10 - Lionel Messi - v1

[Hatem Ben Arfa]

I disagree it was quite clear from Pep that he had lost some pace. Especially when he said 'It will come back'.

 

[exneo]

I disagree it was quite clear from Pep that he had lost some pace. Especially when he said 'It will come back'.

I remember watching the press conference. It was either in Spanish or Catalan, and being a native Spanish speaker I remember the message that came across being as how if Messi looked slow to the reporters than it is a temporary thing. Pace is not something that really comes and goes. Once it is lost, it is gone. Messi never lost it--there were a few games where he didn' have the space to use his pace. If anything, arguendo, you can agree that Messi had a few games during the season where his pace was "gone" (due to lack of space, etc.) , but has since been back for every game. I don't think your assessment that Messi has lost speed by quoting Pep has any merit. Messi has not lost speed as anyone who watches his games regularly will attest. (In fact, I predict that if you were to time 10 long distance runs by Messi this season, and compare those to runs a couple of seasons ago, you will see Messi has a slightly higher top speed due to a better running body mechanics that I have observed in his runs off the ball.)

 

[La LL]

I remember watching the press conference. It was either in Spanish or Catalan, and being a native Spanish speaker I remember the message that came across being as how if Messi looked slow to the reporters than it is a temporary thing. Pace is not something that really comes and goes. Once it is lost, it is gone. Messi never lost it--there were a few games where he didn' have the space to use his pace. If anything, arguendo, you can agree that Messi had a few games during the season where his pace was "gone" (due to lack of space, etc.) , but has since been back for every game. I don't think your assessment that Messi has lost speed by quoting Pep has any merit. Messi has not lost speed as anyone who watches his games regularly will attest. (In fact, I predict that if you were to time 10 long distance runs by Messi this season, and compare those to runs a couple of seasons ago, you will see Messi has a slightly higher top speed due to a better running body mechanics that I have observed in his runs off the ball.)

Golden post.

 

[Hatem Ben Arfa]

I remember watching the press conference. It was either in Spanish or Catalan, and being a native Spanish speaker I remember the message that came across being as how if Messi looked slow to the reporters than it is a temporary thing. Pace is not something that really comes and goes. Once it is lost, it is gone. Messi never lost it--there were a few games where he didn' have the space to use his pace. If anything, arguendo, you can agree that Messi had a few games during the season where his pace was "gone" (due to lack of space, etc.) , but has since been back for every game. I don't think your assessment that Messi has lost speed by quoting Pep has any merit. Messi has not lost speed as anyone who watches his games regularly will attest. (In fact, I predict that if you were to time 10 long distance runs by Messi this season, and compare those to runs a couple of seasons ago, you will see Messi has a slightly higher top speed due to a better running body mechanics that I have observed in his runs off the ball.)

everyone noticed his explosiveness and pace was slower otherwise they would have never brought it up with Pep. had nothing to do with their being no space IMHO.

He was just tired.

After a rest, against Bayer Leverkusen it was clearly back.

 

[exneo]

everyone noticed his explosiveness and pace was slower Not true, he maybe could not display it but that does not make you slower. Here's a question for you: If I go to the gym right now and lift 80% of of my normal working set weights, does that by your logic mean I have lost strength? otherwise they would have never brought it up with Pep. Reporters will bring any stupid topics to a press conference had nothing to do with their being no space IMHO. I respect your right to an opinion, but my analysis of the matches gave me a vastly different conclusion as to whether this athlete had lost pace (alias, losing speed potential)

He was just tired.

After a rest, against Bayer Leverkusen it was clearly back.

So you think pace is something that a professional athlete can lose for a limited number of games and then recover it? Or how about this instead: it was never lost, he just didn't have as many high speed open space runs as in other games.

 

[jayzsa]

Of course you can be slower for a limited time due to overworking of the muscles, still Messi is not as explosive as he was when he was younger.
This is not criticism as he is today the far better player overall, but anyone with the ability to objectively judge his performances can see that.

I still think this is due to him bulking up, especially his upper body. He definitively did some weight training

 

[soxrtdc]

I was at the game today and he was absolutely amazing. Even walking to the parking lot everyone was chanting 'messi' 'messi'. I'm glad I finally got to see him play live, what a thrill.

