Messi

by Guillem Balague

  ‘We are a split personality of a country,’ analyses Ramón Besa. We have the seny i la rauxa [wisdom and recklessness] and the azulgrana y blanquiazul [the blue and claret, and the white and blue], Cruyff and Rexach, Ronaldinho and Messi. Two good friends told me years ago that Ronaldinho was the beach, the Mediterranean, the girls, the sun; and Messi the district, the barrio, the one who went about his work, had no time for bullshit. And this analogy, when Ronaldinho was the icon and Messi the apprentice, worked. Now we will have to see, when the roles are switched and the boy of the barrio is above the one from the beach, whether or not it works the same way.’

  Sandro Rosell, who worked for many years for Nike, considers the signing of Neymar to be one of the great successes of his mandate, effectively another victory over Madrid, while in the dressing room there were doubts over the need to sign another forward like him. Conscious of Messi’s leadership and the strong personality of Neymar hidden behind his smile, the senior players in the squad asked what would happen if the Brazilian scored a hat-trick in the Camp Nou and the stadium celebrated. No one wanted to be in the boots of Tata Martino, Tito Vilanova’s successor.

  And Messi?

  His first statement about the whole business, in July, was revealing: ‘He is a great player and will have no problem adapting both on and off the pitch. I don’t know him well, but he seems like a good lad and he won’t have any problems with me. I don’t know why you people say these things,’ he told the media, making a point to anyone who was in any doubt. ‘He is going to bring a lot [to the team] because he can be a key player. We create numerous one-on-one chances and in this Neymar is very strong. Let’s hope for his sake and for that of the team that he scores lots of goals, because that’s what we have to look for, the best for everybody.’

  Leo was asked about the signing of Neymar before the club went ahead with it, as is customary with the leaders in the dressing room. There was no problem, he told the board. But it must have hurt him when, months later, his last contract was being haggled over, while Neymar, who had yet to prove his worth, became the highest paid player from the moment he arrived at the age of just 21. It’s all about footballing etiquette, eternal codes: four Ballons d’Or deserve greater respect.

  When Marca asked Johan Cruyff if Neymar’s might be a case similar to those of Eto’o, Ibrahimović or Bojan, the Dutchman explained a couple of things which you can only understand if you have been inside a dressing room: ‘The way you explain it, it would seem that Messi is a dictator. When you have the chance to be the best player in every game, you have to be a bit of a dictator, because it’s not just the team you are playing for, but also for your status as number one and your prestige. In that sense the pressure on Messi is enormous because whoever goes to see him at the stadium is hoping to see marvels performed. And for these marvels to appear, everything has to function properly. And if things don’t come out well, the first one they’ll hit out at is you. That’s the problem with being number one, and that’s why you have to be very demanding of the whole team. On and off the pitch.’

  Including Neymar, Barcelona had spent €205 million on forwards over a period of five years, looking for the right companion for Leo. But the context was different from that of the arrival of Ronaldinho, as Ramón Besa explains: ‘It wasn’t about activating the virtuous circle, the Laporta policy of the sporting success feeding the economical one and vice versa, as had occurred ten years ago with Ronaldinho, but, rather, the reshaping of a side that has on occasions looked liked they were doing things by rote. All the number ten is interested in is winning and as a result he will only allow the very best players by his side.’

  Often the new figure arrives as a direct competitor for his place, not as an accompanying player, something that generates tensions for those seeking to defend the space they have won for themselves. If, what is more, as happened to Leo, he suffers the loss of his coach and friend in Tito, sport psychologists will confirm that it is difficult for the player to be at his best. In fact, all these events coincided with the recurrence of injuries for Leo at the end of the 2011−12 season, plus a new one at the start of the following campaign.

  That convulsive summer of 2013 led to some commentators fearing the repetition of a phenomenon that has occurred at many clubs, including FC Barcelona: stars raised to the highest levels but who are allowed to fall. It happened with Ronaldinho.

