If playing for a football team that he loved and enjoyed were the price to pay for one of my children reaching a normal height, it woudn't be a bad deal.Messi's growth hormone treatment is rarely mentioned. Whenever I watch Barca play I have doubts over their integrity, given the rarity of growth hormone treatment and the rarity of Messi's ability. Additionally Messi's life seems to be a bit too clinical in the way his family were paid to come to Barca just so he could play football at such a young age. I know most footballers live extraordinary lives but after all theyre only entertainers, so Im not entirely comfortable watching a child slave perform for me. At least Ronaldo is forthright about being spoiled and selfish.
There's also the Cup to play for. At least one major trophy in four seasons running is something few teams have achieved.Pangur Bán;11439859 said:Indeed. It's also physically and mentally exhausting to play against that, which is probably the real reason they score so many goals.
On the other hand, "the best team that has ever played football" are very close to having a disastrous season. There's probably a 50/50 chance they will lose both trophies, perhaps to Real Madrid.
The same team or couple of teams winning everything gets boring, like in Scotland. But we'll miss this Barcelona as we miss the Galácticos from a decade ago (including Ronaldo the real one, a.k.a. 'el Gordo') and other teams.Spoiler :I think it's the fact they make it look so easy that makes those passes look, well, easy side passes. But in fact what they're doing, or what they can do routinely if needed, is pass the ball around on 1st touch under pressure. Not all of them of course, but the likes of Messi, Iniesta, Xavi, Busquets and Piqué (possibly the spine of the team, from one end to the other) can do it all day long. No one else can do this. Not even a world class player educated at their academy, but only recently returned after many years abroad, like Fabregas is comfortable at it.
I find it beautiful although I admit I also find it lacking and limited on many other ocasions. It could also be interpreted, paradoxically, as a defensive style, a new type of catenaccio. Only whereas other teams in the past have used a very narrow approach to frustrate and dominate by using, either their massive physical or tactical superiority, Barcelona are the pioneers of doing the same thing via their technical superiority. So there you have it. Of the 'holy trinity' of football - athleticism, tactics and technique, they alone explored the last aspect to the utmost level, in the sense they've created a paradigm, so to speak, entirely dedicated to it (like, e.g., Herrera's Inter was a tactical masterpiece, or some of the northern european club teams of the 70s a product of athleticism).
But because technique is so much harder to perfect than tactics and physique, and as I've argued in this forum before (I think) I suspect Barcelona might be a one of a kind, a product of a special moment and special talents and might not change the face of football as miuch as other revolutionary teams did in the past.
That said I'd prefer another team to win the competitions they're playing this year for the simple reason I cannot stand the sense of moral entitlement some of their fans and players distill, as if they alone played the only morally acceptable brand of football.
I'll miss them when, eventually, they go away though. Like I said, they can be a thing of beauty and one of the reasons many people got tired of them is because they've banalized beauty.
Ok, here's my collection of disjointed, lazy saturday afternoon, thoughts about the subject, probably incoherent. Sorry about the long post.
Barcelona lack a number 9, maybe a Zlatan, someone to do the dirty work. The Henry-Messi-Eto'o trident was better than the current configuration even though the 2012 Messi is better than the 2008-09 one by much, no one's got replacements of the same quality. You need someone to do that, the not-so-pretty play. And, besides, Messi may be brilliant but he can't always struggle past a bunch of hunks, you need someone to do physical play.