Depth: The change of Messi Barcelona's career tactics.

Speaking of the world football in the past 10 years, Messi is definitely a name that cannot be ignored. I'm afraid it will take a whole article to list all the awards it won. For the old fans who have been paying attention to Messi for many years, although the Argentine superstar still maintains an excellent competitive state, the way he plays football on the court can be completely different from that when he first appeared in the first team of Barcelona in 2003. However, this change in the way of playing football has definitely had a positive impact on Messi. It is precisely because of the reasonable changes in personal technical characteristics that Messi has been able to remain in the top ranks of the world for more than 10 years.

In order to give you a deeper understanding of the changes of Messi's playing style in Barcelona since 2003, the author will make a detailed analysis for you from the staffing of the Rossoneri in various periods and Messi's personal data.

In 2000, Messi, who was only 13 years old at that time, was attracted by coach kuka and joined Barcelona. Considering that Messi was short at that time, but his skills were more flexible, the coaches of Barcelona youth team also formally established his winger position on the court. However, what needs to be emphasized here is that Messi at this time is more in the left wing position than in the right wing position where he will become famous in the future.

Messi's superb dribbling skills and excellent instantaneous explosive power made the defenders facing him very headache during their stay in Ramasia Youth Training Camp and Barcelona B team. But at this time, Messi has not yet formed an excellent sense of cooperation similar to today's generals. The characteristics of his game on the court are more inclined to shoot inside or force the bottom through his own ability. In the 2004-2005 season, Messi firmly occupied the starting position of Barcelona B team through his excellent dribbling ability, but as we said earlier, Messi still lacked the ability to form a small-scale cooperation with others. He helped the team play 17 games that season and scored 6 goals.

June 5438+October 2004 10, frank rijkaard, then coach of Barcelona, officially promoted Messi to the first team (although Messi had been in the first team before, he only played in friendly matches). After entering the first team, Messi really realized his weakness in physical confrontation, and often defeated the opponent with simple and clear physical confrontation without showing his dexterous breakthrough ability. In this context, Messi pays more attention to strengthening his muscle quality and comprehensive strength, so as to ensure his body balance and dribble more under his feet.

From the position on the field, it is naturally difficult for a rookie like Messi to get enough playing opportunities in this position, because Barcelona of the Rossoneri is sitting on the left wing with the incomparable Brazilian superstar Ronaldinho. In order to give the teenager more experience time, Barcelona coach Rijkaard began to try to move Messi's position on the court to the right. At the beginning of the coaching change, Messi, who was only 17 years old at that time, seemed to be at a loss. He can't pass the bottom with his left foot as before, and often has to seek more complicated cooperation with full-backs or force a volley.

Messi made his debut in La Liga on June 6th, 2004 in the Catalan Derby between Barcelona and Spaniard, becoming the youngest player to represent Barcelona in the official competition (17, 3 months and 22 days). With Ronaldinho's assistance, Messi scored the first goal against Albachet in the May 2005 1 match, becoming the youngest scorer in the history of Barcelona Club.

To discuss Messi's tactical position in Barcelona during this period, we have to mention Ronaldinho, the absolute core of the Rossoneri at that time. As one of the most dazzling stars in the world football at that time, Ronaldinho's tactical position in Barcelona is very similar to Messi today. The Brazilian star is definitely not a pure left winger, nor does he often use his personal speed to force a cross on the wing. Ronaldinho is more inclined to gradually cut into the middle after taking the ball from the left, so that he can make use of his excellent right foot technique to make a long-range attempt, or make a second forward insertion after forming a small range of cooperation with other teammates in the middle or right.

In this context, Messi, who is on the right wing, naturally has more opportunities to cooperate directly with Ronaldinho. Considering his excellent instantaneous explosive ability, Messi can choose to use his breakthrough ability to make a forced bottom pass after catching Ronaldinho's points (during this period, Messi's right foot skill has been improved to some extent), and of course, he can also cooperate with Ronaldinho to carry out some more complicated small areas after taking the ball. Messi at this time can be understood as a flexible catcher cruising around Ronaldinho. He is more inclined to get space through his running position and form a pass-through cooperation with Ronaldinho.

At the same time, considering Barcelona's luxurious offensive configuration in the frontcourt, Messi is not inclined to find shooting space for the first time after taking the ball in the frontcourt, but more hopes to help his teammates form goals in the form of assists. In his first 24 appearances, Messi scored only seven goals, far below his efficiency today.

As early as the second half of 2005, Messi gradually became the first choice for Barcelona's right-wing position with his excellent performance on the right. At this time, the front trident composed of Ronaldinho and Eto 'o was also known as one of the most powerful offensive combinations in European football at that time. However, Messi suffered a serious hamstring tear in the match against Chelsea on March 7, 2006, which directly led him to end his La Liga tour this season ahead of schedule.

