Rijkaard: spoke exclusively to Revista

I don't think we have to do special things. We have to think about the quite normal and basic things like hard work and perform as a team. If we do that we have the possibility to see special things - it's not the other way around.

Frank Rijkaard
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• Barcelona

Barcelona boss Frank Rijkaard insists Lionel Messi is a better player this season because he is focusing on the simple things.

The Argentinian winger scored eight goals in his first eight appearances for the Catalan club this season and Rijkaard reckons the 20-year-old is now making much better use of his incredible natural ability.

And in an exclusive interview with Revista, Rijkaard also explained how he expects Messi to become a central midfielder when he has honed his talents further.

He said: "Messi is playing from the right, outside in. Without the ball he has to keep it wide and with the ball he can do whatever he wants.

"I think in the future he will be a player somewhere in the centre of the field looking for his own space because he is a great, great football player.

"I think the quality is the same as last season because his technical skills are beyond the normal level.

"He is scoring more goals and I think that is something to do with experience as well because he's playing more games so he's growing in that way. He still dribbles the same, he still does the same things, but you can see now he is also focused on scoring goals at the right moment or giving an assist or the last pass.

"The year before, maybe he wanted to dribble past 11 players before scoring and now he can see that if he has some space to shoot he will do it."

Rijkaard also denied he is using Ronaldinho in a more advanced role this season and insists the Brazilian talisman is at his best when he is playing in a free role.

"We always play him like a midfield-striker," he added. "Somewhere in between with a lot of freedom to find his space where he can operate.

"Once in a while we'll change and I'll say it's better that Ronaldinho is in the middle as a centre-forward - but coming back to look for the ball.

"If you have fast players with a lot of pace and depth on the sides that can work really well. That's the only change we sometimes make. More or less he's playing the same position as last year and the year before."

Improvement

Rijkaard also spoke about summer signing Thierry Henry and claimed he wants the Frenchman to improve at the Nou Camp and forget about his achievements at former club Arsenal.

"To be honest I'm never looking at a player and trying to think how he was and what he did with another team," Rijkaard said.

"He is playing for Barcelona now and although I think he has to grow physically and gain more rhythm playing games, I think Henry has great value for the team.

"That is through what he represents to the other players, the way he's working and his team spirit. Also I think he participates with goals and actions. He's a great player and I think if everything goes well the only thing he can do is get better and better with us."

The Dutch boss has almost an embarrassment of attacking riches with the likes of Messi, Ronaldinho and Henry at his disposal, but Rijkaard maintains his players have to focus on the "normal" aspects of their game if they are to emerge as a "special" team.

"I don't think we have to do special things," he concluded. "We have to think about the quite normal and basic things like hard work and perform as a team. If we do that we have the possibility to see special things - it's not the other way around. Let's stay normal."