‘When Lionel Messi played with Argentina he alone was the boss but in PSG there was no structure’: Thierry Henry

Lionel Messi is widely regarded as one of the greatest footballers of all time, but his spell at French club Paris Saint-Germain was largely underwhelming since he joined the club in 2021.

PSG’s playing style did not seem to be suited to Messi’s strengths and former Arsenal legend Thierry Henry, who also played alongside the Argentine legend in Barcelona, has stated that Messi couldn’t play his best football at PSG alongside Kylian Mbappe and Neymar.

Messi netted 32 goals in 75 appearances for PSG and won the Ligue 1 twice, but could not win the UEFA Champions League.

Speaking to RMC Sport, Henry said that Messi’s time at PSG was not underwhelming. “No, I’ll say why. I remind you when I arrived at the beginning [as a pundit], on Amazon, I said “For me to play in this team, it’s a headache”.

“I was talking about structure, organisation. How do you play with all three (Messi, Neymar, and Mbappe) at the same time?”

“When he (Messi) played with the Argentina team, [there was] a structure. There are not three Messi’s, just him. You put him in a framework where he alone is the boss [and he will shine].”

Messi himself admitted that he and his family had trouble adapting after his move to Paris St Germain in 2021, and he said the boos and jeers directed at him towards the end of his stint was something team mates Kylian Mbappe and Neymar also endured.

“My stay in Paris started with a very difficult adaptation, much more than I expected, even though I had people I knew in the dressing room. It was difficult to adapt, the change, arriving late, not having a pre-season, adapting to the new club, the new way of playing, new teammates, the city…It wasn’t easy for me or for my family,” he told BeIN Sports.

(With Reuters inputs)