Argentina turns on Messi for lack of ‘leadership’
Nigeria did we see the Argentine magician in action. Against France it was an unfamiliar version of the player, cowed and humbled.
It did not help his attempts to impose himself on the game in Kazan that everywhere he went he was shadowed by N’golo Kante. And when the Chelsea man was not snapping at his heels, Blaise Matuidi was. They give him not so much as a millimetre to breathe in. Nor did it help him that his Argentina team appeared to have no strategy to deal with France’s pace and youthful zest.
That tactical hole at the heart of the enterprise, Ardiles reckoned, was down to the coach. Like Messi, Jorge Sampaoli was once regarded as the man.
When he steered Chile to victory in the Copa America in 2015 he was lauded as a guru. But in Russia he was exposed. Pacing his technical area, he looked at times lost. Rumours suggested he deferred his decision-making to Messi and Javier Mascherano, leaving on the bench such talents as Sergio Aguero, Gonzalo Higuain and Paulo Dybala.
“His inconsistency, his indecisions, his lack of leadership played a fundamental role in our sad performance,” fumed Ardiles of Sampaoli. “A single plan: Give the ball to Messi and wait for the miracle.” None came.
But football does not pause long. If the king is dead, long live the new king. At 19, Kylian Mbappe produced the most astonishing individual performance of the World Cup so far, becoming the first teenager since Pele to score twice in a World Cup finals match.
The France No 10 exuded the quality that used to be Messi’s trademark: he who made the difference. What Mbappe proved with his thrilling performance is that he is not just the future, he is the now. For Messi, all that remains is the past.
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