Consistency is another thing which Messi is known for, not only because he has been world-class for multiple years, having a 10-year gap between his first and last Ballon d'Or, but also because of some individual qualities which he has been stellar in for over a decade. That's what the entry is about today, the specific qualities, and without further ado, let's get into the numbers.
Dribbling
His dribbling numbers were already spectacular in his early days, having 7.67 dribbles per game in the 2005/06 season according to StatsBomb, and while he's downgraded to 4.95 dribbles per game in the 2018/19 season, that is still an incredibly high amount, plus the number of minutes played massively increased. If we go to Opta's dribbles, we can see the following:
Clearly now can we understand the magnitude of how good he has been at dribbles for so much time.
Shooting
I already covered this subject earlier, which refers to xG. What I mean is that, on every single La Liga season since his first one, he has overperformed his xG, which is a very hard task, especially when done so consistently for 16 consecutive seasons.
Playmaking
In terms of assists, he has given over 10 assists since 2007, giving 20+ in many years as well. Other numbers include key passes, where he has done 40+ key passes in La Liga every single season since 2007/08. He's also attempted at least 30 troughballs in every single La Liga season except 2017/18. Remarkable numbers that show his great playmaking abilities.
Free kicks
Since 2008, he has scored at least 1 free kick every year, getting even 3+ every year between 2012 and 2019, amassing a total of 53.
These are only a few of the things Messi has been consistently good at, and perhaps I'll do a part 2 someday. But until then, see you in the next entry.
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