World Cup 2018: 5 reasons why Lionel Messi has been average for Argentina 

#2 Barcelona

Messi is great for Barca

This is a point that might irk many people but bear with me on this one. Barcelona made Messi the player that he is today. All the trophies and the Ballon d’Ors… everything that Messi has right now, he owes a bit of it to the Catalans.

However, it is his very allegiance with the Camp Nou outfit that has caused him to fail a number of times with Argentina.

Messi has been at Barcelona since he was 13. At Barcelona, from the youth levels, the Argentine has played in the same system all throughout his life. As a result, it becomes increasingly difficult for him to adjust in a system that is remotely different to that of Barcelona.

This is why he struggled a bit during the initial years of his Argentina career. He might have grown into the Argentina style of play – or, rather, Argentina might have come close to becoming what Messi wants of them – but this World Cup, things have been harder because of…