Sampaoli wants best from Messi

MELBOURNE. - Argentina coach Jorge Sampaoli hopes his team can emulate La Liga giants Barcelona’s “collective” approach in extracting the best out of Lionel Messi.

Sampaoli started his time in charge of Argentina with a 1-0 win over Brazil in the SuperClasico at the Melbourne Cricket Ground yesterday before 95 000 fans.

Messi finished top scorer in Europe’s top five leagues last season with 37 goals in the Spanish top flight and 54 across all competitions in a formidable attacking triumvirate with Luis Suarez and Neymar.

However, Messi’s form at international level has only sporadically reached such heights and a succession of coaches have wrestled with where to position the talismanic playmaker. Sampaoli, announced as Argentina coach last week, is the latest tasked with finding the right niche for Messi, and in time to save the team’s World Cup qualifying campaign.

“I believe Messi has been playing collectively in Barcelona as part of a team,” Sampaoli told reporters.

“That’s the type of synergy we want to create in the Argentina team.

“We don’t want him to be playing in an isolated manner, we want him to play collectively.

“That’s what we’re going to push, for the team to play collectively with Messi to get the best out of him.

“The comparison between Messi playing for Barcelona and Messi playing for Argentina is clear because of that.”