Before the World Cup started, there were a lot of doubts about the Albiceleste side, the game against Iceland has only increased these doubts. For a nation with a history as storied as the Argentine’s, the 23 man squad chosen by manager Jorge Sampaoli to prosecute the World Cup campaign was disgracefully short of quality and it is showing.
Against a rugged and well organized Icelandic team, Argentina came across as dull, uninspiring and totally lacking in ideas, effort or even basic skill. Lionel Messi had one of his worst games for his nation, aside from his penalty miss, his passing, free-kick taking and decision making was abysmal.
Interestingly he was still one of the better players on the pitch, as a lot of his teammates were worse than he was (take a bow Angel di Maria, Marcos Rojo, Willy Caballero). Coach Jorge Sampaoli has much to ponder and will need to make large-scale changes if this team is to do anything of note in Russia. Here are 5 of those changes he may need to effect.
5 Change the midfield setup
Only Sampaoli can explain why in a game against a team that was always going to be compact and organized, he needed to start both Javier Mascherano and Lucas Biglia.
Mascherano has been a fantastic servant for Albiceleste, unfortunately, his legs are gone (hence his move to China). Biglia was an even more absurd choice, as the AC Milan player has lost the passing and ball carrying ability of his younger days and is now a glorified defensive midfielder.
This meant that Messi had to drop deep into the midfield to pick up and distribute the ball, a tactic which suited the Icelandic defensive deep block perfectly, as it meant he was farther away from goal and unable to threaten.
4 Drop all unfit players
It is amazing to note that for all the quality and stardust the team possesses, a large number of players who started the game against Iceland are actually not first team regulars at their clubs. The very poor di Maria whose only contributions were constant complaints has been a bench warmer at PSG. Biglia and Marcus Rojo spent much of last season outside their clubs’ first teams as well.
Mascherano had to move to China as his legs are gone, and Eduardo Salvio plays as a winger for his club Benfica but started as a right-back against Iceland. This lack of competitive game time showed as these players could not match their teammates’ intensity and efforts. Two of them (Di Maria and Biglia) were justifiably substituted.
3 Keep Willy Caballero away from the first eleven
It is difficult to remember the last time Argentina had a very good goalie manning the sticks;,this is something that has tasked various managers of the Albiceleste for a while now.
The team’s numero uno, Sergio Romero was injured before the World Cup began but even he is by no means a world-class goalie (he has a permanent seat on Manchester United’s bench after all). How Real Sociedad’s Geronimo Rulli has been overlooked for the national team is something that only coach Sampaoli can explain. However, if he wants his team to do anything of note in Russia 2018, starting Willy Caballero in goal is a no-no.
2 Make bold decisions
The dropping of Mauro Icardi from the World Cup squad is one that left a lot of people dumbfounded but the reasons behind it were plausible.
This showed that the manager was willing to make bold and tough decisions, he will have to do something similar again and soon.
1 Keep Messi away from the midfield
Messi is the sole reason why Argentina creaked into the World Cup finals and he will play a big part in determining how far the team will go. The problem with being Messi however is that every team prepares detailed plans to contain him and when these plans work out, Argentina’s attack usually suffers for it.
The Icelandic midfield and defence did a great job of marking and anticipating his every move as whenever he got the ball (or even when he wasn’t with the ball), there was always an Icelandic player dogging his heels and giving him no breathing space or time to work his magic.
He wasn’t helped by the poor midfield deployed by Sampaoli. He dropped deep too often to get the ball and orchestrate attacks, a move which gave the Icelandic midfield/defence time to re-adjust and get into position.