It’s easy to be wise after the event, of course. But, given the unique timing of the Qatar World Cup and the shorter-than-ever turnaround between the club season and the tournament’s beginning, one wonders if Argentina boss Lionel Scaloni will regret not leading more into current form following that shock 2-1 defeat to Saudi Arabia on Tuesday.
34-year-old Nicolas Otamendi partnered Cristian Romero in defence; the Tottenham Hotspur centre-back travelling to Qatar having missed each of the last four Premier League games through injury. He certainly didn’t look match fit,as Saleh Alsheri zipped past him to fire home the equaliser.
Scaloni, lest we forget, had one of the game’s most in-form defenders on the bench, too; Manchester United’s Lisandro Martinez.
And while Rodrigo de Paul has been a huge part of Scaloni’s success in the national team dugout, the midfielder’s recent displays with Atletico Madrid certainly leave a lot to be admired. If Scaloni was to pick his XI on current form, De Paul would be nowhere near the starting XI. Not with Benfica playmaker Enzo Fernandez in such outstanding nick.
Rodrigo de Paul toils as Argentina suffer World Cup surprise vs Saudi Arabia
Cadena Ser even indicated that Atletico would consider letting De Paul go in the New Year. It’s just two-and-a-half years since his his £30 million move from Udinese.
And De Paul, a la Romero, did little to justify Scaloni’s selection during a defeat as surprising as any in modern World Cup history; Argentina’s first defeat in 36 games coming against a team outside of FIFA’s Top 50.
De Paul, who turned down a move to Tottenham Hotspur over the summer (Tuttomercatoweb), epitomised the worst of Argentina during a frenetic and jittery display; the pre-tournament favourites resembling a hot-heated, Red Bull-fuelled teenager handed the keys to an F1 car. All haste, so little control.
Of the Argentina starters, only left-back Nicolas Tagliafico completed a fewer of his attempted passes (75 per cent). Time and again, De Paul made the wrong decision in possession. He wasted an excellent chance late in the first-half, his cut-back easily dealt with by a granite-carved Saudi Arabian defence. De Paul also slashed a more-than-presentable volley well over the bar when well posotioned.
The one-time Leeds target was a little fortunate to avoid a yellow card too; sent for a proverbial hot-dog by the rangy Mohamed Kanno.
One to make way?
To think, Saudi Arabia was supposed to be the ‘easiest’ of Argentina’s group-stage fixtures. Mexico and Poland are still to come. With Scaloni already under huge pressure already, don’t be surprised to see Martinez and Enzo Fernandez drafted into the starting XI; Romero and De Paul perhaps the most obvious candidates to make way.
Enzo, after all, arguably offered more in just 30 minutes than De Paul did in over 100. And if any Spurs supporters fans were tuning in to see what they could have won, De Paul rebuffing their advances in favour of staying in La Liga, they’d have been left with more questions than answers.
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