FAREWELL LIONEL MESSI...
By LONN PHILLIPS SULLIVAN
@LonnPhillips
Forgive me....this may be one of my Messi-est pieces of writing ever....and I just don't care.....
I can't even believe I'm having to write this....so please, bear with me as I try to write out something coherent, shorn of typos or errors.... but I doubt we'll be getting there today.
Even though I wrote countless pieces on how or why Josep Maria Bartomeu's actions would potentially cost us Lionel Messi, and this and this..... I never would've believed Barcelona, or any top club for that matter, would find themselves in this current situation....the greatest player of all time....wanting to retire as a Barcelona player...accepting an unheard of 50% wage reduction....and yet, Barcelona, the richest & most valuable club on earth at one point, financially going toe to toe vs Real Madrid for the biggest players on earth every summer for more than a decade at the top, are now losing Lionel Messi for free....to PSG....
The worst part?
Not even the €487,000,000 debt....
We knew how bad Bartomeu and his cronies were...I clocked the bills and forecasted a scary, highly tenuous future for the club back in 2017 and 2018.
The worst part is actually how easily FC Barcelona, its management of rich men hacks and tired old jezebel politicians, the club's legion of bandwagon fans throughout the world, even Barcelona's own players ALL took Lionel Messi's very existence for granted.
That can't be anymore clearer then after you see a "Barca fan" spray-painting "Messi Traitor" outside the Camp Nou's main entrance after Messi's own club stabbed him in the back with their own stupidity.....
Calling him a traitor in this moment? I can't think of anything more disgraceful.
There were countless matches where Lionel Messi didn't just carry Barcelona, he propped up their corpse and still continued to generated life, time and time again.
I think of his effort in the 2nd leg vs Liverpool at Anfield, staring down a very winnable UCL Final vs either Ajax or Tottenham and a Liverpool squad without Mohamed Salah, Andrew Robertson after 45 minutes, or Roberto Firmino:
Leo created 3 spellbinding chances, perfectly playing Luis Suarez, Phillippe Coutinho, and Jordi Alba clean through on goal....only for all 3 to let their talisman down.
Or what about Ousmane Dembele's disturbing tap-in fluff during the final seconds of the 1st leg of that same semifinal, a chance beautifully set up for Dembele with the goal at his mercy and Liverpool's keeper Alisson falling over...even Pique to his right for the layoff...and instead of passing the ball into the net, literally touching it in, Dembele farted the ball 3 feet into the air....not even worthy of an official shot statistic.
These misses all followed Messi's majestic orchestration of Barcelona's 3-0 1st leg lead....Leo's teammates complacent and secure in their captain's propensity to bail them out.
It became "it's ok if I miss, Messi won't", all while forgetting the basic fact: one man doesn't mark the Argentine, an entire team does...
What about this last year's UCL, vs PSG where Messi set up €120 million man Dembele again and again, only for the Frenchman to lose his mind every time. Despite nearly 20 shots on target, including a penalty off the bar from Messi, Barca crashed out to a PSG side without Neymar....
Always, always, always.....whether you believe it or not, Lionel Messi was the world's greatest player on earth and somehow he was also the unluckiest.
In his early years, when Messi first displayed his Maradona 2.0 abilities to ghost through defenders as if they were gingerbread men, Messi wanted that responsibility, but he could've never anticipated the complete lack of assistance he's received for years on end, both on and off the pitch.
As one Barca legend left after another, first Puyol, then Valdez, Pep Guardiola leaving to Bayern then City, the death of Tito Vilanova to cancer, followed by Xavi, Dani Alves, then finally Andres Iniesta, a piece of the club's Messi-era soul departed....and with them left the team's unity & drive:
Each player & manager from the 2008-2013 era understood their role surrounding Leo, and together, these leaders protected Messi from carrying the club's highly pressurized burden alone.
When these leaders were replaced by friends and big name signings such as Luis Suarez, Neymar, Ousmane Dembele, Antoine Griezmann, Jordi Alba, Ivan Rakitic, Philippe Coutinho, Alexis Sanchez, the team's fantastic goals didn't stop, but their overall cohesion during the legendary Guardiola/Vilanova-era was tyrannically missing.
