Lionel Scaloni 2022: How the former Argentina international restored his country’s identity – tactical analysis

Argentina’s 3-0 win over Italy showcased what many had already begun to realise. Under Lionel Scaloni, Argentina have been one of the best national teams in the world. For decades, despite having one of the best players of all time, La Albiceleste struggled to win major trophies. For over a decade, managers struggled to build a successful team and get the best out of Lionel Messi. That was, of course, until Scaloni took over after the 2018 World Cup. The 44-year-old manager initially took over on a temporary basis, without any expectations. His only previous managerial experience had been with the U20 national team, during which he only managed five matches.

After a rather inconsistent first year, Scaloni hit the jackpot. Since Argentina’s loss to Brazil in the 2019 Copa America, La Albiceleste have not lost a single match in three years. Scaloni has found the perfect recipe, playing entertaining collective football while still getting the best out of Messi. The beauty of this Argentina side lies in its simplicity. Scaloni has built a system that appreciates and enhances each individual’s quality while still ensuring collective success. He has adapted the tactics to the talent at his disposal, both in a structural and behavioural sense.

In this tactical analysis, Argentina’s playing style under Lionel Scaloni will be identified by examining their tactics in and out of possession. Furthermore, we will look at how this system has gotten the best out of Messi, finally allowing him to perform up to his ability for the national team.

Structure

Over the last calendar year, Scaloni has used many different formations. According to Wyscout, he has deployed a 4-4-2, 4-3-3, 4-2-3-1, 4-1-4-1, and 4-1-3-2. The formation is highly dependent on the players selected, as depending on their individual characteristics, the initial distribution of players will vary. However, regardless of the formations, the overall behaviour and structure of the team are very consistent.

This Argentine generation has a significant lack of wingers, with PSG winger Ángel Di María and Sevilla star Lucas Ocampos being one of the only true wingers in the national pool. As a result, Scaloni has adopted a very narrow structure. This structure heavily complements their style of possession as we will see later in this analysis. In this system, the fullbacks are very important. They have very attacking roles and are responsible for providing width in possession. Without any wingers ahead of them, they have a lot of freedom to push forward. Argentina’s average position map in one of their matches perfectly illustrates this.

A backline of four is very consistent, and perhaps the only rigid section of their structure. In the South American World Cup Qualifiers, their goalkeeper Emiliano Martínez averaged 3.87 long passes per 90 compared to 13.79 short passes per 90. They obviously look to build out of the back with frequency, and the backline has a very important role in this.