Lionel Messi a one system player?

His versatility to mould himself under different managers in different roles and tactical set up with different teammates has been the least talked abilities of Messi.

A thread

Messi has played under 7 different managers in his Barca career. Though most of them had similar ideas regarding possession football, the way they set up their team and the style of football were different from one another. Messi was the only constant because of his adaptability

To make it clear, his rival CR7 played in teams that adopted one idea, which is counter attacking football, but different managers had their own style and formations. Similar to that, Barca managers had different styles and formations by staying true to the ideals of Cruyff

Messi started of his career as a classical winger in Rijkaard's 433 formation. Like he stated in his interviews he was a creator more than a goal scorer with Eto/Henry/Larsson/G.Jonsson as strikers & Rondinho in Lw

He got 61 G+A contribution from 110 games under Rijkaard

Though Rijkaard stayed true to his 433 he has tweaked formations at times to 352 and even 4321 with double pivots in Mf (Van Bommel- Edmilson/Motta). Messi and Dinho drifted towards center to partner two advancing midfielders Deco/Xavi, when one of them operates through the wings

Two ssns were nothing was going well for Barca, teenage Messi shouldered the burden of carrying Barca. Especially in 2007-08. In those two ssns, Messi had 49 G+A from 76 games.. This has gone under the radar, because of the perception that it was R10's Barca.

Two sum up his impact as a 19 year old, he finished 2nd in FIFA POTY and 3rd in Ballon d'or voting in 2007. We're talking about 2007 Calendar year when Barca was in shambles. Messi stood out in a dysfunctional system during those seasons. System player?

Penultimate match of 2006-07 La liga season, Must win fixture vs espanyol. Result, 2-2 - Leo Messi scored a Brace

El classico tie, 2006-07 - Hat trick with 10 man Barca
Insane carry job by a 19 yr old

After surrendering the league title, Barca went hell for leather in a titanic clash with Manchester United in CL SF. In a game were Man Utd got pushed to the corners, a scholes banger separated two teams over two legs. Deceptive scoreline, Barca were the better team over 2 legs

Messi rattled Sir Alex's Man U in Old trafford with washed up players like Deco& Zambrotta and without dinho in the team. He broke the ucl dribble record when he was just 20 yrs old

Guardiola arrived. Painted the cathedral built by Cruijff. Created one of the best teams ever, with his unique philosophy and methods. Messi had to evolve, adapt from a winger to false nine in a different system with new players coming in (Villa, Pedro, Busi, Alves, pique, etc).

Pep introduced exteme version of Juego de posicion with 433 formation in his first 3 seasons, occasionally shifting to 343 in between the matches ( like Vs Atletico & Zaragoza 2010-11), with Busquets in single pivot, relying on positional superiority than physicality.

Towards the end of 2008-09, Messi evolved from a winger to false9 & Pep pushed Eto to the wings.Revolutionary, but not without Messi's hard work & skills

Was Messi a typical #9 ?. No he wasn't. When Barca found it difficult to recycle possession or against teams that defend in numbers, he often dropped deep overloading the center leaving acres of space for wingers to exploit, thus by providing numerical superiority in midfield

2011-12, Pep signed Alexis and Cesc. Moved to cruyff's 343 diamond formation and it's variants. Cesc playing at the tip of the diamond, Alves pushed up the flanks and using Sanchez's experience, who played in Bielsa's 3313 for Chile. Messi had to adapt and evolve again.

Messi scored 73 goals in that season breaking all sorts of goal scoring records in Europe. Becoming first player to score 70+ goals in a season and 50 goals in a league campaign.

Was also involved in 312 goals in 219 games in his 4yrs under pep

Messi under Tito/ Roura and Tata Martino.

Those two seasons were least exciting in his career. Struggling with injurys and fitness Messi was playing more as a central forward than a false nine and his playmaking numbers took a hit.

Messi still managed to score 60 goals and 15 assists and that was the time he set the record for the most consecutive league games scored in (21)

This streak started from November 2012 and ended in May 2013 where he got injured against ATM

Luis Enrique' Barca.

Less prominence to midfield, one of the best counter attacking teams, fast transitions from midfield to forwards, heavily reliant on most potent trio of modern era - MSN. Messi moved to Rw to maximise Saurez's potential, who played as 9 and Neymar in LW

Enrique's Barca were one of the best exponents of counter attacking football and Messi was the main protagonist. People shouldn't even doubt Messi's ability to thrive in a counter attacking style of football

Messi under Lucho scored 153 goals and 66 assists from 158 games

Both Enrique and Pep used 343. But what was the difference?. Messi

Under Pep he was playing as false nine/ target player and Cesc was playing at the tip of the diamond. In LE's 343, Messi is playing at the tip of the diamond ( Am/ss) & Suarez is the 9. How versatile is he?

Historic remontada match vs PSG. One of Messi's underrated perfomance. Dropping deep in to mf he orchestrated attacks, won duels and Messi playing through the middle provided enough width for Neymar and Rafinha.

Messi under Ernesto Valverde:

He had a completely different role and evolved himself in to one of the best playmakers. To make use of that Ernesto gave him a free role as a #10 in 4231 during his first season. Another shift from the position he played under Enrique.

Another season and Messi had to play in a new position. He is playing under a manager who is pragmatic, someone who won't deploy the kind of football Pep and Le showcased. Messi had to adapt. Messi had to evolve. He did and went won to win golden boot playing in a Am/ss position

Despite the manager and the bums he played with, Messi still managed to win the golden boot, Bd'or, IFFHS playmaker award and the fifa best. He made the biggest carry job oat that season where we were just 3 games away from treble.

Lionel Messi’s goal contribution per game under all Barcelona managers:

T.Vilanova: 1.54
L.Enrique: 1.43
P.Guardiola: 1.38
Q.Setien: 1.38
E.Valverde: 1.28
G.Martino: 1.22
R.Koeman: 1.09
F.Rijkaard: 0.62

System player?

With all these yet people still underestimate his adaptability when he's played in numerous roles in his career in a plethora of different systems under managers with different philosophies and with teammates of varying quality.

I wonder how many players possess the ability to switch from wings to interior in different formations under different managers and tactics.

End of thread. Rts appreciated

Credits to @MeticulousViews