Monday, May 11, 2015
As Lionel Messi stood in a sparkling violet three-piece, he smiled vaguely at the on-gazing paparazzi knowing he was not going to win the Ballon d'Or.
By normal, human being standards Lionel Messi's 2015 was an astonishing footballing feat, but by the bar he had set himself over years of relentless near-perfection, it wasn't enough. Cristiano Ronaldo, the epic goalscoring cyborg to Messi's sashaying butterfly, would rightfully pick up the prize - roaring peculiarly as he did so - for the second year in a row.
Now, Lionel Messi doesn't like losing. It's one of those things that is bred by enormous talent, that rare pit-of-your-stomach sensation when someone, somehow gets the better of you. Then it becomes a chicken and egg sort of scenario - not only do you hate losing because you're so good but you're so good because you hate losing and that self-perpetuating cycle drives you on to greatness.
Yet a plan nine months in the making was about to fall into place, ensuring Messi was to return to the top of the game.
For a man that doesn't like losing, an extra time defeat in the World Cup final is just about as bad as it gets. Tired, miserable and emotionally drained, Messi returned to his family for recuperation and set about trying to get back to where he was.
While his World Cup had been an extraordinary achievement in many ways, dragging a stale Argentina side through the group stage with a series of magic moments, coming second was like coming last. Once back in Europe, Messi went to see Giuliano Poser, a nutritionist that the Argentine has seen on and off since 2008.
Poser is considered by many in the sports nutrition world as an eccentric, but there are no doubting his results. For a start, he prefers not to travel and instead asks clients to visit him in Sacile, just outside Venice. That rule applies whether you are José Bloggs or Lionel Messi and the Barca man flew to Italy in search of Poser's advice.
Back in 2008, the still teenaged Messi was told to give up his favourite foods. Home comforts like milanesas, ice cream and fizzy drinks were jettisoned with the intention of keeping his undersized, almost frail body fit and on the field and it worked. Pep Guardiola sent other Barcelona players and they similarly benefitted from Poser's work.
Anyone familiar with stories or urban myths of how Guardiola's time at Barca endedwill know that the soda came back into Messi's diet, and the strict regime eventually slipped until, in 2014, looking to reclaim the summit of world football, Leo returned to Salice.
There Messi was told, according to well-informed Argentine journalist Veronica Brunati, to eat only what his body needs, not what it wants. He had to buy into the philosophy of Giuliano Poser once again, a philosophy he explained to an Italian newspaper this year (obviously they came to him, not the other way round):
"Vegetables, seasonal fruits and a good mineral water are essential fuels for our muscles. You have to reduce the intake of processed foods or foods contaminated with pesticides, herbicides, antibiotics, medications..." he says.
"And, of course, alcohol, tobacco and foods that are not tolerated [...] Football players often pay the consequences for bad nutrition."
His methods include "compound exercises and emotional therapies, with the help of psychotherapists and using Bach flower remedies."
Having taken all of this on board, by the turn of the year Messi had lost five kilograms. It may not sound much, but combined with extra work alongside club physio Rafael Pol, the Barcelona number 10 had thrown off some of the sluggishness that had inhibited his early-season play.
His explosive changes of direction were back. Of course he wasn't rolling it back to 2010 levels, these "compound exercises" don't involve a DeLorean, but he was as fit as he had been for years and knew the game better than he ever had. It has proved a potent combination.
The numbers, so often ludicrously out of sync with the rest of the footballing world, bear out his physical rejuvenation.
