The Transformation of Lionel Messi

Messi with his coach Guardiola

When Josep “Pep” Guardiola took over from Frank Rijkaard in 2008 as the Manager of Barcelona, he wouldn’t have anticipated the amount of success which he is getting at the Catalonian club. The sucess which is mainly attributed to a person names Lionel Messi. Even before joining Barcelona, Messi was one of the favorites of Guardiola.

The rookie coach was under no illusions about the size of the task in front of him and the numerous issues he needed to sort out, with Messi’s fitness being at the top of his agenda.

Since then Barcelona has grown from strength to strength and Messi has transformed from a posing left winger into the world’s finest and influential player, culminating in his receipt of the prestigious Ballon d’Or and FIFA World Player of the Year awards for 2010.

The lack of professionalism and indiscipline of talented stars, reportedly including Ronaldinho and Deco, had spread dangerously, ultimately ripping apart Rijkaard’s much-revered Nou Camp dynasty and threatening to do more lasting damage to their Argentinean superstar.

Guardiola who was schooled under Johan Cruyff announced himself as a strict disciplinarian, imposing punishments for even the slightest of crimes. Deco and Ronaldinho were duly offloaded.

It is only fair if we say that Messi was “rebuilt” under Guardiola. Messi began to interact more with the dressing room and began to think and act like a leader. He took steps to improve his physical stature.

It is true that under Rijkaard, Messi rose from the youth system and found the pinnacle of his game. But being a fussy child in his yearly days, he was dining almost exclusively on steak and cola at his local Argentinean restaurant. Guardiola’s arrival put an end to this.

It is said that Messi’s change in his diet provided a completely new dimension to his game and he helped his team to win the unprecedented treble of the Cup, La Liga and the Champions League.

Even before any kind of training, Messi was one of the world’s finest dribblers who was capable of producing some jaw breaking runs through the flanks. But when cracks started to appear of Rijkaard’s side, people began questioning about his all around play.

His incredibly strong wit, his speed and his size helped him become the best in one on one play. He was capable of fooling 2-3 defenders at any given time. But critics began to question about his team play.

His shooting was poor, with the vast majority of his goals scored from close range in one-on-one situations. His right foot was non-existent.

Even with all those “harsh” criticisms and apparent inadequacy, he was too close to become the world’s best player. Guardiola’s arrival helped him dethrone Cristiano Ronaldo to become the world’s best.

Guardiola provided a new dimension to Messi’s game. He was totally obsessed with Messi’s talents. He provided him a playmaking role rather than his one dimensional Winger role. He allowed Messi to roam free on the pitch and results were evident.

In the 2007-2008 Champions League semifinals, when Barcelona and Manchester United met, Messi was completely marked down by the Red Devils. He couldn’t move freely as Barcelona came out with a agonizing 0-1 aggregate defeat.

Then the very next season, Barcelona were given an opportunity to revenge their loss this time in the finals, with the improved Messi.

Barcelona won the finals comfortably by a 2-0 margin. Messi scored the second goal. The way in which he scored impressed many. Messi with the small figure he is, is supposed to be weak on air. But when Lionel Messi rose in the air to net the goal past Edwin Van Der Sar’s net, it silenced many “critics”. Manchester United were dethroned. Messi won his personal battle against Ronaldo.

Messi has won everything under Guardiola. The Spanish Cup, the La Liga, the Champions League, The FIFA club world cup. Now, Messi stands on top of the world as a player without a weakness.