Ex-Barca coach says Messi is 'muddled in the head'

“Messi has to overcome the sadness of poor performances and rediscover the joy, pride and passion it takes to play at a club like Barcelona,” AS reports Menotti as saying.“I’ve seen more mental fatigue than physical. It’s normal when there are a lot of games and he has many obligations.“Maybe a couple of days rest would help him recompose his head and be the best in the world again.”It was suggested that Messi was already thinking of the World Cup, but Menotti rejected that as a cause of the forward’s malaise.“I don’t think he is already thinking of Brazil. I think there is some disorder in his head, that his head is muddled,” Menotti added.“It’s happened to the best players in the world but I have great confidence in Messi and feel that he will have a great Cup final and rebuild himself.“Messi is always very open-handed. I don’t think it has anything to do with the World Cup.“It happens to us all. There are days when things don’t go as we want. He should be helped to get back to his best.”The question of Barca as a whole was raised after La Blaugrana lost to Granada and fell to third in the League table.Menotti pointed at a lack of cohesion in the team as the reason for their mixed results, believing Barca rely too heavily on moments of individual magic.“What the club needs is to regain its status and the quality of its play,” Menotti argued.“[The Copa del Rey final] is a good opportunity to do so against the eternal rival.“Barca are going through a difficult time. The worst is that the team has lost its order and has a huge dependence on the adventure of Neymar, Messi and Andres Iniesta.“Hopefully it’s down to circumstances. I’m still confident against Real Madrid that there are ideas to strengthen the collective and make the most of the great players Barca have.”(uk.eurosport.yahoo.com)ANN.Az