Unconsciously, Messi's first season in Ligue 1 is coming to an end. Having scored nine goals and 13 assists in all competitions, as well as a Ligue 1 title, this may not have been successful enough for Messi, but it has also been achieved.
In the first year of coming to a new environment, whether it is teammates or opponents, Messi has places to go to familiar places. With a world wave to help the team win the championship, Messi finally used his own way to leave his own mark on the championship.
01. On the way to the championship, a basic positioning is determined: passing the ball, Messi is too good
A. Few goals are related to tactical positioning: Messi does not get the right chances
Paris Saint-Germain have spent too long this season to really understand the trident's division of labor, but unfortunately the team has been out of the Champions League. With Neymar switching between left-back and two-forward, Mbappe's front, Messi's function is a real striker.
In this positioning, Messi even needs to take part of the defensive responsibility, while greatly reducing the number of shots on goal and increasing the proportion of passes.
As can be seen from this wave of attacks, when Messi split the ball on the left side in his favorite way, the Paris side is Kylian Mbappe who cut inside and shot after receiving the ball, rather than the outside Mendes taking the ball, Mbappe running without the ball, bringing out the space for Messi to receive the ball in the reverse triangle.
Messi's way of holding the ball in the middle circle and 30m area is not much different from before, but after coming to the core area, Paris's offensive mode is not much different from messi's habits in the past.
Now Messi's forward insertion after the split is more like attracting the attention of the defense for Mbappeneche, the protagonist of the team is no longer Messi, and his habitual way of shooting naturally cannot be used. This time the assist was also the east corner of the lost mulberry.
Looking at this wave of offense, it is also a very typical shot. If it is a style of play with Messi as the main attacker, then Mbappe is naturally a high-speed forward to take away the defender, leaving room for Messi to respond.
However, in practice, Mbappe's habit is that he comes to take the ball and start again, so Mbappe even has a move to catch the ball back, which makes him have a bit of a collision with Messi.
After Neymar took the ball for the second time and then tried to give a pass to the middle, Messi and Mbappe stood too close together, causing the opponent to complete the destruction after densely packing the middle.
However, Messi is still Messi after all, the last battle on the road to winning the championship, a world wave long-range shot, winning the championship in this way, for Messi's first year is more or less a harvest and comfort.
After entering 2022, Messi has not had many shots on goal. As long as there are 4 shots on goal or equal to 4 times in a single game (4 times in total), Messi has scored in 3 games.
Not scoring a goal in a game where he only shot 1 or 2 times does not necessarily mean that Messi cannot score, but more because he has a new position.
b. Passing the ball: Messi is too good at it
From the statistics when facing Clement, it can be seen that Messi, who plays in the front, has few opportunities to enter the box and take the ball (unless it is a full-speed sprint forward insertion), he is more likely to play a passer role.
Messi received Neymar's left-footed pass this time and sent a light and extremely beautiful pick in front of the box, allowing Mbappe to score.
Looking at the attack this time, it is still Messi's precise direct plug with his own navigation, helping Neymar score on goal. Paris' attack is now to get Mbappe and Neymar to swim, so that Messi's pass can "point to where to play".
When his teammates started running, all Messi had to do was send a wonderful pass. Messi has done a really good job on this matter.
It is no accident that messi's assists began to skyrocket after gradually clarifying his position at Paris Saint-Germain.
In the 6-1 Clement match, Messi delivered 3 assists and 5 key passes that brought shots on goal, 2 of which were excellent opportunities.
In the case of many leading attack launches, Messi's pass success rate is 92%! It's really scary.
02. Messi's Champions League journey this season: there have been highlights, leaving regrets
a. 5 goals scored in the Champions League group stage: Goals against Manchester City and Leipzig are important
Despite not scoring many goals in Ligue 1, Messi has had a highlight moment on the offensive end in the Champions League.
After scoring manchester City at home in the group stage, Messi continued to maintain the super efficiency of scoring goals against Premier League teams.