It was because of this serious injury that Messi realized the importance of protecting himself on the court for the first time. At the same time, the loneliness of long-term absence from team games also made Messi form a stronger desire to fight. According to media reports, he tried to recover before the Champions League final this season. Although he failed to make the final list of Barcelona and Arsenal's Champions League finals, Messi has formed an excellent sense of physical protection so far, which is also an important reason why he rarely has serious injuries in his later career.

It should be emphasized that, due to the existence of Ronaldinho, Messi's more responsibility on the court at this time is to draw the attention of the opposing full-back through his own running. During this period, Ronaldinho's comprehensive ability on the court made Messi clear the direction he should develop. Since then, the Argentine's strong scoring ability has gradually appeared on the stage.

With the sharp increase of Messi's goals, Barcelona coach Rijkaard also promoted Messi's tactical position in the team to a certain extent. It can be found that Messi was encouraged by the head coach to take the ball on the wing for longer, and Rijkaard was even willing to let the young player move to the midfield at some time to play the role of organizing the core. Driven by Rijkaard, Messi has finally grown from a simple winger to an all-round frontcourt player with comprehensive technical characteristics. He has also won many awards, such as Argentine Player of the Year and FIFA World Best 1 1.

Although Messi gradually became a world-class star during this period, Barcelona failed to win the league championship in 2006-2007 and 2007-2008. In this context, in order to effectively improve the team's record, Barcelona invited Spanish coach Guardiola, who had no first-team coaching experience before, and a new era belonging to the Rossoneri kicked off.

Judging from the coaching ideas, Guardiola is definitely not a head coach who easily lets go of the player's fame. After coming to Barcelona, Ronaldinho and Eto 'o were cleaned one after another (of course, Ronaldinho and Eto 'o left partly because of bad relations with the top). In this way, Messi's other two partners in the front line became Henry who joined the team from Arsenal and Ibrahimovic who joined the team from Inter Milan.

Although Ibrahimovic in the center position was undoubtedly one of the best players in the world at that time, Guardiola seemed not interested in such a tall center who was more inclined to footwork, and soon he urged the Swede to be sent away. At this time, Barcelona's first team is no longer the top center like Eto 'o and Ibrahimovic. People think that Guardiola is about to completely transform Barcelona's main formation. However, what people didn't expect was that Guardiola still regarded 433 as the main formation of Barcelona, but he made an unimaginable position adjustment-Guardiola moved Messi's position to the middle and let the latter play "fake 9" (Pedro replaced Messi's right-wing position during this period).

Choosing Messi as the center also means that Barcelona almost gave up the attack mode of high-altitude ball and turned to ground conduction as the main attack mode. At the same time, Messi will not appear in the penalty area as a real standing center in the game. He will use his strong sense of position movement and midfield organization ability to wander between the opposing midfielder and defender. Messi's body position movement will inevitably force the opposing 1~2 central defender to make a certain degree of body position pressure, so that Henry and Pedro, who are in the left and right wingers, have more flank space.

Messi's strong organizational conduction ability can not only help the two left wings to insert into the space, but also increase Barcelona's control in the midfield area. Argentine stars will certainly attract the attention of the opposing team 1 ~ 2 midfield in the process of retreating to get the ball, so that Barcelona's other two top stars in this position-Harvey and Iniesta-have more room to play. It is also based on the above tactics and strategies that we can often see Messi, Harvey and Iniesta contribute all kinds of dazzling and exquisite passes in the midfield area at that time.

During this period, Messi gradually grew into one of the top football stars in the world through his excellent understanding of tactics and the help of his teammates around him. However, it needs to be emphasized here that Messi often retreats to the midfield during the game, but at that time, he was often able to score many goals through the ghostly second striker insertion and excellent shooting ability. From 2008 to 2014, he helped Barcelona score 2 12 goals and assisted 76 times, which is unique in the history of Barcelona.

Messi's impression from 2008 to 20 14 is almost synonymous with goals. He established his unique position in Barcelona with a lot of goals. At the same time, the team's tactics are increasingly centered on Argentine superstars. In this context, Barcelona's performance in every game is closely related to Messi, which may not expose too many disadvantages in the era of Argentine's all-around peak, but once Messi declines slightly because of his age, "Messi dependence" will become the biggest problem that plagues Barcelona.

Let's temporarily turn our eyes back to 20 14 years, when Messi was still at his peak. He and two other world-class players, Suarez and Neymar, formed a "MSN group" that made European football scared. During this period, Brazilian star Neymar occupied Barcelona's left wing position, while Premier League golden boot Suarez, who joined the team from Liverpool, came to the center position. Messi, who played for a long time under Guardiola, returned to his familiar right wing position.

