The Spoiler attempts to explain the Argentinian’s inconsistency
A strange thing tends to happen when Lionel Messi pulls on an Argentina shirt - generally speaking, he loses the dazzling talent that made him the centre piece in Barcelona’s triple-winning season. But why does this happen? As the Albicelestes prepare for a vital clash with Peru on Saturday, Spoiler correspondent Sam Williams gives five possible reasons for his inconsistent form on the international stage…
The manager
Comparisons with Maradona are inescapable, particularly when the manager forces the iconic number 10 shirt on Messi. Before the recent World Cup qualifiers against Brazil and Paraguay, Maradona said of his star player: “We’ve been heaping responsibility onto him. He’s fast, concentrated, totally committed. He knows the chance he has.” Argentina duly lost both games.
Messi is consistently outstanding for Barcelona because he plays in a liberated, care-free manner. He knows how good he is, and if Maradona lets him get on with it, he could help dig Argentina out of the World Cup Qualification hole they find themselves in.
The formation
In the aforementioned defeat to Paraguay in Asuncion, Messi was deployed up-front in a 4-4-2 formation. For all his attacking qualities, five-foot-seven Messi isn’t an out-and-out striker and he couldn’t impose himself against the big, physical Paraguayan centre-backs. Alongside a target-man
Barcelona coach continues to rile up his troops with moderately-paced middle of the road rock
As they cruised to a historic treble last season, Barcelona revealed the secret to their success: a love of Coldplay.
Pep Guardiola is a huge fan of the band, and regularly plays their hits to inspire his players in the dressing room beforebig matches. It clearly worked, and Xavi revealed his particular fondness for unofficial Barca anthem ‘Viva La Vida’, a song that is frequently played through the PA at the Camp Nou:
“Viva La Vida is a sophisticated piece of grandiose orchestration that motivates and gives us luck.”
Despite his considerable ears, teammate Dani Alves wasn’t quite so enthused:
“That song does not motivate me because I do not understand what he says.”
regardless of Mr Alves’ opinions, Spanish paper Sport report that fanboy Guardiola will achieve one of his dreams next Friday, as the Viva La Vida world tour brings Chris Martin and co to Barcelona’s Olympic Stadium. The international break
Which division would triumph in an MLS All-Stars style match?
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The Spoiler was surprised by the results of yesterday’s poll, where 76% of you disagreed with Cristiano Ronaldo’s claim that La Liga was stronger than the Premier League.
That poll took into account a number of factors: for example the difference between the best and worst teams, entertainment value and European success. Today, we want to focus on which is the better league in terms of galacticos.
Let us know which of the two teams we’ve created to represent each league is stronger - and if you disagree with our line-ups tell us who you would pick instead - with a vote and comment below:
The Barcelona star never wanted C-Ron at the Nou Camp, honest
The Barcelona party line is that they’re not ruffled by Real Madrid’s ridiculous summer spending spree. After all, it allows them to claim the moral high ground for “doing things the right way.”
However, Xavi broke rank today by launching a scathing attack on Cristiano Ronaldo, claiming that he wouldn’t have been welcome at the Nou Camp:
“I wouldn’t want him here. At Barca, we do not have room for players who fill gossip magazines.
“We are hard workers and sportsmen but he, on the other hand, is uncontrollable.
“We have a lot of desire to continue winning. The best player in the world is Lionel Messi and there’s no chance he will switch allegiance.”
The Spoiler found those unsporting comments very interesting, especially as Xavi had this to say about the world’s most expensive player last April:
“He could be a much better player if he was here, playing with us. I have a soft spot for him. I would love him to join us.
“Along with Lionel Messi, Ronaldo is the best player in the world. In fact he is in front of Leo in terms of influence in a game. The kid has everything.”
While the change in outlook might not be very subtle, The Spoiler almost admires the fact Xavi is so blinded by loyalty to Barcelona that someone he had “a soft spot for” became a lost cause the second he joined Real Madrid.
Clearly everybody wants a piece of the PFC Kuruvchi action
Arsenal fans who scoffed at yesterday’s suggestion that Cesc Fabregas may be joining Barcelona in the future may want to consider a thin slither of humble pie with their coffee this morning, as the Spanish super sub has followed in the footsteps of Samuel Eto’o and travelled out to give a master-class to Uzbekistani side PFC Kuruvchi.
Joining him were Barcelona Spain teammates Andreas Iniesta and Carles Puyol, and judging by the pictures above, the Tashkent side were handing out honorary degrees from the University of Madeupsville to try and persuade the Spaniards to stay.
Over to the barely-readable scrawlings of our friends at PFC:
Spain national team players Andreas Iniesta, Carles Puyol and Cesc Fabregas shown master-class today in MHSK stadium. As yo know “Quruvchi” PFC have already organised master class with Cameroon national team player Samuel Eto’O and today Uzbek football fans could see master class with Spain football stars. As you can seen on photos boys who study in “Quruvchi” PFC football school were very glad to see world football stars and master class was very useful for them too.
Obviously, the common thread that tiess these players is Spain, but the Barcelona link is also quite prevalent, particularly as Fabregas replaced Xavi on the trip to the former Soviet nation.
Take a look at the members of any ten pin bowling league, and you’ll see a healthy mixture of geriatrics and walking cardiac arrests. Leo Messi and Xavi’s take on the lazy man’s sport may not be particularly successful (they don’t seem to get anything approaching a strike) but it’s certainly more athletic than throwing a big rock and drinking six pints of bitter.
Spoiler bonus: The bowling clip came from the handsome devils at Pies, who have also found footage of Deco and Cristiano Ronaldo playing football tennis. Watch it after the break…
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