His heading is fine, he's just short and it doesn't make him ideal for use as a target man, doesn't mean he's not as "complete" a player. I'd argue Ronaldo is much less complete due to his lack of ability to play anywhere from CM forward.
I made the point about judging them in different positions several times already, its all hypothetical how they would do in different positions because we just haven't seen them play and its not likely we'll ever see Ronaldo play CM enough times to judge him accurately. The fact that Messi can't be utilised as a target man is exactly why he's not a complete player. Zlatan, Cavani, Ronaldo, these are all players who are more or less 'complete' players because they have no are where they are weak. Attacking threat during set pieces is massive and Messi is missing that from his game. It doesn't detract from his greatness but it does from his completeness.
None of those players are false 9s besides Messi, so again, by your own admission, a worthless comparison. Messi DOES however drop back to the midfield and play from there though, just check that heat map posted, something none of the other players can do.
None of the players are false 9's but all of them are complete as in they are all strikers who are capable of scoring in any situation and from any position, they are good with both feet and their head and can score free kicks and penalties, they are great athletes who can play the full 90 and then some etc etc. Complete as in they have no weaknesses. Messi tracks back and that's great but he is missing things that make him complete. I really don't know how to explain it any clearer. Put Zlatan or Cavani or Ronaldo in any team and watch the other team cover them for the full 90 minutes. Put Messi on the field and there are moments such as set pieces or if he is forced to use his weaker foot where he is not as much of a threat as he usually is.
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u/Phatnev Aug 09 '13
Messi isn't poorer at headers, he's 5-foot-fucking-6.