One question about Messi

What makes him to make those long runs? i can not find answer. some say he is short, but we have 100000 short players nobody can take ball from own half and run through players as consistent as messi. is it his acceleration in every touch? there are many players with great acceleration. agility? too many agile players. I really can not find answer when someone says messi's runs because he is short and agile. i know this is wrong but i'm still searching for a reasonable explanation

its not because he is short..there are too many short players. so who can explain it better?

low centre of gravity + balance + acceleration + stamina

He has such incredible ball control and dribbling that lets him run just about as fast as he does without the ball with it. He is by far the most dangerous player I've ever seen running at defenses, only players that I've seen that can compare are Ronaldinho and Kaka.

HGH.

He has the nimblest, quickest feet ever. Couple that with intelligence and what RG said, you have Messi. But the key is his quick feet.

Never seen anyone with such quick feet.

It's his touch/ball control... The ball always stays close to his feet... The only time he knocks the ball forward and runs to it is when he wants to get past a defender or when he is in space.. Most people just knock the ball forward constantly

the particular video you posted is 100% purely poor defending.

it's not more about speed , it's more about change of direction and how fast you are able to do that, Messi is able to keep the ball close and change direction quickly, and when you're backpedaling and keeping your eye on the ball it's hard to keep up and not lunge in for a foul.

His Dribbling is the key factor here. Also what helps alot is that his Dribbling speed matches his off the ball running speed. Not many can do that.

RealGunner wrote:low centre of gravity + balance + acceleration + stamina

Pedro? Adriano? Alves? Xavi?

Tello and Cuenca are taller than them but they are miles faster and more acceleration

This dude is just unbelievable ..he is the best player i have ever seen..

Yeah, how many of us can keep touching the ball with every step when we run? Even when he changes direction and skips past players he touches the ball with every step and he does it faster than other players who can do the same.

Quick feet.

In addition to what RG said, his ball control is magnificent. With almost every stride he's touching the ball and defenders have a really hard time kowing when to make the tackle, because the ball is always so close to his feet, his running with alotta pace, and he can change direction very quickly.

Why is Gerrard so powerful?
Why is Mertesacker so tall?
Why is Walcott so fast?
Why is Balotelli so stupid?

we'll never know, go ask them

Intelligence, recognition of space, awareness of opponents before anything else.

He just sees the opportunities he created with his close control, dribbling, quickness, acceleration and so on.

He unbalances the defenders and gets their body weight going in one direction while he goes off in another before said defender can recover.

LOL at the obvious "poor defending". Such poor defending and yet, somehow, noone else is able to do it.

The Franchise wrote:Intelligence, recognition of space, awareness of opponents before anything else.

He just sees the opportunities he created with his close control, dribbling, quickness, acceleration and so on.

He unbalances the defenders and gets their body weight going in one direction while he goes off in another before said defender can recover.

LOL at the obvious "poor defending". Such poor defending and yet, somehow, noone else is able to do it.

lol

Talent.

It's called talent maybe?

Edit: beaten..

The Franchise wrote:Intelligence, recognition of space, awareness of opponents before anything else.

He just sees the opportunities he created with his close control, dribbling, quickness, acceleration and so on.

He unbalances the defenders and gets their body weight going in one direction while he goes off in another before said defender can recover.

LOL at the obvious "poor defending". Such poor defending and yet, somehow, noone else is able to do it.

This, but when you have that kind of dribbling ability, that kind of control over the ball and your body, time slows down and you can do about anything you want.

He keeps the ball so close that he will change direction and evade you, meanwhile he is moving forward and when he decides to accelerate, he covers the ball so well that your options to tackle him are close to none.

It's brilliant, a couple of players have achieved that level of mastery over the ball but not all of them have the same kind of speed, combined with the ability to change direction at full speed as well.

The Franchise wrote:Intelligence, recognition of space, awareness of opponents before anything else.

He just sees the opportunities he created with his close control, dribbling, quickness, acceleration and so on.

He unbalances the defenders and gets their body weight going in one direction while he goes off in another before said defender can recover.

LOL at the obvious "poor defending". Such poor defending and yet, somehow, noone else is able to do it.

I agree with the poor defending part, it truly is lulz with that Ben Arfa goal people accused it of being meh and said the defending was poor.

Ever thought and i know it may seem crazy that Messi makes the defenders look poor? :lol!:

The Franchise wrote:

LOL at the obvious "poor defending". Such poor defending and yet, somehow, noone else is able to do it.

I said in this particular video. Perhaps you should read the entire sentence before poking fun at other's perspectives. Not taking anything away from Messi, just saying that this clip in particular is a bad example.

To be frank, Ben Arfa is faster than Messi, so all he does his punting and running behind the ball, he does show nice control tho

I read it..but its funny how, in this particular situation it was poor defending..and yet, there is no situation, ever, where that sort of poor defending happens again.

The Franchise wrote:Intelligence, recognition of space, awareness of opponents before anything else.

He just sees the opportunities he created with his close control, dribbling, quickness, acceleration and so on.

He unbalances the defenders and gets their body weight going in one direction while he goes off in another before said defender can recover.

LOL at the obvious "poor defending". Such poor defending and yet, somehow, noone else is able to do it.

you are from malta?

Mr Nick09 wrote:To be frank, Ben Arfa is faster than Messi, so all he does his punting and running behind the ball, he does show nice control tho

Yep his close control is'nt as good as Messi's and tbh that video he doesnt show close control so perhaps it wasnt a good example but he was the only one i could think of other than Neymar that consistently runs past's many players at once.

His goal against Blackburn in the cup was probably a better example......

None the less Messi does this because combines amazing close control with speed and a great football brain and great appreciator of space.

I'd argue theres players that can dribble aswell as Messi if not better but they dont combine so many factors into one to create what Messi is.

Also his upbringing at La Masia was faultless i dont think that should be underestimated in ultimately making him into the player he is today.

The Franchise wrote:I read it..but its funny how, in this particular situation it was poor defending..and yet, there is no situation, ever, where that sort of poor defending happens again.

'
sure, there are many examples of poor defending happening and long runs being made.



the problem I have with the clip in the OP is that the game is already 3-0 and all the defenders look lazy. When Messi was attempting long runs against Milan, the defenders were going all out and sprinting their hearts out, often resulting in fouls because Messi is too quick to keep up with lol.