 

[Papabeef]

Physically Messi is slightly taller, slightly more buff then a few seasons ago... but lets be clear about one thing, Loosing "pace" at age 24, 25 is somewhat very unlikely, unless if a person who used to be fit, stops exercising or has a worse diet etc.. (which is certainly not the case here)

From the focal point of view, its easy to see that he outruns (with the ball ) pretty much everyone when given the chance, in my opinion this season the bigger change of attitude on the pitch with Barca was him taking more "lazy looking" strolls when he doesnt have the ball, sometimes getting caught offside because of not running fast to position or so, things of this sort, which felt more like strategy to reserve energy for the right moment to explode.

I would expect that Messi's attempted dribbles per minute on the pitch in La Liga has gone down, as when he was younger he was a bit more risk taking and almost not worried about getting injured (until it started to happen), also putting in mind his role was more of Shadow striker, now he tends to add Playmaking which means he explode-runs less frequent and instead checks other players positions first for a possible key pass.

In short, i disagree about "loss of pace" but believe in different format of runs, dribbles.

 

[barcelonista]

Messi scores hattrick against Brazil => barcaforum discusses Messi's loss of pace.

What a forum.

 

[Ender]

Messi scores hattrick against Brazil => barcaforum discusses Messi's loss of pace.

What a forum.

I think it's less of a discussion and more of one man arguing with the rest of the forum (and logic).

I'm just glad Leo can now get some rest and spend time with his family and the mother of his child.

... What if Antonella gave birth to twin boys unexpectedly?

 

[Diogo28]

Then Ronaldo Junior would be the 3rd best in the world

 

[exneo]

Physically Messi is slightly taller, slightly more buff then a few seasons ago... but lets be clear about one thing, Loosing "pace" at age 24, 25 is somewhat very unlikely, unless if a person who used to be fit, stops exercising or has a worse diet etc.. (which is certainly not the case here)

From the focal point of view, its easy to see that he outruns (with the ball ) pretty much everyone when given the chance, in my opinion this season the bigger change of attitude on the pitch with Barca was him taking more "lazy looking" strolls when he doesnt have the ball, sometimes getting caught offside because of not running fast to position or so, things of this sort, which felt more like strategy to reserve energy for the right moment to explode.

I would expect that Messi's attempted dribbles per minute on the pitch in La Liga has gone down, as when he was younger he was a bit more risk taking and almost not worried about getting injured (until it started to happen), also putting in mind his role was more of Shadow striker, now he tends to add Playmaking which means he explode-runs less frequent and instead checks other players positions first for a possible key pass Which in turns makes the team play better and creates more goal scoring opportunities for everyone. Passing the ball actually creates space for himself because the other team has to shift to cover the new ball location.

In short, i disagree about "loss of pace" but believe in different format of runs, dribbles. THIS

Great post. See bold text above.

 

[La Furia]

Then Ronaldo Junior would be the 3rd best in the world

Where does Neymar Junior Junior fit into this?

 

[Diogo28]

Where does Neymar Junior Junior fit into this?

Neymar will be like Pele and Maradona, a lot of kids but almost none legit/known

 

[jayzsa]

Physically Messi is slightly taller, slightly more buff then a few seasons ago... but lets be clear about one thing, Loosing "pace" at age 24, 25 is somewhat very unlikely, unless if a person who used to be fit, stops exercising or has a worse diet etc.. (which is certainly not the case here)

From the focal point of view, its easy to see that he outruns (with the ball ) pretty much everyone when given the chance, in my opinion this season the bigger change of attitude on the pitch with Barca was him taking more "lazy looking" strolls when he doesnt have the ball, sometimes getting caught offside because of not running fast to position or so, things of this sort, which felt more like strategy to reserve energy for the right moment to explode.

I would expect that Messi's attempted dribbles per minute on the pitch in La Liga has gone down, as when he was younger he was a bit more risk taking and almost not worried about getting injured (until it started to happen), also putting in mind his role was more of Shadow striker, now he tends to add Playmaking which means he explode-runs less frequent and instead checks other players positions first for a possible key pass.

In short, i disagree about "loss of pace" but believe in different format of runs, dribbles.

You agree that he is slightly buff and taller , yet you disagree that he has lost any of his explosiveness, which means that he actually has to have increased his explosive ability. I just dont think thats the case at all.

If a am a person who is very fast and explosive and suddenly decide to hit the gym and do alot of upper body weight exercises , i will gain weight and loose some of my flexibility, thus i will be less explosive. I think that is what happened to him.


And to everyone else who thinks this is a personal attack of Messi, it is not, it is just an observation how his game has changed over the last years.

Todays Messi is better than ever , far better than when he was younger, but also not as explosive