"He helped us so much that he hurt us" - Ex-teammate offers interesting reflection on Lionel Messi's style of play with 'overshadowed' claim
Lionel Messi's ex-teammate Bruno Milanesio has opened up about the Argentine maestro's time as a youngster in Rosario, and his comments were not all positive.
Milanesio, now 35 years old, never progressed from playing in the Argentine leagues while his then-teammate made the move to Barcelona in Spain. The defender noted how impressive Messi had been at the time, opening up about how, as a kid, the Argentine playmaker lit up tournaments with Newell's Old Boys.
Speaking to Infobae, Milanesio said:
"With him [Lionel Messi], we directly won everything we played and by far. We went two or three years without losing a game, we won the classics by three or four goals. We were the best, it happens that he was much better than everyone else and he stood out just like he stands out today against the best in the world.”
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However, it wasn't just roses for Milanesio and his other teammates at Newell's. Without Messi on the pitch, they continually struggled to succeed.
“Leo overshadowed us a lot, he solved so many problems for us that he took away the possibility of solving them by ourselves. We are not going to judge him, on the contrary."
"But now that I see him as a coach, and I think that in any field, when you have a person who solves everything so well, in such an efficient way, that means that those around him do not have as many needs to develop resources.”
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Lionel Messi's brilliance on the field often meant that his teammates didn't need to perform to their full potential. Milanesio further explained:
“I threw it at him [Lionel Messi] as it was and he always returned it to me well. So maybe I didn't have to adjust the pass so much, because he solved it all the same. If I had a weaker player next to me, maybe I would have had to make a better pass to help him too. He helped us so much that he 'hurt us'.”
"Obsessed with winning" - Milanesio's memories of Lionel Messi showcase the superstar's current traits
The defender also opened up about Messi's desire to win, something the Argentine playmaker has possessed since he was a child. Milanesio said:
“I don't know where he inherited it from, he didn't learn that. He didn't get used to winning, he already had it with himself. He played 25 and won. If there was a game he couldn't win, it wasn't played or he didn't play and just watched. I think the day he feels like he can't win, he's out."
"That may have happened to him when he resigned from the Argentine team. He is sick, he is obsessed with winning. And life gave him the chance to win much more than he lost."
Now playing for Paris Saint-Germain and 35 years of age, the young Lionel Messi that gave Newell's youth so much energy is in the latter stages of his career. Having won everything in football, except perhaps the World Cup, the playmaker will be proud of his achievements on the field.