Alvarez can be the wingman for Erling
FORWARD’S PERFORMANCES AT WORLD CUP COULD SHOW BLUES FUTURE
UNSURPRISINGLY, Lionel Messi is grabbing headlines at the World Cup, as Argentina look to be moving through the gears as they march on to the quarter-finals in Qatar.
The opening round defeat to Saudi Arabia was one of the biggest ever shocks at the World Cup, but since then Argentina have topped their group and looked good in the last-16 against Australia.
Key to that revival is obviously the talismanic form of Messi, who looked almost unstoppable in the first knockout stage and now has three goals to his name.
To facilitate Messi’s form, however, has been the introduction of City striker Julian Alvarez to the starting line up.
Alvarez has not only scored two goals in his two starts against Poland and Australia, but he has transformed Argentina’s front three.
Angel Di Maria started the first two games, but was slow and ineffective, as were Lautaro Martinez and Papu Gomez. Alvarez came off the bench in those fixtures, before taking his chance against Poland.
His top-corner finish in the final group game effectively secured Argentina’s knockout place after a performance full of running off the left wing in support of Messi, who played centrally.
Against Australia, Alvarez was shifted over to the right, and he did all the running once more to open up space for Messi to run the show.
When he closed down the ponderous Mat Ryan and cleverly passed the loose ball back into the goal, he had scored the decisive goal for the second game in a row. By combining all his unselfish pressing, stretching of defences, and some quality finishing, Alvarez is the perfect support striker for a major superstar like Messi.
It’s the same role he has impressed in back at City, especially when playing alongside Erling Haaland.
Pep Guardiola has so far resisted the urge to give Alvarez a run on the wing in favour of playing him behind Haaland if they ever play together, but maybe his recent outings for Argentina may persuade the City boss to change his mind.
Argentina have been able to unlock Messi’s maximum impact at the World Cup by introducing Alvarez out wide to occupy defences rather than allow them to settle in a solid back line and brace for the next attack.
City hardly need to unlock Haaland, although they have yet to settle on the most effective way of utilising Alvarez in the same starting XI.
There are plenty of fixtures coming up where both players will be needed, as will rotation across the front three. Having the option of Alvarez as a winger could help navigate a busy few months, and keep defences guessing over how to stop Haaland. Anything that helps get the best out of Lionel Messi has surely got to be worth a go.
Having the option of Alvarez as a winger could help navigate a busy few months Joe Bray