Lionel Messi gets plenty of criticism for his play with Argentina. The world's best player who is simply mesmerizing against the world's best teams for Barcelona has yet to replicate that type of play for Argentina and it hasn't gone unnoticed. It is one of the most common debates in world football. Why can't Messi play like Messi for Argentina? A draw against Bolivia in the opening match of the tournament didn't helo Messi's case either as people were quick to play the failures of Argentina's attack on Messi.
Copa America 2011, Argentina Vs. Colombia: Lionel Messi Looking For Help
Those who looked at Messi for Argentina's failures against Bolivia were taking the easy way out. Argentina drew at home against a team that had no business playing with them and they only got the point because of a sensational strike by Sergio Aguero. Where's Messi, the supposed best player in the world, in that match? Why couldn't he carry the attack? That type of questioning ignored the fact that Messi actually did play pretty well against Bolivia.
While Carlos Tevez and Ezequiel Lavezzi would either disappear from the match or shoot any time they could see the goal, Messi looked to be the team's playmaker. He dropped to see the ball, made effective runs and was able to open up the match for Argentina. It wasn't his fault that Tevez and Lavezzi weren't at their best and couldn't get into dangerous positions. It wasn't his fault that the midfield struggled to create much so Messi had to move away from the goal to get the ball. It wasn't his fault that too often Messi was out on an island without any support from his teammates.
The last point is the biggest issue for Argentina and unfortunately for them, a longstanding one. For years now Messi has been able to get touches on the ball for Argentina, but he hasn’t had available options to link up. Some of that was chalked up to former manager Diego Maradona and his tactical naivety, but with Sergio Batista in charge of the team now it is no better.
Ever Banega played well in the midfield against Bolivia and gave Messi one option, but he was just about the only option. Messi played relatively well in that match and there’s no reason to believe that he won’t do the same for the rest of the tournament, but if he is to live up to the world’s best player moniker, he is going to need some help. He is going to need options. Maybe that means bringing Javier Pastore into the team or maybe the rest of the Argentina team will just have to step forward. However it happens, it will have to happen for Messi to truly shine and for Argentina to win.
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