What Argentina needs to do to stop The Netherlands

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Argentina has not looked very stable this World Cup, often having Messi conjure magic to beat their opponents at the death, but on form, they are nigh impossible to beat. They have a tougher task now that Angel Di Maria has been ruled out for the rest of the tournament, but in reality, he has been pretty lukewarm and has contributed little besides his goal against the Swiss. Sabella tried a 3-5-2 which almost failed in the opener against Bosnia, sticking to the 4-3-3 ever since. The Dutch have been proven to have weaknesses, and several. They lack a natural right wingback, and are incredibly frustrated by roaming midfielders. Mexico took them to the brink in the summer heat and showed once more that European sides waste away in the Brazilian heat. Unfortunately, they play the fixture in Sao Paulo, where the temperature is actually rather cool.

Expose The Wingbacks

Sergio Agüero is back from injury and Sabella is possibly looking into restoring him in the lineup to play against The Netherlands, and he should. Ezequiel Lavezzi has been subpar, and hasn’t fared better than the Manchester City hitman. The Dutch play with an aged Dirk Kuyt at wingback. As hardworking as he is, Kuyt isn’t the energized player he once was, and has lost pace. A player with the mindset of Agüero will rip him to shreds on the counter.

Key for Argentina?

The flaw in the Dutch defense was always going to be the Wingbacks. If Argentina press high up the pitch and cut off the supply to Blind and Kuyt, things will get very gritty for the Clockwork Orange. Even against Australia, their gung-ho pressing exposed Daley Blind’s lack of positional awareness and left him stranded, along with Jonathan De Guzman high up the pitch with little or none of the ball getting to them, with Robben latching on to long balls being the bright point in the entire team. The three centerbacks are uncomfortable bringing the ball up the field which will cause them to take more risks, and in turn, more chances for Argentina to capitalize on.

Stop Robben Whenever Possible

If there is any player who has been clinical for the Dutch’s chances, it has been Arjen Robben. One of the best players in the World Cup, he has been able to create chances out of nothing and skin defenders for pure speed. He must be stopped if Argentina are to make it to Rio. My suggestion, have Javier Mascherano mark him, and stop him by any means necessary, something Mascherano happens to be VERY good at. The midfield general should shadow and hound Robben all game if needed. He has shown he can force players out of full games at times and his tackling is rivalled by very few.

Is this the Mascherano we will see against The Dutch? Most Likely

Demichelis and Garay were excellent against Belgium, but will most surely struggle against Robben’s pure speed. Sabella has to implement some sort of offside trap to counteract this, or else, we may see something like what happened against Spain. Costa Rica made it work several times, and it left Robben and Van Persie frustrated throughout the game.

Support Messi

Many times throughout the tournament, we have seen Messi save Argentina, but we rarely see them giving Messi the tools to suceeed. When Maradona won the World Cup in 1986, he didn’t go solo or have a bad team, that is a common misconception. They were a resourceful and smart team, and Maradona had support from the likes of Sergio Batista, Jorge Valdano, and the magician Jorge Burruchaga. They worked as a team, and a good one at that, where do you see that today? It really does look like the team is Messi and 10 teammates. He can’t win it alone, he needs help too.

Players like Gonzalo Higuain, Sergio Agüero, and Lucas Bilgia need to step up and perform. They need to give Messi a platform on which to stand on, because they will be coming up against their toughest opponent yet. Messi needs to be able to feed off players, and they need to inevitably feed off him. At Barcelona, the team revolves around him, and for the most part (flawed tactics withstanding) they succeed. If Argentina can’t perform and their players don’t make runs, make good passes, or stay static and ultimately let The Dutch overrun them, then they don’t deserve to win it.