Lionel Messi and Zidane said something that felt like a message to Neymar and Mbappé.
Messi
Lionel Messi and Zinedine Zidane met in an interview conducted by Adidas, and mentioned the new role of the 10, being a dart that will surely fall for those who now wear this number, both Neymar and Kylian Mbappé. These last two names have not been what everyone expected in the world of football.
First Messi explained: “There are many teams that play with 4-3-3 and the 10 are more interior… or the linear 4-4-2 does not fit either. Now they become interior or false wingers. But our 10 or the one that always characterized the Argentine 10, midfielder, there are few, a lot was lost.”
“Football changed a lot, the way, the systems, since they were little they start with 4-3-3 or like that. That’s why the number 10, which is very characteristic, does not fit into that system. In this way, the training of those players was lost,” Lionel Messi complemented about the new role that a number 10 has, when they should be creating the game and giving spectacle and magic.
For his part, Zinedine Zidane also gave his opinion on the matter: “What the 10 has to have is a bit of magic, like you. Because he is the leader of the team, he has to create. What you have, the 10 has to do with something that the others don’t. For me that is the difference that you have with others. Let the players see what to do before receiving the ball. You knew what you were going to do and few do it. The 10 has to represent that. As long as a leader can do that, it’s better for the team.”
The praise that Lionel Messi gave to Zinedine Zidane
“For me Zidane is one of the greatest in history. I always admired him and I also suffered when he was at Madrid because I was from Barcelona. I remember the time of the Galacticos, of the European Cup, who had a great team, but he was always a different player, he had art, magic, everything. It’s not because he is here but for me he is one of the greatest in history. I have many memories of him,” said the Argentine star.