The filthy combination passing, hungry pressing and clinical finishing faded into a stone epitaph of the "Tiki-Taka" era.....now replaced by a top heavy top dollar front line, a weak, risk-obsessed defense and a club which began to ignore its talent-rich youth academy (La Masia) in favor of a "bottomless" check book.
Everyone talked about "cracks appearing" but no, it never felt like Lionel Messi would allow Barcelona to lose their identity. Still, ever so gradually, when the club ignored La Masia for galactico 100 million dollar signings, their identity switched from slick passing & team-first ethos to an all out attacking form of madness & egotism.
After 2015, the year of the club's final UCL title, Barcelona would never defend with any conviction, will or intensity and nor would they score the same "team goals" ever again...
By the time of the Valverde era's horrorshow emasculation, complete with 3 or 4 goal collapses on the world's Champions League stage, as well as using 60% possession for the team's older players to merely catch a bloated breath, it wasn't just the team's identity which left the Camp Nou....so had the club's soul.
The players were starting to represent the chaotic behind the scenes outrage which was going on, from Bartomeu paying media companies to circulate damaging stories about Messi, Pique and others, the huge transfer bans and legal circus from Sandro Rosell's imprisonment and Bartomeu's near criminal escape from charges....of course, in the end, Barcelona were the ones to suffer most:
With an incoming transfer ban, Josep Maria Bartomeu spent the summers of 2014 and 2015 buying anyone and everyone....and for criminal sums: in 2014 Bartomeu spent 165 million on a few key signings, such as Luis Suarez, but then supplemented Suarez with some shocking purchases, Vermaelen for 18 million, Jeremy Mathieu for 20 million, and Douglas for 4 million....a player who's deal was obviously a favor to a Brazilian criminal enterprise.
The next two years were the worst for transfer deals in any club's history: a washed-up Arda Turan for 41 million, Paco Alcacer for 32 million....and the absolute worst....55 million for Andre Gomes.
But in 2017-18, Barca's board went nuts....spending 323.8 million in one single transfer window....how could any club do that? Unless they're ready to ride with their signings for the next two windows???
Nope...Barca kept spending...
Once again, another 100+ million dollar spending window, this time for 108,000,000 from the signing of 40 million man Arthur, 35 million for mistake-prone Clement Lenglet, and 41 million for Malcolm.....
Oh but it got worse....the 2019-2020 window saw Barcelona pour out 273 million in spending....of course led by Antoine Griezmann's 120 million deal, Frenkie De Jong's 75 million, Marc Cucurella (a player we loaned out multiple times and in the end had to pay 4 million to bring back.....only to loan him out within a month of doing so once again....)....
The club felt invincible, even as they hemorrhaged cash faster than the Michael Scott Paper Company....
Yes....Arda Turan is a reason we can't keep Messi.....
Back to the timeline...
Last year, August 2019, the apocalypse for Barcelona was going on:
The 8-2 embarrassment at the hands of Bayern Munich forced Messi to the brink, sick of Bartomeu's pathetic mismanagement and criminal treatment of the squad; due to Bartomeu's continued presence, Lionel felt like he had already lost his boyhood club.
When Bartomeu held Leo against his will, effectively buying the Catalan club a further year to fix their cultural, structural and financial issues, all the former president wanted was to be "the man who kept Messi".
Bartomeu wagered that he'd be long gone by the time his successor would be left with the insurmountable task of negotiating Messi's re-signing, let alone if the G.O.A.T left the club.....
But let's not just blame Bartomeu here....
Josep Maria-Bartomeu is 100% the man who destroyed the club we love so much, he is the one who ruined the Messi-era completely and utterly after the turbulent summer of 2014 seemed to continue every year.....but Joan Laporta messed this up big time.....in fact, blame Messi's departure on Laporta just as much:
The fact that Joan Laporta spent more time trying to wipe Ronald Koeman's blushing ass by signing Dutchman Memphis Depay (and wasting a full month unnecessarily pursuing Gini Wijnaldum) rather than figuring out any possible way out of this predicament, is astonishing and reeks of the same brand of incompetence Bartomeu cooked his dinner on.
How could this happen?
How could Laporta allow La Liga to use Lionel Messi in such a way...