  Finally came the day of Neymar’s presentation to the Camp Nou.

  June the 3rd. At a huge press conference with 334 journalists from all over the world, Neymar made it quite clear that he knew what the rules were: ‘I am not bothered about being the leader of the team, nor of being the best player in the world. The best is here already and he is Messi. It is my good fortune and a tremendous honour to be able to play alongside him and to help him carry on being the best so he can win more Ballons d’Or.’

  Barcelona can now count on the best player in the world, and the one they say will one day replace him. And this is an interesting time: Leo Messi has raised his personal records to new heights over the past two years, but at the same time Barcelona have stopped winning the big titles: just one league and one cup in two years. Could it be that what is good for the star isn’t necessarily good for the club? At the very least the idea is worthy of reflection.

  And from here emerges another question. Did the club discuss sufficiently the significance of the arrival of Neymar to Messi, the leader of the best Barcelona team in history? Have they thought of the consequences of amending the team’s eco-system? Ramón Besa suggests a hypothetical scenario with the coach from Santpedor. ‘Guardiola, above and beyond the fact that at the end he lived moments of high tension and that he lost sight of the world, would have said: the day Neymar arrives I will receive him, I’ll ask him to sit down and tell him what he has to do.’ Instead, you get the impression that the Brazilian simply arrived and did not get that pep talk, as if everything was ever so slightly improvised.

  But was it Neymar who Leo needed? Or was his signing above all an institutional triumph? Will it create a Brazilian clique with Alvés, Adriano and Neymar, living next door to the Argentinians Messi, Mascherano and Pinto?

  All these questions were left for Tata Martino to answer.

  At the beginning of the new season everything seemed to be running smoothly: the team broke winning records in the league and Neymar adapted with ease to playing on the left wing. The headlines in the Catalan newspapers also changed: Neymar was often seen walking through Barcelona, singing a song on You-Tube to his girlfriend, filling more headlines than Messi who, at the end of October, suffered another injury to his femoral bicep.

  Neymar showed his potential making the most of Leo’s absence in a game against Valladolid in October at the Camp Nou (4–0), where he played in the Argentinian’s position: he scored just the one goal but the whole team revolved around his game.

  But as the league progressed, he found it difficult to make an impact as he tried too often to do too much, appearing to ignore the instructions he was given by Tata Martino – to stay in the wing and do damage there when the conditions were right. Too often for Neymar it seemed that every ball was a chance to impress.

  Similar to the way Leo conducted himself, the way he lived and breathed, when he first arrived in the first team.

  There’s a big difference between Neymar and the other players (Eto’o, Bojan, Ibrahimović and Villa) who have failed, or haven’t lasted, as forwards alongside Leo. Apart from the Swede, the others did not look like stars; not even Ibrahimović arrived with the aura of Neymar. Leo needed the space they took up on the pitch and the coach decided to support the Argentinian. They were therefore removed.

  Neymar is not a number 9, so for that reason he does not hurt Leo’s runs towards goal, he doesn’t take his space. What’s more, he has accepted the submissive role he has been offered. Never before has the question been asked so openly – would Leo welcome the new arrival, would Neymar get on with Messi? And Leo
has felt obliged to insist that, of course, he has opened all the doors for him, and anything less would have been unacceptable. The world is looking at ‘the Flea’ to see if he has indeed accepted the presence of another great footballer, if he can live with and survive this new challenge.

  Without cause for complaint, Messi should accept and enjoy the arrival of Neymar, and, in the process, silence all those who doubt it.

  But one day Neymar will want his turn.

  Maybe then, Messi, five years older than the Brazilian, will be in the next phase, at Newell’s. But if he is not, the picture that is emerging is one that is as fascinating as it is difficult to predict.

  5. Tata Martino

  The Leo Messi whom Gerard Piqué and Cesc Fàbregas met on their arrival at Barcelona was not the reserved boy with whom they had shared the youth-team dressing room. He still fed on victories, but football had made him stronger. Although one thing remained: Leo had the same ascendancy in the group as when they were youngsters. And in his absence they felt the same anxiety.

