10 Things Lionel Messi Wants You To Forget About

6. Messi's Influence On His Managers
Much has been made in recent seasons of Messi€™s relationship with his managers. To be one of the greatest players of all time is a pretty big bargaining position, meaning appeasing Messi is fairly high on any Barca coach€™s to-do list. Luis Enrique was said to have fallen foul of Messi after benching him in the defeat against Real Sociedad in January. Messi€™s response was to miss next day€™s training, citing a bout of gastroenteritis as explanation. That didn€™t prevent Spanish media from speculating on a possible fallout between star and manager, leading to rumours of Luis Enrique€™s future for the remainder of the season.

Then there is previous manager Tato Martino, whose appointment as Barca coach came as something of a surprise given his relatively undistinguished coaching career up until that point. Yet Martino happens to reside from Rosario, Argentina, birthplace of Messi, and many say it was Messi€™s father, Jorge, who pushed for the appointment. And then again the following year, when Martino replaced Sabella as Argentina€™s coach. Argentine journalist Marcela Mora y Araujo, writing in The Guardian, suggests the move was a way to appoint a manager happy to play second fiddle to Messi's needs.

5. His Far From World Class Fashion Sense
It happens all the time. Looking back at old photos of ourselves and wondering what in the hell possessed us to wear that. The upside for us is we generally don€™t have armies of trained photographers snapping our every fashion misadventure.

Messi doesn€™t have that luxury, but then again he doesn€™t make it easy on himself. It was at the Ballon D€™or, football€™s very own Oscars ceremony, where he chose to unleash this garish looking polka dot tuxedo back in 2013. And if you thought that that look would take some beating, the following year he rolled up in this striking purple suit.

Then again perhaps we€™re doing Messi a disservice here. After all, Messi finished runner up to rival Cristiano Ronaldo in the 2014 Ballon D€™or awards, yet it was Messi€™s sartorial inelegance that made the headlines. Perhaps that was the plan all along.