For the majority of top footballers, take away their main asset and they’d become an average player. You can basically do three things when you get the ball: dribble, pass, or shoot. Messi can do each to an astoundingly high level.
Messi the Dribbler
Taking on opponents remains a key feature of his game, yet his role as an exclusive dribbler is in the past. When Messi broke through into the Barcelona side, beating defenders was his primary quality; he caught the eye because of his speed, his upper-body strength, and his sheer directness.
--- Barcelona are a side based around passing ability, probably to a greater extent than any side in history. That’s what made Messi’s directness so thrilling. In tandem with Dani Alves, Barcelona’s right-hand side during Pep Guardiola’s first season as coach was fearsome. Messi would pick up the ball and attract two opponents, while Alves would speed down the outside.
Messi’s re-deployment as a central player makes his dribbling less pivotal. One associates dribblers with playing on the flanks, and with good reason: the centre of the pitch is more crowded, the obstacles are more frequent, more unpredictable and more immediate.
Yet Messi continues to be a fantastic dribbler, and the key is the manner in which he receives the ball from teammates. Out wide, it is simple: you get a sideways pass, let the ball come across your body slightly, then take on the full-back. In the centre you have to be on the half-turn, you have to drift away from your marker until the final second. It sounds like a cliché, but Messi starts his dribble before the opponent has even realised he’s in possession of the ball. He’s always on the move, always thinking one step ahead.
Messi the Finisher
--- Messi has that knack. He also has an incredible ability to stop moving, which might seem like a questionable virtue, but it’s wonderfully handy—he can charge towards goal, force an opponent up to their maximum speed, and then stop. Just like that. It forces opponents and teammates to continue their momentum while he is standing still, poised to strike. Maybe it’s simply great reactions, but it seems more of a physical thing. ---
Messi the Passer
This is Messi’s most underrated quality. It’s natural, of course, to highlight his other areas. It’s more spectacular to beat an opponent, and it’s more meaningful to score. If you want to admire Barcelona’s passing, you go to Xavi Hernandez for short, reliable distribution that sets the tempo of the game. You pinpoint Andres Iniesta for a perfectly-weighted through-ball.
But Messi’s passing quality—or, specifically, his ability to play penetrative passes—is equally as impressive. It’s part of the reason he ended up in the ‘false nine’ role, and why Barcelona were so successful under Guardiola with that system. Messi’s ability to squeeze passes between opposition full-back and centre-back, into the path of Pedro Rodriguez and David Villa, was crucial to Barca’s success. ---
http://blogs.thescore.com/footyblog/2012/10/12/cox-lionel-messi-is-three-world-class-players-in-one/
Känns som att Messi kommer att slå flera rekord innan karriären är över 
