Messi has never had worse teammates

It's normal that we're seeing the most mediocre Lionel Messi since he made his Barcelona debut. We have never seen him like this and this season we're talking about if he is in decline. It's evident that age is a handicap but Leo is the same age as Benzema or Lewandowski and is younger than Suarez and Ronaldo, to name a few. Leo's problem is not Messi. It's the players around him. And that mediocrity ends up affecting his game and his performances, whether that's penalties or free-kicks, which no longer even hit the target. 

You despair when you see him run 40 yards and then Braithwaite ends up losing the ball on the counter-attack or when Trincao passes him the ball when he has three defenders on him. Messi raises his hands in complaint. He must have given up on Griezmann and Coutinho now. He just looks at the floor and stays quiet at their predictable mistakes. With the injuries ot Ansu and Dembele, Messi has never had worse teammates than now. He's been left more alone than ever. Messi misses them. 

Ronald Koeman doesn't have great alternatives on the bench, either. Only Konrad, an out and out winger, could add something different to players like Griezmann and Coutinho. Contemplating the possibility of giving the American a chance is something Koeman must think about because it's clear that Messi's current teammates aren't going anywhere fast. 

There's also a lack of coordination in attack. And that is down to the manager. It's not normal that Messi ends up linking with Mingueza in and around the area, a clear sign of the lack of orientation in the team. Koeman does have to carry the can there. As he does for his changes which end up breaking the team game after game.