That’s why Messi often seems apathetic at the start of the game

Ernesto Valverde has revealed why Lionel Messi does not take action in many games in the first minutes and seems almost indifferent. In the early stages of a game, Messi hardly touches the ball and apparently just strolls across the court. But that has a certain reason, as Valverde told the Financial Times.

The Argentinian reserves the right to use the initial phase for “his interpretation” of the game, Valverde told the Financial Times. Messi memorizes all positions of the opposing defenders.

“As the game progresses, he becomes more active and knows exactly where the weak points of his opponents are,” said the FC Barcelona coach.

“I have to admit that the really big players analyze games better than I can,” Valverde said, but corrected himself immediately. Do not “analyse”, is the right word, but “interpret”.

Actually, Valverde continued, one should “not think, but play” on the field. But Messi is just an extreme example.