He claims he "won't let La Liga use Messi as a pawn", but instead of realizing the naive approach from the Spanish League's President Javier Tebas, Laporta played right into his hand by denying his own club the one player on planet earth capable of dragging Barcelona out of their own mess.
Instead of realizing how quickly TV contracts are turned over or bought out, Laporta saw the terms of "50 years" and his pride consumed him...he would not be manipulated by La Liga or their TV deal.
The highly controversial move would knock away 800 million in future projected revenue from the Catalan giants as well as enforcing a "no Super League" mandate.....it was all about finally holding Spain's two biggest clubs for ransom...but with no Ronaldo in Madrid & Messi happily renewing at Barcelona, this was Tebas' effort in ridding La Liga of the greatest footballer ever.
And so, Laporta let it happen:
A few days ago, in front of the very fanbase which had come to treat the Argentine's very existence as our #10 alongside the rising of the sun, Barca's 2nd tenure President slit Messi's throat.
Callously tweeting out a pathetic little goodbye, adorned with less pomp and circumstance than even Douglas received on his way out the door, the official declaration came from the club: Messi was leaving due to "unforeseen financial obstacles".
Hearing the shocking news on the morning Leo was to sign his braveheart extension, his father Jorge called his son telling him the "deal was off".
During Messi's greatest summer as a professional, finally winning an international tournament for his country, the worst news of his club career arrived to spoil what was a celebratory time for the Argentine attacker.
There was no effort from Barca concerning fighting La Liga or offloading enough players to make room for the talisman....just Laporta simply stating it couldn't happen.
It is sickening to me...
Throughout his career when we saw the impossible, he defied reality and bent Newton's laws of gravity to his own conspiracy, breaking the will of every opponent within a millimeter of his left foot's magical design.
When his club needed to be there for him, FC Barcelona have shoved Messi into the crowd of vultures and bolted for the hills, calm in their knowledge of his role as club scapegoat and global human sacrifice.
Because of the club's failure & unwillingness to protect Messi, Barcelona's failures have been intrinsically tied to the #10's every move. He's the greatest when he's able to drag them over the line, he's overrated when his teammates hid among the shadows.
In a way, Laporta is doing the right thing:
Harshly cutting the cord that binds Messi to the club may have finally killed off the G.O.A.T's never-ending love affair with Barcelona...potentially a move which will end any chance of a longer saga that could see a miracle return, and hastening his free agent departure to a top club rival....most likely joining the godforsaken harem of mercenaries at PSG.
While we can blame Bartomeu all we want and should, this current nightmare must also be laid at Laporta's feet.
Failing to offload just one of Griezmann, Dembele or Coutinho would've generated enough income, right?
If not, then add two of those high wage attackers, plus Braithwaite, get rid of Pjanic.....but no, both Braithwaite and Pjanic are insanely contracted to the club until 2024....all while Ansu Fati's contract runs out next year.....what the hell is this club doing??
Despite a host of moves which could've been exercised by Laporta to preserve Messi, it seemed there were not only a group of extremely selfish players unwilling to move (Samuel Umtiti, Braithwaite, Pjanic, Coutinho and Dembele);
Instead of trying everything, the current Barca president found it easier to head off on a new Messi-less conquest, led by a aimless crew of Griezmann, Aguero, Memphis, Coutinho, Dembele, De Jong....Pedri will be out until the fall thanks to the club allowing him to be run into the ground for two tournaments this summer...Ansu Fati's knee problems are still tender amid a dramatic recovery fraught with issues, although a return seems to be on the horizon........oh yeah, and we've also got Martin Braithwaite.
How in God's name is Lionel Messi's place being surrendered for Martin fucking Braithwaite?
I understand the complexities, but I also know if the club hadn't taken Messi for granted, he would have trained on Friday wearing the captain's armband.
I haven't even begun to wrap my mind around all that is taking place, i doubt Lionel has been able to himself.
Much like his own relationship to Barca, after Ronaldinho, Lionel Messi is all I've ever known; week in and week out, #10 put on a show like no other for us all.
From 8th grade in junior high until now as I knock on the innards of 30, Messi was hardly on the sidelines through injury, rarely went a match without creating multiple goals or being the decisive player for Barca; Leo never dove, he would rather die than fake injuries, and he never used his star power to bully opponents, managers or referees (well...unless they deserved it).
