The Argentina national team never understood the game they had to play

The national team never understood the game they had to play. Not even when after 10 minutes he was already winning 1-0 with a penalty Messi and seemed to have reached the hardest. The advantage and tranquility. But Scaloni’s team hasn’t been able to get out of that web that Saudi Arabia has put together just ten meters from midfield. With a very advanced defence, 35 or 40 meters from your goalBy recycling what Arrigo Sacchi’s AC Milan did in the late eighties, or Menotti in many teams, the French team led by Hervé Renard bet on playing on the edge of the precipice, giving Argentina all the space, all they could get with a good pass or an attacker escaped from offside. However, the national team has not been able to get rid of that magnet and he was caught offside seven times in the first halfTwo of them were goals disallowed by millimeters: one from Messi and the other from the shoulder of Lautaro Martínez. Without tactical or individual responses, he let himself be caught and fell into the trap.

The 4-2-3-1 that Scaloni seemed to draw in preview soon turned into a 4-4-2 to defend (little used) and in a strange 4-2-4 to attack, with Di María and Papu Gómez wide open and Messi close to Lautaro, as a second nine. The idea was to find the flaw in the system, some distraction, a defender who would hook up. It didn’t happen, Arabia’s defensive concentration was remarkable, and when necessary the reward came from physical recovery, which was also remarkable.

The temptation to play in space, the magnet for finding the right pass to leave an attacker face to face with the goalkeeper, has become an exaggerated repetition. No variants. Argentina wanted to recover those 40 meters that their rival had denied them, but went the wrong way. It wasn’t with the balls, that formula always died in the raised flag of the linesman.

The solution was below and Romero proved it in the 39th minute of the first half, when he took off his safety belt and reached the opponent’s area with the ball. From below and from outside, but Molina never climbed and Tagliafico was unable to overflow. The offside guide (this time it was automatic and not semi like the VAR) indicates it the forwards must come out and the full-backs must appear by surprise. Another option: cut diagonally.

Argentina doesn’t. Lautaro canceled, far from the area where he weighs. Di María improved a lot in the second half, he managed to overflow, but never changed his lead, losing by surprise.

Y Surprisingly, Messi never found the match. He exaggerated with the substitutions from the front and didn’t realize that underneath, despite the number of green shirts, there was at least the possibility of suffering violations. The worst thing is that at half-time there was no change of plans, or if there was a barrage of goals from Saudi (two shots on target in the whole game, two goals) it added confusion to the idea argentina.

Starting from the unexpected 2-1, Argentina played the last 35 minutes in a state of emergency. Even so, when he got the ball rolling and cleared the field, he managed to get through. Messi’s header proves it. But at this point thinking was even more difficult. If he didn’t find a way to play the match by winning 1-0, much less would he find it after the knockout of the second goal conceded.