Messi's second wind

Posted Saturday, November 15, 2014 by Marca.com

Messi's second wind

The debate has been raging ever since Luis Enrique and then Tata Martino decided to play Messi on the right wing for Barca and Argentina respectively.

That's what happened in the international match between Argentina and Croatia and what had previously taken place in La Liga during Barcelona's game with Almeria. Martino is looking for a way to get more out of Sergio Agüero whilst the Barça coach is trying to unlock Luis Suárez's goal-scoring potential.

'La Pulga' is no stranger to playing in that position but he really burst onto the scene when Pep Guardiola had him play as a false nine, a little bit more in the centre of the park.

"It's a position I know and one I've got to get used to again, because I haven't played there for a long time. I also played my last two games for Barcelona on the right," Messi said following Argentina's match against Croatia, in which he scored a penalty as well as from a free kick awarded following a foul on Agüero.

The performance of the three-pronged attack formed by Messi, Neymar, and Suárez is one of the questions that Luis Enrique needs to find an answer to, given that it is not producing the results expected. So far, they have played four games together with only Neymar scoring against Real Madrid, and that wasn't enough to win. Against Celta, none of them were on target and Barça lost the match. In the clash with Ajax in Amsterdam, Messi's two goals saved the day and then against Almería it was Neymar's turn to get his name on the scoreboard.