Messi played as a striker in the game, but at different times, he played in different positions and roles.
Early career: Right winger
At La Masia's academy and Barcelona B, Messi played mainly as a left winger. Occasionally play in the number 10 position (i.e. the role behind the centre-forward) and take on playmaking tasks.
Played as a right winger after entering the Barcelona first team. Ronaldo usually attacks on the left, with Samuel Eto'o playing as a central striker, while Messi is deployed on the right as a right winger to compete with Giuli for game time.
Early in his career, Messi was a pure dribbler, and his main task was to get to the bottom line by dribbling and then cross for Ronaldo or Samuel Eto'o. During this time, he gradually tried to cut inside in the middle and then shoot, so the number of goals in this phase also increased.
Pep Guardiola's period: False No. 9
08 09 season Pep Guardiola took charge of Barcelona. He moved Messi's position from right winger to center striker, playing the role of false number nine.
During this period, Thierry Henry played as a left winger and Samuel Eto'o as a right winger. Pep Guardiola has created a 433-style strikerless system, and Messi is the pseudo-No. 9 in this lineup.
Under this system, Messi often retreats to the right as an attacking playmaker, while rushing into the box in the final stages to perform the duties of a central striker.
Although in the 09-10 season, Barcelona signed Ibrahimovic as a center forward, and Messi once again appeared in the right winger position, but Guardiola found that Messi preferred to be in the middle, so a year later, Ibrahimovic's supercar was discounted to Milan.
Since the 10 11 season, Messi has been playing the role of pseudo-9. In this position, Messi showed his best side.
When Messi retreats, opposing defenders either stick to their positions and give Messi room to break through. Either follow Messi so that Messi can pass the ball to a teammate in a better position and instigate the attack.
In this position, Messi's passing, dribbling, and shooting abilities have been maximized. During this period, he won the Ballon d'Or four times in a row, which is also the best proof of this.
MSN era: Right winger
In 2014, Barcelona signed Luis Suarez, who played as a traditional centre-forward, while Messi returned to the right at this time.
Suarez is good at waiting for opportunities and attacking forward. This also provides space for Messi to organise the attack, while Neymar's in-cut on the left is also a sharp sword.
MSN spent three seasons together, scoring 364 goals, making them one of the strongest tridents in football history.
Barca's last years: Playing everything
Since the departure of Neymar in 2017, Barcelona have brought in a variety of players, such as Dembele, Coutinho, Antoine Griezmann, Vidal and many more.
At this stage, Messi's position on the field is no longer fixed, but depends on the main squad at the time. So sometimes he's a centre-forward, sometimes a shadow striker, sometimes a false nine, sometimes a right winger.
One notable feature at this stage was the increase in the number of shots from outside the Messi box. He took on more organising tasks and rushed into the box less and less.
The above is about the evolution of Messi's playing position, it is just a personal understanding, if you have any questions, please feel free to point out.
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