The assertions of former Barcelona assistant coach, Angel Cappa, that Lionel Messi may have lost his passion for football, had to examined. According to Cappa, who is also an Argentine, Messi these days is a shadow of the player that won four Ballon d’Or awards.
This will not be the first time that Messi will come under scrutiny every single time Barcelona has a run of poor form. When Barcelona lost its last group game against Ajax Amsterdam –who are in no way, a small team in Europe despite their recent challenges- in a meaningless tie as it has already qualified and, immediately after this European stumble, Barcelona was beaten by an Iker Munian’s 70th minute strike.
Ajax Amsterdam is not top of the Dutch Eredivisie because they are football pushovers. Neither is Athletic Bilbao’s fourth place position a fluke.
And both games were away from home.
Between, despite the hype and concomitant hubris –gained from their recent stellar triumphs- Barcelona (or, dare I vouch, no team) is invisible or invincible.
The recent accusation by Angel Cappa comes at a time when Barca has lost its lead on the top of the La Liga table courtesy of a 2-3 defeat to Valencia at the Nou Camp. Gerardo Martino has steered a Barcelona team that has suffered a spate of injuries excellently.
It beats me hollow why the club or any of its players’ passion should be questioned. Who expects a team to go through the season unbeaten in all competitions? Is Barca or any of its players judged by the high standards they have set without taking stock of context and injuries?
Whatever be the reason for Cappa’s submission, there has been a perceptible change in Messi’s body language on the pitch but I would not be keyboard-happy to state he has lost his passion. Under Pep Guardiola, Messi bloomed. What has escaped the notice of most people is that Messi was rarely injured during Guardiola’s reign. Before the recent fits of start-stop football, Messi was only out for six weeks -due to a left leg muscle tear- in 2008.
Messi is just like every one of us; Messi is human and sometimes when you give your best, it is just not good enough. 15 games, 9 goals, 6 assists and 75 shots are poor statistics from a man who has defied nature. But Messi’s fitness coach, Fernando Signorini and Barcelona’s physiotherapist, Juanjo Brau, who works around the clock to ensure the Catalans' biggest asset is in good ruddy health, always, concedes that limits have to be set against Messi’s natural explosiveness on the pitch.
All Messi’s twists and turns, darting runs and heavy challenges leave a toll on his body. Before the Valencia game, Messi had not scored a goal in 606 minutes of football- his longest drought since 2008. A superb 2013 year when ‘Lapuga Atomica’ broke Gerd Muller’s haul of goals in a single calendar year perhaps took its toll.
Messi is crucial to Barcelona but to pin all its troubles against Valencia on his shoulders as Cappa and others have done? Victor Valdes was caught twice in no-man’s land but punished once –for the 2nd goal. Or should Sergio Busquets’ tame challenge that led to that led to the 1st goal be cited?
Messi has not hit his dizzy heights since he came back from a lengthy lay-off towards the end of 2013 and that may even be more apparent looking at the number of goals he has scored since he came back in mid-January- just one, from that spot-kick in the ill-fated lossto Valencia.
Nevertheless, Messi’s passion and love for the round leather game is still very intact and fresh, a full fitness and formwill prove that in a no distant time but for now, let the world not compound the 26-year olds’ woes with pressure, has he not defied enough odds throughout his career? This one will be another hurdle he will cross, soon.
And for those stating that Barcelona has lost three times this season, it is the truth. What is untrue, however, is that Messi did not play in the previous two.