In an era where players must go down to earn the calls, Messi competed against his own body, testing his limits to see how many fouls he could take before finally losing his balance. These moments often led to freaky collisions with defenders where Messi, dribbling through everyone, is finally brought down by a shoulder check or simply running into an opponent at full speed......try that 10+ times over 90+ minutes without a helmet or pads.
He put his body on the line for Barcelona every match, taking more fouls than any player in his generation and toughing through the pain for countless showdowns. On nearly every occasion, whether injured, sick, in a 2 game goal drought, or flanked by nincompoops, Messi delivered the goods.
For the longest time, all anyone discussed was Lionel Messi's goalscoring and voluminous goal stats, banging in screamers from outside the box, dribbling into the penalty area and kniving the ball through, leading a bristling counter attack before chipping a helplessly diving goalkeeper, powerless as he falls after the ball and into his own net......he is a scary elemental finisher, scoring 672 goals from 778 appearances in all competitions....a disgusting number that no one, anywhere, will ever top.
However, the greatest goalscorer to ever play the modern game is also the world's best passer, setting up a filthy amount of assists over his time, 248 from La Liga, UCL, Copa Del Rey and Super Copas combined (with another 57 uncredited direct goal contributions through created own goals, earned penalties, deflected crosses etc).
Think about all the insanity Messi attempted which was freaking amazing but didn't come off: all the times he smashed the bar or post, all the chances he set up where teammates clattered chances off the woodwork.....every illustrious final ball where the finish wasn't there....for example, he set up 12 shots off the woodwork over the past two seasons, leading Europe both years....including a ridiculous 7 in 2020/21.
It's not always about what was achieved or the result, but the magnetism of righteous, genius intention.
In this mentality, I only feel overwhelming sadness.....for what was, how great it all has been, but then I have desperate feelings of what could've been....and solemn disgust when considering what Barcelona's Messi-era turned into.
When Messi played alongside Iniesta, Xavi, Eto'o, Villa, Henry, Puyol, Abidal, Valdez....there was a sense of power....driving a sense of fear into every opponent we faced.
After the departures of these great players & even better leaders, Barcelona became sitting ducks: every team saw the 2013 Bayern Munich blueprint of "how to beat Messi's Barcelona"....but it couldn't always be replicated, especially considering Messi's hamstring was in tatters for the first leg & absent for the second.
Then, once Juventus drilled Barca 3-0 in a 1st leg (only a few weeks after Messi and Neymar led a historic 6-1 comeback from a 4-0 1st leg drubbing vs PSG) and Roma happened, opponents became less afraid of Barcelona....in fact, they understood how to beat us finally:
'Let Barca beat themselves....with their laziness, dependency on Messi and egotism...."
After came Liverpool....of course Bayern Munich's 8-2 obliteration of Barca, and last but not least, PSG demoralizing Barca during this past year's 1st leg....
It makes me feel a sense of relief for Leo.....that our tarnished club won't put him through another disaster such as the ones he's suffered continuously in the Champions League with us....from PSG 2021, Bayern Munich 2020, Liverpool 2019, Roma 2018, Juventus 2017....even Atletico Madrid knocking us out in 2016....these quarterfinal (and last year's Round of 16) humiliations cut deep.....but the wounds were deepest for Lionel Messi.
After nearly 7 years where the 2015 UCL was the only major tournament trophy Messi won, losing the 2014 World Cup Final, followed by the 2015 & 2016 Copa America Finals....all in extra time by the slimmest of margins, Barca was always said to be the "one haven for Messi" after his turbulent national team spells. Then, everything changed....Barca became another, even more disturbing source of sadness for Messi.
Witnessing Messi in rabid tears, knowing all he could do was go back to Barcelona, lead Europe in scoring and assists, achieve the impossible with every touch of the ball....and still find himself alone, cast as the scapegoat, marked by four or five midfielders and defenders and forced to the fringes of the pitch....powerless.....
This summer....things changed:
Leading the tournament in goals scored and assists created (4 goals, 4 assists & 1 earned penalty), Lionel Messi led Argentina to the Copa America Final vs Neymar's Brazil, and this time....finally....a teammate made sure Messi would leave the pitch a winner this time: Angel Di Maria chipped goalkeeper Ederson and, 60 minutes later, Messi was finally enjoying the time of his life, crying tears of joy and smiling broader than we'd seen in so long.
