10 - Lionel Messi - v2

[Jadentheman]

No need either. Let Neymar be his pace.

 

[CatalinR10]

 

[CatalinR10]

 

[Garrus]

You can't ask someone to start pressuring the opponents and still play him 60 matches a season, By logic he should get used to getting subbed off.

 

[abual3bed1]

MD: Last time Leo Messi was subbed off for non-injury reason was in January 2011 copa game against Betis (5-0), LEo was subbed off in the 86th minute for Jefferen.

Tata is showing who's the boss here.

 

[Jaguar]

This one left me speechless. It's like each time he plays, he comes up with something more brilliant than before. He just keeps on surprising, it never gets boring.

He really is brilliant at getting the ball back when he tries, the gif reminded me off him against Malaga last year where he stole the ball of Weligton (I believe) and made him look pretty weak too (a good example of his strength as well). Guardiola was right in saying he could play as a defender

 

[suckabov]

Guardiola was right in saying he could play as a defender

Exactly what I thought after seeing that.

 

[DonAndres]

the gif reminded me off him against Malaga last year where he stole the ball of Weligton (I believe) and made him look pretty weak too (a good example of his strength as well)

 

[rafals]

He really is brilliant at getting the ball back when he tries, the gif reminded me off him against Malaga last year where he stole the ball of Weligton (I believe) and made him look pretty weak too (a good example of his strength as well). Guardiola was right in saying he could play as a defender

The same thing happened last season against Atletico, although it was his cleverness, not strength, that made a difference. Hopefully he keeps doing that more now that he is told to press heavily. Can't say I'm not impressed by Tata so far.

 

[te amo barca]

Aguero who?

 

[ryuken]

Messiah at it again, damn 2 goals, 2 assists

 

[Kerrybai]

You can't ask someone to start pressuring the opponents and still play him 60 matches a season, By logic he should get used to getting subbed off.

Messi, the team and management are should be smart enough to prioritise their pressing game, for example with a comfortable lead they can sit back and relax, as they did in the 2nd half.

 

[Alik]

What a performance, dribbling, pressing, passing, scoring, everything was there. The steal at the corner that resulted to 4th goal was the play of the game.

Yup, I agree. Got to love his pressing.

His through balls were very good too.

 

[FiReFTW]

I totally agree, he doesn't seem to have the pace he had when he had long hair. ( Which I mean when he played RW at the age of 19/20/21/22 )
Back then he was lightning quick! He still has pace, but not the pace he used to have. But he is now definitely a better player

He didn't lose his pace he is just doing things more slowly and more toughtfully and smarter instead of rushing all the time like he used too. You can't lose pace at 26 for no reason and certainly you can't lose pace by adding muscle mass, look at 100m sprinters. Agility certainly, but not pace. Also Messi never had amazing pace to be honest, he is fairly fast but nothing special, the biggest thing with his speed is that he can dribble near his top speed with great control, something nobody else can.

 

[Catorce]

He didn't lose his pace he is just doing things more slowly and more toughtfully and smarter instead of rushing all the time like he used too. You can't lose pace at 26 for no reason and certainly you can't lose pace by adding muscle mass, look at 100m sprinters. Agility certainly, but not pace. Also Messi never had amazing pace to be honest, he is fairly fast but nothing special, the biggest thing with his speed is that he can dribble near his top speed with great control, something nobody else can.

That last thing is indeed key to his play. Also, he doesn't have the greatest top speed but his acceleration is top notch. There are way faster sprinters out there, but there are few who compare with Messi when it comes to acceleration on the first 10 meters.