Argentina played badly and only got a draw against Paraguay, what's with Argentina? he has a lot of players with very good quality, is this a coach factor and strategy? or is this a factor in not being compact with Argentine players?
It's a combination of bad things happening at the same time:
- An AFA (argentina football association) that's a complete disaster who they decided to appoint as manager the first guy they saw walking in the AFA headquarters (Scaloni) instead of going after Pochettino (Spurs) or Simeone (Atletico Madrid).
- A manager who has as much experience managing a NT (or a club) as my dog. That sub last night (Di María in - Lautaro out, right when Argentina were dominating the game) really showed his inexperience.
- Players who, psychologically, seem to struggle to play at a decent level with the NT (Otamendi, Messi, Di maria, Lo Celso, Armani, etc).
- Players who don't have the level to play in the NT (Matias Suarez, Pereyra, Tagliafico, Paredes, etc) + this is the first time they're playing together at a competitive level (meaning, there's no chemistry yet)...That's a recipe for disaster.
- A really tense atmosphere behind the scenes because of leaks about the NT formation, players having discrepancies with the manager, pressure from the argentinian press, and other stuff, which might be affecting the entire team mentally.
Take all of that, mix it, and you'll get an
argentinian clusterfuck, this has been going on for like a year, since the south american WC qualifiers. That's why I said a few weeks ago:
Honestly, I'll be surprise if they make it to the knockout stages, their recent performances have been awful, with and without Messi.
If I had some bankroll to make some bets, I'd totally go with a Qatar win + O2.5goals next weekend, IF Qatar doesn't try the same tactics they used yesterday (5-3-2).