Argentina are in a state of disarray as they enter the World Cup…
Barely qualifying for the event, and doing so in the very last game against Ecuador means that Argentina are not in good shape going into the tournament. Having lost three finals in a row, some of the players are broken inside; playing with a sense of fear in the Argentinian shirt. Players like Higuain and Aguero have not hit the same heights for Argentina as they do for their clubs.
Argentina is a proud footballing nation, they expect a lot from their team and rightly so – but the odds are stacked against the La Albiceleste this time with an injury-hit squad that has very little cohesion taking centre-stage in Russia. Only a superhero could guide Argentina to World Cup glory, and they have one in their captain; the incomparable Lionel Messi.
Messi's hat trick sends Argentina to the World Cup! pic.twitter.com/avGBbP4Rmj
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) October 11, 2017
An underwhelming qualifying campaign has led to everyone writing off Argentina before the tournament has even begun. However, any team that can line up with the likes of Di Maria, Dybala, and Messi should not be discounted. A few might be playing in their last World Cup so it could prove to be a case of now or never. No one would want it more than Lionel Messi as his desire to win something for his country is well-documented.
He desperately wants to step out of the overwhelming shadow of Diego Maradona, and only winning the World Cup can help him do so. To accomplish that, Argentina have to utilize all their resources to the fullest – because Messi alone can not win the World Cup.
The attacking players in Argentina's World Cup squad come into the tournament on the back of fine respective domestic campaigns… pic.twitter.com/q3oLHgis1m
— WhoScored.com (@WhoScored) May 30, 2018
Jorge Sampaoli is a proven coach at international level. He led Chile to their first international title when they won the Copa America in 2015. In many ways, he’s the modern representative of Bielsa’s footballing model – opting to play a 2-3-3-2 system with a high defensive line and relentless pressing in the final third. However, the dilemma Sampaoli faces here is that he does not have the defenders needed to execute his favoured tactics.
He has tried an array of different players en route to the World Cup, even giving a call-up to Ramiro Funes-Mori to determine if he fits in the system. It was a decision that underlined his desperation to make his old methods work. Eventually, Sampaoli changed to a much safer option with a 3-4-3 formation, giving him the security of an extra defender at the back.
In terms of attack, he has to get the best out of Lionel Messi – and also has to find the right balance in his star-studded forward line. With Sampaoli, we know that he wants to play attacking football and place his side on the front-foot. This is unlike his predecessors, who would get men behind the ball and hope Messi could conjure something up. It’s been about a year since Sampaoli was appointed manager of Los Gauchos, and there has been no clarity in terms of what to expect from his team as they’ve also faced multiple bumps on the way. It remains to be seen what he can come up with on the biggest stage.
In any case, the key for Argentina is to dust off their previous failures and enter the World Cup with a fresh mindset. They have the players to turn on the style on any given day, and it’s the psychological barrier that they’ll have to conquer if they are to lift the World Cup.