Argentina considers kicking 5 defenders to deal with Mbappe
* Argentina - France: 10pm Sunday, December 18, on MetaSports.
At the training session on the evening of December 16, Scaloni let Argentina play with a 5 defender scheme. Accordingly, Lisandro Martinez will combine with Nicolas Otamendi and Cristian Romero to form a central defender trio, while two wingers are Nahuel Molina and Marcos Acuna.
According to Spanish newspaper Mundo Deportivo, this is a plan for Argentina to deal with the French attack, especially the danger of Kylian Mbappe. On the right wing, Romero will often support Molina to stop the 23-year-old French superstar.
Argentina used to operate this 5 defenders well when playing the Netherlands in the quarterfinals. In this match, Scaloni's army did not let the opponent create any dangerous opportunities, until coach Louis van Gaal launched a pair of strikers over 1.8m - Luuk De Jong and Wout Weghorst - on the field and switched to kicking style. head shot.
According to the Argentine sports channel TyC Sports, Scaloni also gave Argentina two other diagrams, with the position of Angel Di Maria being considered the most. The 34-year-old midfielder started the first two matches against Saudi Arabia and Mexico, then injured his thigh in the last match of the group stage against Poland.
Therefore, Di Maria took a break from the 2-1 victory over Australia in the round of 16, entered the second extra time match against the Netherlands in the quarter-finals and continued to not play against Croatia in the semi-finals. This player returned to full training from December 15 and was in good condition to kick the 2022 World Cup final.
Coach Scaloni can deploy 4-3-3, when placing Di Maria to pair Julian Alvarez and captain Lionel Messi, if the PSG star returns to the starting line-up. At that time, the midfield trio will be Rodrigo De Paul, Enzo Fernandez and Alexis Mac Allister.
Scaloni's final choice was Leandro Paredes to play in midfield and keep the 4-4-2 formation that worked well in the semi-final against Croatia 3-0. The remaining midfielders will be Rodrigo De Paul, Enzo Fernandez and Alexis Mac Allister, while Messi and Alvarez will still kick the highest, and Di Maria will be the reserve.
In the match for the gold cup, Argentina will have the strongest force when welcoming the duo Marcos Acuna and Gonzalo Montiel - a pair of full-backs suspended in the semi-finals. In particular, Acuna will compete for the starting position with Tagliafico on the left wing, while Montiel will find it difficult to occupy the right-back position of Nahuel Molina - who kicked well from the beginning of the tournament and contributed a goal in the match against the Netherlands.
