The questions are being raised over lionel Messi’s commitment for Barcelona. People have been talking about his lack of involvement on the pitch. Among many theories that are doing the rounds, the most popular is that he has he is focusing on the upcoming World Cup. And they might be right in their assessment.
There has been a critical change in his approach. The Argentine, who has been at Camp Nou for 13 years, doesn’t challenge the opposition for the ball, as if he is saving himself from injury so close to this summer’s big event.
Juan Manuel Asensi, who represented Barcelona for 10 seasons, said “I’m very surprised and even more concerned. Something must be up because Messi has always shown his commitment in big games.”
“Something’s happened and it must be big because Messi hasn’t had the right attitude in the last few games so something must be going on; something’s up with Messi,” the Spaniard added.
Also, there are rumours that the club might be looking to sell their most prized possession and one of the richest clubs in France Paris Saint-Germain has shown interest in Messi and are willing to pay the 250 million euro release clause.
Barca manager Tata Martino, however, tried to put all the speculation to rest and insisted that the four-time Ballon d’Or winner will be at Camp Nou untill retirement.
Needless to say, much of this latest media speculation comes as a result of three consecutive defeats — their worst since 2002-03 season — that cost the Catlans two trophies and have affected their title bid in la liga. And it all coincided with Messi’s poor form and the belief that Barcelona can’t win without him being in top form. Messi couldn’t score a single goal in these three matches.
But former Real Madrid coach John Toshack feels it is “cruel” to blame Messi for Barcelona’s recent woes. “It’s cruel to blame Messi. You can’t put the blame on him. Messi’s at a high level but more is always expected from him,” Toshack was quoted as saying by la Xarxa.
The year itself hasn’t been an easy one for Messi. It all started with his run-in with the taxman, which seemed to have left the player scathed. Neymar’s arrival was another surprise for him as he felt cheated by the club, which had assured him that the newbie would not be earning as much as he did. In the end, it was demonstrated to the whole world that the Brazilian was to earn the same, if not even more. The fans are eagerly waiting for this game of speculation to get over and for truth to come out in open. In this case, only Messi can do that.