Already on the ground of Qatar, he has no time for regrets Lionel Scalloni. The national team coach is sad because the dismissal of Giovani Lo Celso affects him in football and personally. But the one born in Pujato is already thinking about the immediate future and the doubt that assails him at this moment is to determine who will replace the Villarreal midfielder, one of Lionel Messi’s favorite partners. The DT has variations and this is the good news. And there are two alternatives: the first, the most feasible, is to supplant name by name; the second, more complex from the design point of view, is modify the tactical design.
The scheme that Scaloni has used the most in the national team is the 4-3-3, with Messi starting from the right but with freedom of movement through the center. Lo Celso, with that armor, was always there inside on the left side. This is the position to be supplanted. And the name-by-name fight seems to hinge on two candidates: Alejandro Papu Gomez and Enzo Fernandez. from behind they run Exequiel Palacios and Alexis MacAllister (The first because of the few takes he has had in recent months and the second because he has played at the center all year round in Brighton).
For the World Cup debut against Saudi Arabia on November 22 at 7:00 am, it is highly likely that ‘Papu’ Gómez will be in the middle of De Paul and Paredes’ partner. The size of the rival calls for a more offensive formation. The issue will be different in the duels against Mexico (26) and Poland (30). It happens that Lo Celso collaborated a lot in the recovery, beyond the fact that his main virtue is creation. That function, the defensive one, added to the permanent back and forth, the Papu could not cover it for a physical reason and because he had not played in that position in Europe for years. It was almost always extreme or hook.
The shares of Enzo Fernández do not stop growing and that is why he entered the list. His time at Benfica is remarkable. More: of all the midfielders, the former River is the most similar to Lo Celso. But he has little experience with the team: he has just added 60 minutes in the last two friendlies in the United States. And this works against him. Exequiel Palaciosmeanwhile, he has always been a weakness for Scaloni. The bad thing is that injuries have haunted him all year and he arrives at the World Cup with a few shots.
The scheme change alternative is something that Scaloni and his collaborators have in mind. They have thought about it and still think of it as something feasible for when they face a team with a strong attacking profile. This variant would also make it possible to take advantage of the moment of Lisandro Martínez, Manchester United defense leader. La Scaloneta will then play with a 5-2-3, with Molina and Acuña outside-midfielders and with De Paul alongside Paredes.
Another option could be to include a striker to play with a 4-2-3-1, with Di María on one of the flanks and Messi in the middle. There they would fight to enter Julian Alvarez, Nicolas Gonzalez and Joaquin Correa. Either way, this seems less feasible because Scaloni hasn’t shown it publicly in official or friendly matches.
He said to himself: Lo Celso’s absence hurts. But as time is running out, Scaloni is already trying variations in his head. And luckily there are several.
Source: Clarin
