It is true. Messi isn't a good captain, but nonetheless what an amazing camera view upclose action of one of the greatest players in history.

that's actually a really good video. I learned a lot from this, from the leadership point of view. Cheers mate.

This game in particular was terrible from the whole team, and I felt also very disappointed in Messi's leadership.

Ofc, we kinda expected a lot more. Especially, in term of communication to teammates. That's the ONE thing he has to improve a lot to become a true captain.

To be fair, his style has never been talking a lot of boost his team by talking or screaming. He does things differently, mostly by performing on the pitch and drag his team (creates chances, score etc...). Messi did this a lot, just lurking around, walking, waited for his chance and popped out of no where when the chance comes. Except this game, no such thing came. Liverpool outclassed them.

This STYLE FAILED when he's underperform. When he's clueless or his game is below par, he does not know the way to boost his team otherwise.

Other dominant/strong style doesn't prove to work always either. But certainly helpful in this case.

Other than that, this video is quite cherry picking on this bad game or Barca. Which was an absolute emberrasment from the coach and the whole team.

It's a consistent theme with him. Abundant talent, but lacking in personality. The best times treat Messi well, but the hard times hit him rough because he doesn't have the mental fortitude to pull through. That's the major difference between him and other all-time greats. Most of the others were vocal, aggressive, dominant, and knew how to be a leader.

You can't call someone a leader if they don't have communication skills. That's not how leadership works. This is why when Barca go through a rough game, they completely collapse. Messi doesn't take the bull by the horns, and neither does anyone else on the team. Pique, Alba, Messi, Busquets.... they're all a timid and submissive bunch. That's why they resort to complaining and whining to the referee so much. Because they don't have the mentality to endure bad patches in a game. Whenever they concede, their shoulders sink and they all sulk. I watch their body language, and it's always the same damn thing. No one can puff their chest out and lift everyone's spirits. It's always sulking and pointing fingers when they concede.

That's the major difference between Barcelona in recent years and other CL winning teams. Almost all the other CL winning teams had several players with incredible mentalities (Drogba, Lampard, Terry, Cech for Chelsea; Schweinsteiger, Neuer for Bayern; Ronaldo, Ramos, Alonso for Madrid).

That is probably why Argentina suffers. I thought Mascherano was always better leader.

At Barcelona, I think Vidal fits to captain role better than Messi. Captain and captain with true leadership quality is very important player. Team should be full of leaders but one should stand out who is captain. We have Azpilicueta and he is just too nice!’ We suffer because of his lack of leadership. Yes, he shows leadership on the pitch by exemplary performance but he must motivate, say the right words at the right time and give other players hair-drying experience if they slack.

Leader captain is managers ambassador on the pitch. He is crucial for the manager to have and if manager doesn’t have a good captain then he suffers too. So let’s not blame Valverde for everything.

But the problem with Vidal is that

1. He doesn't fit their system on a week-by-week basis
2. He's too old to be a regular player
3. He's just not good enough to be respected by Messi, Pique, etc.

I also think Mascherano is a significantly better leader than Messi. That was part of the reason I believe their 2014 campaign was so successful even thought Messi, Higuain, and ADM couldn't score for their life in the knockout stages. Mascherano made sure their defense and midfield was solid, and played out of his mind that tournament. The two things I'll never forget from Mascherano during that tournament: the tackle on Robben, and the image of him leading the huddle before the penalty shootout, while Messi is nowhere in sight.

That video sums it all up, people are really blaming Messi when he tried time after time to create chances for his teammates as well as himself. He missed his traditional shot by inches. If he scored, people would hail him as some footballing god, if he missed people would hail him as a bottler. That video was waiting for one of the two outcomes.

Vidal, Messi and Roberto played their usual game. Every other Barcelona player played crap.

@Amir

Messi had a good first half. Second half he hadn't done anything of value.

he created 2, 100% goal scoring chances in first half + one he missed. also wasn't it Messi who passed to Suarez, who was 1on1 before Liverpool scored 2nd?

whole team was overrun, he can't defend, the team around him didn't do anything.

@dynastian 100% agree on everything aside Vidal because if he can’t then who is better captain for Barcelona? Obviously Messi can’t.

