tweaks but teams will play football against you, the Premier League is a dark alley, full of people with guns & knives who have spent the past six months working out how best to kill you & whose supporters will put up with watching utter non footballl shite, week in week out, if they get results with it.
You've just described Simeone and Atletico Madrid but the point is La Liga can be just as competitive(even if a certain Tebas is current running the league)
In what world does he not improve us? we have been embarassed the last 4 years in the CL for starters. He is a guaranteed success.
As for wage structure, I really don't get this point. Yes, he will be on big wages, he is the best player ever. Do we think hes going to come in at 100k and then maybe get a bigger one if he proves himself?
If a single player in our current squad could muster the courage to go and knock on Pep's door and say I want parity with Messi then we have a much bigger problem.
Basically will hold him hostage
I stopped reading when you wrote Barce have a better squad than ours, with or without Messi. Not even closeI can see why you'd say that but you haven't looked at the numbers and the numbers reveal all.
Look at them and you'll see which world he doesn't improve us in, it's this world, the one we're in, and that's the problem.
You must appreciate that Barca have an excellent squad even without Messi, a squad that's as good as or likely even better than ours.
However, with Messi in their side, and playing in a weaker league than we do, they score less than us and concede more because when he's on the pitch everything must go through him. So they don't play as a team (the Messi effect), they score less as a team, and he doesn't press or tackle or track back or even attempt to jog back, so they play with 10 men in the defensive phases of a game and concede goals that they wouldn't concede if they had a team player rsther than Messi.
He doesn't improve Barca, a side built to fit him like a glove, so he won't improve us.
I'm baffled as to how people look at Messi and instantly forget that football's a team game and the best teams win. Having a super duper star in your side achieves not an awful lot if the super duper star is above playing as a team player.
All IMO of course.
I stopped reading when you wrote Barce have a better squad than ours, with or without Messi. Not even close