There was collective intake of breath last night when Messi, seemingly fouled by a Zaragoza defender, clutched his achiles tendon and then started hitting the ground to deal with what seemed excruciating pain. For a brief moment there was a deya vue – memories flooded back of September 2010 when Messi badly injured was subsequently carried off on a stretcher. Messi continued playing last night and once again his presence proved decisive in motivating a convincing Barca victory. It would seem that the main reason Messi plays more matches than any other of his team mates (with the exception of Valdes) is that he wants to. Guardiola has brought Messi this far by indulging him. Messi is the kind of player that gets moody when he doesn’t play, and that’s bad for him, and bad for the club.
The strategy of keeping Messi in the team has its logic. He is the best player Barca have got, and the team feeds of him as he feeds off the team. But Guardiola is risking a lot by relying so much on Messi at this stage on the season. Messi is human after all, and at this pace it will be a miracle if he doesn’t get seriously injured just as both La Liga and the Champions League enters the more critical later stages.
Messi’s untouchability contasts with the rotation of the rest of squad, bolder than anything pursued by Guardiola since he became manager. In part it is a rotation that has been forced on him through injuries. But also because Barca is facing much tougher competition than it did last season, not least from Real Madrid. Mourinho’s boys are looking very formidable indeed.
Recalling old times with a Chelsea supporter, we both commented on the 1970 FA Cup Final reply, between Leeds & Chelsea, which we had recently watched again. With today’s refereeing, we both reckoned that it was such a violent game that by the time the final whistle was blown, about 4 players would have been left on the pitch. That players like Messi can play these days has much to be said for referees interpreting the law to the book, and new rules such as banning tackles from behind. Another factor are the “supplements” that players are given. We all know how Barcelona FC paid the family of Messi, who couldn’t afford the drugs, to give their son at the age of 11 onwards, the means to combat growth hormone deficiency. So, without drug supplements supplied by the rich Catalan club and strict refereeing, would Messi have ever succeeded as a player at Barcelona?