In Argentina we have a saying that goes “the ball ALWAYS to the 10” (in this case the 10 is the 30 but he is the 10 anyways). And the psg players really don’t get it uh. Except for like kylian (who said the same thing the other day) paredes and di maria they really don’t pass to Messi when he is free idk if it’s an ego thing or what. And poch’s tactics are terrible so it’s his fault for the most part always but Messi absolutely needs to be involved in the play making and in contact with the game. All the best plays come from him always. When they get this the team will play better and Messi will thrive. He will most likely end the season with the most assists. He’s not “under performing” bc of his physical state because with the NT he’s playing perfectly and better than ever it’s so frustrating
Everyone is underperforming right now. Tactically this team is fucked and Pochettino is nowhere. But it's not fair to blame the team for not passing to Messi as much either. He doesn't defend and he leaves a lot of room in the midfield that leaves us vulnerable to counters. Love the guy but this isn't Barca. Our team doesn't revolve around him. If he wants the ball he isn't going to get it by everyone passing to him. He has to move, a lot. And work a lot harder for anyone to choose to pass to him instead of booting it to Kylian and pray for miracles. The only player outside of Neymar who automatically receives the ball (and unlike Neymar is 99% more available) is Mbappe. Like it or not, this is his team for as long as he's here. The players trust him and they seek him out because they rely on him and due to Poch not having a single clue how to play with Messi, the team doesn't evolve to include him into their playstyle either. Which leaves us with this mess.
I think people need to realize though. The ball always to the 10 generally means the ball always to the 7 here. It's Mbappe and Neymar and Verratti that the players have learned how to play with. It's them that they trust to make it happen. It's the game play we've had since Tuchel and it's the one we have now and honestly I don't see anything wrong with that. Again, we're not Barca. Messi will have to adapt, not the other way around. It sounds harsh I know. But it's logical. The entire squad won't start playing differently just because he's here. Especially since we're struggling in the midfield due to lacking any good midfield and Messi not tracking back (which to be fair to him he doesn't have to since he's so good) but him not tracking back makes us vulnerable and overly reliant on Mbappe who does and the players are used to him cutting through the other team with his speed which helps a lot since we always play against teams that sit back and defend with 9 players etc.
If Poch can't figure out how to play with this team to their full potential though (which he obviously can't) he needs to go. Like right now. He can't do the job and the team is suffering because of it.