After Argentina’s defeat in the final of the Copa America, the majority of the criticism fell on Messi’s shoulders. He was blamed for not having “shown up” for Argentina like he does for Barcelona and not helping lift his nation to glory. This video analysis compares how Messi plays for Argentina and how he plays for Barcelona; you will notice that there isn’t much difference between how he plays for both sides, but there is a difference in the behavior of his teammates.

The video is in Spanish, the English translation is as follows:

0:14: Messi almost always receives the ball far from the oppositions half. Sometimes even further, like here.

0:28: Passing to him, including here, means he will imbalance the opponents.

0:41: Yes, it’s true that on occasions, Chile did a great job marking and cutting off any passing lanes to Messi.

0:54: But, on many occasions, Messi was a great option, since he was open, but his teammates looked another way.

1:07: Messi walks, waits…and he knows that he’s unmarked.

1:13: The pass goes to another player, who in turn loses possession.

1:23: Messi is unmarked. There is no intention from his teammate to look for him. The yellow square is space being created by his teammate, which will eventually leave Messi in a great position for support.

1:34: Messi, again, is an unmarked player in space. They don’t even look for him.

1:44: He recognizes himself as an unmarked man and he raises his hand and asks for it. But Banega sees something else.

1:57: Messi in a great position for support to keep the attack going. He’s unmarked with space ahead of him to attack into. What possible better options are there if Messi is in such a great position?

2:09: Because with Messi on your side, there should be a clear mindset that he’s the most superior: this takes into account both his quality and his talent (give the ball to the best player). If you pass to him, good things tend to happen.

2:19: Messi lulls the defender, walking, losing his marker, then…

2:36: This was the only pass that Messi received during the match when he was in a great position in the opposition’s half.

2:50: When Messi receives in space, even when it comes from the opponent, he pulls things like this out of his hat (the forward called offside was not the one the ball was intended for.

3:05: Messi receives a strong pass moving at speed. Easy to receive? No. But he still does his best. Give the ball to Messi in any way, and something like this will happen.

3:24: These are all things that everyone at Barça knows very well…

4:05: It’s not just about looking for him as a passing option. If he passes it to you, give it back (play the one-two)! On Argentina, Messi generates superiority, he passes…but it never comes back. He’s not the first option for his teammates.

4:16: Messi beats his opponent with a pass and runs into space. The attention is now fixed on Di Maria who should play it back to Messi…

4:24: …but NO

4:37: Again, Messi splits the opposition with a pass and runs into open space…

4:45: …and NO

5:07: Again, Messi plays the pass and runs into open space and they don’t play it back to him. How is this possible?

5:13: Messi was all alone!

5:21: At Barça, they have it clear in their head: if Messi gives it to you, the first option should be to play it back to him. Because they know that something good will happen. And this happens in every match for the blaugrana.

5:32: Messi, in between two players, in a 3 vs 7 attack. It’s evident that he’s going to need some assistance to solve this.

5:41: One quick wall pass from Neymar is enough.

6:12: All of the defenders are caught ball watching…and Messi is unmarked.

6:33: But, who knows? Maybe it was Messi’s fault. Why doesn’t he do things like this in every match?

The football played in Argentina is more selfish in nature than the one that he plays in Spain. At Barcelona, Messi is normally seen as one of the first passing options and his teammates recognize him as being the best player in the world and look for him in order to lead them out of trouble.

There’s a level of confidence that Messi receives from his Barcelona teammates that isn’t offered by his teammates in Argentina. Messi isn’t allowed to flourish with his national team because of this lack of confidence and selfishness that’s exhibited by his teammates.

The Argentinian public applauds the “effort” of players like Angel di Maria even though this same “effort”, which was actually a bad decision to dribble at 3 players, is what caused Angel to get stretchered off early in the match.

At Barça, it is well known that Messi doesn’t run all the time during the match, but if you give him the ball, no matter where he is, he makes things happen on the pitch.

However, it’s easier to criticize Messi because of his immense talent and it’s easier to praise the “effort” put in by his teammates; what isn’t criticized though, is the poor decision making of his teammates. When you have players who are passing options and Messi is one of those options, you always want to give the ball to Messi. There truly is no better option, and Barça reaps the rewards of this by using the Best Player in the World to the best of his ability.