At this point, Messi was being asked to do virtually everything in attack, and somehow he did, even making that look effortless most weekends, scoring and assisting at will.Ī shock departure to PSG eventually exposed Messi as human as he initially struggled to adapt to his first new home in over 20 years, his confidence infront of goal suddenly down, rather than being the builder of every attack, he was suddenly being overlooked in the build-up. This allowed Messi to transition into a complete forward, which would help enormously as the foundations around Messi at Barcelona began to crumble both on and off the pitch. Under Luis Enrique he drifted back out to a wider role to accommodate Luis Suarez, but in a much freer role than he’d had under Rijkaard which allowed him to drop deeper or move central whenever he wanted. Next Messi became a False 9 under Pep Guardiola, where he successfully converted into an end product machine. In order to find a place in Frank Rijkaard’s first team, he had to adapt to an unfamiliar left wing position, due to his preferred positions being occupied by team stars Ronaldinho and Deco. After leaving his native Argentina for Catalonia aged 13 in order to go on receiving the growth hormone treatment he needed to achieve his dream of becoming a professional footballer, Lionel Andres Messi began life in Barcelona youth teams in his preferred number 10 role, also occasionally occupying the right wing.
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