WHY ARGENTINA HAVE ALL THE TOOLS THEY NEED TO CLAIM THEIR FIRST TROPHY IN NEARLY 30 YEARS.
Argentina have been in a desperate search for silverware since Gabriel Batistuta’s heroics in 1993. They been to more than 5 finals and lost all.
What if Messi scored in the shootout? What if Higuain scored in even 1 of the finals? What if Rojo didn’t get sent off? What if Messi scored against Germany? What if Demichelis tracked Gotze’s run? What if Aguero was fit? What if Di Maria did something? What if they had a defense?
All these are some of the questions Argentines and Messi fans around the world have been asking themselves the last 10 yrs. Argentina have come close to but not won silverware multiple times. So even if they reach a final, not many are confident that they’ll win. Why however, do I believe they can win this upcoming tournament in the summer?
1. THEY’RE HOSTS.
In international tournaments the home advantage is always there:
- Exhibit A: Brazil winning Copa America 2019.
- Exhibit B: Russia reaching the quarter finals of the World Cup 2018 after having not reached that stage for nearly 50 years.
- Exhibit C: Cameroon winning AFCON 2017 despite many people righting them off after stars like Matip and Choupo Moting refused to report to the squad and backing Salah led Egypt or Mahrez led Algeria to win it.
- Exhibit D: France reaching the final of Euro 2016, knocking out World Champions Germany on route to the final.
All in all home advantage exists and Argentina have it. While the final does take place in Colombia, a good chunk of the tournament is still at home.
2. OTHER THAN BRAZIL, THERE IS NO OTHER QUALITY SIDE.
In 2019, they were knocked out by Brazil, the eventual champions, in what was a legendary performance from a 36 year old Dani Alves, who was eventually, and rightfully so, named player of the tournament. Uruguay do have talented young players like Valverde,Araujo,Bentancur and Torreira.
Uruguay also have performing veteran strikers like Suarez and Cavani but all in all, they’re not as good as they were when they reached the world cup quarter finals in 2018. Colombia are also not the strongest side and same can be said for most of the other teams.
This means, beat Brazil, win Copa America(it’s not always that easy but it can be). And they can find a way to beat Brazil. With the personnel they have plus Brazil are currently not at the same level they were 10–15 yrs ago. They’re slightly better than Argentina but not far off.
3. THERE IS A PERFECT BLEND OF EXPERIENCE AND YOUTH.
1 good thing about international tournaments is that if you can balance enough experience and youth in your side, you can win tournaments and Argentina have that.
Experienced players(i.e- players who are aged 25 and above and have played at the highest level for at least 5 yrs) who can still serve them(i.e their quality and performances warrants including them in the team. To elaborate more you won’t see the likes of Otamendi or Rojo here as they aren’t doing everything to justify their exclusion) include the likes of;
Augustin Marchesin,Emiliano Martinez,Sergio Romero,German Pezzella,Nicolas Tagliafico,Marcos Acuna,Angel Di Maria,Leandro Paredes,Rodrigo De Paul, Roberto Pereyra,Sergio Aguero,Paulo Dybala,Mauro Icardi,Lionel Messi,Angel Correa,Joaquin Correa,Lucas Ocampos,Lucas Alario,Alejandro ‘Papu’ Gomez.
These are 19 players. Not that all of them will go considering many of them are attackers, but all of them, even the ones who’ve lacked game time this season like Aguero and Dybala, have enough quality to serve them in a tournament. There’s also a lot of prime players. A prime player is a player between the ages of 25–30(in his 5 year prime).
They are: Emiliano Martinez, Nicolas Tagliafico,Marcos Acuna,Leandro Paredes,Rodrigo De Paul,Paulo Dybala,Mauro Icardi,Angel Correa,Joaquin Correa,Lucas Ocampos,German Pezzella,Lucas Alario.
They are 12 players. Many of them are attackers but it highlights 1 thing. Argentina have enough options to chose from.
