Former Real Madrid director of football Jorge Valdano believes Lionel Messi has lost something from his game this season.
The Argentine told Radio Marca that his countryman has lost the ability to throw opponents off balance and questioned his new position in the Barcelona team.
“He has lost the capability to unbalanceopponentsin the final few metres, whichhas won so many games for Barcelona,” remarked Valdano, who is surprised Messi has been forced to play further away from the opposition goal by boss Luis Enrique.
“Very rarely in football do you see a 27-year-old change position from one season to the next.
“This is particularly true when you take into account that Messi has a tremendous presence at Barca, not only as a player but alsoas a goalscorer.
“In the Brazil World Cup we saw something was wrong with him as he was just walking around the pitch.
“He was not at his best physically and maybe that’s the reason he is playing further back so he doesn’t tire himself as much.”
