It's never a straightforward thing to do, to be able to inherit a squad. When you're mid-season it's never easy to get a team or a squad of players to function exactly the way you want them to.
Messi is an extraordinary player, but your squad is pivotal: at a World Cup, the 11 players on the pitch and everyone else in the group can all play an important role.
I used to watch Beckham and Andrea Pirlo. Players like that, they had a fantastic right foot on them; everyone knows that.
I'm not silly enough to say I don't take note of what other strikers are doing. I was totally aware players were scoring that were in the squad - and of English players scoring who weren't in the squad.
I am excited to play alongside players such as Carlos Tevez and Yaya Toure, whom I have only seen on TV, and to be in the same team as players I have played against such as Jerome Boateng and Vincent Kompany.
I think about the great players with whom I have shared a pitch: Eric Cantona, Zinedine Zidane, Pirlo, Xavi, Cristiano Ronaldo - and the greatest of them all is Messi.
You only have to look at the England squad to see the amount of players who get in the squad and start the games - the majority play in the Champions League.
Now in the U.S.A., a lot of great players come after their careers in Europe, like Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Steven Gerrard, Frank Lampard, Andrea Pirlo, great players.
Tevez is an extraordinary striker. Not only does he score goals, but he also helps his teammates and the midfield, too.
Always you will miss something if you have to go, because you are trying to improve players who are people. You talk with them and work with them every day. You will miss them.
I don't have to prepare any differently because it's Messi, because every day in training I am up against people like Rooney, Berbatov, Ronaldo, and Tevez, so you know what to do against big players.
Players such as Gianluigi Buffon, Andrea Pirlo and Mirko Vucinic are all world-class.
Do I miss the players? Do I miss the smell of the stadiums? Do I miss the adrenaline that comes from being there? I miss that a lot.
Pirlo is one of those players who, as they grow older, their football intelligence is such that they remain vitally important.
But any squad needs players who are hungry to do well, with their careers ahead of them. That's important for the dynamic of the group, but it also needs a balance of guys who have seen it, done it and have that quality of leadership. It is all about the quality of the player.
There are times when new players replace injured players in the national squad. Since the new players don't have enough experience and match practice at the international level, they seldom play under a lot of pressure.