Lionel Messi, Barcelona star is so talented he could be an ALIEN - journalist

 

Messi will undoubtedly go down as one of the greatest players to ever grace the game when he decides to hang up his boots.
The Barcelona legend has scored more goals than anyone for the Spanish club (566), while also holding the record in La Liga (392) and for Argentina (65).
However, at 31 Messi is showing no signs of slowing down - with 14 goals bagged in 13 appearances so far in 2018/19.

And Spanish football writers Andy West and Guillem Balague - who have both written books on Messi - have proposed a bizarre theory as to why he is so talented.

“There is a theory that he is an alien. How else could he do it?” West said on BBC Radio 5 Live’s Football Daily podcast.
“Barcelona defender Gerard Pique is a particular proponent of that theory.”
Balague then added: “On the alien theory, I wrote in my book that there are 11 things you need to be Messi and that is why he must be an alien. Only an alien can have that.
“The right family and football context - his family almost emigrated to Australia. Had he been born there would he be Messi? I don't think so. In Argentina, yes. You have to have the motivation, the ambition, the regularity of effort, commitment, sacrifice, confidence, leadership, emotional intelligence, the genes and you have to have luck.

“There is a theory that he is an alien. How else could he do it?”

Andy West

 

 

 “Put all that together and you get Messi. Why have there not been any more Messis? Because it is impossible to have all that together.
“He was a rock falling down a mountain, there was no stopping him and he would have destroyed whatever came in his way.”
Messi has won nine La Liga titles, five Ballon d'Ors and four Champions League crowns in 14 years at the Nou Camp, wherein he has had to play under a number of different managers and with a host of players.
West insists the Argentine has had to adapt many times at the club, particularly as he has got older.
“He has been open to adapting to new situations, new coaches, new team-mates, new playing positions and I think that is so important,” he said.

“If even the greatest player in history has to be open to changing the rest of us should be. He had to abandon the false nine role in which he scored 91 goals in a year [2012] because it stopped working.
“Consistently, every two or three years, he has taken on a new role, new team-mates. He hasn't chosen these. It hasn't been part of a big masterplan, he has had to react to circumstances.
“In the early days he was a dribbler - he could do other things as well, and I'm simplifying a bit - whose instinct was to get the ball and run as quickly as possible towards goal.
"The Spanish word 'pauza', where you just stop and take in the game - he didn't have that, he was a bit head-down. But you can see now how, over the years, he has developed other aspects to his game. He can still dribble but he has a much greater passing ability.
“He doesn't maybe still have the capacity to run past players from the halfway line, like in his famous goal against Getafe in 2007, but he can pass through teams. He is a more complete player and I think this is something we will see more of in the coming years.”