Scholes blasts bored Messi and Bracelona after watching them live

Thegoalmac can reveal that former Manchester United ace Paul Scholes believes that Barcelona are a "ghost" of the side they were, claiming that Lionel Messi and his team-mates are suffering from "boredom", after watching them live at the weekend against Valencia at the Mestalla, with Busquets scoring the last minute goal to win it for Barca.

Hehe, I think he surely has a point about this current Barca side, I have always doubted Enrique's ability to turn things around at Barca completely, as he continues to fail in big matches. Valencia was another big game to prove his mettle that he can actually do big things with Barca and he failed again, not withstanding the win which I consider as luck.

His last chance before the end of the year is against PSG next week in the champions league. We will wait and see. Read what Scholes said after the cut and tell us what you think about this current Barca side.


 "For much of the game I felt they were a ghost of the side they had once been," the former England international wrote in The Independent.

"They still pass the ball relentlessly, but that old drive and tempo are not nearly as urgent. The breathtaking speed and penetration have gone...

"When I try to find a way of summarising the attitude of the team, and of some longer-serving individuals, I keep alighting on the word "bored".

"It is not meant to sound flippant, but it just seems the most accurate way to describe the way the team seem to treat the style of football that once made them the best side on the planet...

"As for Messi, his achievements put him in a different category to the rest of us who played the game. But even so, in him, as much as anyone, I detected that mood of boredom.

"He has never been a player given to chasing the full-back when his team lose the ball, but now, more than ever, he keeps his movement to an absolute minimum."

Scholes added that he doubts whether Luis Enrique will be able to get Messi and his team-mates back playing at their brilliant best.

"For a young manager like him, it will be hard to change the way Messi, and the rest of the stars in this team, play the game," he argued.

"They have won it all. They have conquered the world. Now Enrique has to find a way of persuading them to do it all over again, on his terms.

"You could see him on the touchline trying, and largely failing, to get them to play with greater urgency."

Scholes was a part of the Manchester United sides beaten by Guardiola's all-conquering Barcelona in the 2009 and 2011 Champions League finals.