I enjoy a good comic book. What enjoy even more is taking an established character and concept then twisting it, imagining what might have happened if a story had played out in another way. Marvel have a wonderful What If? Series that does just this.
Jim Kearns, Hiko Seijuro and myself have launched football’s version of this. Diving into tactical fantasy and using our imaginations for football’s very own What If?
Where better to start than with two of the game’s modern greats, Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo?
Football is as much about the chatter away from the game than what actually happens on the pitch. It has always been the way, with the game a stereotypical conversational gateway for the male adult whether in a pub or at a dinner party. In an internet driven world the levels of chat have soared. Criticism, tactical vivisection, speculation, admiration and, perhaps even a little fantasy.
People have grown accustomed to their weekly point laden dose of Fantasy Football, trying to shoe horn as many mega stars into their ranks as possible, creating their own Galacticos. Many go further and immerse themselves into simulations such as Football Manager, attempting to emulate coaching legends, gelling together teams of top talents.
It was in one of these Football Manager saves that I was able to generate a fantasy scenario. During a game where I had installed myself as Arsenal manager I was able to recruit both Messi and Ronaldo. At one time Messi was relatively easy to sign in game, but Ronaldo was almost impossible. Somehow on this version of the game Real Madrid were having the most awful of seasons and Ronaldo threw in a transfer request. I snapped him up and voila, the two greatest players of their generation had teamed together. Ronaldo on the left wing and Messi on the right, ripping through the virtual football world.
How incredible would it have been to see Ronaldo and Messi at the peak of their powers in the same side? Many suggest that they would not be able to co-exist, their egos preventing them from ever acting cohesively together. I am unconvinced by that view. Messi was magnificent alongside Neymar and Luis Suarez, two large egos themselves (particularly the Brazilian trickster) while Ronaldo enjoyed wonderful seasons with Gareth Bale and Karim Benzema. If movie posters were being designed I have no doubt that both Messi and Ronaldo would have received top billing in their respective epics, but the other members of the cast still got plenty of dialogue.
In this fantasy it is my responsibility to team football’s Federer and Nadal together with a supporting cast that can get the best out of both of them. To figure all of this out we have to acknowledge that they have evolved as footballers and different periods of their careers may gel better in order to get them in the same side.
As it is my team my choice would be to take the versions of Messi and Ronaldo circa 2011. Ronaldo was fairly fresh to La Liga and had a starting position wide on the left, drifting or dribbling in field. At times taking up the centre forward position, particularly if the ball was on the right side of the pitch. This would be Messi’s starting position, slightly deeper than Ronaldo on the left. I envision Ronaldo’s position closer to the penalty area, high in the half space, with Messi dropping much closer to the halfway line, seeking to get on the ball as much as possible. Once play has built up and is much closer to the final third Messi would be granted license to roam as the build up guides him. Both players are a considerable threat on the counter attack and I would not be making high defensive demands of either of them. Where is the fantasy in turning two of the greatest attacking talents in history into defensive players?
Deploying the two of them in such a way would place demands on those around them, impacting almost every facet of the side. To play like this a very specific type of forward would be needed. Initially I had considered a player with the ability to hold up the ball and allow Messi and Ronaldo to join, but when something similar was attempted with Zlatan Ibrahimovic at Barcelona the cohesion level left a lot to be desired. Ronaldo would also benefit from being able to occupy that centre forward space. A player capable of performing as a false nine would be ideal.
At Madrid Ronaldo had huge success with Karim Benzema. Benzema was nominally the centre forward but his movement to create space for Ronaldo was the secret to their success. Benzema would often drop deeper, dragging defenders with him to create space for Ronaldo. Benzema was also able to pull wide right or left to ask defenders different questions all while vacating the centre forward zone. Gareth Bale would at times fill this area from the right and I would expect Messi to do the same.
