Crespo: Time is not on Sampaoli’s side
geneva — Former Argentina forward Hernan Crespo says he is not sure whether coach Jorge Sampaoli has enough time to impose his ideas on the national team as they prepare for this year’s World Cup finals in Russia.
Crespo, 42, told Reuters that, with Sampaoli having only been in charge since June, he is still waiting to see whether they can adapt to the coach’s whirlwind style.
“I have a lot of belief in Sampaoli but he doesn’t have much time to impose his identity,” said Crespo, Argentina’s fourth highest scorer with 35 international goals.
“He’s working very hard with videos, visiting players... but at the moment, we don’t know what sort of identity the team will have and unfortunately, there’s very little time.” With players such as Lionel Messi, Gonzalo Higuain, Sergio Aguero, Angel Di Maria and Paulo Dybala to call on, Argentina’s squad is the envy of most others in terms of individual talent.
Yet the team has struggled in the last two years, lurching through the South American World Cup qualifiers and only making sure of qualification by winning 3-1 in Ecuador at the end of their 18-match campaign.
They employed three coaches during the competition with Sampaoli taking over for the last four matches after Edgardo Bauza was dismissed in the wake of a 2-0 defeat in Bolivia.
Argentina’s first three qualifiers under Sampaoli all ended in draws — away to Uruguay and at home to Venezuela and Peru — before the win in Ecuador. —