Lionel Messi will be the key difference-maker at Barcelona once La Liga restarts. As has been the case for the last 15 years, the Argentina star will carry the weight of the hopes of millions of Barca fans around the world on his shoulders – a challenging responsibility that, fortunately, the Number 10 is ready for.
As we discussed in the latest The Barcelona Podcast, it is clear that having this unexpected amount of time to recharge batteries at home has done Messi a lot of good, as he explained himself:
“We keep training, to recharge, to keep striving and give our best. We will return to the court to leave everything. Let’s take the opportunity to continue training, to refuel, to continue striving, and give our best. We will return to the pitch, and give it everything.”
“It’s difficult to live and work with such uncertainty, and in such a different and exception situation as this. We were all asking ourselves when we would get back to work and to competition. For any player, maintaining concentration on the pitch is fundamental.”
“There are those who think that mental strength is 40, 50, 60% of our sport. I suppose it depends on each sportsman in particular. I believe that it is very important, and that this is an aspect that is prepared more every day amongst professional athletes.”
Messi has kept himself busy at home: “I’ve tried to train every day at home. However, obviously individual training is nothing like training with the group.”
“When we get back to playing, it will be like starting over. We will have some time to prepare before the competition restarts, and we will also bring back some very important players for us, who were injured.”
“Technically it will be the same season, but I think that all of the teams and players will experience it in a different way.”
“We played a game behind closed doors a while ago, and it was very strange. It’s a challenge. The preparation from the group is the same as for any other game. However, it’s true that individually you have to get ready and think about playing without a crowd, because it’s very strange.”
“We can’t think about what we are leaving behind this year. It’s better to think about the future. It will undoubtedly be strange to start with, but I’m really looking forward to competing again.”
I am excited to see how Quique Setien’s continued communication with his players during this unexpected La Liga break impacts Barcelona’s game moving forward.
Having replaced Ernesto Valverde in the middle of the season left our new manager with almost no time to influence his new players or teach the ins and outs of his formation as well as he would have hoped for.
One of the key factors that we have debated at The Barcelona Podcast this season is that most players seemed happy to coast along with Valverde’s formation until the end of the season despite most fans being frustrated with his management.
Setien is a coach with a very clear idea of how Barcelona should play, and I welcomed his appointment. Always eager to follow Johan Cruyff as a role model, the idealistic manager was quick to identify that turning the team that Valverde left behind into a well-oiled machine able to play attractive, effective football on a weekly basis was going to be an uphill battle.
The board’s decision to appoint Setien was both a surprise and a welcome change for supporters, but the players were far from convinced about his proposed playing style and the timing of Valverde’s sacking – Listen now:
Listening to Messi’s renewed positivity and eagerness to hit the ground running is music to my ears. Even though Setien wasn’t in charge of a huge number of games before the pandemic started, it was clear that Messi was not quick to facilitate the necessary changes that the new coach was trying to implement.
If the Argentina star is able to lead Setien’s proposed formation on the pitch, there will be very little others could do to stop the Camp Nou giants from lifting La Liga at the end of the season.