The three goal keepers, Martinez,Romero and Marchesin have practically secured their spots. The two left backs Tagliafico and Acuna also automatically fall into the squad. Add Messi,Di Maria, Paredes,De Paul and automatically a squad looks to be forming. A squad that is very much on form. 9 of a possible 23(or 25 depending on regulations) already confirmed.
Now let’s look at the younger lads. These are players yet to reach the age of 25, that are yet to reach 5 yrs playing at the highest level. They are:
Juan Foyth,Lisandro Martinez,Marcos Senesi,Cristian Romero,Gonzalo Montiel,Giovanni Lo Celso,Lautaro Martinez,Exequiel Palacios,Lucas Martinez Quarta,Facundo Medina,Leonardo Balerdi,Nicolas Gonzalez,Nicolas Dominguez.
These are about 13 players. Added to the the 19 above those are 32 players. The perfect blending of youth and experience. Most of these players are in top form. A decent amount of them are top class or world class and many of them especially the youngsters have played together before.
32 choices ,a whole lot of attackers and defenders plus enough midfielders to keep the squad up and running means they can field a balanced team. There’s enough goalscorers and enough creators.
4. THEY HAVE A DEFENSE.
Argentina mirror two European nations. Their colonizers Spain and their ancestors Italy. Not just in non-football terms like food, language and mistreating black people(no offense if your Spanish,Italian or Argentine but it’s true), but also in footballing terms.
Many Argentine coaches employ something similar to the Spanish Tiki-Taka. The best examples being Jorge Sampaoli,Mauricio Pochettino and Marcelo Bielsa. It is a style of play common to many Argentine teams and many Argentine players have succeeded in such systems. The most famous of them being Lionel Messi.
Argentine coaches also employ the Italian low block and counter attack. The most famous proponent of it being Diego Simeone. Also Gerardo ‘Tata’ Martino.
Their players also mirror them heavily. The likes of Di Maria,Aguero and Messi very much mirror Spanish attackers and midfielders like Torres,Iniesta,Villa and Fabregas.(yes Messi does share many things in common with Iniesta and Aguero with Torres and Villa and Fab with Di Maria).
Their greatest defender ever, Javier Zanetti, is often confused for being Italian considering how much he played there. He fit their game perfectly. Almost as if he was a native. Someone like Mascherano or Cambiasso very much mirrors someone like Gattuso or De Rossi.
Argentina borrow so much from both nations and can therefore easily be confused for being the exact spitting image of one or both. And in terms of great goalscorers and play makers and tenacious midfielders they do mirror both nations. However, where they don’t mirror any of the two nations is in defense.
There have been a lot of great Argentine defenders and goalkeepers over the years but since the year 2014 they haven’t really performed well defensively. Goal scoring and chance creation(bar a few bad games for Higuain) has never been a problem for them however defending has been a problem for them.
Poor defending cost them at the 2018 World Cup where they failed to keep a single clean sheet even against Iceland and it nearly knocked them out at the group stage. We also can’t forget the horrendous performance of Caballero at the tournament. Rojo and Otamendi(despite their qualities and Otamendi’s form that year) were two mad men paired together and they couldn’t cope.
Those two center backs also cost them in the Copa America finals against Chile. However now, that is not the case. At right back they have Juan Foyth, who has impressed at Villareal this season and Gonzalo Montiel who has played well in Argentina and looks set for a move to Europe.
At center back, they have the rising young stars of the Eredivisie, Marco Senesi and Lisandro Martinez(who can also play left back and defensive midfield). They can bring in Fiorentina’s German Pezzella to offer experience and leadership at the back.
Fiorentina’s form and position on the table may discourage one about his quality but Fiorentina mainly concede due to set pieces and bad fortune, which can’t be prevented I’m afraid. They house not only Pezzella but also Martinez Quarta(a young talented Argentine defender) and Serbian Nikola Milenkovic. Meaning their defense is not really all that poor. They had the joint 5th best defense in Serie A last season showing that one shouldn’t really read in too much into their current form.