  ‘He has been acquiring responsibility since he played in the youth team,’ explains Pedro. ‘Demands were always made of him, to shine and score goals for every team. And now he has the status of the best player in the world, and that is so difficult to maintain, because new players who want to achieve great things come along every day. And he continues to display that level and accept that responsibility. The flipside is when he is not there. Myself, I miss everything he generates on the pitch.’

  What should be done when one footballer’s influence is so great? Carry on creating conditions so that he scores more goals? Or look for a replacement? What do the great coaches say about this?

  Pep Guardiola has compared Leo Messi’s domination in his sport with that of basketball great Michael Jordan. They are the best and were so for many years, and the American went through a situation similar to the one in which Messi finds himself now: the team could not live without him. It struggled to win titles.

  Legendary NBA coach Pat Riley explains in his book Showtime what ‘the disease of more’ refers to. For the former Los Angeles Lakers player and coach ‘success is often the first step towards disaster’, a process he experienced with the Lakers after winning the 1980 title. Everyone became more selfish; the players won as a team, but they wanted a reward as individuals: more money, more playing time, more recognition. They were spending more hours in some Hollywood star’s swimming pool than on the training pitch. They lost perspective and stopped doing the little things that helped them win – and carry on winning. The disaster was confirmed by the abysmal results in the season after the 1980 title.

  When you get weighed down by the baggage that comes with victory, you also stop winning.

  Pat Riley thought that the solution is the reinforcement of authority of the coach if he has clear ideas and personality. And is not scared of making decisions.

  That had been a growing problem at Barcelona in the Vilanova era but, as has been said, Messi’s ambition and Iniesta’s great play allowed them to win the league. Instability was evident, though. Too much depended on Leo.

  When Phil Jackson became the Chicago Bulls coach in 1989, he inherited a team that included the best player in the world, Michael Jordan, and was experiencing similar problems. Jordan was the top scorer, assist provider and rebounder, but the Bulls were not winning titles with him. Although Barcelona have won everything with Leo, the example is still appropriate because Jackson started restructuring the team with his star in mind.

  Jackson made a conscious effort to knock Michael Jordan off his pedestal by insistently repeating the thoughts of a Buddhist nun: ‘No man is an island. No man takes his path alone. What I put into other people’s lives will come back to me.’ They are not easy words for sportsmen who have joined the elite, as they are so used to being told that they are unique, special, the ones responsible for victories. So Jackson would often ask them, ‘Do you understand what I’m saying? Nobody goes anywhere alone. We are in this together.’

  ‘I had a very good relationship with Michael,’ says Phil Jackson. ‘I didn’t buy the idea that Jordan was a god, not for one second. I had to ask him to do less than he was doing. “I don’t want you to be the one getting the most points. Those who score the most points don’t win championships,” I said to him.’

  But Jordan wanted to carry on being the top scorer.

  The new coach signed quality players to improve the starting five, but the press kept focusing on the star, which could have broken the cohesion that Jackson was building.

  But both Jackson and Jordan reached the same conclusion: the player could carry on having the best scoring statistics even if his points average went down. To allow the players around him to grow, Jordan offered to reduce his influence; that was decided after listening to the coach, so it is almost better to say that he thought he was offering voluntarily. In any case, Jordan accepted the role of reducing the ‘me’ to obtain a victorious ‘us’.

  What happened to the Chicago Bulls that season requires tremendous personal and collective willpower and that philosophy allowed the team to win six NBA titles.

  Curiously, Michael Jordan did not win a single championship without Phil Jackson, but the latter did win titles without Michael. In fact, he did the same again with Kobe Bryant. Even the best players need direction.

  ‘Barça have worked with Romario, Laudrup, Stoichkov, Koeman, Eto’o, Ronaldinho,’ explains Charly Rexach, Johan Cruyff’s assistant in the victorious blaugrana Dream Team. ‘We have always had stars and important players; the problem is knowing how to manage that.’ Charly thinks that the coach has to know how to set limits from day one so that everyone gets the best out of themselves.

