Jorge Sampaoli has played down suggestions that he has lost control of the Argentina dressing room following poor results. The World Cup boss went into the tournament with a lot of optimism but faces going home in disgrace if Argentina go out.
The side stumbled to a draw with Iceland, lost heavily to Croatia and needed a late Lionel Messi goal to save them against Nigeria. That has lead to suggestions that Sampaoli would be sacked but there has been nothing about that just yet.
He was also reportedly caught asking Messi whether he should bring Sergio Aguero on and he now claims that has been taken out of context. “I remember that conversation with Leo very well, but everything I mention to my players is personal and I won’t make it public,” he explained, as quoted by the Daily Mirror. “It was a simple exchange. It wasn’t how it’s been characterised.I was saying to him we would be using some of the strategies we had spoken about to have more attacking players on the pitch. That is all.”