- Argentina legend Lionel Messi walks a lot during matches but it’s not because he’s being lazy.
- Coaches and experts praise Messi’s walking strategy, stating it helps him find space and outsmart opponents on the field.
- Pep Guardiola spoke in glowing terms about how the Inter Miami star has used this tactic throughout his career.
Lionel Messi has finally revealed why he can be seen walking so much in football matches. The Argentine has entered the final part of his illustrious career, so it’s only natural that he doesn’t charge around the pitch like players 10 or 15 years his junior might. However, throughout the legendary Argentine forward’s time in football, many fans have asked the same question: “Why does Messi walk so much during matches?”
He seemed to regularly stroll about during his glittering 17-year spell as a first-team player at Barcelona – particularly towards the end of his time at Camp Nou. He then seemed to walk even more frequently during his difficult two-year spell as a Paris Saint-Germain player. And although he loves representing Argentina, he’s also been spotted wandering about – almost half-heartedly at times – during plenty of international games over the years. According to the man himself, it all comes down to analysing his opponents.
Even at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar – the tournament that Messi will forever be synonymous with after inspiring La Albiceleste to glory – eyebrows were often raised in response to the sheer amount of time he’d spend walking in each game. Following the group stages, BBC Sport revealed that Messi appeared in the top 10 on three occasions when it came to players who covered the most distance while walking.
Messi Has Revealed Why He Doesn’t Run
He walks to analyse his opponents’ movement
While on the surface, Messi’s decision to walk could appear to be all about conserving energy, it actually has more to do with analysing his opponents and figuring out how to take advantage of their flaws. Speaking to Clank Media and reported by Goal, he revealed as such saying: “When I walk I analyse the opponent’s positioning, how we stand when we don’t have the ball, get away from the marker and be able to initiate a counterattack.”
So, there’s reasoning behind his decision to walk as opposed to run during matches. With that said, he also admitted that running was never his thing, going all the way back to his early days at Newell’s when he first got started in football.
“When I was at Newell’s, there were two or three times a week we were sent to run around the grounds. I used to hide behind a tree. Running without a ball was never my thing. Heh. I don’t pay much attention to GPS, statistics or data. I never cared how much I ran in a match.”
Pep Guardiola’s Take on Lionel Messi Walking
“He is not out of the game, he’s involved”
One man who knows exactly why Messi walks so much during matches is Pep Guardiola, the South American’s former manager at Barcelona and arguably the best coach in the world. Commenting while watching a video of Messi as part of the ‘This is Football’ series on Amazon Prime Video, the revered Catalan coach said: “He’s watching now, he’s walking.
“He’s walking… That’s what I like the most. He is not out of the game, he’s involved. He’s moving his head: right, left, left, right. He knows exactly what is going to happen. But his head is always like this [Guardiola turns his head left and right]. He’s always moving.
“He’s not running, but he’s always watching what’s happening. He smells where are the weak points in the back four. After five, ten minutes, he has the map in his eyes, in his brain to know exactly where is the space and what is the panorama. It’s like being in the jungle and I have to survive. And he knows if I move here, here, I will have more space to attack.”
Essentially, Guadiola’s comments prove that Messi doesn’t walk around the pitch because he’s lazy or not physically up to the challenge of running more. He does it in order to be several steps ahead of his opponents. Then – and only then – when the moment is right: bang, he makes his move.
What Experts Have Said About Messi Walking
Data scientist explains how it helps him find space
Speaking during the 2018 World Cup, football pundit Ken Early stated, per the Daily Mail: “Messi has figured out how to win matches by moving less than everyone else.” While Luke Born, a data scientist at Barcelona, said during a sports analytics conference: “Can we say Messi gets a lot of his space by not chasing the play? Yes, that’s precisely what our research shows.”
Fans may enjoy seeing players charge around at 100 miles per hour, but Messi is proof that it can pay dividends to at least appear on the fringes of the game. The difference between Messi and other players who drift in and out of matches, though, is that the World Cup winner is steps ahead of most opponents in his head.
His football intelligence is on another level to most professionals, and that’s one of the main reasons he’s been able to scale such lofty heights over the past two decades. Now in his mid-30s, it’s safe to assume that the time Messi spends walking during matches will only increase between now and the day he retires.
Despite that, the football icon will continue to be the first name on the teamsheet for both Inter Miami and Argentina because of the otherworldly quality he possesses. He’ll be 39 years old when the next World Cup finals come around – hosted by Canada, Mexico, and the United States – but you certainly wouldn’t bet against him making the tournament to help defend Argentina’s crown.