Legendary curtain call: Argentina find a winning strategy without Messi? Scaloni is experimenting hard

For players of the level of Messi and Ronaldo, the manager's arrangement for them can be described as a happy trouble. At their peak, the manager will have to work hard to help them compete for the title and realize their dreams, and when they are old, they have to think carefully about how to adapt when they have been dependent on them for so many years and suddenly they are gone. It's not a simple question.

It's clear that Portugal's Martinez is still thinking. The 0-2 loss to Slovenia was a very bad situation, with Cristiano Ronaldo and without Ronaldo's Portuguese team, the actual performance is very different, how to ensure that the team is stable, and it is a difficult problem to play well in the tournament. In contrast, Scaloni seems to have "adapted" to the problems without Messi, and in the 3-1 win over Costa Rica, the performance of his teammates encouraged Boss May to continue to rest and not worry too much.

Since Scaloni led Argentina, Argentina has completed 13 wins, 3 draws and 1 loss in Messi's absence (no starters and no substitutes). These draws include a 2-2 draw away to Germany in 2019, a 0-0 draw at home to Chile on 5 September 2019 and a 0-0 draw away to Colombia on 11 September 2018, while the defeat was a 0-1 defeat to Brazil on 16 October 2018.

Clearly, they have adapted to the absence of the legendary Messi and can maintain a winning stance in his absence. In this regard, Scaloni praised the players after the game, believing that their performance is on the right track (of course, it must be noted that the team's opponents are indeed relatively weak in Messi's absence, which is also the capital of Boss May's rotation). Even if Messi still has a chance to play in the next Copa America, it will be difficult to keep playing and be on the stage in the 2026 World Cup. For Argentina, the sooner they adapt, the better, that's a given.

However, Argentina's problem is clear. After Lautaro Martinez scored for the national team for so long, Gonzalez was thinking about life without a defensive defense, and it was not reassuring to be a goalscorer partner. There are many more problems that they have to tinker with and arrange themselves.