There is a problem with this system. Benzema is not going to help defensively. Under Jose Mourinho Real Madrid allowed their front three to not track and relied on their attacking quality to outscore the inferior teams. I am not comfortable with that approach and would like a forward who could help the midfield.
This brings me to Roberto Firmino. Unfortunately, in 2011 Firmino had only just signed for Hoffenheim. He showed early signs of being aggressive, unpredictable and a real pressing forward. There were few signs of the false nine and extra midfielder he would become under Jurgen Klopp. By the time that version of Firmino emerged Ronaldo was a centre forward himself. None the less, I feel that Firmino would help get the best out of Ronaldo and Messi while also helping to bolster the midfield when out of possession.
Another key component of this side will be the full backs. Their job in possession would be to provide width. Fortunately, there are two almost automatic choices of player to pair with our two legends. Marcelo and Dani Alves. The understanding that Alves and Messi developed was spectacular. Add into the equation that Alves had fantastic crossing ability Ronaldo would thrive at the far post. Marcelo had the ability to operate as an auxiliary winger. Tremendous creativity and understanding. Yet it bugs me… Are they too attacking? Is the midfield going to be too exposed? Is there another route here?
That route could come from Munich. Joshua Kimmich and David Alaba (now of Real Madrid) are two exceptional footballers, both capable of playing in central midfield as well as at full back. Could it be that in breaking up the long-standing partnerships and introducing these two supremely intelligent footballers a better balance is achieved? It might not be as swash buckling, but Kimmich has an extraordinary talent for chance creation at Bayern Munich, delivering into Lewandowski from the half space whether he is playing full back or central midfield. Does he then start to occupy Messi’s spaces? Perhaps the answer is then a mixture. Alves on the right side to offer the width, Alaba on the left with his ability to go wide but also fill in centrally, helping to support the midfield.
What of the central midfield? It will need energy, quality and discipline. Numerous players could fill the roles but there is one name that must be included. Xabi Alonso. Recently I have studied the high scoring Jose Mourinho Real Madrid team. When it came to the chance creation Ozil and Kaka provided the killer pass but the key pass, the pass that split the opposition midfield and put Ozil and Kaka into prime position, came from Xabi Alonso. His ability to break the midfield layers was crucial Madrid and it would be crucial for getting the best out of Messi and Ronaldo.
How would they actually play? I anticipate that on the counter attack Messi, Ronaldo and Benzema would sprint away from opponents with Dani Alves the most likely to support. If the opposition begin to reorganise then the dribbling skills of Messi begin to pick through the defence, rather than the sprinting power of Ronaldo in the open counter attacking spaces. With the opposition set defensively there will be the option to pick out the incredible leaping power of Ronaldo at the far post, dominating full backs. Messi’s extraordinary play making skills and ability to change the tempo of an attack would be a regular avenue for breaking down the opposition. His fast one and two touch passing in dangerous areas have been as crucial for Barcelona over the years as his other worldly trickery.
Would the two players link up? I am sure they would combine on the counter attack and Messi would find killer passes to play in Ronaldo. Would Ronaldo create chances for Messi? Who knows? I expect both would score in vast quantities, with Ronaldo scoring a fraction more an Messi higher on the assists. One thing is for sure, Ronaldo is on the penalties and Messi is taking free kicks. And that is final.
The Walters Solution – Jim Kearns
Ronaldo and Messi. Messi and Ronaldo.
This is the either the footballing equivalent of the café scene from Heat or the moment that some unknown culinary genius looked at his pizza, then at the pineapple in his fruit bowl and decided to ruin two perfectly good foods at once.
It should also be noted that for all the genius of this thought experiment, asking a West Ham fan to participate is a bit like asking a shepherd on the side of Mount Olympus what he thinks of the demigods above. I am certainly aware of the existence of these men in a metaphysical sense, but pondering how to deploy them is quite challenging for someone raised at Upton Park.
