A new model Messi is emerging and he is just as masterful
WE are seeing the evolution of Lionel Messi in this World Cup. The new version is not as dynamic, but is equally devastating. He has become more of an old- fashioned playmaker, with everything coming through him. He’s on the prowl, smelling danger, waiting for the opportunity to pounce and to come alive at the point of maximum impact, but conserving his energy until such an opening presents itself.
He doesn’t seem to be running as much, he is waiting for the ball. His running stats were the lowest on the pitch against Switzerland, which is evidence of the change i n his game — but he caused maximum trouble and won the match for Argentina.
Is he protecting his suspect hamstring, which caused him to miss a l ot of the season with Barcelona, or is this more evidence of the new Messi?
He’s been like that in La Liga since Christmas and I wondered if he was protecting himself for the World Cup, but now we are seeing more of the same.
My first thought in the opening games was ‘ he’s quiet’, but the more I study his performances, the more I believe he’s in control and waiting for that moment to arrive when he can make a difference.
We have seen him make an impact, with the last-minute winner against Iran, the brilliant run that created the goal against Switzerland — he has still won the man of the match four times i n four games and nobody has ever done that before in a World Cup.
With four goals in those four games, he’s carried Argentina to this stage. But we haven’t seen a 90-minute performance like we used to see for Barcelona when Pep Guardiola was manager and Messi was forever on the ball.
People may say he is too young to have to change his game. He is only 26, after all, but playing at the top with that pressure and intensity takes its toll and in terms of games played he’s probably closer to 30.
So we may never see the old Messi again, but we should champion him for changing.
He is the most important player in his team and, while he has been in the shadow of Diego Maradona, who won the World Cup singlehandedly in 1986, Messi can go some way to emulating him if he can take this team to victory in the land of their fierce South American rivals.
His Argentinian at t acking colleagues have been, in the main, disappointing. Aguero isn’t fully fit, Higuain has struggled, Lavezzi has shown flashes and, apart from the Messi- i nspired winner against Switzerland, Di Maria has failed to show. So Messi has a heavy weight to carry.
Pablo Zabaleta of Manchester City and Argentina said after the game against Switzerland that everyone wants to pass to Messi and then watch him work his magic, as if his own team-mates are in awe of him. So the change in his play is not weakening his standing, nor his output. Remember his performance against City in the Champions League, where he was magnificent while barely breaking out of a jog? We are seeing that repeated here.
His battle with City’s captain Vincent Kompany that night made for excellent viewing in the Nou Camp and I hope we see the same today when they face Belgium in the quarter-final.
Messi will have to come out on top if Argentina are to progress. For many, this is the tournament that will define him.
He has been brilliant so far, but there will be better opponents from now on. How will the new model Messi fare? If he delivers, we will be asking: ‘Where does he stand alongside Pele and Diego Maradona?’