Can anyone imagine a Barcelona where Lionel Messi not live with their colleagues?
It is certainly a most supporters thought of the Blaugrana not want to live for long. However, that day will come sooner than you think.
Nearly nine years have passed since he made his debut with the first team , replacing Deco in a match against Espanyol on October 16, 2004 .
Messi would take another nine years to 35 years. Considering the abuse that leads week after week on the football field , you could be forgiven for thinking that is unlikely to continue playing at the highest level at that time.
The genius who have enjoyed what appears to be the shortest time will soon become part of football folklore , a fleeting flirtation on the way to greatness , joining the likes of Pele, Beckenbauer , Cruyff , Platini and Maradona.
Today, Lionel Messi is Barcelona . His influence is felt throughout the club , not only on the pitch. He is the best player in the distance and the highest-profile ambassador , and the club will do well to use it more sparingly .
Already this season we have seen a more pragmatic point of view adopted in Argentina by the new director Gerardo Martino , and you have to wonder why no one else has identified the need of it before now.
The current burden of carrying this team is a burden that eventually take its toll. Maybe we're starting to see the first symptoms, given the recent failure of Messi to complete the 90 minutes ( Dermot Corrigan , ESPN ) .
So how does the club meet the inevitable? What is the impact of the Boat "Messi - less" ?
Over recent years, their absence from the side has been little difference in the results wise .
According FCBarcelona.com , in the 14 games that Messi was lost between 2010-2013 , the club remained undefeated , winning 13 and drawing just one.
However, there is a glaring omission from that list - that propaganda machine club president Sandro Rosell has conveniently forgot to mention since.
Bayern Munich ran over the Catalans to two Champions League games leaguefootball , with Messi missing the second leg. This was a more realistic and more accurate in the future.
The League , in general, is not providing the club with something like proof needed continuously, in order to measure to what extent can progresssans Messi.
For example , a couple of weeks , despite their best efforts on a very close match , Malaga were no match for their illustrious rivals .
It is in the Classics , or the latter stages of the Champions League, which will surely feel the absence of Messi with more intensity in the future.
That's where the lack of genuine creativity and your incredible ability to the sublime , ridiculous or downright gorgeous is writ large in the psyche of all Barça fans .
Despite this , there is no real need for pessimism. Barcelona has a lot to expect. Its evolution in recent years has been consistently make a reasonable adjustment or the eventual sale of their talismans .
Aside from the occasional foray into the transfer market for a signature style " galactic " ( Ronaldinho / Neymar ) The production line continues to produce super Masia homegrown talent with alarming regularity .
The two Sergis - Roberto and Samper - Alejandro Grimaldo , Gerard Deulofeu and Jean - Marie Dongou are just a few stars of the future. There are other groups in the slightly younger age .
Dongou now is training with the first team , and already in 2011 Sky Sports' Graham Hunter said he thought totalBarca Cameroon was the best 16 year old girl he had seen in his life :
I saw Messi at sixteen , but Dongou of Cameroon is the best soccer player in the sixteen years that I have seen in my life .
Dongou , Mike Tyson small and powerful, is arguably the most impressive player I've seen at his age. When I witnessed Messi at the same stage of development, it later emerged that was a little bit sulky at being forced to play on the wing in the game I went to see and , therefore , I was impressed .
But after seeing Dongou for several months - both 15 and 16 years old - I have to warn a couple of generations of rights that should begin to have nightmares now just to be implemented.
The Cameroon -born striker has the low center of gravity made Romario so hard to contain , the ability to calculate an acute angle proportions billiards champion, and an explosive eruption rhythm reminiscent of a cobra head lunging forward to attack .
It is arguable that any player will never have the same impact it has had Messi in football itself, to say nothing of FC Barcelona.
Someone who can score 92 goals in a calendar year , mark in 21 straight games, won four consecutive Ballon d' Ors and offer something close to a man contribution - the - game every time he steps on the pitch is clearly a time -in - a- lifetime talent.
However, the football cliché oft -used "no one is bigger than the club" still rings true .
Perhaps the club should really concern themselves with a perceived lack of a "Plan B " in the meantime. His over-reliance on the player in the short and medium term needs to be addressed .
