If Argentina advances, it will be in spite of Sampaoli, not because of him.
Argentina’s World Cup campaign hasn’t gotten off to a good start. In fact, it may end soon. Argentina also had a very tough qualifying campaign, qualifying on the last day. Their savior that day was (who else?) Lionel Messi.
The free-flowing football this team used to play is unseen today. Mental and tactical adjustments are needed.
If you want a date to mark the beginning of Argentina’s slide, I recommend you look at June 1, 2017. On that day Jorge Sampaoli was announced as coach of Argentina’s national team.
For sure, it’s harsh to pin failure on one man, especially when he’s not on the pitch playing. Yes, it’s harsh to blame Sampaoli when you have arguably the best player in the world on your side. But, still, that doesn’t mean harshness is undeserved.
Let’s look at the record.
Since his appointment, Argentina has played four qualifiers in CONMEBOL. There was a 0-0 draw against Uruguay, a 1-1 draw against Venezuela, a 0-0 draw against Peru, and a 3-1 win against Ecuador. In International Friendlies, Argentina has played seven matches– wins against Russia, Singapore, Haiti, Italy, and Brazil, and losses against Nigeria and Spain. The team has one draw and one loss in the 2018 World Cup.
Over the course of thirteen matches, Argentina has 6 wins, 4 draws, and 3 losses. If you bore down a bit, here are the FIFA rankings of teams they’ve beaten–Singapore – 169, Russia – 70, Haiti – 104, Italy – 19, Brazil – 2, and Ecuador – 60.
Courtesy: Mondedufoot
And what may be more telling is the formations used during those games: 3-4-3 against Brazil, 3-2-4-1 against Singapore and Uruguay, 3-3-3-1 against Russia and Nigeria, 4-4-2 against Haiti, 4-2-3-1 against Italy, Iceland, Peru and Spain, and 3-4-2-1 against Croatia, Venezuela, and Ecuador. That’s six formations over thirteen games–too much variability for a high-profile team.
In those matches, Messi has played in the right with Dybala in the middle. He has also played as the No.10 with Aguero in front of him for one match and, in the other, on the right alongside Aguero. There’s that pattern, again–variability rather than consistency.
Then there’s the issue of team selection. Against Croatia, Dybala, Di Maria, Banega, and Pavon watched from the sidelines. Just about every sane mind in the world thought they’d play in the most important match of the group.
Sampaoli has since then asked for forgiveness, but Argentina is not a nation that takes football lightly. And nationals didn’t forgive Willy Caballero for the opening goal. Testimony to that was endless whistles and boos.
Let’s face reality: if Argentina fails to get into the next round, which is looking more likely by the hour, Sampaoli will find forgiveness hard to come by.
Make no mistake about it: the World Cup isn’t over for Argentina. There is still a chance they might continue. And who knows? With dramatic turnaround they could even win the tournament. But that in no way absolves Sampaoli. If Argentina wins, it will be in spite of him, not because of him.
