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Lionel Scaloni took over Jorge Sampaoli's damaged Argentina as an interim after the World Cup 2018 ended. He took some determinations for his team. With Lionel Messi taking the year off from Argentina, Scaloni had to do something, which eventually came as good news for the Argentine fans. Mauro Icardi returned to the squad, and without Messi, Dybala could also fit in and complete the missing puzzle in the Argentine's midfield. It was, however, another shocker when the lineups were revealed. Scaloni benched both Dybala and Icardi in Argentina's first friendly match vs. Guatemala.
As per the lineup, it looked like Scaloni wanted a balanced-reserved football. Which means he wanted to retain possession as soon as his team could and he put on some high duties for Simeone as if he was playing for the false nine roles in the organization.
As the time went by, only consistent point seen in Scaloni's system is the exploitation of flanks which resulted in too many crosses and the usage of long balls from the defense to attack. Meaning Scaloni understood his team and wanted their wingers to make use of their pace to collect the long passes.
Scarloni adviced his team to conserve the ball rather than blowing up chances. A lot of such scenarios were visible in the match where the players didn't finish the opportunities. They instead passed it on to someone else to finish it easily. We cannot consider this as a miss from Pavon, but he should've taken the chance.
Here is another example of how Scarloni wanted sure-shot goals rather than just shot goals.
Scaloni's defensive line sat at the back. With midfielders going wide, and already the wingers cutting in, Scaloni gave the fullbacks freedom only till the midfield area. This was to ensure that there were enough people at the back to protect the goal and they were not vulnerable to counterattacks.
Another example of the non-attacking fullbacks.
The healthy team attacks were only helped by the midfield and not the part from where the defenders could contribute much to the offense.
This was Analysing Scaloni's first match with Argentina.
The passing game is bought back to Argentina as they completed 666 passes against Guatemala and had an upper hand. They had 61% possession and exploited this advantage very well.
The main aim from Scaloni seen is the usage of Long balls as mentioned previously. He switches the ball from one flank to the other. And uses his winger's rapid speed to collect the through balls which are given right from the defense.
The ultimate question still remains if this Argentina side with Lionel Messi can finally win a trophy. Will Messi finally win a trophy with Argentina?
If you haven't watched the game, you can watch the highlights in this link:- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J9UyuT0HJp0
