Scouting The Big Four – Argentina

Without having to face their biggest rivals Brazil, qualification proved relatively straight forward for Argentina. They topped the South American group scoring the most goals of any side with 35. Alejandro Sabella has found a formation that gets the best out of arguably the world’s best player Lionel Messi, who has excelled in his free role for his country. Argentina will be hoping Messi can fire they goals they need to win them the World Cup on the home turf of their biggest rivals.

Weather conditions

Argentina playing on their home continent have been lucky with the draw regarding the weather. Their opening game in Rio is a late kickoff negating the midday heat, the early kickoff in the second game in Belo Horizonte will reach temperatures of 25c but fortunately this game is against the group outsiders Iran and Argentina should keep the possession easily enough and the heat should have less effect on them. The final fixture is another early kickoff but is in the cooler climate of southern Brazil at Porto Alegre, where the temperatures should only reach a maximum of 19c.

Starting lineup

4-3-1-2: GK Romero; RB Zabaleta, CB Fernandez, CB Garay, LB Rojo; DM Mascherano, CM Gago, CM Di Maria; CF Messi, CF Aguero, CF Higuain

Coach Alex Sabella has turned to a 4-3-1-2 formation in order to get the best out of Messi and it is clearly working with Messi scoring 10 goals in qualification. At the back Romero will stand between the sticks, despite lack of game time this season for Monaco he is still number one for the national team. The back four is very settled with Antonio Garay and Federico Fernandez will start at centre back with Marcos Rojo playing at left back. Originally a center back Rojo will be more defensive minded. Pablo Zabaleta, playing on the opposite flank, will be the more attacking of the two full backs and is tasked with providing width on the right.

Argentina will play with only one true defensive midfielder in Javier Mascherano with the more attack minded Fernando Gago playing alongside him. Angel Di Maria will be as important as Messi for the team this summer. Argentina will rely on Di Maria’s energy and ability to provide cover in central midfield and with no overlapping fullback he will need to provide the width on the left. He played this role perfectly for Real Madrid this season and Argentina will need his energy and driving runs from deep to be successful this summer.

Up front Messi will be given a free role, he will either play as a false 9 as he does for Barcelona or will drift wide. Gonzalo Higuain and Sergio Aguero will need to revolve around Messi in attack, Aguero has the perfect skill set to spread wide and run into the channels opening space on the pitch to let Messi play and will always be looking to receive defence splitting through balls. Higuain will need to do the same as Aguero but when Messi drifts wide he will to get into the box where he can to showcase his natural finishing ability.

Penalty taker: Messi

Fantasy breakdown

Handed what is on paper the easiest group of the tournament favourites, Argentina should score plenty of goals against a porous Nigerian defence and rank outsiders Iran. Bosnia may give Argentina a test but most would still expect Argentina to find the back of the net. With the game against likely whipping boys Iran scheduled as Argentina’s second game Sabella will likely still field a strong side until qualification is assured, meaning Messi and co should have a chance to fill their boots against lowly Iran. With progression to the last 16 almost already assured and with so many attacking assets to choose from picking a full quota of Argentines seems advisable.

Messi, Arguably the best player in the world right now, he has previously failed to deliver for national team, he was unable to find the back of the net at the previous world cup as Argentina went out disastrously to Germany in the quarter finals. Some argue that it was then head coach Diego Maradona’s crazy tactics that reduced Messi to a passenger at that tournament, but now with Sabella in charge he has Messi firing in the goals as he does for his club with 10 goals in 14 games with two coming via the penalty spot. With games against, at best, average defences and playing in his preferred position, plus spot kick duties Messi should be the first name on most fantasy managers team sheets.

Higuain scored a hatrick at the last world cup and another in the first qualifier against Chile. He will again lead the attack for Argentina this summer. Higuain may be the differential for those without the budget for Messi and those hatricks serve as a reminder that Higuain could have explosive points potential. Finishing the qualifiers with a record of nine goals in 11 games and taking his fantastic club form at Lazio (17 goals) to the big tournament, Higuain could be worth the gamble.

Di Maria will be as important as Messi this summer for Argentina, he will need to offer cover in central midfield and provide width on the left. It is a role he transitioned to at Real Madrid having originally played as a winger. His driving runs and ability to pick out a cross will lead to assists, he scored 3 during qualification so could produce the odd goal as well. If you don’t want to fill your entire forward lines with Argentines look to add Di Maria in one of your midfield spots.

Aguero scored less than his fellow forwards with five goals, but he did it in just eight games. The Manchester City striker suffered from injuries throughout the season but when he was on the field Aguero produced the goods for the English champions with 17 goals. Aguero’s ability to go past players at will and strike from distance makes him worthy of a spot in most fantasy teams.

The Argentine defence will be hopeful of at least 2 clean sheets from the group stage and Zabaleta is the defender of choice for attacking points. The Man City right back will be tasked with providing the width on the right and will bomb on with regularity throughout the games looking to provide the odd goal or assist to add to his defensive returns.