You Can Learn to be a Natural
Lionel Messi is arguably the greatest soccer player of all time.
Most athletes who reach the highest levels of competition are probably gifted with natural talent, and Messi is no exception. He was weaving in and out of defenders from a very tender age.
The question is, can Messi’s talent be learned with the right instructional materials, training methods, and a ton of practice? Messi may be one of a kind, but that shouldn’t discourage mere mortals from emulating his skills and reaching new heights in their game.
Deconstructing Messi’s Signature Move
The video above shows Messi’s signature move for beating defenders one-on-one, and it looks like magic. Let’s take the first encounter:
- Messi moves in on the defender, forcing him to run backwards.
- Messi shuffles his body and feet really fast.
- Messi runs past the defender on the right, while the defender stands there looking flat-footed.
At least that’s what it seems like. Now let’s deconstruct the encounter and analyse what actually happens:
- Messi does a standard shoulder feint. This is a fake that tricks the defender into thinking that you will go one way, then go the other way instead. Messi sets up the defender to think he is going to the right by dipping his shoulder to the right.
- But Messi actually sets his direction to the left by planting his right foot and pushing off to the left.
- The defender reads the feint and expects Messi to move to the left (his right). He plants his left foot and prepares to stretch his right foot out to intercept the ball.
- Messi, instead of clearing the ball to the left with the outside of his left foot (as he would have done with a regular shoulder feint), quickly plants his left foot next to the ball.
- The defender realises that Messi was setting up a combination move and that he will likely go to the right instead. He desperately tries to change direction by planting his right foot so he can push off and intercept Messi with his left foot, but he has already committed to the left.
- Messi frees up his left foot again by pushing off his left foot and planting his right foot.
- Messi taps the ball to the right with the inside of his (now free) left foot.
- Messi clears the ball forward with the top of his right foot.
- The defender is still planted on his left foot, and is left looking flat-footed while Messi makes his escape.
All of this happens in 1 second. In fact, I had to slow the video down to a quarter of the speed and replay it several times just to process what was going on.
The Power of Instinct
How is it that Messi can beat all of those defenders one-on-one, over and over again? The obvious answer is footwork, techniques, tactics, timing, speed, balance, power — the list goes on. But that doesn’t explain the missing ingredient that makes Messi great:
Messi’s level of mastery is instinctive.
Watch the video again: Messi is constantly in tune with the defender, dancing around and waiting for the perfect time to move. When the defender is planted on the left, he instinctively passes on the right. When the defender is slow, he instinctively speeds up. When the defender extends his foot, he instinctively moves around him. And he does all of that with incredible timing, speed, and precision, all while keeping his head in the game.
According to research published in the Swiss journal Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, Neymar Júnior, another soccer legend, has “extremely efficient foot motor control”. Researchers measured brain activity in Neymar during foot movements and found:
“[…] valuable evidence that the football brain of Neymar da Silva Santos Júnior (the Brasilian footballer) recruits very limited neural resources in the motor-cortical foot regions during foot movements.”
As the researcher, Eiichi Naito, told the press:
“From MRI images we discovered Neymar’s brain activity to be less than 10 percent of an amateur player,”
And:
“Reduced brain activity means less burden which allows (the player) to perform many complex movements at once. We believe this gives him the ability to execute his various shimmies.”
In other words, Neymar’s footwork is almost effortless: it is instinctive. This frees up the rest of his mental resources for other aspects of the game such as peripheral vision, situational awareness, tactics, and playmaking.
Instinct is what allows legends like Messi, Neymar, and Diego Maradona to weave in and out of world-class defenders. Instinct separates the good from the great.
Can Instinct be Learned?
This leads us to the million dollar question. If you’re not born with the right instincts, should you simply not bother? As Eiichi Naito told the press about Neymar’s abilities:
“It is possible genetics is a factor, aided by the type of training he does.”
Messi and Neymar were child prodigies with killer instincts. On top of that, they put in a lot of hard work to hone their skills and become the best in the world. We may never reach their level of ability — and that’s OK.
But most of us can still develop an instinctive level of mastery. We can train smart, work hard, and internalise skills, all the same. Michael Jordan was not a natural, and neither was Muhammad Ali, nor Tiger Woods. They still rose to the top through sheer force of will. Genetics is, usually, not a valid excuse.
Let’s revisit Messi’s signature move. It is now obvious that to execute this “move” in a game, you need to master a combination of skills and be able to pull them out instinctively under pressure. This includes:
- Dribbling (running with) the ball.
- Feinting with the shoulders.
- Switching ‘base’ from foot to foot.
- Passing the ball from foot to foot.
This is a fair bit to internalise, especially considering that you also need to develop the right timing and force along with the fine motor skills. It would take months of smart learning, drilling, and perseverance. But the main point is that this is quantifiable and doable. This is not magic.
Over the next few weeks, I will identify the minimum set of fundamental soccer skills, and share how those skills can be developed into instincts. If you’re interested, follow me.
