World Cup 2018: 5 players who should never play for Argentina again

#4 Nicolas Otamendi

One of the worst defenders to ever wear the Albiceleste shirt

How Pep Guardiola managed to get to 100 points with Manchester City despite having Otamendi as a first-team regular is something along the lines of a modern day miracle.

The 30-year-old was a rock at Valencia alongside another famously skittish centre-back: Shkodran Mustafi, they inspired Los Che to a 4th-place finish in La Liga. This led to a £28.5 million move for the Argentine centre-back to the Etihad.

To show just how great Guardiola’s work with Otamendi was, he was named in the PFA Team of the Season for having a stellar campaign in the 2017-2018 Premier League season.

Away from the Catalan genius’ well-structured team set-up, the real Otamendi has shown up at possibly the worst time for Argentina. Slow, ponderous, rash and uninspiring, he was at the heart of the Argentine defence that was rubbish during the World Cup qualifiers.

This rubbish was carried into the friendlies with the 6-1 mauling at the hands of Spain in March - a portent of what was to come. He was below average against an Icelandic team that could have hurt the Albiceleste with a little more ambition.

The final straw, however, was last night’s farce against Croatia as he failed in his primary duty as the team’s most central defender and was at fault for 2 of the three goals conceded (should have been sent off for his petulant kick at Ivan Rakitic's head).

Given his age, it is too late to believe he has anything to offer; Argentina would be better off saying Gracias!!!! and keeping him away from the national set-up forever.