Julián Álvarez is set to start for Argentina against Switzerland at the World Cup.
Âlvarez started for Argentina in their 3-2 win against Egypt at the World Cup and is set to start against Switzerland. According to Gastón Edul, the 26 year old old will start for Argentina.
The previous thread had a conversation about the three-man defense and I wanted to respond to that. I would not be surprised if Scaloni went for 5-3-2 today because, particularly for Switzerland, this solves a few problems:
1) Switzerland is specifically dangerous in the aerial threat, which can be offset by the inclusion of Otamendi.
2) To kill the counterattack and quick transition, an additional defender will help.
3) The right back position – since both RBs are out of form, and Simeone can play as a RWB in a 5-3-2 system, and he is a world class player for that role.
4) When Licha plays as LCB, his passing ability will not make the system defensive. He can play almost as a LCM for most of the time.
5) Shifting gear is easy with this system. Bringing in Barco in place of Tagliafico later in the game can make it an attacking one.
However, it is also true that it is a difficult system to play, and Argentina has played this formation before, in the last World Cup and also in qualifiers, but has not played its best football in it. For this particular game only, though, it will make sense for Scaloni to field this formation.
His pressing is good. However, he needs to take more responsibility in creating and converting chances. His miss against Austria (which eventually was converted by Messi) looked awful.