Football will be the poorer when Messi hangs up his boots , but Barcelona can get rich if they execute their plans properly.
It is certainly a most supporters thought of the Blaugrana not want to live for long. However, that day will come sooner than you think.
Nearly nine years have passed since he made his debut with the first team , replacing Deco in a match against Espanyol on October 16, 2004 .
Messi would take another nine years to 35 years. Considering the abuse that leads week after week on the football field , you could be forgiven for thinking that is unlikely to continue playing at the highest level at that time.
The genius who have enjoyed what appears to be the shortest time will soon become part of football folklore , a fleeting flirtation on the way to greatness , joining the likes of Pele, Beckenbauer , Cruyff , Platini and Maradona.
Today, Lionel Messi is Barcelona . His influence is felt throughout the club , not only on the pitch. He is the best player in the distance and the highest-profile ambassador , and the club will do well to use it more sparingly .
Already this season we have seen a more pragmatic point of view adopted in Argentina by the new director Gerardo Martino , and you have to wonder why no one else has identified the need of it before now.
The current burden of carrying this team is a burden that eventually take its toll. Maybe we're starting to see the first symptoms, given the recent failure of Messi to complete the 90 minutes ( Dermot Corrigan , ESPN ) .
Over recent years, their absence from the side has been little difference in the results wise .
According FCBarcelona.com , in the 14 games that Messi was lost between 2010-2013 , the club remained undefeated , winning 13 and drawing just one.
However, there is a glaring omission from that list - that propaganda machine club president Sandro Rosell has conveniently forgot to mention since.
Bayern Munich ran over the Catalans to two Champions League games leaguefootball , with Messi missing the second leg. This was a more realistic and more accurate in the future.
The League , in general, is not providing the club with something like proof needed continuously, in order to measure to what extent can progresssans Messi.
For example , a couple of weeks , despite their best efforts on a very close match , Malaga were no match for their illustrious rivals .
It is in the Classics , or the latter stages of the Champions League, which will surely feel the absence of Messi with more intensity in the future.
That's where the lack of genuine creativity and your incredible ability to the sublime , ridiculous or downright gorgeous is writ large in the psyche of all Barça fans .
Despite this , there is no real need for pessimism. Barcelona has a lot to expect. Its evolution in recent years has been consistently make a reasonable adjustment or the eventual sale of their talismans .
Aside from the occasional foray into the transfer market for a signature style " galactic " ( Ronaldinho / Neymar ) The production line continues to produce super Masia homegrown talent with alarming regularity .
The two Sergis - Roberto and Samper - Alejandro Grimaldo , Gerard Deulofeu and Jean - Marie Dongou are just a few stars of the future. There are other groups in the slightly younger age .
Dongou now is training with the first team , and already in 2011 Sky Sports' Graham Hunter said he thought totalBarca Cameroon was the best 16 year old girl he had seen in his life :
I saw Messi at sixteen , but Dongou of Cameroon is the best soccer player in the sixteen years that I have seen in my life .
Dongou , Mike Tyson small and powerful, is arguably the most impressive player I've seen at his age. When I witnessed Messi at the same stage of development, it later emerged that was a little bit sulky at being forced to play on the wing in the game I went to see and , therefore , I was impressed .
But after seeing Dongou for several months - both 15 and 16 years old - I have to warn a couple of generations of rights that should begin to have nightmares now just to be implemented.
The Cameroon -born striker has the low center of gravity made Romario so hard to contain , the ability to calculate an acute angle proportions billiards champion, and an explosive eruption rhythm reminiscent of a cobra head lunging forward to attack .
It is arguable that any player will never have the same impact it has had Messi in football itself, to say nothing of FC Barcelona.
Someone who can score 92 goals in a calendar year , mark in 21 straight games, won four consecutive Ballon d' Ors and offer something close to a man contribution - the - game every time he steps on the pitch is clearly a time -in - a- lifetime talent.
However, the football cliché oft -used "no one is bigger than the club" still rings true .
Perhaps the club should really concern themselves with a perceived lack of a "Plan B " in the meantime. His over-reliance on the player in the short and medium term needs to be addressed .
Football will be the poorer when Messi hangs up his boots , but Barcelona can get rich if they execute their plans properly.
