From a beautiful assist to Di Maria in the Copa America final to a one-man participation in the team's 3 goals in the World Cup, the 27-year-old De Paul is inseparable from Messi off the field and has become the first helper of Messi's current national team on the field.
When Messi was cut off, he grabbed the ball for the first time, and when Messi collected the attack in the middle of the road, DePaul quickly pulled away to the side to meet. If Messi wants to step into the box, De Paul will be the man who sent the ball over the top.
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In argentina and Venezuela, the team had DePaul play a nominal double back, but in fact the range of activities was very large. When Messi organizes an attack in the middle, DePaul will adjust his area of activity according to The Position of Big Brother, and even transform a winger from time to time.
Argentina's first goal came from a counter-attack in which DePaul crossed Messi and cut in along the right. Messi dribbled the ball in the middle, looking for opportunities to directly impact the goal.
It should be noted that when Messi was preparing to hit the wall in the middle to break through the defensive line, De Paul had already gone to the right side to wait for the opportunity.
Although de Paulo's movements seemed unable to connect effectively with Messi at the time, it was actually a big game of chess for the Argentine team, leaving an explosive backhand.
When Messi failed to work with his teammates in the middle, Paredes grabbed a second chance to attack at the first time, and the non-stop pass found DePaul on the right, or sent a high-quality cross like a right winger.
At that time, Messi had also wrapped up the back point in time, and if Gonzalez did not score from the middle, Messi may also have the possibility of making a contribution to the back point.
It can be seen that after the "purgatory exercise" of Paris Saint-Germain, Messi's no-ball movement is more relaxed and frequent, which also makes him more threatening in the game.
There is a tacit understanding on the field, and it is inseparable from the field, Messi posted a photo of himself chatting happily with De Paul on social media after the game, and the last 2 people can be described as inseparable.
Messi entered him and retreated + Messi ran him to pass the ball
In the match against Venezuela, De Paul delivered 2 assists, and touched the ball 136 times, passed 104 times, and won 11 times in 15 one-on-one matches at the feet, which can be described as the team's midfield engine.
The most memorable thing is the tacit understanding between him and Messi in the game, which is reflected in some extremely detailed cooperation.
This time, when Messi took the ball, De Paulo was on the left side of the court, and then completed a cross-run with Messi to make himself go to the middle to meet.
When Messi paused and found that the receiving points in front of him were surrounded and he did not have a good passing choice, DePaul retreated at the first time to help Big Brother solve the problem.
The key is that after De Paul took the ball, he was very keen to observe Messi's forward insertion intentions. The quality of the kick over the top was high, but messi was half a step behind, otherwise it would have been a classic goal.
It can be clearly seen from the GIF that Messi is full of vitality in this wave of attack. From the breakthrough of the ball at the foot to the pass without the ball forward, if Messi is Jordan, then this time De Paul is his Pippen.
Messi's happiness in the Argentine national team now is because there are many good helpers like DePaul around, and they all really love Messi.
When he came to the national team to report, De Paul showed his love for Messi on social media, expressing his miss for Big Brother and his eager desire to cooperate.
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After scoring the first goal, Argentina's attack was unable to open the situation again, and the result was that DePaul's over-the-top ball found Di Maria, replicating the classic scene of the Copa America final.
In the second half, Messi scored a beautiful front-goal goal, thanks to De Paulo. When Di Maria picked up the ball, De Paul was like Messi's "John", paving the way for Big Brother.
The key is that after De Paul advanced into the box, there was also a noticeable lateral movement, which brought out a defensive opening for Messi, allowing the latter to easily plug in and shoot and score.
It can be clearly seen from the GIF that this wave of attack messi's first take the ball + pass the two-in-one is very critical, instantly making venezuela's defense line flawed.
In the end, however, Messi could easily score a right-footed shot, thanks to DePaul's no-ball cover run to take away the center-back. Even if the quality of the shot is not high, but it is close at hand, the goal is a natural success.
Conclusion
If Kylian Mbappe leaves Paris Saint-Germain next season, will the French giants really plan to build a team around Messi? Then maybe we can really consider bringing in de Paulo, Gonzalez, Lautaro and other players who have a good tacit understanding with Messi.
Coupled with the fact that there were originally Paredes, Di Maria and others in the team, perhaps Messi at that time would really find his own sense of play, and played the king of the ball in Paris Saint-Germain.