How has Messi been influential to the game when nobody can replicate the way he plays? Influential players are ones who start doing something new that everybody starts copying.
If most forwards strolled around the pitch like Messi for 80 of the 90 minutes they’d contribute absolutely nothing to the game. Messi hasn’t influenced anyone to change the way they play because it wouldn’t work if they did.
That’s what I was gonna say.
How has Messi been influential to the game when nobody can replicate the way he plays? Influential players are ones who start doing something new that everybody starts copying.
If most forwards strolled around the pitch like Messi for 80 of the 90 minutes they’d contribute absolutely nothing to the game. Messi hasn’t influenced anyone to change the way they play because it wouldn’t work if they did.
exactly, compare Messi’s brilliance to that of Cruyff or Beckenbauer who changed the way the game is played with new tactics and positions
I wonder which player in history has made the highest number of people actually change the way they play.
Ronaldo making everyone kick through the valve?
Roberto Carlos convincing a generation of full backs to stop defending?
Vinnie Jones making droves of sunday league players think “midfield hardman” is a legit position?