Messi has lost his passion for football

The four-time Ballon d'Or winner has become "bored after 15 years of marriage to the game", according to his fellow Argentine

Former Barcelona assistant coach Angel Cappa has accused Lionel Messi of losing his passion for football.

The 67-year-old Argentine, who worked at Camp Nou under Cesar Luis Menotti in the 1980s, claims that his compatriot's performance in Saturday's 3-2 defeat at home to Valencia offered the clearest evidence yet that the Blaugrana No.10 has fallen out of love with the game.

Cappa felt that Messi seemed slightly more motivated in Wednesday night's Copa del Rey win over Real Sociedad but nevertheless maintains that the 26-year-old attacker is these days a shadow of the player who claimed four successive Ballon d'Or awards.

“To play football you need boundless passion, like Messi had, like the great players like [Diego] Maradona ... any important player in the Primera Division: Xavi, Iniesta, Busquets,” Cappa told La Xarxa.

“You need enormous passion, you need that energy that comes from an absolute love of the game.

"[On Wednesday against Sociedad], he participated [in the game] a little more, but the day they played Valencia, I couldn’t understand how a player could play football so dispassionately.

"And especially him, because if we look at a game of his from three or four years ago, there was that craziness, that passion that he had for playing.

"And I don’t know why or for what reason, but that is coming to an end."

Cappa says, though, that it is obvious that the drive that turned Messi into a superstar of world football is now conspicuous by its absence.

“That love of the game, that passion that makes him go and look for the ball on the left, on the right, in the middle, take players on, beat one, then two ... I see Messi has lost that,” the 67-year-old declared.

"He has extraordinary quality, he’s wonderful and at any moment he can come up with a wonderful play, but it’s as if he has been married for 15 years to football and got bored of it.”

Cappa also suggested that Messi's malaise is merely the result of grander problems at Camp Nou.

“I’m talking about Messi, but Barcelona have also lost that passion," he argued. "Before, you couldn’t miss even a second of the 90 minutes because there was always something.

"Now Barca have the ball, sure, and they do things now and again, but they have also lost that boundless enthusiasm they had before.”

http://www.goal.com/en/news/12/spain/2014/02/06/4600263/messi-has-lost-his-passion-for-football-former-barcelona?ICID=HP_BN_2

Hmm, not sure just trolling.

I, at least, haven't seen any less motivation from him.

Doing the same thing year in year out and winning everything all the time does get boring. Not just in football, but for everything in life. Messi needs a new challenge.

l don't watch Barca all that much, so lm probably wrong, but when l do see them play, Messi does look 'bored' a lot. He doesn't really have that same energy or excitement after scoring goals or just playing in general that he used to have in his early 20s

Messi to EPL

lol, more like messi doesnt give a fck about this season. All he cares about right now is staying fit, he wants to avoid attacking the box not to get kicked, and build fitness towards the end of the season if barca can do something in CL and for the world cup most importantly.

he doesnt give two fcks atm playing vs valencia lol, whenever he can coast games, he most definitely will.

He should experience the Premier League. He's done and won everything there is at Barcelona and La Liga. That's one thing CR has over him, he has dominated the prem when he was here. Let's see if Messi can do the same.

I hope it's Ligue 1 and with Monaco. Maybe Serie A. In PL I can see him at Arsenal and in Bundesliga with Bayern. Time will tell eventually.

Messi has a handful of quiet games after coming back from injury and everyone likes to start pondering whether he is past his peak (myself included: http://www.goallegacy.net/t34658-is-messi-going-to-win-another-ballon-d-or ).

If he really is demotivated, he should try and swap clubs and leagues for a new challenge and playing style. He's played all his life the Barca style.

Agreed. Premier League would be good for him.

If Messi wants to try something new perhaps he should start by paying his taxes.

He's been associated with the game since he was 5 years old. I'm assuming while all the other kids were out riding bikes and eating ice cream cones, Messi was practising kick-ups and intricate techniques. Frankly, I wouldn't be surprised if he's grown bored of it all

If it's true that everyone who has a spell of bad form or a couple of sub standard games has lost his passion for football, that means we are facing an alarming psycho-social crisis and should immediately start to fly over training grounds all over the world with helicopters spraying anti-depressants.

It's probably BS but he has won it all on club level, grown up and played for the same team for so long. So a change of scenery would be a simple fix.

Lex wrote:He's been associated with the game since he was 5 years old. I'm assuming while all the other kids were out riding bikes and eating ice cream cones, Messi was practising kick-ups and intricate techniques. Frankly, I wouldn't be surprised if he's grown bored of it all

I have to say it's a bit knee-jerk speculation at this point, but I agree, IF it were true that he can't motivate himself anymore that wouldn't be surprising at all. I'd even say it would show he's got some sort of personality after all.

Just take a break, Lionel, or retire completely if you want. Why not?
Go to the park or the beach, read a book, watch all seasons of the Sopranoes in a month without leaving your house, and have your food delivered. Pizza on even days, sushi on odd days.
Travel. Spend a couple of months in India. Go to university, get a degree in physics. Learn to play guitar, or keyboards, and form a band. There's so much to do.

Or just transfer to another club for once, as many players do, for a new experience and challenge.

I honestly as his fan, think he is just taking it easy until the world cup.
but nonthe less this is all knee-jerk speculation, this guy the assistant coach doesn't speak to messi nor has anything to do with barca except be an ex assistant coach.

time to sell to psg for 250m so barca can recoupe the nerman money.  

Messi 2014 #fcblive

Games: 8 (609 mins)
Goals: 5 (0.74 per 90 mins)
Assists: 5 (0.74 per 90 mins)
G+A: 10 (1.48 per 90 mins)
Key passes per game: 2.5
Dribbles/game: 6.1
Shots/game: 5.8
Passes/game: 55

He hasn't been lucky with his finishing, that's all.

Lord Awesome wrote:I hope it's Ligue 1 and with Monaco. Maybe Serie A. In PL I can see him at Arsenal and in Bundesliga with Bayern. Time will tell eventually.

What? Arsenal would never spend that kind of money.

Only very few clubs can afford Messi, only English teams are City and Chelsea.

Any club that wants Messi has to spend 250M+ taxes (buyout clause), 16+M salary per season and Messi's approval!

Even City and Chelsea can't afford that!

Cant blame Messi, 7-0 drubbing at the hand of Bayern will kill anyone’s passion.   

guest_07 wrote:

guest_07 wrote:the only thing that he have not done yet is winning with argentina

no wonder if he has lost his passion

sorry, he had won olympic & wc u-20

the only important cup he have not won yet are wc & copa, that's it

In short, the only two trophies that matter in international level he has not won.

Which in itself, is not a bad accomplishment.

Ya'll make it seem seem like he's never won anything relevant and all of a sudden is like man *bleep* this sport and got tired of it lol.

Especially with the World Cup this summer.....yea ok.