Messi's new center mid position

collin · Post 31 Aug 2010, 17:52

I've noticed lately that the 3 first games of the season Messi is playing more of a center mid/attacking mid role. i just wanted to know what everyone thought about this? do you guys think hes better as a winger where he can dribble alot or better in the center mid? he is pretty sick at center mid im not going to lie, alot of people think messi is just good for his dribbling but when you watch him in the middle of the park he plays so simple and effective and his awareness and passing are off the charts

klc123 · Post 31 Aug 2010, 18:03

I don't think he is playing centre mid really.

To be honest, most of the time he is playing on the right wing, but Barcelona have always played with their 3 attackers having a license to roam. Messi plays his best game when given this freedom because he is very good at reading the game and adapting himself to it. For example this weekend he was getting much more space and time in the middle so he kept popping up there and receiving the ball in a central position.

collin · Post 31 Aug 2010, 18:30

ok yeah it just seemed like he was playing center mid but i guess that is good for him to roam into the center because it creates spaces for dani alves to push forward

soccerjj · Post 31 Aug 2010, 19:16

he is centre forward/ striker now ( although sometimes he switches to RW e.g. second half)

Here is a link which says what i think.

https://goal.com/en-gb/news/3277/la-lig ... i-not-your

Also you can look on zonal marking a good site which in most barca games tells you exactly where he plays.

villa messi iniesta was how it looked on sat.

shahensha · Post 01 Sep 2010, 01:13

Yeah. In the beginning of the league opener on saturday. Guardiola almost played a 4-4-2 with a diamond midfield. Busquets as the CDM, Xavi as the CAM, Keita on the left and Iniesta on the right.

Ofcourse it changed to the 4-3-3 when xavi was taken out to put in pedro.

Even then Messi is mostly used as a centre forward now with the liscence to roam. He created the second and third goal on saturday by playing a throughball to the wings, which is an average CM move.

klc123 · Post 01 Sep 2010, 16:08

Against racing I think he played a traquartista role behind Villa, which works perfectly. Nearly every move came through him and he pulled all the strings as well as netting a goal for himself.