Idk who asked for the statistic but I recall that someone did and here it is: He ran 8.62km tonight (lower than every outfield starter aside from CB's and Rakitic who was subbed) but he was a lot more involved than what that stat suggests with 127 touches (tied with Masch for 2nd most touches only behind Alves).
This goes to show that the distance covered stat isn't too important unless it's dipping dangerously low (Pinto zones). Messi having more touches, involvement, and responsibility with less exertion is spectacular IMO.
Yeah, that was me over in another thread. Where'd you get the stat? I'd like to see it compared to his distance in other games, as he is almost always the lowest outfield starter. I think he is usually around 8 km or lower. The point being, as you have also expressed, more touches for Messi is what's needed for much better results.
So part of that might be a bit more exertion than usual. But, looking at the heat map for this game (compared to other games), a few things stand out:
1. He spent much more time towards the right wing. This obviously puts him closer to other players than when he walks up front, so he sees more touches there.
2. His game is much more vertical, rather than flat, when he is center. Messi is at his best running at players.
So his right side positioning means both that he sees more touches and has more opportunities to run at defenders (with Suarez keeping the centerbacks from coming out). It also has the MASSIVE benefit of keeping Alves from crossing as much
, as there is nothing Alves loves better than to play 1-2s with Messi.