The goal that sealed the victory against Manchester City was very Messi-like. Messi dominated the ball in the counter-attack and when he cut into the middle, Mbappe had a forward move and then did it back.
Messi, who followed up, scored a Messi-style shot in the way he was best at, leaving Manchester City helpless at the time.
After going to the away game, it was still Messi who dominated the attack, and he pulled a cross to bring the team's goal, giving Paris a lead on the road for a while.
Facing Red Bull Leipzig at home, Paris Saint-Germain, who was once 1-2 behind, completed a rare comeback, scoring both goals and Messi.
After this opponent's mistake, the team was given the opportunity to counterattack, and Mbappe accelerated forward to carry the ball back to Messi, who followed up. Despite hitting the post with the first shot, Messi made up for it and sent the ball to the bottom of the net.
b. Frequent defensive involvement in key Champions League games: Messi is adapting to a new positioning
Because the positioning in the team is no longer the first scoring point, Messi has always increased his contribution on the defensive end in important games in the Champions League.
In the Champions League knockout match against Real Madrid, Messi contributed 3 successful steals, which is the team's second best defensive stats.
It can be clearly seen from the GIF that this time Messi returned to defend against the ball Benzema, and then instigated his own counterattack.
Neymar received Messi's split and went straight to Mbappe, then inserted himself into the back of the penalty area, but mbappe's choice was somewhat like a pass.
In the group stage against Red Bull Leipzig, the team's first goal was also Messi's counterattack after returning the ball. Draxler assisted Mbappe in a goal to give the team a lead.
03. Messi increases the no-ball front insertion ratio: This is a good thing for preparing for the World Cup
a. 13 shots in the box + 7 goals are invalid: Messi's mentality is still very good
With Neymar suddenly bursting into consecutive goals, Messi seemed to be a complete passer around him and Mbappe.
In fact, Messi's shooting performance this season is not very bad, but unfortunately, 13 shots on goal, plus 7 goals after being blown off, are somewhat unlucky.
It's like such an inexplicable shot that was eventually rejected by the goalpost, and it's hard to explain why Messi's luck was so bad, but the ball didn't get to the bottom of the net, and the quality of the shot could not be reflected in the data.
Fortunately, Messi's mentality remained very good, and after Mbappe scored a hat-trick, he wrote a special sentence when his teammates collected the match ball: "Congratulations, phenomenon." ”
b. Increased no-ball running and interspersing: Prepare for the World Cup
To say that the shot in the middle column is to save character for the World Cup is indeed a bit too metaphysical and does not have much scientific basis.
However, Messi tried more no-ball interspersed and sprint runs at Paris Saint-Germain, but he was preparing for the World Cup. This is also related to the speed of the Paris forward teammates, who must accelerate in the counter-attack to keep up.
In this wave of counter-attack, Neymar scored Mbappe and went to the middle, and after the transition of teammates, Messi took the lead of the ball and launched an attack.
He scored kylian Mbappe in the box, Neymar burst forward to take away the attention of the defense, and Messi received Mbappe's cross and headed the ball into the net. Unfortunately, VAR ruled that Mbappe was offside when he received the ball, and the goal was invalid.
Looking at this wave of attacks, Paris Saint-Germain cut off the opponent's counterattack at the back and then launched an attack on the spot. Verratti's provocative pass, Messi suddenly stepped forward and then single-handedly broke the goal, but unfortunately was once again blown offside by VAR.
Although these goals were cancelled, it was a good thing that Messi tried more without the ball. In the World Cup, perhaps Messi will surprise himself and his fans because of the good habits he has accumulated.
Conclusion:
At the age of 34, coming to a new environment, coupled with 20 times of scoring goals, Messi did encounter too many troubles and unhappiness in this year.
But it's all about preparing for the 2022 World Cup, and the current ordeal will be a reward. More involvement in defense and no-ball forward insertion, such a Messi may not be the strongest state, but will also give the team a lot of help.