I don't get, I just don't he's not the fastest player, he's not the strongest, he's not the most athletic but yet he is the greatest footballer in the world, and arguably the greatest of all time? so what makes him so special, it bewilders me sometimes
The greats see things before they happen, in a sense. Where people are going to go, where the ball is going to be, and beyond. Gretzky's got a famous quote that kinda sums it up "A good hockey player plays where the puck is. A great hockey player plays where the puck is going to be.". Messi has that ability. It's fuckin crazy
Um...skill? Sport-specific iq? Field vision and awareness? Same things that made Bird and Magic the best of their era, despite bring mediocre athletes.
What Messi's greatnesst proves to me more than anything is that soccer isn't a real athletic sport. Look at the best to ever play other sports, and they're mostly physical works of arts. Not so Messi. Soccer's a skill, I won't doubt that, but it falls close to knitting or checkers than to basketball or track & field in terms of athleticism.
Nope plenty of sprinting If soccer is not athletic, then neither is baseball, basketball, cricket, or lacrosse.
He's the roid midget. Shortness translates to lower centre of gravity and more balance and better short area quickness and ability to change direction. Add in the roids and you get a guy with A level agility who like Wes Welker might not run <4.6 or jump out the gym but can cut on a dime and create seperation with quickness. Then there's the skill and IQ aspect where he basically learned to walk with a ball at his feet, and to make people miss.
