Debunking a myth- Few of my thoughts on why Messi can thrive in any system. Bit long one, hopefully y'll are patient enough to read this. Will start off with his career before delving in to his club career

Thread

1. First and foremost argument is that he only plyd for a single club and didn't won a trophy with . Now do you realise, how stupid and vague that argument is?. Say if Higuain finished off his chance or if Ref allowed that offside goal all of a sudden he can thrive anywhere?

2. No that's not how it works. Messi has always been a consistent performer for Argentina ever since he became the main man in , playing multiple roles for country. He had/has the skillsets and versatility to thrive anywhere, which i will discuss later

3. Now if you're arguing with that he's a system player and cant thrive outside Barca, then do it with stats/ numbers rather than judging him based on 3 particular days out of 100+ he has played for Argentina.

4. Lionel Andres Messi Cuccittini wouldn't be scoring hattricks with Millwall or Stockport. Given the lack of creativity in such lower division teams he would be playing more as a creator than a #9

5. Let's see how his career developed from a crazy winger to #10. For reference y'll can check out his international records/stats from this thread https://twitter.com/MeticulousViews/status/1079649565056237568?s=19

6. Around 2010 he became their main man under Maradona. Literally there wasn't any system on place with Diego as their manager. Other than Maradona hugging and kissing his players after the match. Can't even be called as a poor man's Klopp. Cuz Klopp is a tactical genius.

7. This clueless formation by Maradona deserves a hall of shame recognition. Flanking Di Maria and Rodriguez, isolating Mascherano in Mf along with #10 Messi.

8. If you arent fooled by media propagandas you'd know that, system player Messi was head and shoulders their best player in that WC, were they played with a non existent Mf. Messi was basically involved/created most of the goals scored by .

9. Now the counter argument would be, why can't he produce same goal scoring numbers for like he does for Barca......

10......My friend literally no player in modern football can score at more than 1 goal/ game, especially if you're carrying the creative burden of the team dropping deep playing as a #10

https://www.google.co.in/amp/s/www.fourfourtwo.com/features/10-highest-international-goalscorers-all-time%3F_format=amp

11. I'm not gonna dissect his performances in each tournament as i've linked all the stats in previous tweet ( Refer 5th tweet ). I'll summarize few of the important stats from that thread.

12. Messi doesn't score in knockouts, Messi doesn't have more goals than Higuain in Ko's. Another stupid argument to downgrade him. If you look at all those goals, most of them were created by Messi

13. Messi the system player has 26 assists and 35 goals, Ie 61 G+A from 81 competitive games. More than any player for . I haven't yet mentioned all the key passes, recoveries, take ons, through balls that lead to goals like this

14. None of his so called world class teammates has more than 30 G+A in competitive games, while Messi alone has 61. None of them has more than 15 G+A in last 6 Int tournaments, while Messi alone has 25

15. Hope you'll understands the importance of a manager in football. One of the reason why Arg has been dysfunctional for past 10 years is because they never had a proper tactician barring Sabella. Not even Sampaoli addressed deep lying problems in their system.

16. Can Messi run the show in a defensive system?. Surely no one can produce the same numbers in a defensive set up, like in a 433. But he can easily run the show when the tactics are conservative. He has shown that in Barca under Ev and in under Sabella. Wondering how?

17. If you remember the way played in 2014 Wc, it wasn't like they used to play traditionally. More of a pragmatic approach in a 4231 set up, relying on defensive solidarity and Messi dropping in to midfield like he did under Valverde in 2017-18

18. Won all of their matches in 2014 Wc by 1 goal margin, often restorting to cagy tactics & defending a lead of 1-0. They even got criticised for safety first approach in that wc from Arg fans and media. Messi carried that team and the system, winning golden ball.

19. Messi was an absolute vital component in their 4231 formation to defend narrow leads as he dropped deep and began to pull the strings in mid by recycling possession, winning duels and his accuracy in passing, emulating Xavi's traits in a # role

20. Earlier in the tournament Messi was upset with Sabella's tactics of going with a 5 man defense against Bosnia, while they struggled to create anything. Still he went ahead and executed his role in a 4231 formation for the rest of tourny by dominating statistical columns

21. That's not a system player you're looking at. He sacrificed his favored position and formation in which he plays in Barca, for his country. System player think again?

Messi vs Belgium

22. Imagine Messi being hell-bent on playing as a striker sabotaging a swallow midfield. Where would've been without this system player!?

23. How can a system player influence a team like this. More than 90% of contribution in a entire qualifying campaign from a single player, with a manager like Edgardo Bauza at the helm

24. Not yet ready to acknowledge his passion and commitment for ?. Look at this stat from 2014WC . He hardly does this for Barca ever since pep left. But he puts in that extra effort to win possession playing for ?. His take on stats has always been crazy for Arg

25. Thanks to his versatility, Martino was able to deploy 433 in 2015 . From an explosive winger who impressed everyone in 2007 CA, look how much he evolved playing multiple roles in flanks as well as interior.

Argentina's formations from 2007 CA, 2010 WC, 2014 Wc, 2015 CA

26. One final stat - in the knockout stages of international tournaments Messi has 12 assists and 3 goals from 19 games. What does that imply?. He went missing or he facilitated his teammates, cuz of lack of creativity in Mf ?

Choose wisely.

27. Meagre numbers and stats won't do justice to his efforts for national team. Think of all the players who played for Arg from 1994-2006. None of those teams made it to a WC final with players like Ayala, Simeone, Veron,Sorin, Bati, crespo, Ortega, Cambiaso, Riquelme, Aimar etc

28. Messi was basically the tree that was hiding the forest. so many deep rooted issues in AFA has been swept under the carpet cuz Messi has propelled them to 3 finals . If Xavi was Barca's system, Messi is Arg's Xavi with no one to play the Messi role. :)

Part 2 https://twitter.com/MeticulousViews/status/1084434058187165697?s=19

Copa America 2019

Considered as a Messi disaster class by a section because they don't have an understanding of the role that he played throughout the tournament. 4312 with two strikers upfront and Leo as CAM. Created most chances for Arg & completed most take ons in the tourny