Lionel Messi is potentially going to play his last ever World Cup in Qatar. He’ll be coming into the tournament in a much more stable situation than he likely was last year at PSG. Lio has seemingly accepted a new role in the PSG squad that sees him play as a classic number 10. In the games that PSG has played this year we’ve seen Messi be willing to take the ball from further down on the pitch than ever before. Argentina coach Leonel Scaloni seems to want to capitalize on the fact that Lio is willing to play as that traditional number 10, and therefore has crafted a 4-5-1 system with a solid midfield that could very well be the key to Argentina’s success.
The real question then that we maybe want to ask ourselves is actually who is going to be playing up front for Argentina in Qatar? Taking the team’s last real competitive game into account it would seem, Inter’s Lautaro Martinez is going to be the chosen number 9 to take the spot that Gonzalo Higuain held in the team’s previous World Cup appearances. There’s an argument to be made that this team gives Messi his best chance yet at lifting a World Cup.
Lautaro Is The Chosen Striker, But There Are Other Options
Argentina is facing an issue that we see in a bunch of other teams across the world. Lautaro is a very capable striker, that’s not what we’re questioning. In fact, we would argue that he’s the only traditional type of 9 on the roster. If Scaloni wants his team’s offense to run through Messi, and maybe some of the other players that he’ll play on the wing in the aforementioned 4-5-1 a number 9 that doesn’t need as much contact with the ball, and feels comfortable staying up top can help the team stretch the field and give Messi more open space to work with. Someone like Man City’s new signing Julian Alvarez, or even Paulo Dybala, and Angel Correa could in fact occupy that number 9 spot in particular games.
With one of these guys at striker there are a couple of benefits for Messi. Number one being that he could in fact serve as the defacto number 9 in spots, particularly when he gets tired. The 4-5-1 with Lautaro up top, and De Paul, and Guido Rodríguez as defensive midfielders behind Messi could be the most solid line up that Argentina is capable of putting on the field. It’ll give you a balanced mid field that can fight for possession with any team in the world. They also wouldn’t feel that uncomfortable if they have to rely on the counter-attack as the main weapon for parts of the game.
Why This Is In Fact Messi’s Best Chance To Lift The Trophy, Despite The Challenges He’ll Face
We’ve just mentioned that this can be the most solid Argentina team on the defensive end that Messi’s ever had. The big problem that we see with the 4-5-1 with Messi as a number 10 is that there are too many games in just a few days for Messi to hold up physically. In fact, if they can give Messi breathers in group stage games that could go a long way towards allowing the team to advance in the tournament.
Argentina don’t have to change their formation, just their lineup to be able to offer something completely different to teams. There’s an argument to be made that this is perhaps a deeper roster than any of the other Messi lead World Cup rosters for Argentina. The big challenge though is whether Messi, Di Maria, and other members of the old guard can hold up physically.