My immediate thought was to try and replicate the famous rotating, kaleidoscopic Manchester United front three of the 2008 era. That side featured Carlos Tevez, Wayne Rooney and Cristiano Ronaldo playing in a wildly kinetic three pronged attack with a fluidity of movement that made them incredibly hard to contain. Slipping Messi in for Rooney seems like an easy enough switch, but it also means that Ronaldo would be deployed as a free ranging wide player which doesn’t seem like the optimal use of the greatest central striker of the modern era.
Furthermore, in keeping with the spirit of this endeavour I have chosen to utilise both players from the same period of their careers, and for that reason I settled upon the three season span from 2014/15 through 2016/17. During this time Ronaldo bagged 154 goals in 148 games, with 48 assists. Bringing up the rear was Messi with a paltry 153 goals in 158 games and 66 assists and, as an aside, when you write these numbers down it’s actually pretty challenging to believe that they are real.
Given this time frame of their careers, I am trying to find a system that involves Ronaldo playing centrally with Messi playmaking from the right flank. I did consider simply using Messi as an withdrawn second striker, operating from a central starting position and charged with reading Ronaldo’s intelligent movement to create chances. However, I couldn’t find any point in his career where he had been used in such a way, with a central striker ahead of him, and it also felt that this might be snuffed out relatively easily with a deep lying midfield restricting the space available for him to operate in. It also seemed odd to try and get these players to do things they haven’t done before, even if I might take the opportunity to get Messi a better accountant in this particular parallel universe.
I settled upon a fairly unoriginal 4-3-3, with a requirement for a disciplined, diligent and tactically aware player on the left side of that front three. Given that this man will have the two preeminent talents of his generation alongside him I decided that it would be fun to pick a player who is somewhat below that level but who might find his own game elevated by the presence of greatness. Obviously, I therefore chose Stoke and Republic of Ireland forward Jon Walters, a thoroughly good professional who probably never appeared on the transfer target list at either Camp Nou or the Bernabau, but who would surely find his own game taken to new heights alongside his celestial team mates.
I also envisage this team playing with dynamic, attacking full backs such as Dani Alves and Jordi Alba to give width, while Ronaldo’s incomparable movement would create space behind him for Messi to exploit. It doesn’t feel hard to imagine Messi slaloming through defenders to find Alba high on the left, who in turn would find Ronaldo six feet above his marker at the back post. And Walters would be illegally blocking off a defender somewhere, to make Tony Pulis beam in pride.
I like the thought of how the differences between Messi and Ronaldo would be complimentary when deployed alongside each other. I think of Messi as a magnetic footballer, the ball invariably glued to his feet while defenders are sucked inexorably toward him to leave gaps for others to exploit, such as, er, Walters. Ahead of him by contrast, Ronaldo frequently seems able to repel defenders from his presence, meaning that he often finishes moves while apparently unmarked, leading us to ponder the efficacy of defensive units who would leave such a player on his own. Watched back we actually see that his formidable pace and physical strength is allied to a preternatural ability to anticipate passes and to avoid detection, leading to his late, unstoppable arrivals in areas of high danger.
During this period of his career, Ronaldo had shifted to a more central role, and had noticeably become more of a penalty area player. Gone was the freewheeling pinball footballer of old, who ranged widely about the pitch or, as Gabriele Marcotti memorably described it “where he started mattered less than where he ended up”. Instead, he had become the particularly devastating tip of a deadly trident, owing a debt to Joe Mourinho, of all people, who had constructed a team to exploit the outstanding finishing abilities of the Portuguese.
Even with Ronaldo being more conservative with his movement, I still picture a team of fluidity and geometric passing – a quiet belief in angles, if you will – augmented by the presence of the greatest dribbler of all time, and the preeminent goal scorer of his age. And also Jon Walters, who it may seem like I’m denigrating but I’m really not. I simply love the idea that players can be made better by their team mates.
There are defensive niceties to consider, of course, with Walters being required to shuffle back into midfield to create a 4-4-2 shape in defence when necessary, while one of the central midfielders will need to drift right to cover the movement of Messi and Alves.