I don’t think this video aims to take a dig at Messi for walking around, but it does show him in bad light as captain. Look at Jordan Henderson how quickly he came to resolve and told Roberson to get back to business as if he was his father. That is the kind of captaincy is expected.

I always think that when two equal sides meet in terms of management, players and good season they are having. It is down to leaders on the field to sort it out. Captains and leaders make the difference.

Roy Keane performance vs Juventus still in the memories . Or Zidanes in World Cup especially against slightly superior Brazil.

And when odds against you, captains can fill that quality gap by motivating players to play their hearts out. Managers only do 50% of the work all though we blame them when team looses and praise players when team wins.

Don't forget Allison some of the crucial saves he made that night.

My 5 cent on the whole thing. People might seem harsh on Messi in this thread but I agree at least on the point he isn't a good leader. He fail at motivating the other player around him and instead, try to do everything himself. Personally, I think Pique would be a better captain but that just me.

Just like in first leg Terstgen made some very crucial saves that if it wasn’t for him we wouldn’t even have been discussing Messi’s performance in both legs.

Not to mention Vidal’s performance in first leg was just as crucial to victory as Fabinhos in second leg. After all it is a team sport and at times one player makes that half an inch extra work to make the difference. The difference is always very small to turn the game into ones team favor when teams are equally good despite of the performance of your best player.

However, one thing stays true. Valverde should look for captain if he is going to stay another season. Which I think he should because he won La Liga and about to Win Copa Del rey. What else should man do?

I think Valverde has done fine. He lacks a distinct leader on the pitch, and the players are too subservient to Messi. There's no changing those two things. He works the best with what he has. Back to back doubles, isn't it? CL quarters and now semis as well. That seems good enough.

Messi's leadership has always been one to question and I don't get the impression that he really thinks he is the leader. He has been appointed as such due to his stature and ability. Not the best choice for captaincy for sure.

Some coaches seem to favor the best player as capt even when they might not have the leadership skill or desire to show it. A lot is asked of Messi, but they do need to identify a true capt and let Messi do his thing.

Dynastian98

Messi had a good first half. Second half he hadn't done anything of value.

And in the other match, he had a shocking first half and a decent second one.

This is kind of a problem when we compare Messi vs Ronaldo. People literally praise them for doing the easiest things, whereas they get blamed for something that is hardly their fault. Yes, he scored an amazing free kick, and he was trying risky balls, but if I'm going to be truly honest with you, I think he provided just as much in Anfield as he did in the Camp Nou. Even in the second half, he played Suarez in for a chance he should have taken. He doesn't have that leadership because he himself was down at 4 0, but to pin this on him alone isn't right. Not saying you are, but a lot of the media do seem to try and influence that agenda. Busquets, Alba and Coutinho were really bad.

Messi is a warrior type. Leader but mostly by performance. He shows drives others by setting example, but there is a such thing as "player manager" or recently new introduced word for it "Kepa" ( captains usually do that role) who help manager to motivate and make sure everyone is giving their 100%, following the strategy and tactics that were set before the game. That sort of quality communication from on the pitch player is priceless for the manager because he can only yell on the sideline!

Therefore, when you make "warrior" a captain and he isn't giving leadership that the team needs, manager gets problem like Barcelona had against Liverpool. I myself used to yell at players ( while being midfielder) when to run, tackle, position, or stay in place or even yelled at goalkeeper to come out. I am not saying I am a better leader than Messi lol , but I am saying captains role isn't just wearing the armband and pulling the individual performance, It is to make sure everyone is putting the same desire to win and making sure Manager's strategy is still ringing in everyone's ear . Also, if that means to go smack someone on the back of their head, then so be it. That is what i learned playing.

I often think that is why Argentina suffers, because no one in the team have that authority to smack talented players around and communicate message of the manager.

@Marcus I agree. Still, I don't think you can really blame Messi for the whole thing, I mean, no doubt he is glad to be captain and pherhap he deserve to be but I'm pretty sure thats not his choice. The manager should chose to give the armband to the person with the most leadership. Pique or Busquet would have been good choice for me. Take nothing away from Messi in term of football skill though and in general, I think the whole of Barca lack leadership.

Captaincy in Spain always goes to the player with the most appearances.

@Dynastian Is that so? I had no idea, in that case, I take back what I said, its really nobody's fault.