The Curious Case of Lionel Messi: Is Inconsistency Really His Problem?

(Photo by Jasper Juinen/Getty Images)

Nowadays, there is very little argument as to why Lionel Messi is the greatest attacker in modern football.

With even former World Player of the Year, Kaka, recently joining his interminable list of admirers, the fun-sized Rosario native easily has one of the largest fan bases in the game, and for reasons that are more than justifiable; after last year's dazzling campaign with Barcelona, who can still doubt that the Argentine's fiery pace, electrifying dribbling ability, stupefying passes, and cool finishing combine to make him one of the most dangerous men in world soccer?

Yet, on the international stage, Messi still has more than a lot to prove. But, why?

How can a player who knocked in 38 goals, with 18 assists, in 51 appearances for Barcelona last season have only 12 goals in forty for the Argentine national team?

Who can fathom that a man who destroys La Liga defenses every weekend looks a mere shell of himself when playing relatively weaker national sides, rarely even speaking on the pitch in his last two games against Brazil and Paraguay?

Millions of Argentines ask themselves this question every international fixture. However, for some reason, they almost always seem to come out with the same incorrect conclusion: "Messi doesn't care about Argentina because he gets the big bucks with Barcelona," or, "Messi is inconsistent and indifferent about the national team."

Well, my fellow football aficionados, you could not be further from the truth.

In the past, Messi has led Argentina to both Olympic Gold and U-20 World Cup glory. And, with just hearing him speak, humbly and shyly, about the love he has for his country; and watching the way he still interacts with his friends and family in Rosario, hanging out in public almost every time he returns home, you would be more than ignorant to assume he cares nothing about la Seleccion.

Also, to require Messi to renounce his massive love for Barcelona is ridiculous.

Let us not forget that the Catalan club was the team which even gave him an opportunity to play professional football, after Newell's Old Boys and self-proclaimed millionaires River Plate refused to pay for his needed medical treatments back home in Argentina.

If it weren't for Barcelona, who knows if Messi would have been anything more than some sickly little kid, and not the phenomenon we know him as today. With that being said, el Pibe de Oro still denied a call-up from the superior Spanish U-20 team in 2005—to play for his beloved Albicelestes.

As a Catalonian cartoon recently put it, the only difference between the Messi that plays for Argentina and the one that plays for Barcelona is that, "One is trained by Maradona, and the other by Pep Guardiola."

And, though this might initially seem like a mere jab at Maradona's training ability, it picks out a huge problem and difference between the styles of Barcelona and that of the Albicelestes over the past three years.

First of all, regardless of what Alfio Basile and Diego Maradona think, Messi is neither a natural "10" nor a "nine". Messi is a free-roaming winger.

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