Ex-international, Mutiu Adepoju has described as ‘ridiculous’ the suggestion by some fans that Argentine superstar, Lionel Messi is the cause of the crisis currently rocking Barcelona.
Messi, regarded by many as the greatest footballer ever, cut a sorry figure and could not help Barcelona from crashing out of the Champions League following a humiliating 8-2 loss to Bayern Munich in the quarterfinals last weekend.
In a chat with Complete Sports, Adepoju who starred for Real Madrid B team and Racing Santander during his playing days however, exonerates the six-time Ballon d’Or winner from blame, insisting it is not possible for the Argentine to single-handedly carry the team every time.
Mutiu who is currently the LaLiga Ambassador in Nigeria says the crisis currently rocking Barcelona is the culmination of many issues that has plagued the team for some time but which only came to the fore with the Champions League exit.
“I don’t think it is fair for people to label Messi as the problem behind Barcelona crisis. That is simply ridiculous,” Adepoju told Complete Sports.
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“There have been a lot of issues in the dressing room in recent years. Changing of coaches too many times have affected the team’s balance and Messi can’t do everything alone on the pitch.
“He has given everything to the club and his brilliance has helped them to win several titles. He has performed consistently for Barcelona for about 12 years but he is not getting younger.
“His speed and power has reduced but his experience and genius is still way above average players. Barca need to build younger players around him now to get the best from him,” said Adepoju known as the Headmaster during his active days in the Super Eagles.
On whether it is time Messi quits Barcelona, Adepoju said the Argentine captain has his fate in his hands and will decide what will make him happy.
“Many clubs will love to have Messi on their side but I think he will need to take a decision based on what will make him happy.”
By Sulaiman Alao
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COMMENTS
Truth be told, Messi can’t leave Barcelona at least before next summer based on:-(1) €600m+ release clause in his contract. (2) Barcelona doesn’t want to sell. (3) Which club can buy/ afford to pay his ridiculous wages?. So let’s be serious here. Average neutrals know Messi is only saving his face whenever he threatens to walk away from both club and country. It’s always a top marketing gimmick to get a pay rise or better deals by top athletes (examples abound).
Saying Messi is not the problem of Barcelona is half truth, in fact he’s 95% of the problem just like CR7 was when he was in Real Madrid. In football most times, your strength is also your weakness. Messi like CR7 uses the club’s(and most times their team mates) misfortune to empower their positions and Messi’s €50m/year deal is bigger than the entire team’s earning combined, so isn’t that a problem on its own? The fact is Messi can single-handedly win a competition but he can also single-handedly destroy a team.