Thierry Henry believes Lionel Messi is too 'isolated' at Paris Saint-Germain and that the Ligue 1 giants should do more to get the best out of the Argentinian.
Messi signed for PSG as free
agent in the summer after Barcelona's financial woes meant they could not
afford to keep him, but life in France has got off to a somewhat slow start.
The six-time Ballon d'Or has
scored three goals in the Champions League but is yet to open his Ligue 1
account in four domestic starts.
Henry, who played alongside
Messi at Barcelona between 2007 and 2010, attributed the lack of goals to PSG's
need to accommodate him alongside Kylian Mbappe and Neymar.
'He [Messi] is isolated, he
is on the ball less,' Henry told RMC Sport. 'I wouldn't say he's sad, but he's
isolated. I prefer him through the middle.
'I'm having trouble with Leo
out on the right. In the middle, he can set the tempo.
'Something needs to be found
in order to get Mbappe, Neymar and Messi to play together.'
Henry said that after over a
decade of being the central figure at Barcelona, Messi was having to adjust to
a team not designed around him with Mbappe clearly the main focal point of
PSG's attacks.
'Messi doesn't speak a lot,
he speaks with the ball,' he continued.
'For now, it's Kylian's team.
Kylian is the one who's making it shine most of all. The ball goes more towards
him.
'At any single moment there
can only be one conductor, otherwise you can't play at the same tempo. And in
this team, there are too many conductors.'
Mauricio Pochettino has
tended to deploy Messi on the right of a front-three, with Mbappe through the
middle and Neymar out on the left.
Henry, however, suggested
confining Messi to a particular area of the pitch was stifling his potential.
'I don't think he can make
the difference on the right, but then I don't have the exact details from the
tactical standpoint,' the former Arsenal star added.
'Obviously when you stay high
up and you get out of the way, you won't have an impact. Then you have fewer
balls going towards him.'
Speaking earlier this month,
Messi admitted he had been surprised by the level of physicality in Ligue 1.
‘Ligue 1 is a league which is
much more physical than La Liga,' he told France Football.
‘Here in Ligue 1 the teams
seem more powerful to me. Most of the players are very strong.’
He also quelled concerns he
may struggle to strike a partnership with Mbappe and Neymar, with whom he
played for four seasons at Barcelona.
‘I’m sure it will work out
well,’ Messi said. ‘With a player like Kylian, it’s easy to get along. Also, he
speaks perfect Spanish.’
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