They also have Atalanta’s Cristian Romero who is succeeding at a team that are generally not geared towards defensive play and Lens’ Facundo Medina who can play at left back as well. Lens are a high flying side currently 5th in Ligue 1 though a long way of 4th placed Lyon and at risk of dropping down the table.
In addition to those 5 they also have Leonardo Balerdi who is playing decently well at Marseille. 6 center backs though many of them are young and inexperienced is enough to get them through. Considering the fact that most of them are in form. At left back in addition to the two center back-left back hybrids they have Nicolas Tagliafico and Marcos Acuna who are among the best performing left backs in Europe(though Tagliafico has had a bit of a slow season he does have the quality).
This side would also benefit heavily from the use of a back three. In the event they don’t trust these youngsters alone a back three can work wonders for them plus wing back is the best role for Foyth and Acuna as it limits mistakes and adds them insurance.
Another benefit for Argentina is that their midfield is defensively sound. Leandro Paredes,Exequiel Palacios and Nicolas Dominguez are all defensively sound midfielders. This benefits Argentina because these people will be coming back to help out on defense when needed. Not to forget hardworking attackers like both Correas(Joaquin and Angel),Ocampos,Di Maria,Lautaro, De Paul,Icardi and Alario.
With they right setup they can minimize how much they concede.
SO WHAT WILL THEIR LINEUP LOOK LIKE?
We’ve seen the 32 players who can make the squad but what will the final 23–25 man squad and starting lineup look like. A back three with wing backs(essentially a back 5) would fit them but considering the fact that they have so many good attackers I don’t think it would be possible.
Messi,Lautaro,Di Maria,Paredes,Palacios(though he’s not playing for the best team in the world he is Argentina’s best proper CDM at the moment)all have to start. But using a back 5 would mean benching the likes of De Paul(who is the most creative player in Serie A this season) and Ocampos and both Correas and Gomez.
However while not taking the chance to play De Paul is a bother they can pride themselves on the fact that they have Messi and Di Maria the best creators in their respective leagues this season(yes Di Maria is the best considering Neymar’s lack of fitness). Paredes has also been following Di Maria as a close second despite being a deep lying player and they can all feed on Palacios’ quality on the ball. First, here’s the squad:
Goalkeepers: Augustin Marchesin,Emiliano Martinez,Sergio Romero
Right Backs: Gonzalo Montiel,Juan Foyth
Center Backs: Marco Senesi,German Pezzella,Lisandro Martinez,Cristian Romero.
Left Backs: Nicolas Tagliafico, Marcos Acuna.
Pivots/Box to Box Midfielders: Exequiel Palacios, Nicolas Dominguez,Leandro Paredes,Giovanni Lo Celso.
Attacking Midfielders: Angel Di Maria,Rodrigo De Paul.
Strikers: Sergio Aguero,Lautaro Martinez.
False Nines/Wingers: Lionel Messi,Paulo Dybala
Wingers: Lucas Ocampos,Angel Correa.
Potential additions: Facundo Medina,Leonardo Balerdi
I think I’ll have to explain a few of the choices here.
- Augustin Marchesin: Porto have reached the quarter finals and he has been great for them meaning he’s worth giving a squad berth.
- Sergio Romero: He hasn’t played consistent football in quite a while but he is Argentina’s most experienced goalkeeper at the moment and can still provide a solid presence.
- Giovanni Lo Celso: Spurs are not the best team right now and Lo Celso isn’t particularly commendably form but he is capable of playing as a pivot and 8 and a 10. Plus there’s nothing to say he won’t finish the season on a high.
- Sergio Aguero: He has had limited game time this season but we must not forget what he is capable of. As someone coming of the bench he is worth having.
- Paulo Dybala: Dybala has been hampered by injuries this season but he is still a quality player. He is the one player in this side not named Messi capable of single handedly winning games for them. Another worthy entrant on the squad even if it is as a sub.
