Questions are being raised this morning as to whether Argentine superstar Leo Messi has too much influence at FC Barcelona as he point blank refused to be subbed by manager Luis Enrique at the weekend.
Barcelona were looking at a relatively easy points after beating Eibar by 3 goals to nil and new Barça boss was seen calling out to Messi and pointing to the bench.
We all know Messi’s great desire to play football and Luis Enrique looked frustrated as one of his main stars refused to leave the field, making ‘Lucho’ look like a plum with youngster Munir at his side waiting to come on.
As Messi didn’t budge at all, Luis Enrique had to take off Brazilian superstar Neymar instead for the last quarter of an hour. Barça strolled to victory of the Basque team and held on for a 3 nil win.
After the match Luis Enrique was confronted by the press about the incident and the manager said: “I trust what Messi tells me.”
This brings us to the great debate about his excessive influence at FC Barcelona. Should a player of his stature ever be substituted, even though he wants to play on? There’s the Clasico and a Champions League match against Ajax and maybe luis Enrique was being cautious with his star player by wanting to rest him. Does Messi have the right to say if he comes off or not?
Some players have great difficulty being subbed and Messi is one of them. Can you imagine any player doing that to Sir Alex Ferguson? I don’t think so.
Watch Messi refusing to come off the pitch
This is not an issue. If Luis Enrique has an issue with the fact that Messi refuses to be subbed, trust me he will deal with it. Sir Alex never had a player in the Mold of Messi in his dressing room so there is no basis for that comparison. Even Ronaldo was in his formative years while at Man United, Ancellotti will not sub Ronaldo except when he is injured. This should not be blown out of proportion, let the coach sort out his team and players.