Lionel Messi and Argentina’s football World Cup journey was brought to its shambolic end on Saturday, 30 June, after France put up a stunning performance.
Not only did France come back from a 1-2 deficit, but managed to outscore Argentina by four goals to three. The seven goal thriller was indeed a brilliant match to watch. It had all that was required from a knock-out fixture – early minute’s penalty, two thunderous long rangers, late comebacks… you get the drill.
But this match will also be remembered for the unspoken horrors inside the Argentine bench that led to the two-time world champion’s untimely exit from the FIFA World Cup.
Early Warning Signs
Argentina appointed Jorge Sampaoli in 2017, after they had lost 3 finals in 3 years. The title curse struck the Argentine squad since 2014 World Cup finals and continued to haunt them in two consecutive Copa America losses in 2015 and 2016. Many believe that behind Sampaoli’s appointment was the magic wand of Lionel Messi, for he was hurriedly brought in halfway through his contract at La Liga’s Seville.
Sampaoli came, Sampaoli saw, but Sampaoli could not conquer.
Argentina had a horrid World Cup qualifiers campaign, winning just 7 out of their 18 matches, and it took Lionel Messi’s match hat-trick in the ‘must-win’ final game to propel Argentina into Russia in 2018.
Sampaoli’s Grip over the Team
Early in October 2017, when Argentina were desperately trying to cling on to their World Cup campaign Sampaoli told the press that there was no time to work on the Messi-Dybala relationship.
Dybala in 2017, had then already scored 12 goals for Juventus and was named one of the three finalists for the Forward of the 2016 – 17 UEFA Champions League season award.
As Argentina crash out almost after eight months of this incident, it needs to be noted that Paulo Dybala, who scored 26 goals and tallied five assists in all competitions this season has barely played 22 minutes this World Cup.
There are graver problems with Sampaoli’s grip over the team, but coming to that in a minute.
Why Not Start Messi in the Right Wing?
Lionel Messi has perfected two things in football. One, playing at the false nine position in Barcelona, where he has excelled, another is the classic run from the right wing, dribbling around players to either assist or go for the glory himself.
While the commentators analysed the game on Saturday, someone pointed out, that Lionel Messi’s favourite receiving position is the one when he holds the balls in the inside of his right foot and makes the run that inevitably results into something magical.
Messi twice held the ball at similar spaces yesterday, one of which resulted in Sergio Aguero’s well-placed header in the dying minutes of the match.
In Jorge Sampaoli’s system, against Iceland, Lionel Messi started as an attacking mid-fielder, getting jam-packed between the web of legs of the staunch and disciplined Icelanders.
Clearly not the place to play Messi in, the coach sought to a weird but a bold 3-4-3 system against Croatia. Unused and unclear, their formation crashed, handing Argentina a 0-3 hammering.
The lone goal that Messi scored in the World Cup came from a run from the centre-right side of the pitch.
Lionel Messi’s heat-map in La Liga 2017-18 clearly suggests that, Messi still likes to hold the ball in the right side of the pitch from where he can dribble in.
Messi has scored 45 goals and pitched in 18 assists from 54 appearances for Barcelona this season.
Sampaoli – though he states that the team is built around Messi to suit his position –definitely does not know where to play him in.
The adventure of false nine against France again restricted Messi’s movements across the pitch, which forced him to come down. Any team that have perfected a false nine system, be it Spain or Barcelona, have had tremendous mid-field talents, who could orchestrate the pace and direction of the play at their will, a quality that Banega and Mascherano horridly lack.
France cut the supply line with Pogba Kante and Matuidi, and Argentina again was left stranded.
Team Selection
Argentina, in their four outings in the World Cup 2018, have played four technically different teams.
In the knock-out stage, Argentina started without Sergio Aguero, Gonzalo Higuain and Paulo Dybala. The duo of Mascherano and Banega held the mid-field against a team that had pace and creativity in its attack, Argentina were caught out of pace and out of breath.
Sampaoli’s choice of experimenting with Meza, Pavon, Acuna and Salvio will be a point of contention for a lot of Argentine fans. Why not play Dybala as an attacking midfielder, who can draw players to himself to provide space for Lionel Messi? Why not push De-Maria back into a classic LM position? Why not play Messi in the RW? Why drop Mauro Icardi, probably the best penalty box striker in the world from the WC campaign? These are a few pressing questions that need clear answers.
The Messi Circle
After Mauro Icardi got dropped from the World Cup campaign, former Argentine player, Hernan Crespo stated “It seems to me that Icardi is not one of Messi’s friends,” reported Goal.com.
“The national team is now made up of a magic circle, do you understand me? Icardi is not part of the circle and therefore, unfortunately, he will not go to the World Cup in Russia. This is my opinion.”
If this report is to be true, is Lionel Messi, the soft spoken, media-shy seemingly non-arrogant footballer actually a tyrant in the dressing room, who likes to run the ship according to his choices?
The Aftermath
The Argentinian camp has been nothing short of a mess this World Cup. So much so that Sergio Aguero, in his press conference after the Croatia defeat, hinted that Lionel Messi and Javier Mascherano had taken control over the team, unconvinced of the coach’s strategies.
To add fuel to the fire, Ricardo Guisti a close friend of the team general manager told The Sun:
The players want to build the team. They told Sampaoli and Tapia that they are going to pick the side. Sampaoli can sit on the bench if he wants, but it won’t matter. It will be nothing to do with him.Ricardo Guisti
Jorge Sampaoli, in his stint at the World Cup managed to take one of the most fearful forward trio in the world and turn it into an entity, so sloth that it failed to produce 5 goals in the group stages.
It is very unlikely that Sampaoli’s would be kept till the end of his contract which runs through to 2022.
Argentina, with their poorly laid game plans and callous executions, fought hard to survive one day at a time.
The loss against France did not only crash them out of the tournament, but also broke their spirits which was the last resort, the safe place that the team went to find an ounce of hope together.
Can Argentina comeback from this? A question that is difficult to answer. The team needs to go through a massive introspection in its system, its superstar culture and everything that is related to football.
Can Lionel Messi come back from this? Certainly, as a professional footballer he definitely will, but his Argentina career will forever be tainted with lack of any major trophies in his senior playing career.
Can Sampaoli explain himself? Does it really matter? The way things have been in Russia, anything can happen, maybe the players will speak out in time, maybe there will be a press address, but for sure, Argentina and their fans would want to clean-slate this entire episode of 2018.
(With inputs from Fox Sports.)
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