  ‘The key to everything is having a good, intelligent coach,’ reflects Rexach. ‘Someone who says, “Messi is good because he does a few things, the other one is good because he does other things …” And he says to the new guys, “what do you to do? Why were you signed? Very well, do what you did in your old team. But as soon as you do something that you’re not supposed to, you’re out!” That’s how it goes.’

  ‘Next year all that is left for you to do is break your own records,’ a well-known coach told Leo at the end of the 2012−13 season. Leo laughed. In reality, the challenge for the following campaigns was much greater.

  The statistics of being best in the world had to be balanced with the improvement of a team that had lost some of its essence, and was suffering the consequences of lack of leadership.

  Ernesto Valverde and Manuel Pellegrini were spoken of to replace Vilanova, and Luis Enrique was approached when Tito had to leave the bench. In the end, four days after the announcement of his departure, an ex-Newell’s player from Rosario was chosen. He held the record for the most appearances for the Argentine outfit and, fittingly, a little Leo did kick-ups in the middle of the pitch during his testimonial. His only European experience was playing for Tenerife for a couple of months.

  The reasons for choosing Gerardo ‘Tata’ Martino are numerous: he had just won the league and reached the semi-final of the Copa Libertadores with a Newell’s Old Boys team that favoured high pressing and possession; he did not know Leo Messi personally, but he did know his father Jorge and the reports that reached Barcelona from different sources were excellent. ‘There are no other teams which play like us, but there is a culture of play which we have established,’ writes Andoni Zubizarreta in the club magazine. ‘This has become universal and you can therefore find some solutions which aren’t necessarily the closest to home.’

  Sandro Rosell had known Martino for years and they had spoken about football on various occasions when the Barcelona president was working at Nike. He asked a mutual friend, the Paraguay president, for el Tata’s phone number, and he called him immediately. ‘Let’s do it,’ answered Martino when he was offered the post, and he immediately abandoned his idea of taking a year off. ‘And overcoming the distance, the perception was that he had a thorough command
of where we were,’ relates Zubizarreta.

  Leo had said in Olé a year earlier that he admired el Tata, in charge of his beloved Ñuls. ‘I like Martino, he’s a really great coach. You could see what he was doing with the team at the Clausura competition – the good results, the good football. He found the right eleven, made them play well and earned their respect.’

  ‘I know the Messis spoke to Barça and I thank them for that,’ said the new coach before travelling from Buenos Aires to Barcelona. ‘I’m sure Lionel and Jorge have had an influence and have spoken to the Barça management.’

  Matías Messi wrote on his Twitter account: ‘What a beautiful surprise it is that Martino has been chosen as the coach of this team.’ And a day later, after a friendly against Bayern Munich at the Allianz Arena, Leo declared: ‘I haven’t anything to do with Martino joining nor do I have to give explanations. It is between President Rosell and the club.’

  Martino had ‘assumed’ things that el Tata himself had to deny in his first press conference at the Camp Nou. In this book Sandro Rosell also denies the Messis had anything to do with his arrival. But the recognition that Martino was on Leo’s wavelength was logical: in terms of geography, feelings towards the same club and because, until then, Barcelona’s success had occurred because the conditions were put in place to enable their star to shine at the top level – bringing in a coach who understood him was therefore a logical step.

  The new Barcelona coach was involved in a major project in the lower ranks at Newell’s which he has had to leave in the hands of ex-Under 20 Argentine international Jorge Theiler and other ex-players. Málaga, who wanted to sign Martino, just as Real Sociedad did, have invested in the programme and, for a while, they tried to convince Jorge and Leo Messi to participate. Adrián Coria, Leo’s x-coach in Rosario, is part of the technical team which el Tata took with him to Barcelona. But they say in Rosario that the connection between the Messis and Martino does not go any further than that.