There was always a danger Argentina might flop at World Cup 2018, but it shouldn’t have been this pitiful. If Argentina were going to go down, they were going to go down fighting, with coach Jorge Sampaoli a noted advocate of aggressive pressing, attacking football and quick combination play. If those tactics exposed them defensively, it was a risk Sampaoli was willing to take.

But the approach Sampaoli stumbled upon somehow provided all the drawbacks without any notable positives. Argentina didn’t press high, they didn’t attack relentlessly, and it’s difficult to recall any passing moves worth mentioning, yet they were still hopelessly open defensively, conceding space on the outside of their three-man defence readily. Only poor Croatian finishing prevented them from taking the lead earlier.

The three-man defence itself was a major problem. Sampaoli regularly used a three-man defence when in charge of Chile, often with great success, but had seemingly decided Argentina lacked the players to perform in that manner, using a four-man defence in the 1-1 draw with Iceland. Here, Argentina reverted to the three-man defence, but found themselves incapable of covering the width of the pitch.

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Croatia’s two wide players, Ivan Perisic and Ante Rebic, frequently broke in behind wing-backs Eduardo Salvio, a converted midfielder, and left-sided Marcos Acuña, a winger for Sporting Lisbon. Both were more concerned with pressing the Croatian full-backs rather than dealing with the wingers, and therefore Zltako Dalic’s team created chances incredibly easily.

Argentina vs Croatia: World Cup 2018 player ratings Show all 22 1 /22 Argentina vs Croatia: World Cup 2018 player ratings Argentina vs Croatia: World Cup 2018 player ratings Danijel Subasic 6 Was solid in goal but not aske to make any difficult saves EPA Argentina vs Croatia: World Cup 2018 player ratings Sime Vrsaljko 7 Utilised the overlap incredibly well and defended okay AFP/Getty Images Argentina vs Croatia: World Cup 2018 player ratings Dejan Lovren 6 Made a quality block to stop Croatia from going behind but made the mistake to let Perez in REUTERS Argentina vs Croatia: World Cup 2018 player ratings Domagoj Vida 6 Worked well with Lovren but had a lapse in judgment that allowed Perez a free shot on call Getty Images Argentina vs Croatia: World Cup 2018 player ratings Ivan Strinic 6 Struggled in defence as he was under a lot of pressure, but he handled it well and gave Argentina nothing REUTERS Argentina vs Croatia: World Cup 2018 player ratings Ivan Rakitic 6 Played very well, he was quick into space and accurate with his balls over the top, broke well on the counter and deserved the third goal Getty Images Argentina vs Croatia: World Cup 2018 player ratings Marcelo Brozovic 6 Was great in mid-field but linked well with the front men when going forward, created chances and tracked back well REUTERS Argentina vs Croatia: World Cup 2018 player ratings Ante Rebic 7 Lucky to avoid a red card but looked good going forward and strung some good passes together to get the ball out wide, great finish to get the first goal EPA Argentina vs Croatia: World Cup 2018 player ratings Luka Modric 8 Was a little quiet in the first half but found Rebic with a beautiful long ball, scored a blinder to give Croatia the win AFP/Getty Images Argentina vs Croatia: World Cup 2018 player ratings Ivan Perisic 7 Missed a great chance to put Croatia in front, but was strong up front and held the ball up well REUTERS Argentina vs Croatia: World Cup 2018 player ratings Mario Mandzukic 7 Missed a great chance to put Croatia in front, but was strong up front and held the ball up well AP Argentina vs Croatia: World Cup 2018 player ratings Willy Caballero 4 Made a great save to stop Mandzukic from scoring but had a howler in the second half to lead to the goal REUTERS Argentina vs Croatia: World Cup 2018 player ratings Eduardo Salvio 6 Very keen to get forward but left gaps at the back that got exploited AFP/Getty Images Argentina vs Croatia: World Cup 2018 player ratings Gabriel Mercado 6 Made some good blocks but the defensive unit was not working together Getty Images Argentina vs Croatia: World Cup 2018 player ratings Nicolas Otamendi 5 Was very poor he wasted possession and took too much time on the ball at the back REUTERS Argentina vs Croatia: World Cup 2018 player ratings Nicolas Tagliafico 6 Struggled to gel with Otamendi, the communication wasn’t there, and they took too many risks at the back Getty Images Argentina vs Croatia: World Cup 2018 player ratings Javier Mascherano 6 Was strong when challenging the mid-field and won more, one on one challenges than he lost AFP/Getty Images Argentina vs Croatia: World Cup 2018 player ratings Enzo Perez 6 Missed an absolute sitter to take the lead, it was an open goal and he put it wide AP Argentina vs Croatia: World Cup 2018 player ratings Marcus Acuna 7 Hit the bar with an intended cross but got forward at any opportunity AFP/Getty Images Argentina vs Croatia: World Cup 2018 player ratings Maximiliano Meza 6 Had a shot saved by Subasic and should have levelled for Argentina AFP/Getty Images Argentina vs Croatia: World Cup 2018 player ratings Lionel Messi 6 Hardly touched the ball but made a good run behind the defence and almost got to a ball that came over the top EPA Argentina vs Croatia: World Cup 2018 player ratings Sergio Aguero 6 Only touched the ball 7 times in the first half but made a great run and won a corner Getty Images

