With the 2018 FIFA World Cup kicking off in Russia in under two weeks, most national team sides have finally announced their final 23-man squads that will represent their nations in the biggest sports tournament in the world. Most national team managers select based on the players' club performances throughout the previous season, but some, such as Argentina's Jorge Sampaoli, choose their squad to fit into a "system" that they believe will be most efficient at winning throughout the competition.
Sampaoli's critics have come out with harsh comments about leaving out young Inter Milan talent Mauro Icardi, who has come off a very good season with the Biscione. However, Icardi isn't the first to be left out from the Argentina squad. Juventus superstar and amazing world prospect Paulo Dybala is still waiting for a break through in the Argentina starting XI. Only making 12 starts at the senior level, Dybala has become a regular bench player in Sampaoli's squad.
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| Dybala in action against Singapore, June 13th 2017 |
The question that remains unanswered is: Why isn't Dybala starting regularly for Argentina?
In order to answer this completely, we should look at the previous attackers that started for Argentina.
In the 2014 World Cup final, ex-Argentina manager used striker Higuain and Lionel Messi to lead the lines. Out wide were the likes of Lavezzi and Perez, although both were taken off for substitutes Palacio and Fernando Gago. These selections should be taken with a grain of salt as the formation sued is a lot different from that seen by Sampaoli's go-to formation.
As seen in the full 23-man roster being brought to Russia only consists of 4 attackers, which suggests Dybala isn't too far off in becoming a starter. However, Sampaoli has been seen constantly using a 4-3-3 formation, with Angel Di Maria (listed as a midfielder) playing the left winger and Lionel Messi playing his usual right winger position. The center forward is used mostly as a distraction, so that Lionel Messi can dribble through the opposition without as many defenders surrounding him. Sampalo will most likely start with Sergio Aguero, the Manchester City forward who lit up the premier league for another season. Aguero is very good at holding the ball up and allowing for his team to overlap him, creating deadly chances. And most likely, as a set of fresh legs, Gonzalo Higuain, Dybala's teammate at Juventus, will take off either Di Maria or Aguero, and play a target forward, looking to head the ball from a cross and keep control of the ball until Messi can get open for a pass.
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| The predicted attacking lineup for Sampaoli (Messi, Di Maria, Aguero) |
This is where Dybala comes into play. Dybala, throughout his time at Juventus, has played many different positions for the club. Starting as a Center Forward, and moving back into a creative attacking midfielder, to being pushed out wide on both flanks, pestering oppositions with his electric pace and creative skills, Dybala can play just about any postion, but has always had the "creator's touch" to his game, and many say can be comapred to his older Argentinian comrade, Lionel Messi. Any player should be honored to be compared to one of the greats such as Lionel Messi, but for Paulo Dybala it seems almost to be a curse as well.
Sampaoli's system requires only one creative playmaker to operate withing the center of the pitch, and that position is perfect for Messi. Sampaoli realizes that Argentina's weakness has always been in defense and uses his 3 midfielders to create a strong defensive line that blocks the middle of the field for the opposition, which means Dybala can't fit into a center midfielder role. As well, we see Higuain and Aguero have mastered their role as target men, focusing only on keeping control of the ball long enough for the rest of the team to join. Dybala's only other option to play seems to lie in the left winger position, currently filled by Angel Di Maria. Di Maria is very interesting as he hasn't had too many successful club seasons, but for some reason is able to connect really well with Messi, offering a different style of play to Argentina's squad. Unlike Dybala, Di Maria tends to stay out wide a lot more, sprinting up and down the pitch and whipping in crossed for Aguero and Higuain, as well as pinging the ball across the 18-yard box, where Lionel Messi is usually waiting.
While Paulo Dybala is a great footballer and an even greater young talent, his default attributes he offers for teams seem to have already been filled by the likes of Lionel Messi and Sergio Aguero. I believe Dybala has shown he deserves a shot to become a starter for this strong attacking Argentinian team, he will have to be a little more patient being a bench player. His impressive feat of 26 goals in 47 appearances for all competitions should not go without praise, and he is sure to continue to impress throughout all of Europe in club level, and maybe even take over once Lionel Messi retires from international duty.
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| Paulo Dybala and his signature goal-scoring celebration |
Please feel free to comment any ideas you have on Argentina and Paulo Dybala's role for the squad, as well as requests for other blog posts you want to see. Thank you again for taking the time to read The Hat Trick.
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