Barca fan names 2 reasons why team would benefit from Leo Messi taking few games off

“I would like to see the team play the Dynamo Kyiv and Ferencvarosi games without Messi. As a fan watching these games, it is interesting to see how the other players would do without him.

“They are trying too hard to please Messi and not necessarily making the proper pass or taking the shot when the opportunity presents itself. There is a weight to the team’s play that won’t be there if they play freely. With some of these players, it will only happen if Messi is off the pitch.

“If Messi sees them be successful without him, then maybe he won’t try to dribble through 3 players. Maybe more space will be created with the threat of increasingly confident teammates, who may shoot or pass to someone else. Messi is also missing a lot of shots that he wouldn’t in the past, which began at the end of last season and has continued into this one. He does have less space, but some of the opportunities are ones that he has finished dozens of times over the years.

“Also, the unspoken aspect of benching Messi is the defensive component. I am getting increasingly upset at his utter reluctance to provide any defensive pressure at all. I am a huge fan of his, but his laziness is unacceptable, it is definitely hurting the team both technically, positionally and emotionally. If I’m a Barca player busting my ass running all over the field and Messi doesn’t even make an effort to exert any pressure on the opposition, it creates an imbalance on the team.”

Messi is the only player to play full 90 minutes in all of Barcelona’s nine matches so far this season. The forward has scored four goals but all of them came from the penalty spot.