Familiar problems engulf Argentina in embarrassing Venezuela loss
Argentina fell to a shock 3-1 defeat against Venezuela at the Wanda Metropolitano in Lionel Messi’s return to the national team.
After a disappointing summer, in which Argentina edged their way into the Round of 16 before being beaten by eventual winners France, Lionel Messi finally decided to return to the national team setup but the performance against Venezuela showed little has changed in that time. Argentina are still a collection of individuals rather than a team with the emphasis being on Messi to seemingly be the sole source of attacking inspiration.
Lionel Scaloni has attempted to utilise a similar system to his predecessor Jorge Sampaoli with a possession-based philosophy as well as three at the back and a high defensive line, but this failed miserably even though there have been a number of changes in personnel since the summer. Venezuela’s first goal came from a simple ball in behind as Salomon Rondon was able to easily beat Gabriel Mercado and fire past Franco Armani.
The lack of a defensive midfielder certainly didn’t help as they struggled to break up Venezuela’s counter-attacks which is a key for a team playing as high up the pitch as they were. Nonetheless, the defence doesn’t look comfortable playing high up the pitch, aside from Juan Foyth due to his experience at club level with Tottenham.
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There is some logic in trying to replicate Barcelona’s system in order to bring the best out of Messi, however, they just don’t have the players for that style and time is against them regardless with the Copa America only a few months away. Rather than intricate passages of play responsibility is passed to Messi and play can often be static unless he can work his magic.
At this point, reverting to a defensive setup and largely playing on the counter would be the best option. They have the world’s best playmaker in Messi and their goal against Venezuela came from a quick transition with Lautaro Martinez finishing the move. He also has the ability to singlehandedly break open stubborn defensive units when they have sustained periods of pressure as shown by the chance he created for Martinez in the first half that forced a fine save from Walker Farinez.
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Under Alejandro Sabella, they were able to reach a World Cup Final and were unlucky not to win using a simplistic defensive approach. Bringing solidity to the defence should sort out most of their problems with a 4-2-3-1 or 4-4-2 formation most suitable. They have plenty of clinical strikers such as Sergio Aguero, Mauro Icardi and Martinez to pair with the creativity and general all-round attacking threat of Messi.