After a horrendous World Cup tournament and the subsequent firing of puppet manager Jorge Sampaoli, Argentina’s national team found itself in quite a complicated position moving forward.
With no clear style of play, the retirement of several historical players such as Javier Mascherano and the media calling for everyone’s head, the situation did not seem optimistic. Argentina was considered dead by many, without Lionel Messi (temporary retirement from the national team) the Albiceleste was expected to enter a long rebuilding period. Enter Lionel Scaloni.
L’Alcudia Tournament
What happened before the L’Alcudia tournament (A prestigious U-20 World tournament) was chaos. Former manager Sampaoli was expected to take over the U-20 in something like a final trial for his abilities as manager.
Instead, Sampaoli was unceremoniously fired, and a team composed of Lionel Scaloni and Pablo Aimar took charge of the U-20 squad.
Argentina’s U-20 won the tournament with key youth players such as Facundo Colidio (Inter), Agustin Almendra, Gonzalo Maroni, and Leonardo Balerdi (Boca Juniors), and also Francesco Lo Celso (Rosario Central, Gio’s brother). The team had a clear style of playing football, something Sampaoli’s squad lacked.
Scaloni’s team pressed the opponent against the sidelines, made quick transitions on offense, featured plenty of movement off the ball and was recognized for the individual sacrifice each player made on defense.
After Scaloni’s illustrious performance in the COTIF, Argentina started to take notice, and thus he was promoted to interim manager of the National Team.
Plan “S”
It is no secret that Scaloni was not even in the AFA’s plan to begin with. The first options that were looked into were Atletico’s manager Diego “El Cholo” Simeone, then Mauricio Pochettino, of the Spurs, Marcelo Gallardo, River Plate and also Ricardo Gareca. Everyone declined. Sure, who would have wanted to leave a comfortable situation for the uncertainty of directing Argentina, where it is one strike and you are out.
So the AFA had to settle with the less popular Lionel Scaloni, at least for the international friendlies against Guatemala and Colombia.
No-one’s team
This is not a knock on Lio, but when he was in the squad, it is said that Messi was in charge while the acting manager was nothing more than a puppet or a scapegoat when things go wrong, how else can you explain mediocre players like Mascherano or Biglia STARTING on a World Cup match?
With Scaloni, such is no more the case. Lio retired temporarily from the team so Scaloni had no pressure choosing whatever player he felt like for the team.
This allowed Scaloni to form a team that fit his playing style. With the inclusion of players like Santiago Ascacibar, Gonzalo Martinez, and Mauro Icardi along with several others, the team started to gain form.
The title No-one’s team refers to that this a real team, this is no longer Lio Messi and friends. This is now a serious squad where only players that truly deserve to play will play. Players like Higuain or Di Maria, who despite balling out in Europe never play consistently well for the national squad are being left out.
Scaloni’s results
Keep in mind the sample size is extremely small, Argentina showcased a true identity under Scaloni. Something fans have not seen since the days of Alejandro Sabella.
Argentina beat mediocre Guatemala 3-0 and then tied Colombia 0-0. The match against Colombia is where the jury was out on Scaloni because los cafeteros are considered a real threat to consider in the Copa America 2019. The tie seemed fair, but still Argentina played a really good first half, with 5 or 6 clear goal scoring opportunities.
With more time and training, and also the development of plenty of young players like Exequiel Palacios or Cristian Pavón, this team is definitely trending in the right direction.
Another key strength of Scaloni is his ability to handle the group and fake rumors of the disgusting Argentina sports media. After a rumored conflict with Dybala, Scaloni gave clear answers to a reporter and called Dybala to join him as he spoke. He defused a problem fluidly.
¡GENIAL!
El fútbol puede ser muy sencillo:
¿La mejor manera de solventar rumores absurdos de periodismo amarillista?
Te lo enseña #Scaloni y lo secunda #Dybala:pic.twitter.com/EM2eTkplXv
— José David López (@josedavidlopez_) September 13, 2018
Translation: “Do you think I have a problem with him [Dybala]? This guy is a phenom, the problem is that we could not train during the week and he knows it… do not make a problem out of nothing, we need everyone to move forward, not backwards.”
Scaloni proved himself to be a true leader and one with the character to lead a team constantly troubled by big egos. For now lets just hope that Argentina can continue in the right direction in order to see it once again where it belongs, the top.
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Twitter: @casiopersources