Argentina's fascinating Messi Problem

Argentina’s style of play in the friendly against Venezuela, seemed sluggish at best - an entire team designed with one objective - leverage Messi’s style of play, much like Portugal which is designed to support and leverage CR7.  The strategy results in Argentina trying to get the ball to the midfield and then relying on Messi to come up with some magic to take it to the goal.  Portugal meanwhile, has the entire team working to get the ball closer to the goal to feed CR7 resulting in a more aggressive style of play reaping more benefits as we frequently notice.

The World Cup was a very obvious reflection of this too, the entire Argentinian team was determined to slow the pace to support an aging cast while finding ways to unleash Messi.  Can’t deny that Messi could create one of those weaving pathways on cue every week for Barcelona FC, but I guess its easier to find the space to show your magic when you have a Xavi, Iniesta or Busquets sharing the midfield.

The answer therefore appears to lie in establishing a counter weight to Messi, unfortunately this cannot be done by a single player - which makes me wonder about the absence (or inconsistency of appearance) of established strikers like Ken Aguero and brilliant stars like Paolo Dybala, Angel Di Maria and even an aging Higuain in the team.  The absence of this supporting cast was strikingly obvious when Messi did manage to pull a tricks out of his hat and create half chances during the recent friendly against Venuzuela - the young inexperienced strikers seemed woefully out of depth to close the moves.

It is indeed a shame to see country like Argentina with its footballing legacy, unable to bring the best of its breed to the field and establishing a platform for them to succeed.  Is it the AFA to blame or is it the personality conflicts of these mega- talented players that stopping Argentina from putting together a stunning ensemble on the football field I wonder...