There’s no chance you haven’t bumped into that stands-based viral footage of Lionel Messi’s run along the righthand side as Josko Gvardiol unsuccessfully tries stopping the magician before he puts in the plate for Julian Alvarez to kill the semi-final tie against Croatia.A true work of art, indeed.If you’re a coach, you tell Gvardiol that he did very well. Stood his ground, didn’t put his foot in, forced him outside, made sure not to foul. Everything you’re taught to do. But then, in a few seconds, Lionel Messi destroys your entire belief systempic.twitter.com/u8eO1PNGhJ— Luis Miguel Echegaray (@lmechegaray) December 14, 2022 So, is there any chance of stopping this mighty magician? The best address for this kind of answer is probably the Frenchman himself – Herve Renard.The Saudi Arabia coach spoke for L’Equipe ahead of the final match between France and Argentina on Sunday. Bearing in mind that his team topped the Albiceleste in the tournament’s opening match (2-1), the man knows what’s he talking about.The African king, Deschamps’ teammate and former cleaner – meet the man who defeated Argentina”We didn’t just focus on him, but on him in Argentina as a whole. You have to take him in this context to analyze his area of influence, to see how the balls reach him. Above all, you have to press (Rodrigo) De Paul who is, for me, one of the best Argentines and one of the most useful to place Messi in the best conditions. He is important because he compensates a lot on the right side and his slaughter relieves Messi of a lot of tasks. When they lose the ball, De Paul is there to save him from the defensive work. All the mechanisms in between are important to study.”The shock of all shocks! Saudi Arabia soar high and inflict the most humiliating defeat upon Messi’s ArgentinaThe point the former CAF Coach of the Year made brings up one more question – should France then focus their strategy on pressing higher and cutting off the wide areas instead of staying compact? “When the ball is lost, the others work for him. I’m not into Scaloni’s little secrets, but he relieved him of all that work. When they play four behind, they have three midfielders who work hard to supply Messi straight away for recovery. They look for it almost immediately. Until now, (Leandro) Paredes had started in central. (Enzo) Fernandez came into the team, along with (Alexis) Mac Allister, who does a huge job on the left side in defensive compensation. All of this is done to press on the right in this De Paul-Messi relationship, also with (Julian) Alvarez, as we especially saw against Croatia (3-0 in the semi-finals). It is one of the keys to Argentina. I knew De Paul, but he also shocked me in this competition with his impressive volume.”##NAJAVA_MECA_6893005##In the end, the experienced gaffer made his point more than clear…”You have to be right on Messi when he receives the ball. This is where you have to fall on him! 35-40 yards from the goal. He must not have freedom. Argentina doesn’t use depth that much. It’s more of a possession team, which will mainly attack in the middle with Messi. He starts from his right side to refocus quickly and go quickly to carry the danger, but France have the answers to close the axis, with (Adrien) Rabiot then Tchouameni,” concluded Renard.