Although Messi has returned to the right wing position, he is no longer the teenager with single technical characteristics. Through several years of growth, Messi has become a comprehensive frontcourt attacker. He can not only use his speed and dribbling skills at his feet to successfully break through the flank with one enemy and one enemy, but also swim to the middle of the road and shoot like Ronaldinho.

Of course, when we talk about Messi in this period, we can never ignore his two good partners in the front line-Suarez and Neymar. As the world's top players in the same position, Suarez and Neymar's dexterous running without the ball and super sense of cooperation with the ball make Messi participate in the attack in the frontcourt more like a duck to water.

MSN scored 122 goals in various competitions during the 20 14~20 15 season. 122 goals, right winger Messi scored 58 goals and 3 1 assists, left winger Nemar scored 39 goals 1 1 assists, and center Suarez scored 25 goals and 24 assists. Such brilliant offensive data also helped the Rossoneri win La Liga, Champions League and King's Cup.

Back to Messi, our protagonist today, with Suarez and Neymar as the world's top attacking partners, Argentines have more opportunities to play their own own own goals. The existence of Suarez prevented the other two central defenders from pulling the edge moderately in the first time and helping the full-back defend Messi. It is also in this background that Messi can use his excellent position mobility to come to the midfield or the other side, so as to form an effective situation of playing more and playing less in a short time. At the same time, although Harvey left the team on 20 15, considering the joining of a superstar like Neymar, the problem of Barcelona's declining midfield control was not exposed for the first time, and Messi can still play his unparalleled creativity in the center and frontcourt.

In addition to the subtle cooperation with Suarez and Neymar in the frontcourt, Messi and the team's two full-backs also sparked during this period. Messi can take advantage of Suarez's involvement in the opponent's back line, become the organizer behind the forward line in the game, and form an effective cooperation with the two full-backs inserted at high speed on the left and right sides in a more leisurely manner. Whether it was Alves at the beginning or Alba today, the small fast pass formed by Messi and the full-back in a local scope is one of the magic weapons of Barcelona's frontcourt attack.

Of course, Messi has already grown into the most dazzling superstar in the world football. No matter which team faces an Argentine superstar, it will appoint 1~2 people to personally limit its moving route. It is in this context that Messi pays more attention to the tempering of running position. Some fans who have been paying attention to Messi's performance in Barcelona may have found that today's Argentines don't focus on breaking the dribble at their feet after taking the ball, just like he just debuted. In some cases, he will choose to give the ball to his teammates and get the empty space to catch the ball through his own running and pulling, so as to achieve the effect of winning with one blow.

For a long time, Messi's ghostly frontcourt running was one of the nightmares of countless teams. He can break into the restricted area through the tacit cooperation with the full-back, and become the second receiver in the middle except Suarez; You can also suddenly switch to the side and become a key person who can pass and shoot. It can be said that these years of working with Suarez and Neymar in the front line are another peak of Messi's career. Together, they helped the Rossoneri win many honors.

However, with the departure of Brazilian star Neymar from the Rossoneri and the transfer of Spanish veteran Iniesta to the Japanese League, Messi played a more unique role in Barcelona's attack. In order to alleviate Messi's heavy attack pressure, Barcelona executives also urged the introduction of Dembele, Coutinho and Gleizman. However, judging from the final result, none of the three players had enough chemical reactions with Messi, among which Dembele and Coutinho were questioned by many fans because of their poor performances.

Due to the limited control over the Rossoneri midfield, Messi can no longer be regarded as a traditional right winger. He will even spend more time retreating to the midfield to help his teammates organize and guide. But as Messi grows older, he can't run tirelessly to catch the ball in 90 minutes as in the past. Once Messi can't contribute to the phenomenal performance because of his physical decline or poor state, Barcelona's frontcourt offensive end is likely to be blocked or even completely stagnant.

As we all know, with the growth of age, both the former left winger Cristiano Ronaldo and the former right winger Messi are gradually changing their positions. Although Ronaldo often appears in the left wing position in the starting lineup, he often enters the central area to grab shots on the court; On the other hand, Messi, the current Argentine superstar, has almost become the front waist of the team in some games, and at the same time he has to bear the responsibility of dribbling breakthrough. On the whole, if Barcelona wants to completely release Messi's pressure and let him find another peak in his career, it needs to strengthen the organization and guidance ability of the midfield, and gradually build the tacit cooperation among Gleizman, Dembele and Messi.

Time flies, the sun and the moon fly like a shuttle. The boy who used to run tirelessly on the court will soon be 33 years old. Today, with the decline of physical fitness caused by age, Messi inevitably embarked on the road of transformation. However, unlike most wingers, Messi's excellent organizational skills accumulated for himself in his early career enabled him to remain among the top players in the world during the transition process. We believe that as long as Barcelona players can cultivate a tacit understanding with Messi as soon as possible, I believe that the Rossoneri can still reproduce their glory under the leadership of Argentine superstars.