World Cup: Lionel Messi remains the greatest – but Russia 2018 has not seen the star we all know and love

In his latest column for The Independent, former Netherlands captain Frank de Boer dissects Messi's recent World Cup woes

I love watching Lionel Messi play and I still think he is the best player of his generation, better than Cristiano Ronaldo. But when I watched Messi and Argentina on Thursday night, it was not the Messi we know from Barcelona.

I had the feeling that Argentina did not really know what to do, or how to use Messi best. Watch Messi play for Barcelona and he is receiving the ball 20 or 30 metres from goal, where he can play a one-two, make an assist or score himself.

But on Thursday Messi was far too deep. He was receiving the ball on the half-way line, trying to start moves, trying to inject some rhythm into the Argentina team. But he was too far from the Croatia penalty box to do any damage.

And this caused more problems for Argentina. All his team-mates only thought about Messi, always looked to Messi. I noticed that Javier Mascherano was always looking to pass to Messi, even when Messi was fully marked. And Messi was going everywhere, and the problem when a player goes everywhere on the pitch is that other people make space for him, as he’s the star. But his team-mates never knew where to run. And they moved out of position and lost their defensive organisation, so they couldn’t press when Argentina lost the ball.

I was very surprised to see Argentina line up in that 3-4-3 system as well. I don’t think if Argentina have played that way recently, and I don’t think Nicolas Tagliafico, the Ajax centre-back, ever looked comfortable in it either. You saw that from the first chance Ivan Perisic had. There was so much space down the left and the right. The two wing-backs Marcos Acuna and Eduardo Salvio were so offensive that they just left space - and danger - down their sides. So I don’t know why he played that back three system.

But the problem with Messi actually reminded me of a problem Louis Van Gaal had with Rivaldo at Barcelona in the late 1990s. Van Gaal’s biggest mistake was when he moved Rivaldo away from the left to play as a number 10. Rivaldo got so many goals and assists playing from the left, and as a 10 he got as many goals, but fewer assists.

Like Messi for Argentina, everyone had to make room for Rivaldo, and it unbalanced the rest of the team. Players like Messi and Rivaldo don’t care about their defensive duties. That is normal. Like Neymar for Brazil. But when your number 10 doesn’t care about defending, that costs more energy for the two guys playing behind him.

That is why you want Messi playing on the right, where his lack of defensive work is less dangerous for the team. Sampaoli has to put this right against Nigeria on Tuesday night. So Messi receives the ball 10 seconds later, in the next phase of play. Not on the half-way line, but 20 metres from goal.

When Messi comes from the right to the inside, you know he can use his left foot to score goals and get assists. Like how Ronaldinho used to come in from the left, or Arjen Robben coming in from the right. And remember when Luis Enrique arrived at Barcelona in 2014, he started to use Messi as a striker, but then put him on the right again, and the team started to flow again. It is better for Messi and for the team. And remember, players win games, but teams win prizes.

Lionel Messi reacts after Argentina's 3-0 defeat by Croatia (Getty)

If Sampaoli puts Messi back on the right then maybe Argentina will start to flow again too. But they have to change tactics, Messi has to be more patient, and receive the ball one phase later. But I do think that if they beat Nigeria with a lot of conviction, and if they do pass to the next phase, it will give them an unbelievable boost. Messi deserves to go through to the next round.

But even if Argentina do go out, I think it’s ridiculous to say that this proves Messi is not as good as Cristiano Ronaldo. With Portugal, Ronaldo is the player at the end of the attack, a finishing guy now. He is very good at it, very direct, I remember over 10 years ago he would do 10 or 20 stepovers when he got the ball. But now it is just control and shoot. For Messi it is harder, because of his position, and because of the other players on his team. And while Portugal have a team, Argentina is just Messi and 10 others.

For me, Messi is still the best player of his generation. Better than Ronaldo. Why? Because Messi also gives assists. And because he is more natural-born player. Ronaldo is the player he is because he is so strong, so mentally strong, and he has put so much energy in to make himself this fantastic player. But with Messi, everything is so natural that it’s unbelievable. Look what Ronaldo does, he had to learn that, with 10,000 hours of practice. With Messi, you think that he does something once, then he knows how to do it.

Messi has already proven so much in his career. He is an unbelievable player. And I don’t think that he needs to win a World Cup, as Diego Maradona did, to prove his greatness. There is a difference of generations, and today everyone is stronger and faster. Messi is not the strongest but he still makes the right decisions, and even against Croatia when he was on the ball it was a pleasure to watch him. Anybody can still win the World Cup and if he wins it I will be very happy for him. I just want to see fantastic football. And normally when I see fantastic football I see Messi.