Thank You Lionel

January 18th, 2023

Exactly one month after Argentina earned their 3rd star.  For the special occasion, I wanted to break down the most dominant half of sports I have ever witnessed.  I wanted to highlight the masterclass performance that Lionel put on display.  In awe of what I was blessed with experiencing.  I wanted to take the time to express my gratitude to the great Lionel.  But not Lionel Messi, the other Leo.  The coach of the Argentina men's national team, Lionel Scaloni.

Before breaking down how the first half played out, let's analyze the French starting XI.  And what a starting XI it is:

To be able to trot out this squad, after suffering injuries to multiple starters like Karim Benzema, Lucas Hernandez, and N'Golo Kanté.  A team that Pep Guardiola could only imagine buying.  Unheard of depth and talent.  

There were three things I was looking forward to from the French.  The first being the fitness of CB Upamecano and MF Rabiot.  Both players missed the semifinal against Morocco due to an illness that I do not believe was ever revealed.  Missing nearly a week of training sessions and being isolated in their rooms.  How were they going to look on the game's biggest stage?  Particularly Rabiot, tasked with matching the energy of the young revelations of Mac Allister and Enzo Fernandez in Argentina's Midfield.

Second, I was going to be paying attention to France's right wing.  The Barcelona link between RB Kounde and  RW Dembele.  Kounde had struggled for Barcelona on the defensive side of things to start the season.  Many opponents deliberately targeted the RB not only because of his shakey performances, but also to draw Dembele into tracking back for defensive support.  When defending, Dembele can't use his blistering pace as a counter attack threat. Meaning, when France dispossesses Argentina, Dembele, and one third of their attacking front three will be out of position.

And finally, I had my eyes set on Theo Hernandez.  After two games against England and Morocco, it became clear that he was France's weak link.  Sakha of England and the Moroccan team attack led by Ziyech constantly tormented Theo on France's left flank.  This is a problem for France because, unlike Dembele, Mbappe is not going to track back for support on the left wing.  Isolated on the left half, France has to shift over support from the midfield and defense leaving the right side of the pitch with plenty of space.

How can Scaloni counter Deschamps' loaded XI?

Lionel Scaloni made a couple of interesting decisions.  First, picking Tagliafico over Marcos Acuña at the LB position.  Second, thrusting Romero into the defensive wall alongside Otamendi at the CB position.  Scaloni surely went back to the tape to analyze the 2018 Round of 16 loss to France in Russia by a score of 4-3.  Mbappe abused the slow and old defensive players of Argentina.  Romero offers some extra pace and added physicality over some of the other options at CB.  Both moves proved to be very beneficial at preventing the attacking prowess of Les Bleus from coming to fruition.

Although the attacking and midfield selections remained the same, the change in tactics by Scaloni was something that no one could have predicted.  After seeing the lineup before the opening whistle, I tried to dissect what Scaloni had cooked up.  With the weakness of Theo Hernandez and lack of support, I was certain Messi was going to play his typical attacking midfield role drifting inside and attacking the right flank.  Di María would provide overlapping runs to stretch out Hernandez and break the defensive lines of France.  Banking on the lack of support from Mbappe and the French unit having to shift left to mirror Argentina.  Allowing Julian Alvarez, Enzo Fernandez, Mac Allister, and Messi to exploit the open space created as France tried to change shape.  I was dead wrong.  Shocked at what transpired from the start.  But more importantly, Didier Deschamps and France were completely caught off guard.  

Argentina-white/ France-orange

Instead of attacking the left flank of France down Argentina's RW with Messi, Scaloni used him as a decoy.  Knowing that the focus of the Les Bleus defense would be focused on the boy from Rosario, Scaloni put Di María, #11, on the LW.  With the intention to put pressure on the Barcelona boy's.  Instead of relying on Messi's dribbling ability to progress the ball forward, like his timeless assist against Croatia, Scaloni emphasized Messi's passing and playmaking abilities.  A common misconception is that Messi is a forward/striker/winger.  In reality, he's a playmaking attacking midfielder.  Receiving the ball at the halfway point and bearing the responsibility to progress the attack.  The innovative tactic allows Argentina to isolate both flanks and drag the midfield and defenders to certain areas.

Lionel Messi has a gravitational pull greater than the Moon's effects on the Earth's oceans.  Wherever he is, France's defense is going to focus on marking and confining Messi.  Mexico did a brilliant job with this earlier in the World Cup until they didn't.  Mexico gave Messi two yards of space 25-yards away from goal for five seconds, and he made Ochoa pay.  This effect on the game that Messi has is utilized to perfection by Scaloni in two ways.  One, Messi plays a central and deeper role in the attacking third.  This positioning keeps the three French midfielders centrally and out of the penalty area, allowing for less congestion and creating space for attacking runs by Alvarez.  Second, this draws the back line of the French higher up.  Not allowing them to sit deeper.  This creates a pocket of isolated space on the right end of France's defensive third.  With the central defenders and midfielders unable to provide support for Kounde and Dembele against Ángel Di María.

