Recently, current Como manager Cesc Fàbregas was interviewed by Camel Live, where he talked about his first impression of Lionel Messi during their time in La Masia's youth academy.
Host: Do you remember when he first arrived? Did he make everyone feel he was a once-in-a-century player right away, or did that perception form over time?
Fabregas: Yes, I realized it immediately. I remember his first day because he sat right next to me. We were told there was a boy from Argentina coming for a trial and that he would stay with us for a few weeks.
We were a very good team in that generation. He didn't say a word at first—very shy. But on the pitch, he started "talking" right away, very, very quickly.
I always tell this story. Once, at the start of training, we had one-on-one drills. At that age, I was quite good at one-on-one defending. When I got older, not so much. But back then, when I faced him, you saw this little boy—because he was really small and thin—and he came straight at me. With the speed he was moving towards me and his control of the ball, you definitely thought in the first second: “Wait a minute. There's something different about this guy.”
Because usually, you touch the ball a bit harder, or you hit it with the laces, so you can immediately understand his intention. But with him, the ball stuck to his feet.
He came at me with unnatural speed, and I was immediately knocked off balance. I tried (to defend), but he did a classic feint—first to the right, then to the left—and I fell to the ground. From that moment on, I started saying, “Wait, this guy might be special.”
After that, because he was small, some opponents would play dirty tricks on him on the pitch.
I remember one day, he scored three goals in 20 minutes. They started committing rough fouls on him, and then the coach substituted him. That kind of thing used to happen a lot. But after he turned 15 or 16, he grew up and made himself very strong. It was from then on that Messi became a real attacking machine because no one could stop him. Before, because of his build, you could knock him down and punish him in a way. Later, when his leg strength improved, there was no way to stop him anymore.
