Messigraphica: Infographics meet Biography

Messi book

Messi’s stats get the beautiful publication they deserve.

Back in October of 2014 we celebrated a decade of sheer brilliance by Lionel Messi as he passed his ten year anniversary of playing top-flight football.

In the article, we hailed Messi for remaining ‘unclassified’ – the term used by Catalan newspaper El Mundo Deportivo which described his brief first-team debut; he was not on the pitch long enough for the paper to sensibly award a usual ‘mark out of 10’ scoring system which all other players’ performances were judged. Instead of a mark next to his name, the abbreviation “SC” (sin clasificación) were printed.

We thought the term quite apt, even ten years on, such were – and still are – the astounding performances Barcelona’s No.10 produces. They are often beyond description, and even when trying, any scribe runs the very real risk of not doing justice to the genius and beauty witnessed.

Which is why we were very excited when we heard about the Messigraphica – a new and unique book by author, Sanjeev Shetty.

Countless articles and books have paid tribute to who many believe is without doubt the best player ever to play the game, however, none with the concept of aligning elements of a traditional biography with grand infographics.

As a media, infographics are the perfect visual form to present the numerous records and statistics that Messi has achieved. The rate at which the Argentine playmaker has broken and smashed records, it’s been very easy to forget exactly what he’s done and how he compares with other players.

In today’s stats-driven world, the Messigraphica displays the data beautifully, allowing us to see the information quickly and clearly, and be in awe of the footballing phenomenon in comparison with a whole host of other players and sport stars.

Not only is this well-researched biography – which covers Messi’s early years in Argentina and Barcelona’s Academy – informative with its words, it literally illustrates his brilliance. Pep Guardiola once said to journalists: “Don’t write about him, don’t try to describe him. Watch him.”  We’re sure he’d be happy to view this quite excellent alternative.

Messigraphica by Sanjeev Shetty and published by Aurum Press Ltd is available to buy now.

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