Messi’s form for Argentina is raising legitimate questions

The statistics make anomalous reading. Lionel Messi scored a ridiculously good 53 goals for Barcelona last season en route to an astounding all-time total of 180, making him the third highest scorer of La Blaugrana in history. In the last three years in which he has regularly performed at a level close to perfection, he has inspired his club to a remarkable 10 titles.

Beyond the statistics, Messi has been a joy to watch with beguiling skills not seen since Ronaldinho fell from grace. He has torn the finest defenders to shreds with immaculate close control, a silky turn of pace and superhuman speed of thought; all three strengths prompting his coach Pep Guardiola to declare Messi ‘the best player he has ever seen.’

For country, however, Messi is the antithesis of the magician adored in Catalunya. Last Saturday’s exit to Uruguay in Copa America was the second successive tournament he was drawing a blank for country. In South Africa during the 2010 World Cup, Messi shone in all five games but scarcely looked the devastating machine we are accustomed to in the Barcelona jersey. He has now gone 16 games without registering a competitive goal for country.

Messi has been coached by Jose Nestor Pekerman, Alfio Basile, Diego Maradona and Sergio Batista in the last five years while representing Argentina but none of them has come remotely close to getting the best out of him. In that same period, there is no height he has not scaled for Barcelona. Trophies have become a formality at a club side playing some of the best football ever seen in the history of the sport.

With every performance, there is irrefutable evidence that Messi’s genius in the game is thanks in part to Xavi Hernandez, Andres Iniesta and Sergio Busquets. The system at Barcelona is so fluid and perfected that Messi’s style dovetails with the passing and movement of accomplished players like the aforementioned stars and Daniel Alves.

Argentina cannot play like Barcelona - no team can. But they have some top class players who on paper should form world football’s most feared attack. Few countries boast names like Sergio Aguero, Carlos Tevez, Gonzalo Higuain, Diego Milito and Angel Di Maria.

There are manifestly areas of concern in defence and midfield; problems not of Messi’s making. Messi has routinely been compared to Maradona but when the latter singlehandedly won the 1986 World Cup with Argentina, he had arguably a more inferior supporting cast than Messi today.

Unless Messi translates his club form to the national team, question marks about his ability to exhibit that extraordinary form without the Xavis and Iniestas will never go away. Oh, there is also the small matter of the World Cup.

Barcelona need Fabregas now
The will-he won’t-he saga of Barcelona’s pursuit of Arsenal skipper Cesc Fabregas has become so monotonous that there is no new twist possible. It is clear the player wants to return home while on the other hand, manager Arsene Wenger is holding onto the player in the hope that he will milk a few extra millions from the European champions.

Barcelona clearly need the services of Fabregas this season. Xavi will soon need to be used sparringly and the young gem Thiago Alcantara won’t be thrown in the deep end so soon. Fabregas would need no time to settle in a team whose players he has familarised himself with on national duty. Lest we forget, it was he who laid on the pass for Iniesta to win the World Cup for Spain.

As a natural passer blessed with good movement, vision and thinking, he is a natural heir to Xavis’ throne. Some players were born to play for La Blaugrana, Fabregas is one of them. When, not if, Barcelona secure his signature, you have to wonder which team will match Guardiola’s classic team? The rest of Europe have reason to feel genuinely intimidated.

mnamanya@monitor.co.ug