In the 2', Dembele gets his first touch.  And it's a sign of things to come for his half.  Kounde provides a simple pass to an unmarked Dembele on the edge of the pitch at midfield and the ball inexplicably just bounces off his foot and goes out of play.  Argentina gaining possession, waste no time putting Scaloni's game plan to work.   Messi provides a line breaking ball to Di María who gets in behind Kounde.  Di María makes a one touch cross, eventually leading up to an opportunity for Julian Alvarez, offside on the play, to shoot on net.  Not the result they desired, but the game plan is creating threatening chances minutes into the match.

Eight minutes into the match, every Argentina attack went through Di María, creating one shot on goal and one corner kick.  But in the 12', Rodrigo De Paul possesses the ball in the attacking third on the right wing.  Plenty of space in front to attack and Molina, #26, begins to make an overlapping run.  Argentina wisely decides to switch the ball to Di María.  Wise because Molina was never supposed to make that run.

Molina's role was to stay back and shadow Mbappe.  If De Paul plays Molina on an overlapping run and Argentina are dispossessed, Mbappe and Giroux are 1-on-1 with Romero and Otamendi.  The same mistake that cost Argentina two goals that Mbappe scored during their 2018 World Cup battle.  What used to be Messi bearing all responsibility of progressive play for Argentina, has now been mostly deprived of the burden.  Allowing him to crash the box looking for crosses from Di María or to hammer home rebounds, like his goal in the 108'.  

Watch the sequence leading up to the penalty committed by Dembele on Di María.  Leading to Messi's penalty kick conversion, and the first goal of the game.   

The bottom line is Dembele was set up to fail in this match.  I have never seen a player in any sport with so much talent get literally run off the pitch.  On the first attack, Dembele is on an island.  Unacceptable and Kounde should have immediately provided help.  It's the midfield and CB's jobs to slide over and cover the space left by your migration.  However, thanks to Scaloni's positional tactics, Kounde knows that the central defenders are staying put to focus on Messi.  If Kounde pops out for support, this might leave a clear avenue for Alvarez or Fernandez to attack right in front of the net.  When Di María gets the ball the third time in the sequence, he is only being chased down by Dembele.  Kounde decided to stay on the edge of the 6-yard box.  That right wing of France that I was so concerned about, ended up costing Les Bleus an early 1-0 deficit.  

And yes, that was a clear penalty.  When a player gets beat as badly as that, they are going to use physicality, a special word for foul in sports, to make up lost ground.  Dembele, while grabbing the arm of Di María, recklessly clips Di María's heel.  

23' played, and Argentina were abusing France's RW.  33' in and Messi has already broken the French defensive wall four times on his own with lofted balls to Di María. Leading us to what is one of the greatest counter attack team goals I have ever seen.

It begins with Julian Alvarez.  The gall of Lionel Scaloni to start Alvarez over Lautaro Martinez as the tournament progressed.  Martinez, the reigning Serie A player of the year.  A player instrumental in Argentina's 2021 Copa America conquest, passed over after a couple of poor performances.  Unlike past managers who insisted on playing an overweight Higuain, costing Argentina the World Cup in 2014.  Lionel Scaloni did it differently.  The decision to not start Martinez that would lead Alvarez to score 4 goals in the tournament.  Revitalizing the attack after a shock defeat to Saudi Arabia and sluggish first half against Mexico.  While Alvarez's goal scoring prowess proved to be instrumental for Argentina's journey to the final, his workrate is what Argentina needed to accomplish their ultimate goal.  

Argentina don't rely on their back line for defensive strength.  Instead, they rely on their press.  In the 3-0 semi final win against Croatia, Argentina averaged ~20 seconds to win the ball back following a loss in possession.  Relentless.  Argentina clears the ball to Upamecano after an unsuccessful French attack.  Alvarez wastes no time to press Upamecano.  Forcing Upamecano to provide an errant ball that is intercepted by Molina, who kicks off the magic show.

7 touches.

5 passes.

11 seconds.

1 goal.

A one touch by Molina at 35:12 capped off by a one-touch by Di María, who buries the ball in the back of the net at 35:23.  

2-0 Argentina.  An absolutely phenomenal half of football.  The best I have ever seen.  Against an opponent as good as this French team.  Exploiting every weakness the French had, while neutralizing all of their strengths.  Forcing Deschamps to make not one, but two first half substitutions.  All thanks to Lionel Scaloni.  

Yes, the second half happened.  But Argentina had the resolve to win.  The leadership and guidance to excel at the most nerve-wracking task in all of sports.  Winning 4-2 on penalty kicks.  The best game of soccer or football I have ever seen.  The happiest day of my life.  One month ago and my heart is just as full.  

Thank you Lionel Scaloni.

Thank you for filling the world with joy.