Argentina's Performance Against Ireland : Loud Cry For Creativity

Argentina National football team was able to defeat The republic of Ireland team in a one sided football match at the new AVIVA Stadium. It was the first match for the Albiceleste since their humiliation at the hands of Germany in South Africa. The interim coach Sergio Batista went for a steady line up trying to use each player to his maximum strength. The midfield was solidified by playing three midfielders in the centre of the pitch who stuck close to each other and the plan worked, at least defensively, as the team was not hit by a counter nor were there passes opening and exposing their defense as in the world cup but one has to bear in mind , with all due respect,that they were playing against Ireland and not Germany.

The major question mark here was the attacking methods, one has to be realistic. You know you have a problem when your central striker(s) do not take a shot on the goal through out the game. The most impressive player on the field was Lionel Messi and again the team looked too dependent on him. He once again looked for balls to him but what he got was either long balls on the flank or the balls that he picked up from half line and tried to supply it to Higuain. He was able to threaten the goal of Shay Given but the Irishman was up to the task. The goal came from a controversial yet tight offside call but nothing to take away from Angel Di Maria he still finished it beautifully, somehow he thrives under the management of Batista, take the Beijing Olympics for instance.

Half time substitutions made some sense but it was the same story once Messi was taken off, there was no supply to Milito and even he had to come down to half line to look for ball, strangely for all the attacking might and pace in the squad, they never caught the Irish out of position or on the break.The match ended as 1-0 even though bough teams showed great spirit and intensity during the game. 

It has been a long mystery, why does Lionel Messi not perform for Argentina just like he does for Barcelona. Well, the answer seems very simple to me, Barcelona do not play three defensive ( of to wing midfielders as in world cup) in their midfield. They play one defensive midfielder and then two midfielders in the form of Xavi and Iniesta who have the license to go forward and have the vision to unlock any footballing defense on this planet. They are able to supply the ball to Messi on the edge of the box and they allow him to  run his magic. When playing for Argentina, he does not get the ball that frequently and he is forced to go deep into the half to get the ball and then run at the defenders. One has to accept that his finishing in the matches for Argentina has been far from his best and the reason for that is exhaustion, how on earth do you expect him to run all over the field first to get the ball, then take it to the box all by himself and then even score??....the answer to Messi's success in the Albiceleste shirt is the support he can get from his team mates.

Agreed that players like Xavi and Iniesta are not born everyday but the kind of talent Argentina possesses, the only thing lacking is the proper management of these players. I fail to understand how is the duo of Aimar and Riquelme any less than their Spanish counter parts?. The only answer I can see is their careers have been plagued with injury nevertheless I strongly feel its time to bring both of them back, not with the plan for World Cup but for the present. 2014 WC is still far away and some might feel that it would be a waste of time to play players that might not even feature then but here out aim is to give confidence to players like Messi, Aguero and Lavezzi that they could take into the next WC. At the same time youngsters like Pastore and Banega chances to shine and understand the play of the team. What the team at present lacks is a creative mind, which definitely is Lionel Messi but it is up to the management to use him either as a striker or the playmaker because at the moment he is being both and its neither helping him nor his team.