Barcelona in Buenos Aires

It´s a much bandied about term. We´ll have them playing like FC Barcelona. It´s not so easy to implement though. Checho Batista, the much beleaguered Argentine coach, said that the best way to take advantage of the skills of their best player was to have him comfortable in a system he is familiar with. He hand picked his side, surrounding him with players that he said were analogues for Xavi, Iniesta, Busquets and Pedro. Well, we´re all aware of the massive failure that the Barcelona experiment has become. We are also aware that in an attempt to save his job let alone his reputation, Batista will turn to Messi the playmaker and entrust the rest of the Copa America to his forward line of Higuain, Di Maria and Aguero. It´s an admission at fault and it places Messi in a position finally that he certainly can´t fill. He is no playmaker. He´s a modern false-9. El Diez does not exist anymore. He is not Diego, but to win he has to become Diego?

The sad fact is that if there were any country capable of turning to that style where possession means more than athleticism, and where smallish players have a place it is Argentina. They have a long history of producing the sorts of players that fit the Xavi and Iniesta role. The problem is, does anyone coaching today have the guts to put Messi and a guy like Pablo Aimar together in the same attack? Is Saviola that much worse in attack than Lavezzi? Forget players that haven´t featured in years for the albiceleste. What does it mean that the best playmaker they have is sitting on the bench and hasn´t featured at all? You don´t think Pastore would link up better with Messi than the workmanlike pair, the static wonders of Esteban Cambiasso and Ever Banega? I understand one holding central midfielder in that Barca role, Javier Mascherano is already familiar with it, but three? It´s no wonder they aren´t effective. They have no width and no movement off the ball, two key components to Barcelona´s attack.

People complained of Maradona´s experiment in the World Cup with essentially four central defenders at one time, but this is worse. The onus of their entire Copa Ámerica campaign falls to Messi and as good of a player as he is, he cannot be three distinct players at once. He cannot be himself, while also taking on the characteristics of Xavi and Iniesta. And so he fails and people in his homeland question his dedication, his respect and desire for his country. Is it that he doesn´t have ¨the fire or spirit or the cojones that Maradona played with?¨ There´s your problem really. They compare him with Diego because he has a similar skill set, but in today´s game Diego would be playing on the wing. He would be looking for combinations with his team-mates. In today´s tactical game, with two holding mid-fielders in play geared to stopping those forward runs centrally in front of goal, Diego Maradona wouldn´t be El Diez either. So why should Lio?

You see, the failure of the Barcelona experiment is such that Argentina will just entrench themselves in their staid, traditional game, looking for the next Maradona, when the solution is not to become less like Barcelona but more.