As tempting as it is to believe that a team containing the two greats of their age couldn’t be stopped, history has shown us how unlikely that is, and the game is all the better for it. I look forward to reading how you would stop my fearsome Messi-Ronaldo-Walters combination.
What If Cristiano Ronaldo Had Replaced David Villa? – Hiko Seijuro
“I wouldn’t want him here, At Barça, we do not have room for players who fill gossip magazines. We are hard workers and sportsmen but he, on the other hand, is uncontrollable.” – Xavi on Cristiano Ronaldo
Messi as a false nine is probably the most devastating adaptation in European football for the past decade. His initial move away from the right hand side of the attack opened up several possibilities and led to great success for the Blaugrana. False nine Messi was pretty much unrivalled and won the Balon D’or in every year bar one (2013) while operating in that role.
Though the Argentine had been used in that role in the 2008/2009 La Liga season, notably in the 6-2 demolition of Real Madrid at the Bernabeu, he didn’t make the switch permanent until the 2010/2011 season which will be my focus. It so happens that Ronaldo was the only person to outscore Messi that season in La Liga, with forty goals to his name. So, what if false nine Messi had played together with Cristiano in 2011? Would Ronaldo have worked at Barcá?
For the purposes of this article, I’ll place Cristiano as a Barcelona player (considering that they were the best team in the world at the time), on the left side of Barcelona’s 4-3-3 attack. This basically means that he would be replacing David Villa in the team set up. So how would Barcelona have made use of Cristiano in that role?
#1. PINNING: The first aspect of Cristiano’s role in the team wouldn’t be different from what we see Pedro and Villa (front two) doing in the image above: pinning the back line and pushing them deeper to create space for Messi to occupy between the lines. Pedro and Villa stay high and wide on the last line and this means that the Manchester United backline cannot push up and compress the space which Messi them drops into to overload the midfield and easily progress the ball.
The fact is that even in 2011, Cristiano wasn’t very particular about showing up short for the ball, instead he excelled in the demands on Barcelona wingers at that time: winning 1v1 duels, providing depth, and out to in runs on to through balls. The difference is that Cristiano would probably be more effective at this than Villa. His dribbling numbers are superior to the Spaniard’s and this threat would have forced defences to overcompensate towards him thereby opening up more space for those in the middle to work with.
In the image above, Barcelona have moved the Real Madrid shape to the right with Messi, Pedro and Xavi. This opens up space between Ramos and the central defender which Iniesta threatens thereby forcing Ramos to cover. Villa (circled) is absolutely free, he receives the pass from Xavi, burns Ramos 1v1 and crosses for Pedro to score for 2:0. Imagine Ronaldo with such amounts of space, it’s a wonder that Villa only got 5 assists in La Liga that season, Cristiano in that team would have created so much more especially with his superior dribbling ability at the time.
#2. LAST LINE RUNS: With Messi constantly dropping deep to overload the opposition midfield, one of the major ways that opponents tried to deal with this was by having a center back track him into the midfield and even up the numbers. This usually created a “rip” in the Unfortunately, qualitative superiority is a factor and with the passing ability of the Barcá players, Messi included, this was usually punished by the wise forwards making out to in runs to receive behind the defence and score. Villa was really good at this, but Cristiano was better – much better.
I’ll end this with a stat comparison from @whoscored of Villa and Ronaldo. If Ronaldo was in that team, it’s almost certain they would have won a second treble. So to answer the question I asked at the start of the article: Yes, Ronaldo would have worked at Barcá – tactically that is. The images above show Villa making his trademark runs. In the second image, you can clearly see the “rip” in Real Madrid’s defence as Ricardo Carvalho has stepped out to track Messi and has been dribbled past together with Xabi Alonso and Diarra. Messi then plays a perfect through ball which Villa cooly finishes off. Such moves would be Cristiano’s bread and butter.
