The possible absence of Giovani Lo Celso in Qatar hurts. It is also worrying because he is the player with whom you can best understand Leone Messi in the short game, the one that has seduced the Argentine captain since his time at the Masía in Barcelona. And among the many good characteristics that the Rosario Central player has, there is one that stands out: he is a left-handed footballer who can play in different sectors of the midfield.
There is no other southpaw in the national team to play in that area. Alternatives that are already starting to be considered are Papu Gómez, Alexis Mac Allister, Exequiel Palacios or Enzo Fernández. All rights, of course. That’s why his absence would create an inevitable gap.
Lo Celso has an aggressive soul and that is why he understands perfectly with Messi. Gio, like the rest of his teammates, had a hard time getting the captain off the poster, but he was one of the first to understand that not all steps have to go to Leo. Maybe that’s why he quickly earned the respect of the PSG crack as well.
Without Lo Celso, Lionel Scaloni loses one of his most solid blocks: the midfield. At this point he and Rodrigo De Paul, Leandro Paredes, play from memory. It does not seem accidental that the three play better in the national team than in their clubs. Data: De Paul played 42 games with Scaloni on the bench; Walls, 40; and Lo Celso, 35. Only Lautaro Martínez, with 38, gets in the way.
Commonly, the left-handed starts as an inside midfielder on the left side, with Paredes on the center line and De Paul on the right. But the one that emerged in Rosario Central offers options: you can move to the center to go from 4-3-3 to 4-4-2. He could also be the one to move to a band, as he did in the 2021 Copa América final against Brazil at Maracana. On that day of glory, De Paul was the one who accompanied Paredes on the board and Lo Celso and Di María played on the flanks.
It repeats itself: Lo Celso has a hooked soul. From that sentence we understand why he is the best assistant in Scaloni’s cycle, with 9, the same figure as Messi.
But the dapper midfielder, with a good pass and a lefty potrero who appeared in Central, has also become a player capable of recovering and fighting with bigger rivals. Lo Celso runs when he has to run and fits when he has to enter. And another thing: always ask for the ball, even in moments of anxiety, of those that usually appear in all the World Cups.
Without doubt the Scaloneta would lose too much without Lo Celso. That is why candles are lit for their health.
Source: Clarin