Inside five minutes a hopeful long ball was flicked on by Ivan Rakitic into the path of Perisic, whose shot was saved well by Willy Caballero. Shortly afterwards Perisic switched play to the galloping right-back Šime Vrsaljko, completely unmarked at the far post, but he miscued his volleyed cross. Vrsaljko then teed up Mario Mandzukic with a fine diagonal cross after the big centre-forward had made a run from a left-wing position, although his header was unusually poor. The space in behind Salvio was Argentina’s main problem, with Luka Modric’s curled, crossfield ball in behind finding Rebic, briefly on the left, running in behind. A poor first touch meant the chance was wasted.

Where, though, did Argentina have the upper hand? Certainly not in midfield, where Javier Mascherano and Enzo Perez were, predictably, second-best to Rakitic and Modric in terms of possession play, but more alarmingly completely overawed in terms of physicality, with the Croatian duo pushing up and pressing energetically when Argentina attempted to play over the halfway line. Having played as a deep-lying duo in the opening victory over Croatia, here Modric and Rakitic were allowed to play higher thanks to the introduction of Marcelo Brozovic. It helped them take the game to Argentina, and later enabled them both to get onto the scoresheet.

Argentina’s build-up play was dreadful, overly dependent upon Nicolas Otamendi to play ambitious long balls into the final third. Leo Messi, playing in a familiar inside-right zone but in a completely unfamiliar system, swapped a couple of chances with the overlapping Salvio, but nothing about Argentina’s system helped him advance into dangerous positions.

Argentina stand on the verge of elimination (Getty)

Sergio Aguero isn’t the type of centre-forward who comes towards play to allow Messi to play one-twos, and the absence of proper width meant Croatia’s defenders played narrow and crowded him out when needed. Aside from a baffling Croatian defensive mix-up midway through the first half, which presented Perez with an open goal he somehow contrived to miss, Argentina simply never looked like scoring.

Croatia eventually went ahead through Rebic’s clinical volley after Caballero had hopelessly looped the ball up in front of him, as Argentina attempted to play out from the back. It was the third hopeless concession of possession inside their own box in Argentina’s first two games, and they were fortunate not to be punished sooner. Players of this meagre calibre – and, for all the tactical problems, this is a deeply average starting XI individually – simply aren’t capable of playing in that manner. M

odric’s curler was a fitting piece of individual brilliance from the game’s best performer, while Rakitic deserved his goal after a wonderful performance that involved switching play regularly to exploit Argentina’s weakness down the flanks.