Picture Source :- Bleacher Report
It has been around a decade now that Leo Messi has been in first team football. Since his debut till now, he has evolved into a completely different player. His gameplay and team role isn't the same as it was when he stepped onto the pitch as a young lad with long hairs. His game has seen tremendous changes and therefore I would like to discuss them. He was introduced into the first team by the Rijkaard. Back then he was integrated into the team as a right winger. Since his academy days, as Alex Garcia, one of Leo's youth coaches said "He didn't like staying on the wing!" He played Leo at different positions in youth teams but Leo would end up drifting inside. It was like a natural instinct of him to drive into the centre of the pitch. He brought this instinct with him in first team too. He would cut inside, take on all defenders. In early stages of his career he would do that often! This idea was made most productive by Pep. Initially he also used Messi as a Right winger. The addition of Alves played a crucial part in making this instinct more problematic for opposition. Not only Messi-Alves struck a strong chemistry between themselves but opened a variety of options in attack. Leo when cutting inside had many options. Alves making run on right wing made it difficult for opposition LB. Messi can either drag LB and CB towards him while laying off a pass for Alves to cross. Or he could take a shot and have a go at the goal. Plus this also opened up opportunity for more throughballs to the left winger. Would like to mention that players when cut inside are very difficult to stop. Defenders either have to be very precise or they will make a foul or get torn apart. Also the change of speed makes it difficult to follow run of player cutting inside. Then came the famous FALSE-NINE transformation under Pep. We all are well aware of the Bernabeu scene that took place when Pep made a last ditch tactical change to bring Messi in the middle just behind the strikers. False Nine has always been a big trap for opposition CBs. Messi made it look unbeatable. With use of his dribbling prowess, Messi would fall deeper. This would attract either of the CB to fall deep with him. This created a sense of confusion for opponents. Dropping together with him made sure that Strikers get enough space and Xavi-Iniesta can do the job or simply, Messi would take all them defenders on to score a solo goal. He operated as a false nine till 2014. Contrary to general perception that Messi was the Centre-Forward, Messi played a lot deep. Yet he managed to score record breaking goals every season. Such instances include his 50 goals in a season in Liga 2011-12 and 91 goals in the years 2012. Pep brought this idea and used it. Tito continued in the same direction. A huge turn occurred with the Arrival of Luis Suarez, who was out and out a Centre-Forward and pure goalscorer. Also the team was declining with regards to creativity. Lucho has to make a decision here. With three big players in frontline, he had to adjust roles. For first one and a half year his idea worked brilliantly. He with Leo's consent shifted him back to right wing to give Suarez a comfortable position and to utilize Leo's eagle eye vision. It was a huge change. Messi was now relieved from goalscoring burdens and now he can focus on creating goals and starting attacking plays. Diagonal balls, through-balls and counter-attacking plays became a routine in his gaming arsenal. He made a total of around 23 assists in 2014-15 season. But as of this season, it is has been a new story for Leo Messi. The departures of Xavi and Alves on the right side have isolated Messi a lot. I can see it through games now. He spends more time again in the middle, and more deeper than ever. It is obvious that with no support on right wing, he doesnt wants to get himself sidelined from the game. His nature tells him to be part of the game and always be involved on the pitch with the ball. His general position this season has again been just a little behind Suarez. This has been the tactical side of Leo Messi in past ten years. He started off as a young fiery dribbler, to a clinical goalscorer to being a playmaker to being a complete package now. Once he was just a youngster with no real pressure to feel and to play his own way. Now he is second most senior player, starts majority of games as captain of the team, knowing that collective objectives have more meaning and that individual accolades are just a bonus for the hardwork done. Hopefully we are yet to see much better side of him!
