Scaloni, surrounded by Ayala, Samuel and Aimar, part of the technical staff he relies on to command the national team. Photo: Juano Tesone (special correspondent)
Outside the Le Meridien hotel, in the Dania Beach area of Fort Lauderdale, black clouds flow, leaving heavy showers in brackets of blue skies. Humidity exceeds 90 percent. The temperature does not drop below 30 degrees. That’s all Miami remains on high alert for this Monday’s announcement of tropical storm Ianthat could become a hurricane … People overcrowded wholesale stores to stock up on food and, above all, water. But in the heart of the bunker that the Argentine national team chose for its last tour before the Qatar 2022 World Cup, the atmosphere is one of absolute concentration, especially in the technical staff led by Lionel Scaloni.
The members of the team of the coach born in Pujato do not waste time. They try to get the most out of these campus meeting days as much as they can. Is that after this tour, that after the 3-0 over Honduras in the Hard Rock Stadium It will be completed with the match against Jamaica this Tuesday at the Red Bull Arena in New Jersey, just define the last asterisks of the final list of 26 names and wait for November for the big event in the Middle East.
That’s why, in moments when there is no practice, Scaloni and his men (Walter Samuel, Pablo Aimar, Roberto Ayala, Luis Martin, Martin Tocalli and Matias Manna) take the opportunity to meet in one of the hotel rooms and put conclusions, questions, notes, information on rivals, evaluations of the performance of their customers on the table …
Each with their partner and always with something to match, like the pastafrola that shines in the center of the photo that the same technician posted on his brand new Instagram account, advance in the search for the perfect status in view of the debut in il world Cupon November 22 before Saudi Arabia.
Is this tour useful against low-ranking rivals to clear up any remaining doubts you may have about the team’s performance? Are these friendlies useful, which for this national team do not turn out to be stones in the shoe to try solutions to possible problems that may arise in Qatar? What are the variants on which Scaloni and company are working to solve the setbacks that could arise in the World Cup?
The Scaloneta He has 34 unbeaten games. He has a human group assembled and stronger than ever. On the pitch, his game has found considerable regularity: name changes do not change his football. Pressure, ball possession, collaborations and vertical passes to reach the goal as quickly as possible in every match. This has been demonstrated by the Copa América won last year to date. The macro is; We need to dwell on the details, to reduce the margin of failure that elimination can be worth in a World Cup.
Trying alternatives to avoid any drawbacks of a World Cup is one of the focuses of these last days of joint work in which they have the entire squad at their disposal. From the most unlikely, such as the loss of two goalkeepers so that the third one jumps on the pitch (difficult, but who knows what can happen) to more possible problems such as the injury or the expulsion of a holder or having variations in case Leone Messi being stifled by staggered or personal signs, as Honduras did.
The presence of Geronimo Rulli in goal against the Honduran team was not a coincidence. The position of third goalkeeper is in progress and before the operation of Giovanni Musso (it’s been over a month), he’s getting ready to get a ticket. Emiliano Martinez today he insured the property and Franco Armani, who would be the first substitute, arrived in the United States moved. Rollers is in a great gift Villarreal and Scaloni intended to see him face it again, even if he didn’t have much intervention due to the almost non-existent arrivals from Honduras.
The DT agreed that he would use this tour to test several things he wants to observe to help him write the final conclusions. Not just the matches; in turn, training is part of this test tube before landing in Doha. The day before Friday’s game, for example, he tried a five-defender scheme. Are you planning to implement it against any of the rivals in the group stage or is it simply a possibility in case you need it in the middle of a match?
The persecution that the Argentine coach Diego Vázquez organized on Messi He arrived at Scaloni like a glove to see how he can get around it if something similar happens in the Arabian Peninsula. apart from this Leo he managed to play his usual game (and boy did he do it!), the captain confessed after the victory that he had decided not to go down as usual to stay in the fire zone. So, he saw himself as Young Lo Celsowho had started from the left of the midfield, gradually freed himself in the middle to fill that role of playmaker that the 10 left vacant this time and that he can also fill at times Rodrigo De Paul.
give minutes to Enzo Fernandez It was something planned taking into account the injuries of Exequiel Palacios, one of the favorites of the coach who never ceases to impose himself with the albiceleste due to repeated absences for physical reasons. The other previews Nehuen Perez and of Thiago Almadafollow a similar line: see how they respond in action, in addition to practices, since they had never had this chance until now.
Scaloni opens his workshop in Miami. For the second and last engagement, already in the state of New York and far from the psychosis in Florida due to the arrival of the hurricane, he prepares other tests to conclude with a so far satisfactory set-up which, hopefully, will give him the few answers he is missing. to minimize the risks that a world you can put it in front of him.
You love me. UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. Special delivery.
Nahuel Lanzillotta
Source: Clarin
