Leo Messi leaves FC Barcelona, he seems to be desperate to leave, despite the club resistance and effort to stop him doing so over last days. Why is man from Rosario, Argentina the special one and loved?
Leo was diagnosed with a growth hormone deficiency, when he was 10. He is not the tallest player, only 1.70 m. He looks even smaller, when you see him on the football pitch doing his tricks with the ball, almost unfitting to football, which demands physicality these days to play successfully.
Wife, children, job, daily routine, family, chats with friends, sincerity, maturity. He is a father of three, husband. Does it sound special? Not really.
He is not the celebrity, controversial figure in the club or country and it makes him special. I’ve been watching hours and hours of footage of interviews with him, trying to understand what is the secret of Leo.
He seems to be average person during interviews, like a fan, not player. That’s why we love him and we want him to succeed - he seems to be one of us, almost underprivileged, middle class person, who is successful.
He draws attention because he seems to be like everyone of us and he makes you believe you can achieve something special, if you work hard and have self-belief despite negativity around.
He’s very vocal however when it comes to football, understandably so, he wants to win. He wants to be a part of winning project, not losing one, or struggling one, like now FC Barcelona under Bartomeu’s poor management.
Despite his illness, early life in Argentina, issues regarding his treatment and financing his treatment, moving to Europe from Latin America at very young age, he was able to become one of the greatest player ever.
He’s talented, but he makes things happening to him due to work, not talent. Messi’s persistence to achieve goals makes him the best player ever.
The greatest players are able to produce exceptional things on regular basis, like: Messi, Lewandowski, Ronaldo, Neymar, Mbappe nowadays, many in the past, like: Romario, Ronaldinho, Ronaldo, Henry, Zidane, Shearer, Maradona, Pele, rising stars, like: Foden and Fati now.
Consistency is the key and also ability to play on the highest level every single time. Messi and Lewandowski are focused on job, never under pressure to deliver. They make things happening to them. They're pro, not lucky. They are hard working, not lucky. Their success is well deserved, not lucky, created by the media or PR. Intensity, focus, regularity, consistency, hard work, not luck or talent make Messi and Lewandowski special.
Jose Mourinho described Messi as the genius. According to the former Chelsea and Real Madrid manager, Messi is the genius of football on the pitch and off the pitch. Maturity, hard work, consistency, ability to play on the highest level under different management, roles on the pitch with different teammates, integrity make him special.
However, his club, FC Barcelona can by described as FC Messi - he made this club successful with other players around him, like: Xavi, Iniesta, Alba, Busquets, Puyol, Pedro, Fabregas, Pique and great coaches: Pep Guardiola, the late and missed Tito Vilanova, and Luis Enrique.
However, the club was never able to work out the strategy in the post-Messi era, to raise the star like Messi or somebody else, who could be described as the leader.
Ironically, FC Barcelona made Leo Messi professional player, he was playing is their junior team as the teenager growing up. Then, Messi transformed FC Barcelona to FC Messi with his team mates and coaches. He's the best player ever in my opinion, like Michael Jordan the best basketball player ever, Ayrton Senna the best F1 driver ever.
He’s made terrific job for the club over the years and he should be allowed to leave on the free transfer, or the fee, which is achievable to pay for another club, below 100 million euro. He’s 33. He won’t be playing on this level, when he will be 40 in 7 years time. The clock is ticking.
He’s made the job done in FC Barcelona long time ago. He could join Manchester City in 2016, but he stayed despite the club has been in the transition period changing managers, players, everything. Messi was patient and confident, however he could not wait forever.
Conclusion
I admire his professionalism and character. Messi is humble. He looks and speaks like a fan of football, not celebrity, who scored more than 700 goals in club and in country.
Watch the interview with him on El Mundo Deportivo in Spanish with English subtitles: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3N0Mm8YAWMA.
Credit: Financial Times
Comments
Post a Comment