Player of the season nominees – Lionel Messi

2012 – a record breaking year

Last calendar year, Messi broke a dozen or so long-standing records to only underline just how skilled a player he is.

On the second of May, he scored his 68th goal of the season to beat Gerd Muller’s record of 67 goals in a domestic season, making him the best goalscorer in Europe.

On the 11th of November, he scored goal number 76 of 2012, surpassing Pele’s record of 75 goals in one year. He then went one further and broke another record held by Der Bomber when he scored his 86th goal of the year (surpassing Muller’s 85) to notch the highest number of goals in a single year.

At the end of 2012, Messi had scored a staggering 91 times.

He also became the first player to score five goals in a Champions League game during Barcelona’s 7-1 mauling of Bayer Leverkusen in March of last year.

But it isn’t just with his club that he has achieved sporting excellence. On the 14th of June, 2013, Messi scored three in Argentina’s 4-0 defeat of Guatemala. His troika in that game saw him surpass Diego Maradona in third place on the list of Argentina’s all-time top scorer list. He is now tied second with Hernan Crespo and will most certainly surpass Gabriel Batistuta’s record of 56 goals.

He’s already equalled one record of Batigol. Last year, he found the back of the net 12 times for his country, the same number of goals Batistuta scored in 1998.

Messi has averaged a goal for club and country once every 63 minutes.

Barcelona minus Messi

As John Burridge once said on the air, “what would Barcelona do without Messi?”

That question has escaped a lot more lips since Barcelona were humbled 3-1 in their own backyard in the King’s Cup and were defeated 2-1 by Real Madrid at the Santiago Bernabeu.

But the number of people who put question marks over Barcelona’s ability to perform without Messi in the side increased exponentially when a half-fit Messi and the rest of his team mates were walloped 4-0 at the Fussball Arena Munchen and then humiliated 3-0 at the Camp Nou by Bayern.

Without his pace, Messi was as human as any other footballer and without his extraordinary skills, Barcelona’s defensive frailties were cruelly exposed as Bayern slaughtered them 4-0. At the Camp Nou, Messi’s hamstring injury kept him out of the game and Barcelona looked lost without him.

That they are so dependent on him was only highlighted when they needed him when still not fully fit to turn the game around against Paris Saint-Germain after fellow Argentine Javier Pastore had given the French side the lead in Catalonia. Messi’s presence on the pitch lends confidence and belief to the rest of the team, which shows how psychologically dependant they are on him to raise their game.

That was only underlined when Real Madrid beat them twice in the league (2-1) and in the cup (3-1). On both occasions, Messi was tightly marked and not given space to run into. Should other teams pick up on this, it could be very worrying for Barcelona, which is probably why they have bought Neymar.

What next?

Barcelona need to learn to play without Messi. While he is one of the world’s best, having him out of the equation can make him a liability. While those occasions are very rare, it means that it can bite Barcelona when it matters most.

You cannot ask Messi to lower his level to suit the rest of the Barcelona team. What Barcelona need to do, however, is divide the burden of scoring goals between Messi and someone who is equally talented, if such a person exists.

Well, there is. And his name is Neymar.

Click here to view the rest of the Player of the Season nominees