Watching that moment for Lionel Messi was one of the greatest sporting moments of my life....after so many years of torture, so many conversations where pundits destroyed him, all the doubts, the psychological burden....it was finally over....he'd gotten over the line with Argentina.
Obviously, his next task was to renew Barcelona's Champions League quest, gathering steam, confidence and positivity on our way to Barca's first UCL Final since 2015....but it was never to be.
Throughout his final UCL campaign, Messi was excalibur special, forcing 7 saves from Gigi Buffon during the pair's final showdown together. Messi couldn't score from 7 shots on target and 11 altogether, hitting the post and setting up an Antoine Griezmann header that clattered the bar, as well.
His final UCL appearance for Barcelona came in a harsh 1-1 draw vs PSG, causing the Blaugrana to crash out in the Round of 16 for only the third time during Messi's era. In this final match, Leo was unreal, scoring a screamer from almost 40 yards out vs Keylor Navas, one of his longtime nemesis.
Despite his outrageous performance, it wasn't to be.
Messi's last appearance as a Barcelona player was a 2-1 loss to Celta Vigo in which Messi scored a brilliant header from a Sergi Busquets cross.......his last action was a missed shot set up in the final seconds from Miralem Pjanic....so close, yet so far....
In the end....Barcelona never deserved such a player....
We took him for granted as if he owed us his every waking moment, like he was beholden to our every demand and whim......we sat back and watched him pull off the impossible and shrugged....we'd seen it before, right?
In 2019, after Messi bamboozled through a multitude of defenders and scored a brilliant goal in front of the sold out Camp Nou crowd, the reaction was one you would expect from a Lakers crowd....tapping of the hands back and forth, a cheap clockwork applause.....that was when I knew we didn't deserve this guy anymore.
We'd been so spoiled by his never-ending beauty, scarred by his extraterrestrial magnificence, that we came to expect it and when it arrived, either through disgusting goals, filthy assists, etc.....it was "okay, good job Messi"........and when it wasn't there for once, the reply came "Messi's washed up!"
If he didn't score a hat trick every match, he was garbage to some....all while ignoring how special his every touch of the ball was and is....
For my part, I cherished every breath of the ball he exhaled and inhaled.....I always will....his game wasn't about goals or assists, it was about the potent possibility of what happens when one dares to dream.
I will watch Messi's old Barcelona matches more than the club's upcoming adventures....
I will follow Messi's every moment at PSG with wonder and excitement filled to the brim by a nonstop feeling of absolute bitterness & revulsion.....
He wanted to stay at Barcelona....he wanted to give us 2+ more years of dreamland football, possibly the best end to his career one could hope for: a return to the top of the Champions League and La Liga...complete dominion while Barcelona's financial structure heals....all as Messi helps young talents like Ansu Fati, Pedri, De Jong, Dembele among others raise their game.
Instead, Barcelona rejected their king.....
Now, he'll be playing alongside former Barca teammate Neymar and French World Cup winning superstar Kylian Mbappe along with a sea of Argentine friends of his in Paris....Messi should enjoy his time at Paris, an era which will likely see him win the Champions League you'd think...
How can this be possible....
Lionel Messi not wearing a Barca uniform....playing for rivals PSG....it is simply the saddest thing I've ever thought about in a footballing context....
This was the worst possible ending to the worst possible calamity...
A goodbye where Messi, like us, is almost too lost for words, completely forsaken by this horrific moment....only a small crowd including his wife and young sons, a few current players like Pique, De Jong, Alba, Busquets, Roberto....and of course Joan Laporta in the front row......no stadium full of fans....just a few claps and a standing ovation for his tears....
I can't get over this ruthless stab in the back by our club against our greatest icon...Barcelona's most willing servant....
And in the one moment where we needed to serve him, to give this man the proper final few years, honoring his wishes to retire in Barcelona, at the club of his life, the place where his family have been raised, we failed him.....
And I will never forgive Barcelona for it.....I will never forgive us....
by LONN PHILLIPS SULLIVAN
@LonnPhillips
Copyright 2021 Uninterrupted Writings Inc
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