There's a clip in the documentary 'See the Ball, Pass the Ball', a film breaking down Barcelona's historic dominance under Pep Guardiola. In it, Thierry Henry reviews a highlight of Lionel Messi, and the legendary striker is left somewhat dumbfounded. After breaking down all of the seemingly perfect moments that led to this particular sequence, Henry is left with one conclusion: "That's not normal."
There's room to analyze the brilliance of Messi, even if few are willing to do so rationally. Instead, the Messi discourse is always divided into extremes. That phenomenon hasn't changed since Messi's move to MLS, either; in fact, it's only intensified. Everything he does is some type of referendum. No game is just a game; it's also a statement on the bigger picture.
In recent weeks, the narratives have gone into overdrive. Messi has been utterly dominant for Inter Miami, putting up record numbers and setting a pace the league has never witnessed before. And, as a result, the discussions have been fired up: is Messi exposing MLS?
The answer, of course, is somewhere in the middle. Even the league's most passionate supporters must admit that MLS isn't up to the levels of Europe, particularly defensively. There's still a long way to go until that happens. But, on the other end, this is all just a case of Messi being Messi. And, as Henry said, the Inter Miami star isn't normal.
This is nothing new for him. Messi isn't exposing MLS; rather MLS is being exposed to Messi, an otherworldly talent unlike any we've ever seen.