- Angel Correa: Angel Correa has only played 12times for La Albiceleste but he has been in good form in recent weeks plus he can be both a goal threat and creative threat. He’s fast,efficient in front of goal when on form. Has good movement around various areas of the pitch,dropping off to link up and moving wide. Very hardworking and can come back on defense. Creative. Versatile as he can play both wings as a striker,number 10 or false nine or second striker. He’s capable of dribbling and beating players with swift split second turns in dangerous areas.
Lineup A and what I think they should go with is this:
Emiliano Martinez is one of the best center goalkeepers in the world this year. His clean sheet per game ratio is the 3rd best in the Premier League,with only Ederson and Mendy having a better record. His ability to play out from the back is good enough. Coupled with his ability to claim every cross and parry every long shot and his effectiveness in one on ones and even saving penalties,Argentina have a seemingly unbeatable goalkeeper.
Foyth as a wing back is not a bad option. His defensive solidity can be outlined as it is less liable to mistakes. Also his ball carrying,link up and crossing coupled with his ability to invert into midfield can be very useful.
Acuna’s best position is not left back or left wing but rather left wing back where he can use both his defensive and offensive qualities to the fullest and therefore this systems would fit him best. Same can be said for Martinez playing as a center back- left back hybrid.
Senesi and Martinez are the best young center backs not just in Netherlands but Also in Europe. I have already justified why Pezzella should start and if not Romero or Martinez Quarta could easily fill in for him.
All their center backs are decently fast,ball playing and good in the air meaning they’re not easy to exploit. To the best of my knowledge, none of them are liable to mistakes and they’re all capable of playing in a possession based -counter attacking hybrid system.
Same can be said for the double pivot. Good tacklers,good pressers and good passers as well, capable of reading the game and passing in between the lines. Messi and Di Maria can receive the ball in between the lines and in dangerous areas.
Messi can also play as a 10 and Aguero can come in for Di Maria to increase numbers in the box. He and Lautaro are similar in many ways and can terrorize defenses with their movement.
With this setup they can be dangerous in a lot of ways whether on the counter or as they break down teams. Plus it can both defend and attack well.
Lineup B which is a bit closer to what they’ll go with is this:
Tagliafico comes in for Correa and Ocampos for Pezzella but it’s largely unchanged. The lack of experience at the back is dangerous but with Emiliano they can cope. Foyth as a right back is more risky but he can be accounted for. Ocampos and Di Maria can offer real width.
Ocampos could also be benched for De Paul but that would mean playing Messi on the right wing and Di Maria on the left which isn’t worth it. They could play without a 9 entirely but very few national teams in the world currently can pull that off. Spain,France, Germany and Brazil. The rest lack the quality and/or the coaching.
De Paul could also come in for Palacios and they switch to a 4–3–3 with Paredes as the pivot but that’s dangerous and too attack minded.
SO WHAT ARE THE MAIN PROBLEMS THEY MIGHT FACE AS A TEAM?
Well it has to be coaching,injuries and selection. It is no secret that not all the players I have mentioned may not all be called up by Scaloni. Especially those like Aguero, Romero and Dybala who haven’t played in a while. And Angel Correa who himself hasn’t been in the national team dynamic for a while. Also in defense he might insist on bringing Otamendi,Kannemann.
Also he might not opt to play Palacios(who as I said is the only proper number 6 in the side.) Paredes can play the role but is nowhere near as comfortable. He might opt not to rotate and maintain the same 11 every game.
Also the tactics. How will they buildup? Pass? Position themselves? Press? Create chances? Defend? Defend set pieces? Defend counter attacks? Simply put he needs to setup his players in the most effective way possible. Because despite the fact that they don’t have a lot of stars, Uruguay can still beat them if Argentina are poorly organized. Brazil would walk all over them. They need to be organized.
SHORT NOTE BEFORE CONCLUSION:
I have not watched all these players play. Only some of them. The likes of Pezzella and Senesi I had to do some light research work. Same goes for many of the bench players. So if you feel I’m inaccurate please share your info with me.
As always if you liked the article please clap,follow and follow me on twitter here https://twitter.com/teenage_pundit https://twitter.com/TeenageAnalyst
